A long trip
The saga The Longest Journey – Dreamfall has a long journey and importance in the world of video games and graphic adventures . The idea came from the privileged mind of Ragnar T ø rnquist , who has designed and produced the three titles.
The original was developed by Red Thread Games and published in 1999 by IQ Media Nordic and reached a long list of countries in the world, including Spain, with one of the most sublime voice overdubs that we have been able to enjoy in the history of video games. We live the story of April Ryan,a young and dreamy art student who was involuntarily immersed in a great adventure, being in his hands the power to save not one but the t
wo parallel worlds. These are Arcadia and Stark, magic and science, dream and reality. Two future versions of our own world, separated centur
ies ago by the emergence of conflicts between both powers and guarded since then by a Guardian (varying it every 1000 years) to protect “The balance”. April knew many territories, races and legends along the way, making great friendships like ” Raven “, a charming and funny talking bird.
Years after this epic and unforgettable adventure, its sequel came to us in 2006: Dreamfall. When the action was set 10 years after the events of the first game, we were able to meet and incarnate a new heroine born of the current world: Zoë Castillo , whose mission began under the premise “Save April Ryan”. This adventure was more focused on Stark, the technological
world, letting us know the ” Dream machine“(sleep machine), an entertainment device that allowed its users to live pre-programmed lucid dreams, but behind this apparently attractive idea was WATICorp, a large corporation whose real objectives were far from being well-intentioned. discovering that the devices served to harvest the memories of those who would use it In Dre
amfall we could also meet Kian Alvane, a soldier and believer elite apostle of the Azadi, sent on a mission to exterminate those considered “impure”: the magical races , throughout the world of Arcadia, finally sympathized with our beloved April and changed her mind about her beliefs, refusing to follow the orders that came to her.
Chapters of a complex history
Shortly after the arrival of a third party in episodic format was announced, to continue and conclude the history of the saga. The first chapter came exclusively for PC on October 21, 2014 and the fifth and last on June 17, 2016. For this reason it was more advisable t
o wait for a full version that contained the whole, although many fans could not contain ourselves and we play out. Today we get to PC, PS4 and XBOX One the long awaited version, ” Final cut “, where we have 5 chapters (13 episodes, honoring
the original) together, plus a patch that improves many aspects that gave problems such as animations, the character design, the lighting or the gameplay itself.
The five episodes or “books”: Reborn, Rebels, Realms, Revelations and Redux (Reborn, Rebels, Realms, Revelations), continue the story
right where Dreamfall left it. With Zoë’s body in a coma, her mind is very active in “DreamTime”, the place where those who use the aforementione
d Dreamachine are. It has become a dangerous addiction, causing nightmares to some of its users. Taking Zoë we can help and free some of them, giving them the advice to stop using the dangero
us machine. When we get awake from the coma we do it in the cyberpunk cityof Europolis, in Stark, in a dystopia worse than that imagined by Orwell,
where there is a constant strict police surveillance and little individual and political freedom. Most people use the sleep machine obsessively and our protagonist does not remember
anything lived to date. However, memories begin to emerge in his mind as soon as he connects to a Dreamachine, accessing Arcadia, the magical wor
ld and meeting his old friend: Cuevo. Together and with the help of new and old allies, they must find Lux, the first “dreamer” that according to legend dreamed and created the world originally.
On the other hand, we have Kian Alvane back, imprisoned after the events at the end of Dreamfall. It is located in Arcadia and with the help of an
unexpected ally we get out of prison to meet with the resistance, which tries to prevent the Azadi (who Kian belonged before) culminate their plan to build a great “Motor” to dominate the world and Get rid of all the remaining magic.
In case we did not have enough with two controllable protagonists, Dreamfall Chapters presents Saga, a girl who we see literally grow, since we will ta
ke control of her in all her life stages, from being a baby to becoming an important old woman. We will spend most of his life in “The House of All Wor
lds,” a place where the rules of time and space seem not to apply. Being young we escaped to help the protagonists in their important missions, eventually forming the three an unstoppable trifuerza.
From the point and click to the remote
After the brief explanation of the complex argument, where we have done nothing but navigate the surface of a deep ocean, it is clear that the strong
point of the adventures of this saga has always been, from The Longest Journey, its history. However, since the format we are dealing with is a vi
deo game, other aspects must be taken into account. What started in 1999 being a point and clickplayable only with the help of the computer mouse has evolved to need a command (or keyboard
+ mouse if we resist the change) in this new release. It is difficult and imprudent to compare two titles separated by 18 years of evolution, although it is in
evitable that the fans of the first installment will unroll their magnifying glasses to observe in detail every aspect of Dreamfall Chapters in order to detect traces of the original.
The scenarios have become much broader and full of visual stimuli (although not more varied, since the territories of the worlds visited in TLJ w
ere really original and different among them). The mechanicsThey have implemented the decision-making system in conversations so common today, with which we can decide the fate of our protagonists through our wor
ds and actions. It will be easy to know the possible outcome of each of the roads that open in front of us, because when we have to decide, the time wil
l stop and some keywords will float on the screen. When you pass the cursor over them, an explanation of what they are about will be told.
For example, at a certain time in the beginning we can choose between “Scare” or “Comfort” a girl who is having nightmares. Zoë’s voice, who we control at that mome
nt, will speak with her subconscious aloud to try to decide between one option or another. During the game we will have to face some moral challenges much larger than the one mentioned, thus giving meaning to this conversational mechanics. We will also be offered the
option to see the overall percentages of the other players to help us decide. The message “The balance has shifted” will remind us after every decision that every word and action tells and that everything seems to be part of a great butterfly effect.
