Dreamfall Game of the Year

List Price: $29.99 Discount Price: $10.25

Features:

• Stunning Sounds and Soundtrack ¿ Listen to an emotional and epic soundtrack in 7.1 surround as well as voice recordings of 50+ professional actors.
• Unparalleled Gameplay Variety ¿ Use brains or brawn; be polite or rude, threaten or sweet talk; in Dreamfall you make the choice, resulting in unexpected gameplay.
• Three Playable Characters ¿ Experience the story from three separate character's perspectives, and learn how their destinies blend together in an epic finale.
• Three Worlds ¿ Dreamfall spans three beautifully realized worlds, multiple chapters and a stunning amount of detailed locations.
• Unique World Interaction ¿ Dreamfall introduces a new focus field feature. Scan your environment and use information gathered to trigger remote gameplay opportunities.

Accessories:

PC Gamer (1-year)

Customer Reviews:

waiting for sequel [Posted on 2008-04-26]
if your thinking about buying it do its a good game im now waiting and drooling for the sequel which hopefully they dont cancel. but if your gonna buy this you should have a pc gamepad(like a ps2 controller) it helps. the game is great if you can get past the little problem with movement and fighting (it takes time and effort to go up hill and the circling around the enemy is difficult without gamepad) you will find this game has some of the best story and graphics. fair warning there is a lot of swearing and suggestive themes. i bought this game thinking it would be an ok sequel to the longest journey and turns out even though the game is different its a mind blowing game thats just as good.

DO NOT BUY [Posted on 2008-07-08]
Do NOT buy this game! The Longest Journey by itself is fine but Dreamfall is a disaster and a waste of money. What little we saw of the game before it crashed looked good. First it wouldn't run on my son's brand new PC because it's Vista. Then it wouldn't run on my 2 yr old laptop because it isn't the right video card. The right video card is a very, very small list so your chances of having it are slim. The Aspyr Technical Support is unbelievable bad! Their answer to everything is "we do not support that, check back later". What a waste! Just buy Dreamfall for the X-box and save yourself the aggrivation.

Dreaming of the Journey [Posted on 2008-07-15]
How do you follow up on what may be the most compelling and groundbreaking adventure game ever made? Simply put, you make another game, not following the exact same formula or rules as the first, but just as compelling and just as groundbreaking in its own right. You learn what worked in the original and make changes that keep it interesting. To put it another way... you make 'Dreamfall.'

'Dreamfall' is successful in the many of the same ways its predecessor, 'The Longest Journey,' was. It features a long, involved story with rich characters and colorful, believable dialogue. The graphics are beautiful to behold, the voice acting is top notch, the music enhances the story well. The puzzles, while not as frequent or as difficult as those in 'The Longest Journey,' are challenging and fun and worked into the story in sensible ways.

The new elements in 'Dreamfall' take some getting used to. Gone is the simple point-and-click navigation from the first game, replaced by full 3-D environments and a sort of over-the-shoulder first-person persepctive. This can be frustrating at first, but has rewards as the game progresses, especially as you find you can explore familiar (yet changed) locations from the first game in more depth, and lovingly-rendered in the new engine. The main character from the first game, April Ryan, is still in 'Dreamfall,' but she is older and wiser, and she is only one of three playable characters in the game. You will spend most of your time playing as a new character, Zoe Castillo, as she tries to find a purpose and direction in her life...and boy, does she ever find it. Or perhaps it finds her. The updated control scheme, including a simple fighting mechanic, can also be hard to get used to, but that passes, and I found that 'Dreamfall' was perfectly playable in its own right. At times, and particularly near the end, puzzles and interactive sequences are few and far between, so playing 'Dreamfall' can feel a little more like an interactive movie than a game, but the story is interesting enough that I never minded.

Perhaps most important in a game like this, the sense of wonder and imagination that pervaded 'The Longest Journey' to its core is still here in 'Dreamfall' too. I found myself laughing out loud at funny lines, and only a short while later was stunned into silence at an emotionally-charged final confrontation near the end of the game, moved nearly to tears. 'Dreamfall' is a story in itself, with a beginning and an ending, but it definitely hints (strongly) at a continuing story, and it also definitely remembers its roots. Fans of 'The Longest Journey' will delight in the return of some of the best characters from the first game, and those who pay close attention to names may even get a hint of things to come. The themes of 'Dreamfall' are similar to those of 'The Longest Journey,' but if anything they run deeper and pack a little more punch this time around. 'Dreamfall' is in many ways a more mature game, a more mature story, while keeping with the magic and wonder of the original.

This 'Game of the Year' package is just about pefect for someone like me. It includes three discs. One is the 'Dreamfall' disc itself, the whole game on one CD. The second disc is 'The Longest Journey,' the same game I played and fell in love with years ago, now also all on a single disc. Disc 3 in the GotY package is the gorgeous and lush soundtrack for 'Dreamfall.' I have listened to it several times, I'm actually listening to it as I type this, and now that I've played the game all the way through the music has a special place for me. This is the ideal package for any fan of the first game who wants to experience the second one fully.

How do you follow up on a game that set the standard for adventure games for years to come? Not, one would think, by adhering slavishly to that standard. No, the better way is to set a new standard. 'Dreamfall,' simply put, delivers on almost all counts -- a worthy sequel to a great game, and a great game in its own right.

Thoughts from a newbie  [Posted on 2008-08-12]
I just finished both games this week.

As someone who is new to adventure gaming and one that is used to action games, my opinion of the two games will sound pretty different from most of the reviewers on here.

First off, I loved both of the games, although Dreamfall was a bit more like half a game with nothing being resolved by the time the credits roll, but the half that I did get to play left me craving more, even if it did leave me unsatisfied as far as tying up loose ends goes.

For me, the original was a bit too 'adventure' for me.. The point and click and then waiting for her to run all the way across the screen was just short of torture. I loved the story and the characters, but some of the tasks were more tedious than they had to be if April didn't have to slowly jog all the way across the current environment. If I forgot to pick something up on a previous screen, it almost made me want to quit to have to think about jogging all the way back. With that said, the in depth and beautifully written story is worth the wait.

I know this is blasphemous for a lot of adventure game players, but I liked the controls of dreamfall 10x better. It was a free environment, and the graphics were so beautiful that I did not mind having to run across Marcuria, Casablanca, etc. The controls took a bit of getting used to, but with WASD, the movement, and the ability to explore, adds so much to the game and for that reason, I feel the controls are superior. Being confined to a linear space takes so much away from the environment, and after all, isn't the environment a big reason for playing adventure games in the first place?

The combat was a bit ridiculous, but I can't deny that the fact that you can actually die in this game enhances the suspense of some of the encounters.

As for the storylines, I can appreciate both. I love the way that the two stories tie together without really being a sequel. Some of the charaters remain, but the story of each stands alone. They intertwine without being the continuation of the first. But... like I said before, Dreamfall is more like part 1 of a two part story. They get you there, but they don't finish the job. You are just beginning to see where they are going with it, and where they are going is fantastic, then bad things happen, then the credits roll. *scratches head*--- Is that it? ---- Unfortunately, it is. I have become very attached to the characters and can't wait for the sequel!! Whenever that may be..

Why mess with perfection? [Posted on 2008-08-26]
I loved the first Dreamfall adventure game - this one mucked up the works by trying to add a clunky action game combat system. The good news is, you almost never have to use it. This game still has the atmosphere of the first one with more updated graphics.

Overall, fun to play.

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