You know an Indie game is popular when it gets released on a disk for the general public. But can you really call it an indie game after that? Sell outs! But I kid. I think it’s more than a little hypocritical to only support something because it isn’t “mainstream,” parading around shouting about how it’s great & deserves more attention, only to turn around & criticize when it does become popular. It’s like being goth (or is it emo now?) to be different, when really you’re only falling into another stereotype. No offense if you’re goth or emo & reading this, but you know it’s true.
But I digress…
Limbo is one such game that has gained mainstream fame. In April of this year, it was released on a combo pack along with Splosion Man & Trials HD. After hearing people go on & on about how great a game it was, how thought-provoking & artistic it is, I rented the combo disc from Gamefly.
For the most part, the game has been what I expected. The art style is unique & impressive. You’d think a game that’s mostly just light & shadow would be bland, but there’s a surprising amount of detail in the environment. It is a bit strange how the boy’s eyes shine even when going through a cave or something.
One thing I wasn’t expecting was how hard it would be. Perhaps “hard” isn’t the right word. The game relies a lot on trial & error for its “puzzles” (I say it that way because they’re not always the traditional idea of a puzzle). However, the game will usually restart you just before you latest death, so it’s not like having to replay a whole level again.
My favorite part so far was when I finally got to kill the stupid spider git that’d been chasing me for the first part of the game. To understand my joy, you must first understand how much I hate spiders!  Unless they’re tiny, I have to get someone else to kill them for me. If I try to kill one, miss, & it gets away, I get paranoid that it’s plotting against me. I can’t even watch spiders on tv. So imagine my dismay when a creepy arachnid brought my worst fears to life, plotting against me! After snipping its legs off with a trap & throwing it off a ledge with a boulder, I finally got the pull its single remaining leg off with my bare hands. I jumped up & down in joy for about a minute (in the game) before further desecrating the body by rolling it around & jumping off it.
Overall, the game has a macabre, depressing theme to it. And not just in the visuals. There are other aspects that seem depressing. Like when you die & the camera stays there for a moment as if to let the goriness sink in, or how your head flies off like it’s attached with masking tape. Eventually you start to get paranoid. Everything that doesn’t look right while make you shout out, “Trap!”
Hopefully, I’ll finish Limbo sometime this week & have my full review of it.
It’s a bit tricky reviewing a game that was originally released on the XBox. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey was released in 2006, around the same time the 360 came out. Because of this, it probably didn’t get the attention it should’ve received. But now that it’s been released on XBL, it’s fully playable for people like myself, who missed it the first time around.
April, Zoe & Kian
Dreamfall is the sequel to The Longest Journey, an adventure game for the PC that came out in 1999. Like its predecessor, Dreamfall is an adventure game. It takes place in a futuristic version of our world, which comes to be called Stark, after a mysterious “Collapse” that nearly wiped everything out. The game starts with the main character, Zoe Castillo, in a coma, but somehow telling her story to us. Zoe starts the game in a sort of pre-midlife crisis. She feels she has no direction & no motivation. She’s dropped out of college, broken up with her boyfriend, & moved back home. However, things start to change when she starts having visions of a little girl who asks her to find someone named April. After doing her ex a favor & going to pick up a package, Zoe finds herself being hunted by the government while she searches for clues as to where he ex has gone. Zoe learns that she’s a “shifter,” a person able to shift into a parallel world called Arcadia in her dreams. Now Zoe must shift between both worlds to learn what’s going on & how to save the world. Eventually you’ll control three characters a different times. In addition to Zoe, there’s April Ryan, the girl Zoe is asked to find & a fellow shifter who chose to stay in Arcadia to fight the Azadi, & Kian, an Azadi apostle who’s sent to convert (ie. kill) the rebel leader.
Stark’s technology is both familiar & foreign
Gameplay is what you’d expect from an adventure game. It’s not point & click, however. Instead, you control the character directly, & use the buttons to interact with objects by facing them. As with most adventure games, the goal is to use your environment to reach your objective, & usually it’s not a straightforward path. There are two mini games: a hacking game, where you have select the correct symbols from an ever-changing grid, & a lockpicking game, where you have to line up the appropriate symbols on the top & bottom of four circles. In addition to regular clue-hunting, there are moments of stealth & combat. Occasionally you’ll have to sneak around enemies. And if that doesn’t work, you’ll have to fight in a sort of fighting mini game.
Narrative: Although it’s a sequel, you don’t have to have played The Longest Journey to understand Dreamfall. The story is well-paced. For most of the game you’ll be confused about just what’s happening, but you’re given enough information to keep you from being frustrated & to motivate you to keep going to learn more. I will say that I enjoyed playing the story from three different characters’ viewpoints. Most of the time you play as Zoe as she searches for her ex & tries to unravel the conspiracy surrounding his disappearance. I liked Zoe as a character. She’s just your average girl who gets dragged into things she doesn’t understand. She’s a very relatable character. When you play as April, who was the main character from the first game, you’ll be entirely in Arcadia & get to travel to exotic locations. Kian is used less than the others, but he still has an important role in the game. I especially like that you see a bit of evolution for his character as he comes to realize he shouldn’t blindly follow orders. The supporting characters are also interesting, & their interactions definitely had moments that made me laugh. That being said, the story leaves more questions than answers, & not everything is explained. I think this is because a third game is in the works, Dreamfall Chapters. The story is good, but the unanswered questions means I can’t score it as high as I’d like. Score: 4
Despite the age of the graphics, it has some spectacular vistas
Mechanics: Adventure games certainly aren’t for everyone, since the gameplay can be a bit boring. There’s a lot of backtracking & head scratching. That being said, Dreamfall works well as an adventure game. The game provides enough clues so that you’re not completely clueless as to your next step. There’s no weird logic that sometimes plagues adventure games. What you use to solve puzzles makes sense. I have to give the game credit on its streamlined inventory system. You push up on the D-pad to bring up your inventory, then scroll to the item you want, press up again, & if you can use it on whatever you’re facing, you press the appropriate button. It’s very easy to use. It’s also rather unique to switch between characters like Dreamfall does.  There’s one instance where you switch characters in the middle of a conversation. It works well without disrupting the flow of the game. In spite of these praises, the combat & stealth need to be address. The combat, in short, sucks. It’s clunky & awkward. Tactics are useless. Just keep using light attacks, throwing in a heavy attack if the enemy keeps blocking. Fortunately, there aren’t many fighting sequences, & even most of those can be avoiding using stealth. Dreamfall will in no way pass for a stealth game. When you “stealth,” you crouch & walk slowly. It’s more about not being heard than not being seen. Occasionally you’ll find items you can hide behind. But the system is flawed. There was one point where I was hiding in a side room from a troll. He walked in, stood right beside me, & didn’t notice me. Neither of these break the game, but they do hold it back. Score: 3
One of the few times I think QTE’s would’ve been better
Aesthetics: As you’d expect from a game made five years ago, the graphics haven’t held up well. I’m sure at the time they were nice. But now they look very pixellated. Aside from Zoe & April, the characters’ faces look almost painted on. Facial animations are almost non-existent. However, some of the landscapes are breathtaking & brilliant. Both Stark & Arcadia have very unique styles & are interesting to look at. Stark is just advanced enough to seem foreign, even if it’s Earth, while Arcadia resembles a fantasy world with a few steampunk elements. The audio fares better, with some nice music, even a few original songs. The voiceacting is pretty good as well. Score: 3
Replay Value: Relatively low. There isn’t much reach to play through a second time. There’s only one way to play through the game. Score: 2
Breakdown
Overall Score: 3
Final Words: At the time of its release, I’m sure Dreamfall would’ve gotten a higher score. But now its flaws prevent it from being a must-have. However, if you enjoy adventure games, it’s hard to go wrong with this one. Hopefully this game with get a sequel that explained the plot holes.
– GamerDame
Title: Dreamfall: The Longest JourneyConsole: Xbox, PCÂ & 360Rating: MDeveloper: FuncomPublishers: Aspyr Media, Micro Application & Empire InteractiveRelease Date: April 17, 2006 (XBox/PC) & March 24, 2008 (360)
GamerDame 