The Longest Journey and Dreamfall.

[Zhukov]

Anyone else here played these suckers?

I just finished them. I think they're terrible and would never recommend them to anyone.

But... and it's a big but... I bloody love them.

The first one, The Longest Journey, featured utterly retarded puzzles and a rather silly story. But it was redeemed in my eyes by having one of the best game protagonists I've ever encountered. April Ryan was remarkably well humanized, likable and sympathetic. She displayed a sense of humour without acting like a clown and somehow managed to react to improbable situations in believable ways. I was happy to slog through all the other bullshit just to see what would become of her.

The sequel, Dreamfall, was a similar case. Silly and nigh-nonsensical story. Woeful combat sections. Token and simplistic stealth sections. Playing it was something of a chore. But then the ending came along and damn near blew me away. The various epilogue scenes were downright emotional and one in particular came dangerously close to being the first game to make me cry. (No tears mind you, but the ol' eyeballs became distinctly moist. Rapid blinking was necessary.)

So... enough from me. I would be very interested to hear what other people made of these games.

For those of you who haven't played the games in question and have no idea what I'm talking about (and who probably stopped reading several paragraphs back), have you ever come across a bad game that was redeemed by one outstanding aspect?

 

[trooper6]

I've played Dreamfall and think it is great. I don't think it is bad at all. But then, I'm judging it as an Adventure game rather than an Action-Adventure game.

 

[astrav1]

Hell yeah! I love those games. Maybe not the best example of an adventure game but as a piece of art, Top Notch.

 

[BreakfastMan]

I have the first one. Never got really far. I got to the first time(?) you

Spoiler

go to the alternate world

and thought "This is really one of the best adventure games of all time? Really? Is there something I am missing here?" I never touched the game after that.

OT: Deadly premonition comes to mind. Atrocious visuals and terrible gameplay. But the story. Oh God the story. The story was amazing. Music wasn't too bad either. I really enjoy the game, even though it plays like a sack of sponges.

 

[lacktheknack]

I played Dreamfall and adored it, warts and all. I tried to play The Longest Journey, but my computer derped. I'm going to buy it off GOG at some point and try it again, as they are great at fixing compatibility issues. I expect I'm going to love it as everyone I've talked to has.

As for the bad game with the one amazing quality, I'm saying Uplink. It's graphicless, implausible, violates my geek understanding of technology (gigaquads? GIGAQUADS?!) and it's unforgiving in the worst ways, such as screwing you over if you don't move fast enough, upgrade fast enough, progress through the ranks fast enough, take the right jobs, perma-deathing you with no warning...

And yet, it's the most intense game I've ever played. Bar none. It's fantastic and I heartily recommend it.

 

[Zhukov]

I've played Dreamfall and think it is great. I don't think it is bad at all. But then, I'm judging it as an Adventure game rather than an Action-Adventure game.

Sure, I judge it as an adventure game too.

Problem is, it's an adventure game that forces you to do awkward combat and token stealth. Also, it frequently makes you walk from one end of the map to the other.

 

[richmond_b]

I know what you mean. Those games have one of the best story lines I've ever played through. I only recently (this generation) played through them as well, and while the gameplay has aged a bit, they will always be two of my favorites.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

I only ever played Dreamfall. I liked it well enough. Thats about it.

 

[The Madman]

I doubt there's many who will disagree with you about the Longest Journey series. I often count the original game among my favourite games ever made yet even I'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to realize the actual gameplay of the game is shot to hell and back with some of the worst sort of 'adventure game' mechanics out there. Pixel hunting, convoluted puzzles, and a bad case of developer logic.

Yes despite that I genuinely love those games because... well... they've got soul. Kinda hard to describe but there's just something about those games and their story, their characters and protagonist that make them seem real in a way almost no other game out there does.

Now if only Ragnar Tornquist, the guy who wrote those games, would just get around to making a third entry to the series instead of mucking around with 'The Secret World'.

As for other games? Hmm... Alpha Protocol. Gameplay is crap and the rpg mechanics are horribly imbalanced, however the dialogue and interactions are top notch and it's also one of the few games out there that gets the whole 'choice and consequences' thing right.

 

[the spud]

I never considered Shadow of the Colossus anywhere near bad, in fact I thought it was great, but the ending was what pushed it from "really good" to "one of the best ever".

 

[octafish]

I doubt there's many who will disagree with you about the Longest Journey series. I often count the original game among my favourite games ever made yet even I'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to realize the actual gameplay of the game is shot to hell and back with some of the worst sort of 'adventure game' mechanics out there. Pixel hunting, convoluted puzzles, and a bad case of developer logic.

Yes despite that I genuinely love those games because... well... they've got soul. Kinda hard to describe but there's just something about those games and their story, their characters and protagonist that make them seem real in a way almost no other game out there does.

Now if only Ragnar Tornquist, the guy who wrote those games, would just get around to making a third entry to the series instead of mucking around with 'The Secret World'.

As for other games? Hmm... Alpha Protocol. Gameplay is crap and the rpg mechanics are horribly imbalanced, however the dialogue and interactions are top notch and it's also one of the few games out there that gets the whole 'choice and consequences' thing right.

Yeah the choice and consequences involved in Alpha Protocol add depth that Bioware can only aspire to. April Ryan is my second favorite game character of all time behind a certain unhinged lady AI, not the bimbo mind you, the dangerous one with aspirations to godhood.

 

[Zhukov]

As for other games? Hmm... Alpha Protocol. Gameplay is crap and the rpg mechanics are horribly imbalanced, however the dialogue and interactions are top notch and it's also one of the few games out there that gets the whole 'choice and consequences' thing right.

I gave that a try recently. I'd heard a lot of good things about how it handles choice.

Sadly, I was unable to look past the other flaws. The broken controls (PC version) on the hacking minigame sealed the deal. I quit without even getting through the tutorial, which has to be a personal record.

 

[Zay-el]

The Longest Journey and Dreamfall are both amongst my absolute favorite games. I actually played Dreamfall BEFORE The Longest Journey, but even then, it was a great experience and possibly one of the most emotionally gripping games I've ever played. Sure, the fight mechanic was abysmal, the stealth no less dumb, but I didn't care, I plowed through it just because I was interested in the characters and was willing to put up with all of that.

Once I actually got to playing TLJ, that was another shocker. Sure, the 3d models are pretty bad now and the puzzles are rather retarded, but it's still a very beautiful games, for the backgrounds alone. Seriously, that very first opening background at the White of the Kin's lair, that was just breathtaking. I also found the story to be just as good, if not even better. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, culminating in possibly the most shocking ending I've seen in a while. Seriously, it was like a punch in the gut, but in a very good, memorable way.

Now if only we could finally get Dreamfall Chapters...

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

TLJ was amazing, Dreamfall I thought sucked. Too much running around in both games, but it seemed like the bulk of Dreamfall was running.

 

[Rolf]

I hated almost everything in the longest journey, but i kept playing. Slowly advancing through the insane puzzles. And i love the game. For some reason it is one of my most beloved games of all time. I guess it's because of April and the ending of the game. And the fantastic locations and funny characters. The game fall flat if you only care about the puzzles. If you play it for the funny dialog and creative characters you will love it.

 

[Lukeje]

Adventure game = game that uses the mouse 99% of the time.

Favorite adventure games:
4. Grim Fandango

I'm very confused. You don't use the mouse at all in Grim Fandango.