Dreamfall, The Longest Journey Sequel

[Draikin]

http://www.funcom.com/media/pressreleases/english/190204_dreamfall

Dreamfall continues the story of The Longest Journey

Oslo, Norway - February 18, 2004 - Funcom was recently awarded a grant from the Norwegian Film Fund to partially finance the development of Dreamfall, the long-awaited follow-up to The Longest Journey. The Norwegian government has, for the first time, actively endorsed game development, marking a welcome shift in the cultural acceptance of computer games as a medium comparable to film and television.

Scheduled for release in the fall of 2005, Dreamfall continues the story of one of the most critically acclaimed adventure games ever made, and will bring adventure gaming into a new era. Focusing on story and characters, Dreamfall features unparalleled 3D visuals, advanced character animations, stunning audio, and innovative gameplay - wrapped in a unique and magical ambience.

Dreamfall is set in the 23rd Century, where a young woman accidentally uncovers a conspiracy related to dreams; a conspiracy that may herald the destruction of the twin worlds of science and magic. Confronted by mysteries that she cannot resolve on her own, she must seek assistance from the one person who might have the answers: April Ryan, the heroine of The Longest Journey.

"We're making a game that can be enjoyed equally by fans of the first game and new players," says game director and writer Ragnar Tørnquist. "In Dreamfall, we are expanding the scope of the adventure genre to include action elements that will allow us to tell an even more involving, exciting, and surprising story."

More information, images and features will be revealed at E3, where Funcom will present a playable version of Dreamfall to invited members of the press.

I hope it will have a Baldur's Gate effect on the adventure genre :oops:

[Shadari]

There are several genres that I wish would experience the Baldur's Gate effect. :cry:

[Qenan]

Ugh, I hated TLJ.

[MattKeil]

I really liked TLJ, although I don't really know why. It has everything I hate: long, drawn out cutscenes full of dry exposition; unintelligible puzzles that have no logic to them; constant back-and-forth backtracking through areas already cleared.

And yet, it just all worked. The story was interesting, the bird cracked me up, and the acting was good. Kind of ugly by modern standards, but hopefully Dreamfall will live up to the legacy.

And yeah, it would be nice to see the Baldur's Gate Effect hit the adventure genre.

[Rywill]

Although I'd love to see the adventure genre get reinvigorated, I really didn't like TLJ. Good art direction, good voice acting, interesting idea (if ripped off), but terrible puzzles. Everything was either "So easy the NPC tells you exactly what to do" or "So hard you'll never figure it out without a walkthrough, LSD, or both." Ugh.

[Rollory]

It has everything I hate: long, drawn out cutscenes full of dry exposition; unintelligible puzzles that have no logic to them; constant back-and-forth backtracking through areas already cleared.

Yeah, all that.

I was giving the plot a chance until the first trip to the other (medieval/whatever) world. At that point I realized I really didn't care what happened to anybody in this game or what the plot might entail, that I really didn't want to have to sit down and figure out a bunch more stupid puzzles just to advance the plot another couple steps, and that Outcast was a hell of a lot more fun, so I went and played that instead. Haven't had the slightest urge to touch TLJ since.

[Draikin]

stop living in the past :)

One general criticism the first one's received is that it was too talky, and we're taking that to heart. There will still be lots and lots of dialogue, but snappier, better paced, a better balance between playing and listening.

There will be fewer locations, but the locations will be bigger and more detailed. The story will be deeper, more mature, with lots of twists and surprises. The interaction with the environment, world objects, and characters will be much more complex. The puzzles will be a lot more inventive, a lot more logical, and much less frustrating (no silly rubber ducky). And the gameplay overall will be more varied. Most importantly, we're opening up for more replayability, as well as additional quests that the player isn't required to complete.

[Theodore Rex DX]

Instead of an adventure revival, can we just take the one redeeming feature of the genre (occasionally very clever writing) and transfer it to a type of game that isn't horrible?

[Thomas Wilde]

Instead of an adventure revival, can we just take the one redeeming feature of the genre (occasionally very clever writing) and transfer it to a type of game that isn't horrible?

...you heathenous wretch.

I liked the Longest Journey, although I wasn't a big fan of the rotating speakerbox puzzle on that island. I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel, especially if it's got a touch of replayability to it.

Then again, I started my gaming with the King's Quest series, so I've got a soft spot for the adventure genre as a whole. I'm just glad they don't include those dumbass mazes in the games anymore.

[Ben]

I absolutely agree with Theo over there. As far as I can tell, all adventure game puzzles have fallen into Rywill's two categories. Some games had nifty production values and witty writing, but jeez. Gimme a game where the gameplay doesn't so heavily involve alt-tabbing to GameFaqs.

[Sam Jones]

I loved The Longest Journey, and will definitely buy the sequel, whatever form it takes. I liked the wordiness of it, which was less wordy than PS:T, and at least it was all voiced. It dragged a little right at the beginning, talking to all April's friends, but it served to deepen the character you play.

And Burns Flipper - what a guy.

[Old Man Gravy]

Dreamfall continues the story of The Longest Journey

Oslo, Norway - February 18, 2004 - Funcom was recently awarded a grant from the Norwegian Film Fund to partially finance the development of Dreamfall, the long-awaited follow-up to The Longest Journey. The Norwegian government has, for the first time, actively endorsed game development, marking a welcome shift in the cultural acceptance of computer games as a medium comparable to film and television.



Man, I'm movin' there! Smokin' Joe Lieberman, call your office!

In reality, I think that'd be more exciting if they endorsed a game that was actually good, instead of that After School Special that Funcom marketed as a game. I couldn't make it through the first five hours (which was all dialogue, btw). Yeesh, I haven't seen so many angst-ridden, ethnically diverse, wearing-their-mixed-sexual-preference-on-their-sleeve twenty-somethings whinily agreeing with each other about how hip, liberal, and open-minded they all are since the grand finale of Party of Five.

[Xemu]

Man, that speaker / totem puzzle on the island was where I got stuck and stopped playing. Maybe I should head over to GameFAQs and finish that game if they're doing a sequel...

[russellmz00]

i really liked the story. i had a lot of trouble with the puzzles (i will believe to the grave that the "arranging triangular stones on the table" puzzle of the fish people is totally mucked up) but i really wanted to see how the story turned out.

basically i treated it as a long movie where i had to click stuff to get to the next part.

the funny cops in exobody armor, the tv's that utilized black holes that pierced through the very fabric of existence ("kind of freaky if you think about it"), made living in a dystopian future society seem not so bad.

the funny walking/talking trees trying to build that catapult, the witch, the goofy little badger guys made the magical area parts give off a wizard of oz vibe.

[Jonathan Blow]

The Longest Journey fucking sucked. It didn't just suck, it fucking sucked.

[Alan Au]

The Longest Journey fucking sucked. It didn't just suck, it fucking sucked.
That means the McReview sites gave it, what, a 6/10? :P

Personally, I enjoyed TLJ. Of course, I'm a sucker for narrative, and the puzzles were actually quite reasonable (comparatively speaking).

- Alan

[JAGuarinc]

The Longest Journey fucking sucked. It didn't just suck, it fucking sucked.

If you would, please elaborate. Did you not like the interface? Voice acting get you down? Non-integrated puzzles? Find the characters boring? Perhaps the game was too long. Story incoherant? Art poorly done? A dislike for the genre in general? Buggy? Get stuck at the rubber ducky part? In short I'd like some statements of support for your declaration that it not just sucked but did so fuckingly.

As for myself, I found it quite enjoyable. Admittedly there were a few rough spots like the aformentioned totem puzzle and waiting for upteen minutes for the dialogue to play out when you first went to the magical world. In addition, it also gave me a chance to ease my gf into gaming because of it's female protaganist and non fatal gameplay.

[russellmz00]

he used italics and bold, plus a swear word. isn't that enough?

[JAGuarinc]

Darn, overlooked that. Thanks for pointing it out. In fact, it is enough. I should have realized that as a proficient English user his issues probably stemmed from the manual instead of the other things listed.

[Draikin]

i think the totem puzzle on Alais was the best of the game, it was one a the few logical puzzles. I dont understand how you can get stuck here, the Maerum's cave puzzle was way harder than this.

[JAGuarinc]

If I recall correctly it was just one of those puzzles where my mind got onto one track and I couldn't jump out of it until I'd left the game alone awhile. Kinda like back in the day regarding text adventures and guess-the-verb moments. You'd be pounding the keyboard with "slice the troll", "stab the troll", "poke the troll", "hit the troll", etc. and your buddy will look over for two seconds and say, "Just fight the troll, dude."

[Alan Au]

> kill dragon

With what, your bare hands?

> yes

- Alan