Direct-Controlled Adventure Review: Dreamfall Chapters Book Two

Dreamfall Chapters continues from a solid start in book one into an engaging and truly satisfying experience in book two.

In book two, Zoe's story continues to entertain and the new characters she meets are all strange and interesting. I wasn't sold on Kian's story in the first book, but he's given a chance to shine here, and we're introduced to fantastic characters in his book as well. Both characters find themselves in the middle of a class war, with the government and corporations controlling the lives of the citizens in Stark and the militaristic Azadi forcing the magical folk out of the villages and into prison camps in Arcadia. Things soon get even grimmer, as both Zoe and Kian find themselves in the middle of conspiracies in their respective worlds.

The voice work is once again exceptional here, with the voice actors for both Zoe and Kian performing their roles admirably. The newly introduced characters are excellently written, but their voice performances are what truly make them memorable. This is especially true of the energetic, excitable young rebel named Eno and the tough, scarred rebel named Likho, the latter of whom had a troubled history with Kian before he changed sides and joined the rebels. The voice actor for the former gives her character a fast-talking yet cute persona, which reminded me a bit of the character of Six from the classic 90s American television sitcom, Blossom. Meanwhile, the voice actor for the latter provides his character with a gravitas that is matched only by his baritone voice, both of which are quite fitting for the battle-hardened warrior.

The music is also excellent, helping to give levity or amusement to the fantastically written story and working to help elevate the wonderful voice acting to even loftier heights.

The puzzles in this book are fantastic, especially the underground hatch puzzles that Zoe undertakes when she is directed toward a street gang by an enigmatic merchant who lives on a houseboat in the city's Asian district. The choices here don't seem to change much of the main story, but they do affect the way the characters react to you, much like the games by Telltale from The Walking Dead forward. This actually works quite well, as the story of the game is so emotional, and the characters are so well-written and acted, you can't help but feeling gut-punched when you make a choice that results in a negative reaction.

The city on the technologically-advanced Stark side is just as beautiful and fun to walk around as ever. On the Arcadia side, as it is themed akin to a medieval village, it's not quite as beautiful and it does get repetitive at times. However, the magical market, while quite a small part of the overall village, is quite lively and wonderfully designed. The same can't be said for the character models though, They are as stony-eyed as ever, encroaching on uncanny valley territory, and emotional moments are hampered a bit when characters go in for kiss, and their character models don't touch each other.

Book two has an excellent story, fantastic voice acting and music, a gorgeous art style in Stark, and fun engaging characters. It is only let down by the somewhat-repetitive art-style of Arcadia and the stiff character models and animation. However, any shortcomings are small in the grand scheme and don't hamper the overall enjoyment provided. Book two continues the threads created by book one, and strings them even deeper into an even more fantastic plot, leaving you wanting more.

Final verdict:
4½ out of 5

Red Thread Games Making Codename: Svalbard RPG

Red Thread Games, the creators of Dreamfall Chapters and the upcoming first person horror survival adventure Draugen, received a grant from the Norwegian Film Institute.

The game which received the grant is tentatively titled Codename: Svalbard. It is an RPG that has a female protagonist, and is set on the island of Spitsbergen. In the game, climate change and global warfare lead to a destructive nuclear winter. Generations later, what is left of humanity tries to rise again to rebuild civilization.  The key to the Earth's future lies beneath the ice, on Svalbard.

Codename: Svalbard is and RPG that will be able to be played with one or more players.  No release date has yet been set, but it will be released after Draugen, which won't begin full production until Dreamfall Chapters has completed.

Dreamfall Chapters Book Four Will Be Released Tomorrow

Red Thread Games has released a trailer for the upcoming fourth book of their episodic adventure game Dreamfall Chapters. Book Four: Revelations will be released on Steam, GOG.com, and the Humble store for Windows, Mac, and Linux tomorrow. PlayStation 4 and iOS versions of Dreamfall Chapters are also in development, but no release date has yet been announced for those platforms.

Dreamfall Chapters Book Three Coming June 25th

The third chapter of Dreamfall Chapters, the third game in The Longest Journey series, is titled Realms. In this middle chapter of the saga, Zoe and Kian's paths will finally converge. It will be released for Windows, Mac, and Linux on June 25, 2015.

Dreamfall Chapters Book Two: Rebels Is Out Now

Dreamfall Chapters Book Two: Rebels, the second part of the five book game which will conclude the story of Zoe Castillo, the Dreamer, is out now.  There is no release date for the third book, but the developers have stated that development of the rest of the books will not take as long as the time between the first and the second.  The game is currently expected to conclude by the end of 2015.

Dreamfall Chapters Book Two Moved to Thursday

Red Thread Games has announced that the release of the second book of Dreamfall Chapters has been delayed from it's planned release today to March 12th due to the fact that they found and fixed a couple of bugs today and will need a full day of testing to make sure everything runs smoothly before they're comfortable with the release.

Dreamfall Chapters Book Two: Rebels Trailer

Dreamfall Chapters Book Two: Rebels, the second chapter in the crowdfunded adventure now has a new trailer.  It is the second of five chapters for the episodic Dreamfall Chapters, which is currently scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.  Book Two: Rebels will release on March 10, 2015.

Dreamfall Chapters Book Two Will Release On March 10

The Dreamfall Chapters kickstarter has been updated with a post with the news that Dreamfall Chapters: Book Two - Rebels will release on March 10, 2015.  This chapter has had an extended development cycle because it is estimated to be about 50% bigger than chapter one, and now the team wants to take the extra time to make sure that it is beta tested thoroughly before release.

There is no release date given for chapter three, but it's been stated that it is already in development and that the development time will be shorter than it was for book two.  It's also been stated that chapters 3, 4, and 5 are expected to release by the end of this year to complete Dreamfall Chapters, which will conclude the story of Zoë Castillo, the Dreamer.

Dreamfall Chapters Book Two: Rebels Announcement Trailer

Dreamfall Chapters, the third game in The Longest Journey series just had the first chapter, Reborn, released last month.  Now, the title of the second chapter, is revealed to be Rebels.  The announcement trailer contains footage of Chapter One, bringing people up to speed on the game so far, as well as some footage of Chapter Two to give people a taste of what's to come.

Dreamfall Chapters Book Two: Rebels doesn't have a release date yet, but Red Thread Games states that it is coming soon.

Dreamfall Chapters Book One Review

Book One of Dreamfall Chapters, the long awaited sequel to The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, is finally here. It has a few shortcomings, but ultimately it still manages to be worth the wait.

The story picks up where Dreamfall left off. This chapter of the game alternates between the playable characters of Zoë Castillo and Kian Alvane, as they both are stuck in different ways, and both have to find their way out of their predicaments. That is merely a prologue to the main story, as we pick up the story from the points that have been built in the prologue, which are aptly referred to in-game as the characters being reborn.

Like Dreamfall, the game is once again a three dimensional adventure game where the player has direct control over the movements of the character. In Dreamfall Chapters, actions are performed by the mouse (or thumbstick), and you need to walk up to an object in order to be able to interact with it. Any object that can be interacted with snaps right into view, which is handled a bit clumsily as this quick motion can cause a bit of queasiness, or at the very least a feeling of separation from the game's world. It has a choice based system similar to those found in Telltale's games where characters remember the response that you made to them and will react accordingly when you encounter them next. It also has internal dialog from the characters that explains each choice, which really helps in letting the player know how the character is going to respond for each choice, making accidentally clicking something that you misunderstood pretty much impossible.

 However, unlike Telltale's recent offerings, here, you have a full inventory. Because of this, there are classic inventory puzzles that need to be solved. The game does a good job of handling both of these gameplay styles well. The puzzles are not too complex, but they aren't too easy either, which is a good balance for the first part of an inventory puzzle based adventure game. It also has branching paths with different storyline and different puzzles based on a choice near the beginning of the game.

The art style differs in quality in certain areas. The character models look fantastic, but the animation is quite stiff, in both the character's facial expressions and their movements. The background art also differs in quality based on the location. Some of it is quite well done, such as in Dream Time or in the city. However, other areas, such as the castle, are rather bland. The rest of the presentation is quite fantastic, however. The story is excellent as ever for this series, both in the main plot and in the additional lore which can be read optionally in places like Zoë's journal. The music and voice acting is exceptional as well, and really helps to bring you into the story. The city is also booming with life, with lots of non player characters walking around, and there is a lot of areas to explore, which really helps with the immersion. There are also maps placed throughout in case you get stuck.

Dreamfall Chapters is said to cover the chapters of life, and the first chapter is covered well, for the most part. The game's art style varies from the excellent character models to the sometimes bland locations, and the animation is a bit stiff. However, the excellent story, fantastic use of a mix of inventory puzzles and choice based gameplay, branching paths with a differing storyline and different puzzles to solve, ample areas for exploration, and great voice acting and music help to overcome the slight shortcomings in parts of the presentation.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Dreamfall Chapters Book One Is Out Now

Update: It's now out on GOG.com too.

The first book of Dreamfall Chapters, the sequel to The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, is out now on Steam. Those who backed it on Kickstarter or Paypal will be receiving a code to access the game through Humble Bundle. Those who prefer DRM-free versions won't have to wait long, as Dreamfall Chapters is going to be available from GOG.com tomorrow.

Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey Kickstarter

The Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey Kickstarter is now live. The game is the conclusion of The Longest Journey series and will take place right where Dreamfall: The Longest Journey left off. The game will be a 3D combination direct control/point-and-click adventure where they control Zoë Castillo and an as-of-yet unrevealed male character (and one extra unrevealed playable character in addition to those two), and we'll also learn what happens to April Ryan, the protaganist of the original The Longest Journey.

Like other kickstarters, there are many tiers to choose from, including a higher tier with a physical box (in this case at the $75 tier).  So, if you want to help support the Dreamfall Chapters, pick a tier at the game's kickstarter page.

Dreamfall Chapters is Finally In Pre-Production

Dreamfall Chapters, the sequel to Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, is finally in pre-production after being announced in 2007.  Instead of being developed internally by Funcom, Dreamfall Chapters is being developed by Red Thread Games, a studio formed by series developer Ragnar Tørnquist.

According to the press release, the rights are still owned by Funcom, they have just been licensed to Red Thread Games to "independently fund and produce the sequel to Dreamfall". Mr. Tørnquist revealed that $175,000 of the pre-production funding will come from the Norwegian Film Institute.

An interview of Ragnar Tørnquist by Eurogamer revealed that it will be a single player adventure for PC and Mac. It won't be point-and-click, it's going to be a 3D, direct controlled third person game. Dreamfall Chapters will also eventually head to Kickstarter for funding. According to Tørnquist, "We could go to investors, we could go to publishers, but that's going to tie our hands a quite a bit. If we're going to make the game we want and that everyone else wants, the only way to do that is to basically have the freedom we need, and Kickstarter is a lot about freedom." The grant money and the studio's own funding will be used to get the project going, so that the Kickstarter project will hold more weight.

"Dreamfall Chapters is going to be a reasonably large game, it's going to be a reasonably long game and it's going to be a polished game. It's going to be a game that reflects the brand and the universe."