Dreamfall gone gold

[Moosferatu]

Yeah, it starts out incredibly slow, but once you get out of chapter three it picks up and the number of 20+ minute monologues is greatly reduced.

[vimes]

What's chapter three ? I remember having stopped just after entering the other world.

Meanwhile, here in France not a single soul at the game shop knows what is the release date,sometimes that the game exists and more than often it is not even in their database... I wonder what those guys do during their hours.

[nsps]

You solve a couple puzzles (and listen to a few more boring monologues) in the other world before the chapter three title pops up.

I still can't believe that they couldn't at least give us some closeups of the characters' faces, or more visual accompaniment. Oh well, I'll play a bit longer...

[Duncan]

You solve a couple puzzles (and listen to a few more boring monologues) in the other world before the chapter three title pops up.

I still can't believe that they couldn't at least give us some closeups of the characters' faces, or more visual accompaniment. Oh well, I'll play a bit longer...

To be honest there aren't any drastic changes upcoming. I haven't played it in six years but I don't remember the long conversations and exposition dumps easing up by much. That first one in Arcadia is the one everyone remembers but there are definitely some more later on. I like the game but the storytelling is pretty screwy.

[nsps]

To be honest there aren't any drastic changes upcoming. I haven't played it in six years but I don't remember the long conversations and exposition dumps easing up by much. That first one in Arcadia is the one everyone remembers but there are definitely some more later on. I like the game but the storytelling is pretty screwy.

Huh. Well, I like the parts of the game where I actually get to play, so I'll probably keep it up for a bit longer. I'll let you know how I like it as it goes on. My sister took a look during the scene when I talk to Cortez after returning at the end of chapter 2, and I have a feeling it completely turned her off the game.

[netmonkey]

I said "fuck it!" and cancelled my pc version order and just got the xbox version at ebgames. I figured I need to add more games to my dying console.. it's not like I'm going to throw it away anytime soon (not with beloved psychonauts in my collection). I ended up playing until 2:00 am even if I had to work in the morning.

My initial review, it's spoiler free unless you haven't even played TLJ, but I'm going to hide for those who don't even want to even read what I think about the game so far, maybe you want to judge it by yourself:

The story is quite intriguing. There is definitely a lot going on surrounded by mysteries. I just got to Arcadia and I still don't know why has everything changed in both worlds other than my own theories, of course. Everything is much darker, too, sometimes quite frightening. I saw a glimpse of April and I was totally speechless when I compared her to the same April from 10 years ago (or 5-6 years in real world time).

While Ragnar Tornquist has achieved excellence in storytelling, he has much to learn about designing good gameplay. The game could have been a lot better if they got some user response (did they?) and changed the controls' feedback over and over. Not that they're bad, it's just that they're not responsive enough, even in the main menu screen. Dunno if this is the xbox version. A lot of it seems playes very much point+click, even though they could have taken advantage of the more physical world. There is potential in some of these new types of gameplay they added, but as all adventure games, they're not developed properly. If only nintendo got involved...

So, if you're looking to prove your skill or manhood or womangamerhood or whatever, this is not the game for it. The story is really what drives this game, and your love for the original TLJ.

And it does pick up a lot faster than TLJ. There is still some slow time just because there's lots of introductions, not as extensive as tlj, but then you can't stop playing.

[Moosferatu]

This game is fucking unbelievable -- but the combat sucks something fierce. I just got to the fourth chapter, and I must say that it has exceeded all of my expectations. Granted, I successfully kept myself in the dark leading up to the game, so nothing has been spoiled and I didn't really know what to expect. The graphics are incredible. I honestly wasn't expecting them to look as good as they do. The score is amazing and fits the game like a glove. The voice acting is also dead on. It doesn't suffer from any of the pacing problems that plagued its predecessor. In fact, it has some of the finest story telling that I've ever experienced in a game. I also love the fact that it doesn't beat you over the head at the beginning of the game to get you caught up on what happened in the last game like so many other games do. Dreamfall actually plays like a stand alone game, and does so very successfully. Of course, if you haven't played the first you're missing out on a lot. There have been numerous occasions already that I've gotten goosebumps after meeting an old character, visiting old locations, and just hearing about what's happened in the world over the past 10 years. I can't wait till I meet up with Crow again. It's amazing. I love it. I wish I didn't have to work tonight. The bottom line is, BUY THIS GAME. Oh, and the fighting sucks, but there's usually a way around the harder fights.

[miffy495]

If I'm not mistaken, you're not playing as April anymore, so why would Crow show up? Don't get me wrong, I love that little guy too, I just don't see what his purpose would be. Maybe I've just forgotten some essential part of his character or something. It's been almost 3 years since my last playthrough of TLJ.

[netmonkey]

You are mistaken. You play three characters: April, Zoe, and Kian. Ergo, the three people in the box art.

[miffy495]

Fair enough. I really haven't been following the game at all and won't get to play it until at least after next Friday's paycheque (SOME money's got to go to food...) so I'm pretty clueless about the finer points.

[Moosferatu]

Dang it, April is still a whiny bitch. What a let down. Plus, her character model isn't the greatest.

[Moosferatu]

wow......

I just finished it. It is fantastic. Sure, it isn't the hardest game, but the story and the way it is told is absolutely incredible. I'd imagine that a lot of people would probably disagree with me, but as far as I'm concerned it has a well earned place in the top ten adventures of all time.

Here's a new thread for spoilerific analysis of the game.

[netmonkey]

Finished it and loved it myself, too. lots of people on the official forums are bitching about it, but whatever. I was ready for what was about to happen, and bring on a sequel!

I like this April a lot better. It's still whiny april, but that's april for you, and not as much as the tlj one. she's a bit more grown up now, and I was still... in love with her.

[Moosferatu]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=64248

Interesting. I hope it's selling well for them.