Dreamfall: The Longest Journey Limited Edition (PC DVD)

In a nutshell, brilliant fairy-tale story (Planescape Torment's story is the only game that comes close). Just sit back and take in two of the best adventure games the PC has to offer (to date Feb 2008!). Once you are finished with both, you WILL want another sequel and the various plots will have you thinking about the games even after completion.

First off, the contents. The limited edition comes with the original DVD (equivalent to the 2-CD version) of The Longest Journey (TLJ), the sequel on DVD, the 22-track CD soundtrack to Dreamfall and a hardback book containing concept drawings (some in colour) of Dreamfall. So if you haven't played any of the two games, the limited edition is a must! On my old AthlonXP2000/1.5Gb RAM with GeForce 7600GS and X-Fi, both ran flawlessly.

The graphics for TLJ aren't the best these days but trust me, that won't matter. Dreamfall, on higher settings at least, looks the bees knees of 2006. The voice acting is very, very convincing and the music is undoubtedly worth listening to outside the games. However, the story is the selling point. TLJ is the better of the two and deeper (by a bit; I'm even saying this, cutting a long story short, having played the sequel Dreamfall before TLJ - take-home-message: play TLJ first). The plot is very apt for those in their early 20s, at college/university. I say this because you will almost certainly empathise with the key characters, April and Zoe. The story is often sad at times, especially near each respective finale but also hilarious (the Crow!). There will be plot holes that need filling but that's where the sequel to Dreamfall should come in.

Gameplay is different for both. TLJ is click-and-she'll-move type affair, usually with the camera static, often viewing from quite a distance. Dreamfall is more Tomb Raider style i.e. more up-close moveable camera, sometimes annoying when in combat. Both games feature interesting puzzle elements. TLJ has no combat (April can't die by your hand) and the game lasts longer than Dreamfall. The combat in Dreamfall is reasonably easy. Some authors commented that the combat should have been omitted in Dreamfall, which is understandable. For me, Dreamfall was so heavily focused on story that the combat sequences provided a respite and did not detract from the plot.

By playing Dreamfall after TLJ, you will notice the welcome return of some of the original characters (and their voice actors) and locales. All of the characters you meet in these games are highly memorable and the story is balanced with enough detail without feeling overwhelming. The only downside is that in TLJ, you need Dreamfall in order to fill the plot holes. Dreamfall is a bit short and the combat takes getting used to. However, this edition gets 5 stars because it comes with both games. With the myriad of PC games focused on graphics and all out action, it is reassuring that games like Dreamfall are conceivable. The fact that I also thoroughly enjoyed TLJ supplied in this edition is a testament to its success, given that TLJ is over 7 years old!

I have been looking for the original The Longest Journey for quite some time now and when I saw this collector's edition that comprised of both The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, it was too good a deal for me to miss out on. Both the games are great fun and brought back old memories. Definitely worth checking out if you're an adventure game fan like myself and if you haven't played these games before.

I bought the limited edition box set of "The Longest Journey", "Dreamfall - The Longest Journey" and the cd soundtrack & booklet.
I played the original game - The Longest Journey - no problems on Windows XP. However when I successfully installed "Dreamfall" the copyright accreditation software (StarForce) didn't recognise the disc as an original and requested a Disc Key. The former distributor Empire used to provide the required Disc Key when this issue used to arise (which it frequently does with the Windows version), however they are no longer around so I contacted Funcom. I was advised to return the disc to the retailer, however most retailers will not refund if a box set has been opened & used and the disc is neither damaged or defective. I requested a Disc Key & was advised that they are not able to provide replacement keys at this time.
I've trawled through online forums to find that a huge number of people have this issue on, I have also tried many suggested remedies, all to no avail.
I have contacted StarForce who will see if there's anything they can do, if successful I'll try to post the solution.
So anyone who downloads a pirated version can happily play Dreamfall whereas many of us who paid for the fully licensed version are blocked from doing so.
It seems to me that Funcoms' inadequate support service is not going to help the industry to encourage people to pay good money for original, licensed games.
So by all means buy Funcom games, just be aware that if there's an issue you might be on your own.