I could never get into the Longest Journey, just didn't appeal, it had promise but in my opinion never really fulfilled it.
We're playing it because a friend of my wife recommended it, but it's slow and pointless in the beginning. A lot of the talking is like right out of chick flick.
At least we laugh at some of its issues and hang out while some characters end their unnecessarily long winded interventions.
Like you said it has potential though.
At least we laugh at some of its issues and hang out while some characters end their unnecessarily long winded interventions.
Like you said it has potential though.
I think I played it not long after a Torment playthrough, which might have coloured my view: One, because the prose is far superior in Torment, to a level i'd say challenges a lot of authors i've read, good uns. Two, the alien and exotic world presented in the Longest Journey looks cliche and predictable in comparison to Sigil and the vast, chaotic expanses of the Multiverse. Three, because April is just so boring and far too nice in comparison to the fiercely passionate and driven Nameless One.
The game was nice and enjoyable, but left me thinking, meh. I thought I was the only one, because almost every game journalist raves over it like it's an undisputed classic.
The game was nice and enjoyable, but left me thinking, meh. I thought I was the only one, because almost every game journalist raves over it like it's an undisputed classic.
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I can see why you'd not want to play it right after Torment. In fact the fist town I saw in Marcuria, which had a fair in it, somewhat looked like a poor man's Sigil knock off.
But as you say everyone talks about TLJ like it's one of those classics, and that's why I'm so surprised it is lacking in so many areas. And this is coming from a long time adventure gamer. Goes to show good games are more than just about nostalgia, which is what a lot of people say the Kickstarter RPG's are all about.
But as you say everyone talks about TLJ like it's one of those classics, and that's why I'm so surprised it is lacking in so many areas. And this is coming from a long time adventure gamer. Goes to show good games are more than just about nostalgia, which is what a lot of people say the Kickstarter RPG's are all about.
Is it supposed to be out next year? I haven't heard anything about it recently. I hope they're still working on it and it won't disappoint.
Btw, a newer adventure title which I really liked (you can tell from my avatar) is "The Book of Unwritten Tales". It's not really challenging, it doesn't have mind-bending puzzles, it's rather light-hearted. But it's beautiful, really funny, has awesome characters, a fairly interesting story and decent gameplay. I also enjoyed the music and the voice acting (Doug Cockle is voicing one of the three main characters). So basically, it has everything that I want from a point and click game. Oh, and it's quite long as well, it's around 15 hours I believe. I can't recommend it highly enough.
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Here it is, the long awaited commentary on The Longest Journey
"The dialog and characters are second to none, the plot is magnificent, deep and long, the locations are imaginative and awe-inspiring, and the general atmosphere of the game is something you'll want to linger in for weeks to come".
That was copied and pasted from a GOG.com review. And in my case it serves only one purpose: sarcasm. Simply negate everything in that sentence and that is The Longest Journey. Interestingly, that doesn't mean the game is bad. It's well worth playing in fact. Read on.
Let's get over with the bad parts first. Mechanically the game is awkward, subpar I'd say even compared to its contemporaries. There aren't many ways to interact with the world and when you try to use an item on anything except it's one, unique intended destination, the game provides NO feedback and the protagonist just walks or runs in a weird direction. Also, no feedback from combining random items. This is like 30% of the fun in many adventure games, interaction and exploration
The narrative and characters leave a lot to be desired. There are a few obnoxious *hint hint* characters and April, the protagonist, is quite dull. Playing as April is embarrassing, as she has no reasoning skills whatsoever and will go around asking the most obvious and mundane questions in order to advance. The writing itself is serviceable in general, interesting towards the end, but cringe worthy in more than one occasion. Lots of repetition and clichés, and way too much pointless and poorly written dialogue during the first half of the game. Sometimes this is like a "chick flick". This is another 30% of the fun, narrative. The setting and the plot are somewhat interesting but poorly executed, specially the former. However, as the game progresses it does offer some form of relief and some refreshing ideas, culminating with an anticlimactic ending that happens to be, in fact, quite appropriate and enjoyable.
The art style is OK for the pre rendered backdrops but the 3D character models have *not* aged well. Wished they would have gone for the hand drawn approach like that of The Curse of Monkey Island or Broken Sword. It looks nice enough, but could have aged much better.
Despite all of these shortcomings, the game may be worth playing for adventure fans. It has some redeemable and enjoyable adventure moments here and there, concentrated mostly in the second half, but I honestly can't see why this game is so popular. That is, if I take it for what it is and ignore the importance of presenting a fully functional female protagonist and so on.
In general, I'd say it's above average but below the high bar set by the true classics.
"The dialog and characters are second to none, the plot is magnificent, deep and long, the locations are imaginative and awe-inspiring, and the general atmosphere of the game is something you'll want to linger in for weeks to come".
That was copied and pasted from a GOG.com review. And in my case it serves only one purpose: sarcasm. Simply negate everything in that sentence and that is The Longest Journey. Interestingly, that doesn't mean the game is bad. It's well worth playing in fact. Read on.
Let's get over with the bad parts first. Mechanically the game is awkward, subpar I'd say even compared to its contemporaries. There aren't many ways to interact with the world and when you try to use an item on anything except it's one, unique intended destination, the game provides NO feedback and the protagonist just walks or runs in a weird direction. Also, no feedback from combining random items. This is like 30% of the fun in many adventure games, interaction and exploration
The narrative and characters leave a lot to be desired. There are a few obnoxious *hint hint* characters and April, the protagonist, is quite dull. Playing as April is embarrassing, as she has no reasoning skills whatsoever and will go around asking the most obvious and mundane questions in order to advance. The writing itself is serviceable in general, interesting towards the end, but cringe worthy in more than one occasion. Lots of repetition and clichés, and way too much pointless and poorly written dialogue during the first half of the game. Sometimes this is like a "chick flick". This is another 30% of the fun, narrative. The setting and the plot are somewhat interesting but poorly executed, specially the former. However, as the game progresses it does offer some form of relief and some refreshing ideas, culminating with an anticlimactic ending that happens to be, in fact, quite appropriate and enjoyable.
The art style is OK for the pre rendered backdrops but the 3D character models have *not* aged well. Wished they would have gone for the hand drawn approach like that of The Curse of Monkey Island or Broken Sword. It looks nice enough, but could have aged much better.
Despite all of these shortcomings, the game may be worth playing for adventure fans. It has some redeemable and enjoyable adventure moments here and there, concentrated mostly in the second half, but I honestly can't see why this game is so popular. That is, if I take it for what it is and ignore the importance of presenting a fully functional female protagonist and so on.
In general, I'd say it's above average but below the high bar set by the true classics.
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Opened a dedicated thread, the project just looks very good:
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/33259-Starr-Mazer
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/33259-Starr-Mazer
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Monkey Island, surprised how much I remember of this game, really stuck in me noggin.
No only ever played 1&2, to be honest I didn't like the new art style they started using, preferred the pixelated art.
Downloading Grim Fandango Remastered: https://www.gog.com/game/grim_fandango_remastered
Cool, give us feedback. Recently started a Grim play through on Residual VM but it was still buggy. Looking forward to this.
@.Volsung.
Alright, I'll reply here. I actually read this topic earlier this morning and have been meaning to reply... don't worry, no stoning to death is going to take place.
I played TLJ back in high school and really liked it back then - April was easy to relate to because she was an art student who ends up with a pet bird, though I'm a bit surprised you find her dull. She was the first videogame character I heard use a lot of swear words and take no shit from anyone. But that's the point, it was a long time, and I hadn't touched the game since, partially because I was afraid I'd come to the same conclusion as you: that it's not all that it's cracked up to be. I do remember the poor controls and a few really annoying logical puzzles (the one with the giants or whatever, uuuugh...) And let's not forget the ultimate pain in the ass, the rubber ducky! :'D
So, through my rose-tinted nostalgia glasses, it is this big, long game, with a tangled plot and lots of interesting characters. I'd have to replay it to see if I still like it, buuut... I don't want to.
Have you considered playing Dreamfall? It's full 3D and has its shortcomings, but the world is very lively. And the ending doesn't hurt so much now that they're rolling out Dreamfall Chapters. I've played the first episode, actually, and it's an interesting take on the choice-based episodic gaming. They list your choices in the end and tell you what kind of impact they will have, although nobody can say how good this system is until more episodes come out. Though they did pull a Witcher 2 and created two different scenarios based on a reply you give. Also, the game was a bit buggy for me, but they might've patched everything by now. I think both Dreamfall games improve upon the things you found the weakest in TLJ.
Alright, I'll reply here. I actually read this topic earlier this morning and have been meaning to reply... don't worry, no stoning to death is going to take place.
I played TLJ back in high school and really liked it back then - April was easy to relate to because she was an art student who ends up with a pet bird, though I'm a bit surprised you find her dull. She was the first videogame character I heard use a lot of swear words and take no shit from anyone. But that's the point, it was a long time, and I hadn't touched the game since, partially because I was afraid I'd come to the same conclusion as you: that it's not all that it's cracked up to be. I do remember the poor controls and a few really annoying logical puzzles (the one with the giants or whatever, uuuugh...) And let's not forget the ultimate pain in the ass, the rubber ducky! :'D
So, through my rose-tinted nostalgia glasses, it is this big, long game, with a tangled plot and lots of interesting characters. I'd have to replay it to see if I still like it, buuut... I don't want to.
Have you considered playing Dreamfall? It's full 3D and has its shortcomings, but the world is very lively. And the ending doesn't hurt so much now that they're rolling out Dreamfall Chapters. I've played the first episode, actually, and it's an interesting take on the choice-based episodic gaming. They list your choices in the end and tell you what kind of impact they will have, although nobody can say how good this system is until more episodes come out. Though they did pull a Witcher 2 and created two different scenarios based on a reply you give. Also, the game was a bit buggy for me, but they might've patched everything by now. I think both Dreamfall games improve upon the things you found the weakest in TLJ.
@Dona
Thanks for your reply. I actually had fun playing TLJ but like you said, maybe I would have found it more fascinating at a younger age. Most of all, even if I do find April a little dull (she's a struggling art student.... and? This doesn't explain why she has to go around asking such basic and redundant questions), the main issue with TLJ is that the writing is just cringe worthy. So repetitive and, honestly, bad. Some of its contemporaries include Planescape: Torment, which is actually known for its excellent writing (unusual in a video game). Another example would be King of Dragon Pass, a text-heavy game that, while not novel quality like Torment, delivers a good story efficiently and proficiently.
I am curious about the other games though, so I may actually end up playing Dreamfall and Dreamfall Chapters. My wife and I like playing adventure games together and she insisted we played TLJ. We had a good time and a good laugh at its writing, but it was all good fun.
Speaking of adventure games from the late 90's, have you played Grim Fandango? Now is your chance! That's one hell of a story, puzzles, music and art direction combo.
Thanks for your reply. I actually had fun playing TLJ but like you said, maybe I would have found it more fascinating at a younger age. Most of all, even if I do find April a little dull (she's a struggling art student.... and? This doesn't explain why she has to go around asking such basic and redundant questions), the main issue with TLJ is that the writing is just cringe worthy. So repetitive and, honestly, bad. Some of its contemporaries include Planescape: Torment, which is actually known for its excellent writing (unusual in a video game). Another example would be King of Dragon Pass, a text-heavy game that, while not novel quality like Torment, delivers a good story efficiently and proficiently.
I am curious about the other games though, so I may actually end up playing Dreamfall and Dreamfall Chapters. My wife and I like playing adventure games together and she insisted we played TLJ. We had a good time and a good laugh at its writing, but it was all good fun.
Speaking of adventure games from the late 90's, have you played Grim Fandango? Now is your chance! That's one hell of a story, puzzles, music and art direction combo.
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@.Volsung.
That's the trouble with older games, over time you get used to better made ones. TLJ has always been praised for its writing and insane amounts of dialogue, and damnit, you're making me want to replay it just to see if I still like it. Maybe I should settle on a youtube let's play...
Dreamfall is fun, I liked Zoe way more than April (who goes through some... changes and becomes an emo goth). Keep in mind that it hauls from the unfortunate era when adventure games tried to win over console gamers, so it's full of QTEs and action sequences.
Grim Fandango remake is definitely on my wishlist! I started the original one SO many times and would always get distracted whenever I reached the casino (which is pretty early on). Sometimes, a game just does not stick. :c
That's the trouble with older games, over time you get used to better made ones. TLJ has always been praised for its writing and insane amounts of dialogue, and damnit, you're making me want to replay it just to see if I still like it. Maybe I should settle on a youtube let's play...
Dreamfall is fun, I liked Zoe way more than April (who goes through some... changes and becomes an emo goth). Keep in mind that it hauls from the unfortunate era when adventure games tried to win over console gamers, so it's full of QTEs and action sequences.
Grim Fandango remake is definitely on my wishlist! I started the original one SO many times and would always get distracted whenever I reached the casino (which is pretty early on). Sometimes, a game just does not stick. :c
Playing Grim Fandango (after creating a loop partition to work around large XFS partition bug in the game). I've never played it before, somehow just missed it. It looks great so far.