(ring ring)

Liv: Hello?

Ryan: Liv, hey, it’s me.

Liv: Hey, what’s up?

Ryan: Look, I have to write a review, but I really don’t feel like it.

Liv: No problem, I’ll download something to your mobile.

Ryan: Thanks, Liv.

Liv: No problem. Take care, sweetie.

Man, that joke would have killed in Arcadia. Or Stark. Or whichever. Unfortunately, unlike Dreamfall’s protagonist Zoë Castillo, I have no deus ex machina in my life such as Liv, so I’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way and go about my business without relying on Liv’s soothing voice to solve almost any inconvenience.

For those of you out there who never played The Longest Journey, catching up to the events that occurred a decade prior to Dreamfall can be something of a confusing affair. Apparently, there was an 18-year-old named April Ryan who found that she could shift between worlds, the worlds that emerged from Earth after it had been split apart centuries before: the magical Arcadia and the technological and scientific Stark. There was a trouble with the balance between the worlds, some wacky characters, and a grand adventure. That being the case, fans should feel right at home with Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.

Living in Stark, Zoë Castillo is a young lady who is lost in life. She has recently quit school, broken up with her long-time boyfriend, Reza, and has become a lethargic soul. Luckily, she is still into exercising, which translates into a form of kickboxing that is stiff and awkward but is still capable of knocking people out. Her apathy is about to be shaken as Reza one day seeks out her aid on a story he has been working on and goes missing shortly thereafter. Zoë finds herself caught in the middle of a conspiracy involving multiple worlds and planes of existence, mega-corporations, persecution, and expansionism.

The balance of Stark and Arcadia was tested before, but now it’s being strained by dreams. The difference is that now, the world, which has all but forgotten about the collapse of the balance from a decade earlier, is one so wired together through a vast network that everything its inhabitants do depends on technology. The people are always ‘on’ and are watched by government agencies. Lately, there have been problems, static has been interfering with the global wire and things are getting creepy, including Ring-like visions of a young girl for Zoë. It’s hard to get too much into the story without spoiling it, but suffice to say that the ending, despite being lengthy, does a remarkably poor job of wrapping things up, leaving you a little bitter in the hopes that the amount of copping out in Dreamfall will be lessened in its follow-up.

You see, Dreamfall isn’t that good of a game. In fact, it’s kind of a bad one. The controls are stiff, the object detection is fickle, abilities aren’t fleshed out, puzzle difficulty is awkwardly uneven, and combat and stealth are cumbersome. The game is actually fairly easy with limited object slots and you’re rarely presented with more items than are necessary for the most recent puzzle, and that makes the random difficult portion even more frustrating than normal. The game moves at such a fast pace – 13 chapters, a few of which are simply moving a few feet and watching a cutscene – that these seem unnecessary and inserted to artificially inflate the amount of play time.

One great play mechanic implemented in Dreamfall is the ability to “focus,” represented by a laser-like, sweeping blue beam that emanates from the character and allows you to find any item that can be viewed or interacted with.  Sadly, even this is used haphazardly as it’s only really required to solve one puzzle and no more.  This doesn’t cripple the game, but it is indicative of the more random nature of the game’s design.

That being said, it can be hard to dislike Dreamfall. The worlds of Stark and Arcadia are filled with interesting technology, characters, and situations. In Stark, Zoë has her friends: the omnipresent Liv mentioned above, her father (who is away on business), Wonkers (an AI-enhanced gorilla toy that is all the rage), and a host of problems. In Arcadia, Zoë will not only find an entirely new adventure but she will also swap places with April Ryan, who now leads a rebellion against the religious zealotry of the Azadi as well as an Azadi Apostle who has been sent to convert (re: kill) a rebel leader. So while Zoë is trying to find out what happened to Reza, April is trying to rally support, get supplies, and find out how Zoë fits into everything. The Apostle is an even more interesting addition since he shows the Azadi in a light that is both more and less threatening. Since the Azadi threw off the attacking Tyren hordes, they have taken up shop, put all non-humans and practitioners of magic in a ghetto, and imported their technology and the religion of their Goddess.  One slight problem that April Ryan faces is that local support for the Azadi grows while support for the rebels falters. It’s a pretty involving story that is engaging and distinct enough for the series to remain entertainingly fantastical.

There are also plenty of other characters to interact with in Dreamfall. Every character has a voice, and every voice actor did a magnificent job. I cannot recall one instance of a voice not matching its dialogue, or one whose timing was off, or even of poor delivery allowing a joke to fall flat – even jokes I wouldn’t have imagined laughing at in a game got a chuckle. Characters from The Longest Journey reappear and new ones are introduced. They can be interacted with in a number of ways, from simple observation to actual conversation. When talking with someone, you often have the option to choose which tone you want to take (rude, apologetic, etc.), which doesn’t seem to have any real bearing on the game, which is a shame, but it does make the voice acting seem even more impressive as you stumble upon endless lines of dialogue.

Throughout this great adventure, you’re fighting the game the entire time. While the controls can be tweaked to offer some comfort, no amount of altering ever made it a comfortable experience. Combat, consisting of a weak and strong attack that are linked together for canned combos, and poorly implemented stealth segments are trials that often lead to death in the most frustrating ways. Thankfully, the game is generous with saved checkpoints, which isn’t so much a compliment as it is a stopgap for more complaints.

The graphics are good – imaginative, but nothing too fantastic – with good design and character expression, but the animations are universally stiff. The music is excellent, often melodic and randomly injected with licensed tracks, but the voice-overs clearly steal the show. Whoever hired, directed, and fine-tuned the actors and performances deserves mounds of accolades. The characters really come alive because of the fine work, and I honestly think they have spoiled me on future games. Other companies, please take note.

Overall: 7/10

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is the game you want to like, give it your all to like, and it seems to be acting in good faith, but then it talks bad about you behind your back. While the production values are great, the story enjoyable, and the characters fantastic, the gameplay itself is hampered by rigid controls, obtuse puzzles that break up the game’s average quick pace, and combat and stealth elements that never come together. That isn’t to say that the game wouldn’t have benefited from fighting and sneaking around or tougher puzzles, it’s just that what’s here isn’t compelling. Still, with characters like Theoretically Blind Bob and Crow, it’s hard to refuse the adventure.