Our discussion of cultural norms and the protagonists of video games made me stretch my mind. I wanted to think of a game that made me play characters I didn’t naturally identified with but could appreciate after playing. I don’t remember if I talked about it on the podcast proper but I was reminded of an excellent example twice and I think it bears repeating.
Main character Zoe Castillo at the beginning of the journey.
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, is available on Steam now, and you can get the first game (The Longest Journey) along with the sequel for $25. While I can’t say the first game was quite the same experience that Dreamfall was, I’m told the game play was much better.
Speaking of which, Dreamfall might be the worst “game” ever made. Well, that might be an extreme but it’s potentially valid. The fighting system is derivative and rudimentary. The puzzles are generally straightforward. And the game lifts numerous themes from movies, music and other video games. In spite of all these things it’s an important game in many ways.
Dreamfall features not one, but two strong female protagonists. Which is probably some video game record right there, but the game doesn’t stop there: the story in the game is among the best ever told in the medium. The tale is complex but not so complex that you can’t get most of the important points the first time through (take note Kojima). The dialogue is endearing and feels real in spite of the fantastical themes. The game delves into Indigo Prophecy shortly before the end, but manages to recover and provide one of the most antagonizing cliffhangers endings in a while (unlike Halo 2 which had a shitty cliffhanger).
This leaves me yearning the long promised Dreamfall chapters even more. Announced last March (2007), conveniently around the time that I played the game the first time, the episodes were supposed to continue the story that game creator Ragnar Tornquist had intended. I haven’t heard anything on the chapters since then but I’m always on the lookout for a continuation of this series.
The original Longest Journey was such a wonderful disappointment. It started out so strong, and the story captivated me in the best way. Unfortunately, the last 2 hours screwed the pooch rather badly (storywise), and generally turned me off to any of the possible sequels. Sounds like they added a whole lotta (unnecessary?) gameplay, as I remember the original being a straightforward point-&-click adventure game.