The Longest Journey

I remember hearing about this game when it first came out but for one reason or another I just ignored it until I found it in the bargain bin sometime later. I wish I had just bought it when it first came out because it would of been worth every penny at its full price. I am going to break this review into three catagories of graphics, game mechanics, and story. Graphics: The graphics were very well done for this game. You character was 3d and then you moved around in a static picture world. The only thing is the typical static pictures were not actually static. Things moved around like waves of water. This all just gave the world a much more lively feel too it. Game Mechanics: If you like adventure games then you should like this one too. It is the typical style of finding the correct item and taking it to the right place to solve something. This does mean sometimes you will be moving your mouse around the screen to find things, but it really wasn't a problem for me. Overall things went logically enough too that you could figure out what your items in your inventory were used for when you came on a puzzle. We are not talking complex puzzles like in the Myst series, but few games seem to ever actually reach that level. Story: This really is the best part of the whole experience. The game really has a good story. You'll move back and forth between your world and a magical world. Each world also has a different feel to it. The "real" world is modern and a little blah and then the magical world feels like some medieval fantasy world with talking animals and bright colors. The other great thing about the story is that your character seem to actually grow. So many games has your character being the same person as the end of the game as he/she was at the beginning. The Longest Journey has your character grown and discover things about herself. The game just had a more mature feel to it then a lot of other ones I have played. In closing the game uses the old adventure game style which you will know if you like or dislike already, has nice graphics that has motion in the background, and has a great story that makes you care about the characters and what will happen to them.

I came to The Longest Journey with some expectation, I'll admit. I'd yet to hear someone really speak bad of it, and most reviews spoke quite highly in fact. And while it certainly isn't a bad game, I personally don't feel that it deserves all the praise. First of all, let's look at the gameplay. As a point and click game, you know what you're getting. Point. Click. Combine items. And, as anyone who's played a PaC game knows, some of these combinations and applications are so bizarre you never could have figured it out with a guide/random luck. But what really kills me is how slow everything is. The main character, April, trudges along even when running, making some of the wide open areas an absolute pain. And God forbid if an npc nees to walk across screen, because they can't run and it WILL show you every step of their trans-screen journey. This may seem like an odd thing to complain about, but trust me, it will get on your nerves. Second, the story, arguably the most important aspect of a game like this. The story is so-so. The writing IS pretty clever and the dialogue doesn't sound forced, plus they were able to get really good voice actors, especially for the time. However, the cliches weigh heavy in the air, and I'll bet your able to figure out about a quarter of the twists before you get to them. Also, the pacing seems really skitsophrenic. Sometimes, it will take forever to accomplish even one major task, and then the next one will be over in a few minutes. All in all, a good game, but a little too average. I'd probably given it a 3.5 if gog allowed.

Despite love for strategy and RPG games (and I do mean RPG, not "it has stats" ;) ), I never really got into "adventure" games. I did try quite a lot of them, notably the old LucasArt classics, but the only one that came even close to keeping my attention was Grim Fandango. The Longest Journey, on the other hand, absolutely captivated me. Part of its charm was the excellent characterization (along with superb voice acting). Part was the intelligent, if occasionally flawed, game world design. But the greatest impact was made by how well all the aspects of the game come together to weave an unforgettable tale. This is not a game for all. If you are more twitch-oriented, or find books boring, you are likely not to be captivated by this gem as much as I was. Because, in essence, this is what the Longest Journey is - storytelling at its best, crafted to a new medium.

Simply the best quest ever done for the PC. I have no words to say. It is a must have game!

I think that this was a really great game. It has a lot of different elements in it which keep the game from getting too boring. It is a little slow at the beginning but it gets better as it goes along. I am planning to get the sequel and I hear that there is a kickstarter to make more games set in the same world.