Games

Best of 2009 | 08 |07 | 06 | 05
Advanced Search

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Longest Journey, The

EMAIL PRINT pc

9.0 User Score:

Universal acclaim

Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 86 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >

Game Info

Publisher: Funcom

Developer: Funcom

Genre(s): Adventure

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: November 17, 2000

Summary

An epic 3-D adventure spanning over 150 unique locations across two distinct and detailed worlds. [Funcom]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Dreamfall

Cheat Codes & Hints: Adrenaline Vault Game Revolution Gamezilla!

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

Adventure Gamers

Who would expect a previously unknown Norwegian developer to create such an absorbing and compelling adventure game? The Longest Journey is, quite simply, one of the best adventures ever made.

Read Full Review >

100

Evil Avatar

Even after you've finished the game, you'll be imagining and wondering the answers to characters' motivations, backgrounds, and futures.

Read Full Review >

100

Yahoo! Games

An adventure masterpiece...the best adventure game I've ever played.

Read Full Review >

100

GamePro

It's got great graphics, superb dialogue, and unforgettable characters, but the genre-bending story will keep graphic adventure fans glued to the screen.

Read Full Review >

100

Four Fat Chicks

A magnum opus. Even though it does have some small flaws and a couple of things I would change, it is absolutely breathtaking in all respects. They just don’t get any better than this.

Read Full Review >

100

Just Adventure

Top-notch writing, memorable characters, beautiful 3D animations against 2D backdrops, and a musical score that is more complementary than ornamental all unite for a once-in-a-lifetime gaming experience.

Read Full Review >

100

Daily Radar

The best adventure game in years. That's one of the easier ways to describe The Longest Journey. It's also the longest, the most rewarding and the most mature.

Happy Puppy

From the jaw-dropping opening sequence--really, my jaw did drop--to the production extras rewarding you for your efforts, TLJ will likely impress any adventure gamer and even some who'd shun the label.

Read Full Review >

GameSpot

One of the best adventure games in years.

Read Full Review >

IGN

This game does more than just recreate the nostalgic experience of old school adventure gaming, it actually reinvents how stories can be told in the medium, and gives us a glimpse of what we can expect in the years to come.

Read Full Review >

TotalGames.net

The first thing that strikes you about this game is the feeling of sheer quality that runs throughout it.

Read Full Review >

GameSpy

The powerful story affects you as it unfolds and by the end you will be drained--your life will never be the same again. This game could do to adventure games, what Doom did for the FPS. A must buy for anyone and everyone.

Read Full Review >

Game Revolution

A masterful adventure game. Although not incredibly impressive technologically, it encapsulates all the elements of a good adventure and is an absolute must-have for any adventure gamers out there.

Read Full Review >

Quandary

TLJ is a masterpiece and one of the best Adventures to be released during the past few years. Unfortunately it should be avoided by people who are violently repelled, for themselves or their offspring, by some extremely crude language.

Read Full Review >

CNET Gamecenter

Offers an astounding 50 hours or so of gameplay, and when it was over we wanted more.

Computer Games Magazine

For those who would rather explore than shoot, this game is cause for celebration.

Read Full Review >

PC Gamer

The pinnacle of classic, point-and-click adventure gaming. [Feb 2001, p.97]

ActionTrip

It would be a real shame if it ended up as unnoticed as "Grim Fandango."

Read Full Review >

Adrenaline Vault

It is utterly rife with quality in all areas, as the graphics, sound, music and gameplay all mesh in near-perfect unison to create one of the single most immersive and addictive adventure offerings, ever.

Read Full Review >

Eurogamer

An engrossing and highly entertaining adventure game with characters that you can care about, an involving storyline to keep you hooked, and settings and characters that are both beautiful and bizarre.

Read Full Review >

My Gamer

Make no mistake about it, whether you’re an adventure gaming junkie who misses the days of old, or a wet-behind-the-ears adventurer eager to see why this genre is (still) one of the best, The Longest Journey belongs in your collection.

Read Full Review >

Electric Playground

One of the most beautiful, thought-provoking games I've ever played.

Read Full Review >

Hot Games

The easily accessible humor and storyline of such adventure classics as "Broken Sword" and "Monkey Island" are lacking in here, though, but it's a pretty ride while it lasts.

Read Full Review >

Gaming Age

This Journey won't be to everyone's taste, but for those who salivate at the idea of one of the best-written graphical adventures ever seen, it's one well worth taking.

Read Full Review >

GamePower

Be warned, this is a game with unprecedented story depth but at the price of pacing. Some key soliloquies can drag on for 15 minutes.

All Game Guide

Definitely not the kind of game everyone will appreciate and, in fact, may be unplayable after five minutes for some gamers.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 86 User Votes

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

Shawn M gave it a0:
This game is crap.If a crap could crap and its crap could crap and make a game, this would be it. This is the epitimy of crapstains on adventure gaming. Do not buy this game. Take a chick flick and turn it into a game and Dreamfall is what you get. First of all the story is way to confusing and boring to care about it (spoiler alert) the first hour of the game is (no kidding and I quote) "My dad is away so lets throw a party". After wasting an hour and getting some drama with the main characters ex getting abducted blah blah blah chick crap blah blah blah. She is set after him-I stopped playing here because of sheer boredom. I literally wasted 3 hours just to get there. The fighting is terrible, and there is like 10 fight scenes in the game thats going to last forever.My advice? Skip this game and pick up Oblivion, because that had a good story.

Carlos The Bear gave it a10:
Masterpiece! This game is over 10 years old and could teach nearly all modern developers how to tell a story. Sod next-gen physics and fancy graphics, this is engrossing. No game since Ico has had me actually caring for characters like this one has. Even if you don't like the genre (I myself am a racer/fps guy) this is a must buy.

Lev gave it a9:
Probably my favourite game I ever played, although it's more like an interactive movie, but then it's an enjoyable one. (for me at least) Even thought it's another ' traveling to another world' fantasy story, the story and characters had the kind of content I'm usually looking for. Too bad the sequel was total crap.

Adrian M. gave it a10:
This is one of my favourite games I have ever played. It doesn't have so much replay value, as you need to wait a good long time before you can forget enough to play through it again, but the game is well worth it. The story is incredible, and easily makes up for the dated graphics and somewhat slow pace. DON'T rush through this game, to really enjoy it, take your time, explore your environment, talk to everyone. I was a skeptical that a point and click adventure could stand against all the modern developments in gaming, but I couldn't have been more pleased with this game.

Moonchild gave it a10:
AWESOME! Great story, great dialogues! I loved it!

Tom B. gave it a10:
The Longest Journey is a masterpiece. It has one of the most interesting storyline of any game I've ever played (except for perhaps Planescape: Torment). The environments are rich, varied, and interesting. The puzzles aren't up to the level of those in Riven and Myst, but they are challenging and fun. This game is undoubtedly one of the best adventure games since Myst. Only Syberia has topped it since its release.

Wout T gave it a3:
One problem with the game is that it is extremely lineair: If you figure out hints before the game wants you to, you still have to click the right thingy or start the right dialogue to continue. About 60% of the dialogues is extra reading not needed to understand the story or the assignments, which is a pain because the store is rather boring, certainly not intriguently sophisticated or intelligent like Myst. Characters have a deep level of depth, but share out a lot of unneeded information. Puzzles are often unlogical and relay heavy on trial and error. The biggest problem however is the fact that the playstyle is slow to the extreme. Click item 1, walk map A (15secs) map B (20 sec), click item 2, walk map C (20secs) etc etc. Just trying out one idea might take you more than three minutes. If you add dozen lines of text, you can see that the game was created for the story, rather than the other way around. This is bad, because you tend to figure things out faster than the game let you play.

Games

Sony

Microsoft

Nintendo

Other Platforms

Upcoming &Recent Releases

Longest Journey, The

Game Info

Summary

Also On Metacritic

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases