| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Other | 9.30 |
| Overall | 9.30 |
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Well here is a game I might have never played if not for great GS member UpInFlames, The Longest Journey if you don't know is a point and click adventure game from 1999. It's on steam right now for $10, any computer can run it and yes its well worth it. Now I am not a fan of this genre, I have played like 3 games in this genre total so it is hard for me to critique or judge the game mechanics of this game when I don't have a good example base to choose from. So to be honest I have no clue how good an "adventure game" this game is, all I know is that I had a blast playing it and it has one of the best stories I have ever seen in gaming. TLJ's story is one you maybe familiar with before, a young hero (in this case heroine) gets taken out of his normal life and told he has a destiny far greater than he or she could have ever imagined and they go on a huge adventure. If you are instantly thinking about classic stories like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, you are sort of in the right mind frame of the type of story that will be told. Unlike those however this one is filled with a sort of lighthearted attitude, witty dialogue and genuinely funny throughout. It takes itself serious enough to make this journey matter but at the same time the game will throw down pop culture references and even poke fun at usual game design choices, it walks that line perfectly. TLJ also covers both sci-fi and fantasy, usually you get one or the other but here you get both for the price of one, it works out extremely well. Many times a story is only as good as its characters and that is where this game excels. Prepare to fall in love with some of the best characters you will ever come across in gaming. Unless you hate puppies or something equivalent to that, I bet all of you will absolutely love the main character April Ryan. She is smart, funny, witty; she takes on the weight of the world but never lets it get her down, its a character you instantly root for. An excellent voice actress brings her to life; one that I found has not done any more voice work according to IMDB (which is insane). The way she delivers her lines, if you have played the game you will know exactly what I am talking about when I say "Thank you Jerry." It is not just April, there are so many memorable characters from her trusty sidekick Crow (who is a talking crow), to the mysterious Cortez, and the legless foul-mouthed Flipper; the game covers the gauntlet of interesting characters. Some creatures you meet in the fantasy world have an almost Disney like vibe but in the same game you have characters that spit out expletives at an alarming rate, its a game for adults but at the same time touches that inner child sense of adventure. Above all I think it's the writing that makes TLJ a story unlike any I have seen in gaming. While playing through this I was left scratching my head why can't most games have even half of the good writing this game has. Each character you meet has some type of quirk to them or they have an air of mystery about them, which is brought to forefront cause of what they say, how they say things and how April reacts to them. You will remember simple conversations as much as you will major story segments cause they are so well written. It helps so much in a game like this when you want to speak to everyone, when you want to click on everything to hear April's response, that's what the brilliant writing brings. From a gameplay standpoint TLJ did not disappoint. I have played games like this where I felt lost and the answer was so obscure it would get me frustrated. That is not the case with this game. Outside maybe a few puzzles at the start, the rest of the game makes sense within the rules of the world presented to you. Rarely did I feel totally lost, this game does a wonderful job of making sure that what you need to advance is in front of you and not in some location you visited 8 hours ago. While a lot of the puzzles in the game are the standard use item on object variety there are some more elaborate puzzles that stretch out over a whole area and some puzzles have devices you have to manipulate. The middle section of this game is by far its strongest cause that is when they really let loose with some well designed locations and puzzles that go so far beyond just trying out items on objects. There are a few issues with the game, mainly the pacing at the start and end. It starts off slow, maybe to slow. For a while you will be a bit lost trying to get to know these characters the game throws at you, don't worry cause a few hours in the game will totally click and from that moment on its never overwhelming, its just right. On the opposite side we have the ending, which seems a bit lackluster after the brilliance that came before it. What I mean by that is that the puzzles get very simple, its almost all about using an item on something and by this time in the game you have almost no items left so everything is extremely obvious. There is almost no challenge at the end, its a shame cause for so many hours it was excellent puzzle after excellent puzzle. For me I guess the limitations of the genre itself can get in the way, it is what it is and it does it well so I wont critique this game for something its not, its just that you know, I wish the genres I do love had some of the clever writing and characters this game has. Remember this game is from 1999 so it has PS1 level models, in other words, really ugly. Thankfully the backgrounds are static and are beautiful. As I mentioned before the voice acting is superb all around. I wish the music was more noticeable, nothing really stood out to me. The game takes about 20 hours to finish, so there is plenty of game, it will go by oh so fast. Sadly its very linear with basically no replay value other than experiencing the story again, no matter its very much worth it. I can't recommend this game enough if you are a fan of these types of stories. You will fall in love with the characters and world presented in TLJ, when you finish you will want more. Its a game that will hook you and won't let go, believe me you will keep playing and saying "just one more puzzle" but never stop. As I always say an excellent game is a excellent game, it doesn't matter if you are a fan of the genre or not I am confident most of you can appreciate this game for what it is. And it is a fantastic game, go play it. |
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Posted by Dvader Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:14:51
Recently Spotted:
*crickets*
Its funny because I've recently played Dreamfall which you may remember me blabbing about in ring of flames, but I haven't played this first game yet. But I'm meaning to soon.
I really recommend you play Dreamfall too. Beautiful game of the same style obviously, but the technology is still pretty good looking today, like a really pretty Xbox game. From what I hear, the characters are also more likeable.
Ha ha. Good review. I need to dig out sam and max from my cuboard.