Dreamfall

I don't know how to describe just how engrossing this game was; they did everything right. It's the feeling you get after reading a particularly good book; you turn the last page.. and there's no more. The world you'd been living in is suddenly gone, and you feel empty.

The characters were real people, well written and voiced. Epic scale and consequence, life-and-death emotional impact. Excellent music and atmosphere. In short, it has a living, breathing world. It's all there.

Everything, that is... but the ending.

This wasn't the "set things up for a sequel" ending, but more like a "where's the rest? The last quarter of the book is missing!" kind of ending.

They'd better not take another seven years to make the sequel (probably to be called "The Longest Journey: Undreaming"); there are just too many unrequited plot arcs left hanging.

Jarring ending aside, Dreamfall leaves you wondering what is actually real, dreams within dreams, and all that. Very few stories have done this to me.

What is our continued fascination with other peoples' dreams? How are they somehow more real than our own, our own lives? Those who can make their dreams happen are powerful (and dangerous!) indeed.

It could be argued that this "everything left hanging" ending was completely in line with the game's story; it is up to us to dream the ending ourselves, even as the "Undreaming" threatens the world.

Perhaps the blurb about "getting the word out so all of this wasn't in vain" was also about needing to dream up enough sales for them to realize the conclusion of this amazing story.

So, go and pick up a copy of both The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, and discover just how good adventure games can get.

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