Dreamfall Chapters: The Final Cut

First off, aside from the story, the mechanics of this game have far more in common with "Dreamfall: The Longest Journey" than with "The Longest Journey". Like the previous Dreamfall game, Dreamfall Chapters is more of a 3d narrative, rather than a traditional point & click adventure game (although it thankfully does away with the fighting mechanics from the previous game). You are guided through the story by various goals, solving minor puzzles, completing tasks, and making choices that affect future events. I've played up to book four, and I must say, the story is fantastic - definitely up there with Blackwell and Undertale. The voice acting and detailed environment models really bring the story to life. Yes, I would have liked a a heavier focus on the traditional puzzles that are the hallmark of adventure games, but I can't really see how that could have been done in a satisfactory way, given the expansiveness of the 3d environment.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I have played to the end of chapter 2 and although it is a little uneven it is a excellent experience. I have found the Propast sections to be much more compelling and there is a genuine feeling of everything coming apart at the seams which is very rare for a game to capture. The Propast subplot is actually very terrifying if you role play it, far more so than Zombies and aliens. A genuine sense of realistic dread. The puzzles actually flow much better in Propast and the only one that didn't was getting that adbot screen you actions while you break into a vent .... far too position sensitive. Marcuiria has its moment too but the puzzles and stealth mechanic is downright silly. The characters are great though and the story is interesting and you can roleplay the pathos of the Kain very well. But it lacks the dread. One of the biggest problems with this game is that every choice only has two possibilities and each of these possibilities assumes only one motivation. The game sometimes assumes the wrong motivation. The clearest example is the scene where Kian has a choice to execute a Azadi Lieutenant who is probably engaged in predatory sexual relations with a minor. If you choose execution, the game chooses for you that you execute because of the crimes of the Lieutenant, but I chose execution because he was a both a risk and a very stupid man who would be of no use as a spy and a huge risk to the rebels..... the narrative actually points out how stupid he is. But the game chose otherwise and Kian choices has consequences I didn't choose.

The Longest Journey is one of my favourite series out there. This addition to the series is a good start to what will probably be another lovely and brilliant story. Here's a summary of my experience: Pros: Brilliantly written characters & story Excellent voice-acting Great music Lovely aesthetic Complex choices Good replayability Cons: Several minor glitches & bugs upon release (Nothing game-breaking, just annoying) Bad animation quality Questionable pacing Poorly contextualized (I.E. you really should play the previous games to understand the story) Graphics look a bit dated In short, this chapter could've used a few more weeks/months of polishing before release, but they stayed true to their promise of release. I'd recommend people to hold off for a few patches and then DEFINITELY GET IT!

Will you like and be captured by this game? That depends on which is more important to you, the story or the gaming. Those that really love this game are those that are into The Longest Journey saga and focus more on the story than the gaming. I am one of those. For me the story is engrossing and the graphics are beautiful and convincing. In my opinion, the game's weakness is the same weakness as Dreamfall. The Longest Journey could be played on a Windows 95 computer or a Windows 7 computer. For the full graphics virtues of Dreamfall and Chapters, the latest graphics hardware at the time of their respective releases, is required. Universal playability has been sacrificed for graphic realism. This is may be because game sales depends on ratings, and, high ratings usually requires the latest graphics. Many fans simply do not have and can not afford a new gaming computer. I happen to have a computer with all the latest hardware at the time of Chapter's release; however, my GPU is for video and graphics, and not gaming. I can not play the game with the default graphic settings. I am thankful that Chapters does not have the fight scenes of Dreamfall, where a good gaming GPU can be critical.

One of my favorites point-and-click games.