We cap off Women's History Month with the second installment to
The Longest Journey: Dreamfall. Dreamfall is an adventure game by Funcom
that was released for Windows PC and Xbox in 2006 starring Zoe
Castillo, Newport’s own, April Ryan, and Kian Alvane.
The game opens up with a man named Brian Westhouse (a journalist from
Stark who ended up in Arcadia and met April in the first game), writing
in his journal at a Buddhist monastery preparing to be transported to
some unknown world. This acts as our prologue of the game, and is the
only time we see Brian so the player gets to control four characters in
total. It's not very long, but it paves the way for us to come to our
main title character, Zoe Castillo. Dreamfall takes The Longest Journey
from a point-and-click adventure game to an action-adventure game. You
have more control over your character's movements, more of the cities
are open to you, and you can even fight enemies.
The fighting itself tends to feel out of place, more so if you're familiar with the first game. There isn't a lot of room for tactics either, and it's difficult to get a hit in and dodge in time before getting hit yourself. Blocking is useless against stronger attacks, so you better get that dodging down if you want to live. You have to anticipate what your opponent is going to do next, and then block or dodge accordingly and strike when they're open. Apart from that, there isn't much else to do with fighting and it tends to drag the game down.
Even through all the changes the game is still an adventure game at heart. It's separated by chapters, which are notably shorter than in the first game, or at least they feel shorter, and you still have your choice of dialog options. You have no control over when and where you switch between the three characters, and Zoe tends to have the longest screen time between the three in the early going. This has the chance of being either fun and exciting because you never know when you're going to switch, or really, really annoying if you enjoy one character more than the others, but such is the price when you switch between characters so frequently.
There are certain times in the game where you'll have to sneak past an obstacle in fear of death. That's easy enough to do, although some times it doesn't even matter if you crouch down to sneak. Step on some glass, or go in the wrong direction and it's all over.
You can look at objects and listen in on people from a distance. You'll be unable to move or do much else while in this mode. While this is handy with eavesdropping on people you won't find much uses for it in the main plot, surprisingly.
The mobile phone takes the place of the diary and conversation logs in the first game. It even comes with a picture of Wonkers, a mechanical ape that follows the news, repeats your schedule, and is just the saddest thing you've ever seen.
Items are still important in solving puzzles, though you don't necessarily have to be as observant as in the first game, you still need to use your head. Puzzles have also taken a step up in this game, turning into challenging minigames that requires matching images on a screen. I'd almost take the way puzzles work in the first game over it. Almost.
Zoe Castillo has to be the most normal person I have ever seen in a video game without coming across as bland. She lives a good enough life to where she feels she doesn't have any reason to complain, and feels like she's at a crossroads of what to do next as the things she used to be passionate about just doesn't burn the same fire underneath her anymore. As a character I relate to her a lot more than April, not to say April wasn't relatable, just that Zoe is relatable for a different group of players.
The story takes place ten years after the first game, and a lot has changed. April is now a hardened warrior who taught herself to kill without remorse and is the leader of a rebel group in Arcadia. April considers Arcadia her home now, and currently lacks a sense of real purpose, having accomplished what was expected of her in the first game. She learns how to fight with a quarterstaff, and made quite the name for herself, and still she feels her existence has no meaning once she was no longer important in the grand scheme of things. The past has taken its toll on her and it's seen throughout.
Then finally we have Kian Alvane, a soldier and assassin who was tasked with killing April. He's an Arcadia Apostle with a strong devotion to the Goddess and always addressing women as Mistress. As he continues on his journey he starts to see a different side of his people which leads to him questioning his own beliefs, and we all know what happens when people start questioning beliefs.
Dreamfall is a worthy addition of The Longest Journey, and an overall good upgrade from the previous game. If you enjoyed The Longest Journey, then Dreamfall is worth giving a chance, and it's also possible to play without needing to play the first one.
Get it
The fighting itself tends to feel out of place, more so if you're familiar with the first game. There isn't a lot of room for tactics either, and it's difficult to get a hit in and dodge in time before getting hit yourself. Blocking is useless against stronger attacks, so you better get that dodging down if you want to live. You have to anticipate what your opponent is going to do next, and then block or dodge accordingly and strike when they're open. Apart from that, there isn't much else to do with fighting and it tends to drag the game down.
Even through all the changes the game is still an adventure game at heart. It's separated by chapters, which are notably shorter than in the first game, or at least they feel shorter, and you still have your choice of dialog options. You have no control over when and where you switch between the three characters, and Zoe tends to have the longest screen time between the three in the early going. This has the chance of being either fun and exciting because you never know when you're going to switch, or really, really annoying if you enjoy one character more than the others, but such is the price when you switch between characters so frequently.
There are certain times in the game where you'll have to sneak past an obstacle in fear of death. That's easy enough to do, although some times it doesn't even matter if you crouch down to sneak. Step on some glass, or go in the wrong direction and it's all over.
You can look at objects and listen in on people from a distance. You'll be unable to move or do much else while in this mode. While this is handy with eavesdropping on people you won't find much uses for it in the main plot, surprisingly.
The mobile phone takes the place of the diary and conversation logs in the first game. It even comes with a picture of Wonkers, a mechanical ape that follows the news, repeats your schedule, and is just the saddest thing you've ever seen.
Items are still important in solving puzzles, though you don't necessarily have to be as observant as in the first game, you still need to use your head. Puzzles have also taken a step up in this game, turning into challenging minigames that requires matching images on a screen. I'd almost take the way puzzles work in the first game over it. Almost.
Zoe Castillo has to be the most normal person I have ever seen in a video game without coming across as bland. She lives a good enough life to where she feels she doesn't have any reason to complain, and feels like she's at a crossroads of what to do next as the things she used to be passionate about just doesn't burn the same fire underneath her anymore. As a character I relate to her a lot more than April, not to say April wasn't relatable, just that Zoe is relatable for a different group of players.
The story takes place ten years after the first game, and a lot has changed. April is now a hardened warrior who taught herself to kill without remorse and is the leader of a rebel group in Arcadia. April considers Arcadia her home now, and currently lacks a sense of real purpose, having accomplished what was expected of her in the first game. She learns how to fight with a quarterstaff, and made quite the name for herself, and still she feels her existence has no meaning once she was no longer important in the grand scheme of things. The past has taken its toll on her and it's seen throughout.
Then finally we have Kian Alvane, a soldier and assassin who was tasked with killing April. He's an Arcadia Apostle with a strong devotion to the Goddess and always addressing women as Mistress. As he continues on his journey he starts to see a different side of his people which leads to him questioning his own beliefs, and we all know what happens when people start questioning beliefs.
Dreamfall is a worthy addition of The Longest Journey, and an overall good upgrade from the previous game. If you enjoyed The Longest Journey, then Dreamfall is worth giving a chance, and it's also possible to play without needing to play the first one.
Get it
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