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Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

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8.6 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 45 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 290 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Aspyr

Developer: Funcom

Genre(s): Third-Person Adventure

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: April 17, 2006

Summary

Dreamfall continues the story of "The Longest Journey," one of the most critically acclaimed adventure games ever made, and brings 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." [Funcom]

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GAMES: Longest Journey, The

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What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

GameSpy

Dreamfall is an amazing journey that propels players into a world where science, magic, art, and music combine to make a whole much greater than the sum of its parts.

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100

AceGamez

The most engrossing storyline ever and without a doubt it will hold the title as my favourite game ever, until a sequel appears.

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100

Quandary

Much hyped and, as a result much anticipated, and a long time in coming, it lived up to all my expectations. It's a marvellous piece of story telling, and promises more to come. The highs overwhelmed any lows and I loved it for what it was and didn't mind at all what it wasn't.

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100

Just Adventure

The experience of playing Dreamfall is so pleasant and user-friendly that I think it has the potential to be a “gateway” game, a game like Myst or The Sims, which brings new players to computer and video games.

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Yahoo! Games

This is one of the best stories in gaming since "Planescape Torment," and Zoe is one of the best leads, male or female. Her tale is as gripping as it is beautifully presented.

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Gamer 2.0

It’s filled with enough nuance, emotion, and charm to be an instance classic—and with better, more difficult puzzles, could have surpassed the original from every angle.

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Cheat Code Central

Where Dreamfall excels is in telling a story. The imaginative characters and locations are truly memorable and create a unique experience that makes the ride more enjoyable than the destination.

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GameZone

Great graphics, great audio and a great plot more then offset the only "good" controls.

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Computer Games Online RO

If games will ever be considered a form of art, then Dreamfall: The Longest Journey will stand as one of the most important representatives of its time.

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ActionTrip

It offers an engaging and imaginative storyline, smooth gameplay and compelling environments for players to lose themselves in. Sure, Dreamfall might not have a lot of replay value, but at $40 bucks, it's definitely worth a purchase if you are a fan of adventure gaming.

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Jolt Online Gaming UK

While more linear than the likes of the excellent Fahrenheit, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is compelling enough to maintain your interest through to the conclusion, which itself is disappointing since the game comes to and end too quickly and fails to match the quality of the remainder of the story.

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GamingExcellence

Regardless off all the brilliant work that has gone into it, Dreamfall remains cursed by the simple fact that it does feature long stretches of dialog, less action than most games, a mature and well-thought out plot, intelligent characters and, and here’s the clincher, is an adventure game.

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GameSpot

Anchored by a wonderful cast of characters, the very well-crafted sci-fi story in Dreamfall will leave you anxiously wanting more.

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Adventure Gamers

Dreamfall is a triumph of (unfinished) storytelling that deserves to be in every gamer's collection, despite sacrificing a little too much gameplay for its own good.

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Deeko

A decent adventure title with a great story but stretches itself too thin.

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Game Informer

Adventure games are all about story. This sequel has a great story and good pacing to back it up. [Jun 2006, p.112]

Adrenaline Vault

A multimedia feast for the senses and a compelling interactive movie. As an action-adventure game, it doesn't offer much of a challenge beyond furthering the story, but it is certainly a story worth experiencing.

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Pelit (Finland)

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey has a tasty core, but not enough meat around it. The story is great, but the puzzles and fights are extremely straightforward and obvious. There is just not enough challenge. [June 2006]

Gaming Horizon

It’s incredibly engrossing and offers more of an experience and a fantastic storyline than most adventure (or even usual) games do, along with some (very simple, but unique) puzzles.

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Computer Games Magazine

Dreamfall is the adventure-game equivalent of a page-turner, one that doesn't make it a hassle to turn the pages. [July 2006, p.54]

Gamers Europe

You need this game. Trust me on this; it’ll be one of the best adventure games you can get.

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G4 TV

It’s not a game for everyone by any means, and just about everyone will hate the combat sections, but it’s definitely a game that adventure fans will appreciate.

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RPG Fan

Dreamfall is relatively short, about ten hours, but chances are you'll play through it a second time to get some of the references you missed. Quite simply, if you like an excellent story in your games, go out and pick up a copy of Dreamfall for the PC or Xbox.

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PC Gamer UK

If you're anything like me, its deeply tragic moments will make you weep real tears. [June 2006, p.70]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Not only are the puzzles simple, but they're generally picky and unsatisfying.

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PC Format

It's primary objective isn't to engage you as a gamer; it's to engage you as a human being. And that makes it worth your time. [June 2006, p.90]

IGN

While Dreamfall attempts to incorporate action elements, it just doesn't work. The stealth and battle systems are woefully underdeveloped. This wouldn't have been a big deal if there was still an enjoyable array of puzzles, but those too were drastically simplified.

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Worth Playing

If you’re interested in interactive storytelling, you’re an adventure gamer in need of a fix, or you’re a big fan of The Longest Journey, pick this up; no one else should feel compelled to bother.

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PC Gamer

Dreamfall is worth the effort but could've done without the fighting; those scenes aren't essential to the plot, add nothing to the gameplay, and will only turn off die-hard fans of The Longest Journey. [July 2006, p.98]

Game Over Online

There aren’t enough interactive moments in the action-adventure, and the few that are there aren’t interesting enough or complicated enough to make the game worth playing.

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PC Gameworld

The switch to 3D was a welcome addition, but one saddled with camera and control issues.

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Edge Magazine

If you share director Ragnar Tornquist's view that being engaged in dialogue is a form of gameplay, then there's a richness here that few other titles have the ability or luxury to create. [June 2006, p.86]

Games Radar (in-house)

Dreamfall ends on a cliffhanger. If it's all the same to the creators, we'd rather not wait another six years for a resolution.

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Boomtown

If you liked the world of the original, buy it, you’ll get a kick out of everything, but if you’ve not even played the first one, then buy The Longest Journey and see what Dreamfall should have been; like its predecessor, focussed on the puzzles.

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games(TM)

Enjoyed for what it is, this is bold and compelling – it draws from the traditional and the contemporary to deliver a uniquely modern and elegantly told adventure. [July 2006, p.131]

Sydney Morning Herald

The biggest concern is that the game's conclusion leaves many unsatisfying loose ends.

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The New York Times

It still has an interesting story, but the characters are less memorable, and the bland Zoe is a poor replacement for April Ryan. April is a relatively minor character in Dreamfall, yet her passion and embitterment are far more compelling than Zoe's listless puzzlement.

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PC Zone UK

Dreamfall never taxes the brain, and progression is more often than not a case of running to the next location and having a bit of a chat. [July 2006, p.75]

PALGN

Fans of the original, or people who enjoy a game that offers little challenge, but strong narrative, may want to check this out. If it’s action and involving gameplay you're after, leave this one well alone.

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Total Video Games

The story fails to ignite and it just felt like the developer of the game was trying to be really intellectual and those that did not see the real focus of the game, enjoy the engaging story and all the other subtle touches were either stupid or didn't appreciate the real value of what is being offered!

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Game Revolution

It’s a shame that with such outstanding production values and such a beautifully realized story and world, Dreamfall doesn’t do more as a video game. It adheres quite strictly to its adventure roots but fails to provide a satisfying challenge.

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VideoGamer

So, having sacrificed gameplay in favour of story, what's left is a product that isn't really much of a game at all. If you can put up with the tedium of puzzles and stealth sections, the rich story and compelling characters will furnish you with a rewarding experience.

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Detroit Free Press

Unfortunately, this gripping tale is marred by weird fighting and stealth sequences that don't seem to mesh with the rest of the lush narrative.

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1UP

Edited down to a tight package this could probably make a pretty good machinima feature (or Sci-Fi original motion picture for that matter). But as a game, it fails.

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Play Magazine

Although the game holds an intriguing and extremely likable protagonist in the plucky slacker Zoe Castillo, the rest of the game in the gritty parlance of the streets, blows enormous monkey chunks. [Jun 2006, p.49]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 290 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Roman O gave it a10:
I enjoyed Dreamfall: The Longest Journey for the most part. But it should have been a pure adventure game. Every aspect of action that has been thrown into this game sucks. Fighting is beyond bad it's the worst. Stealth is just boring, feels like ir shouldn't have been there. But apart from the action parts this adventurous journey was an enormous pleasure for me. I guess the creators had to make it more action oriented than the first Longest Journey, because the adventure genre is getting unpopular, but they mesed up on that. In short great adventure, bad action. Can't wait for the sequel. P.S. I give it 10 ignoring all the action parts.

Rene gave it a10:
I've played the longest journy part one, but I liked Dreamfall even more. Execellent graphics, great scene's and a very good story. This is the best adventure I've ever played. I liked all the characters so much!!

Adventuregamer gave it a0:
Crap. Fails as a game and as a low budget movie.

Glyph L gave it a10:
This is really one of the best games I've ever played. The reviewers who have criticized it for not being a "game" are being too narrow in their definition of the word: it's unfortunately imprecise, but "game" now means "digital interactive experience", and as such a "game", this is an absolute must-play. My only criticism of it, really, is that it's doesn't come to a completely satisfying conclusion because the creators expect to produce a sequel. I pre-ordered this, played it the day it came out, and I've been waiting with baited breath for that sequel since then.

Sindow gave it a4:
Dreamfall is what happens when an adventure game is developed for a game pad instead of a mouse. It can either be seen as a very wordy action/stealth game with hardly any action or a gimped adventure game with not enough adventuring and awful action and stealth parts. Like in many other games by trying to please too many people the developers have pleased no one and created a game consistent in its mediocrity.

Randall S. gave it a9:
I have to say this is one of the most memorable adventure games I have ever played. The story is very interesting, the sound is great, the puzzles are usually pretty neat. My only qualm is that the combat system was really simplified. I think they could have done a little bit better even though you only fight like ten things throughout the whole game. And I agree with MC. If you don't like cutscenes and stories, just don't play a game like this! There is absolutely no way you can call this a bland game unless you completely skip out on the story, which would be a real shame, because it's one of the best I've seen in a game.

Don R gave it a10:
This is on of the best games adventure I've ever played. The story is truly compelling and thought provoking. The characters draw you into their story. The game play was an enjoyable mix of elements while the story telling was exciting and suspenseful. This game left me anxious almost desperate for a sequel. Plots like this could usure in a new era in video games where they are considered a legitatment media to tell the greatest stories of our time.

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Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

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