![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
As with The Longest Journey, I just finished Dreamfall. I actually did better about remembering what was going on than I thought I would. It was as cool as I remembered it being (that being not as cool as TLJ was, but still pretty cool). Even if the ending was kind of just the Millennium Falcon flying off to rescue Jack Sparrow or whatever, it didn't annoy me nearly as much as it did the first time through, mainly because I was expecting it this time. However, unlike SWep5 and PotC2, Dreamfall sadly doesn't yet have a followup to continue the story. :(
Minor nitpicks (and some spoilers for both Dreamfall and TLJ in the first couple of points):
1) Dreamfall portrayed Charlie as the skeptic and Emma as the true believer, while in the original game, it was kind of the exact opposite. Charlie, in the first game, seemed to be the only one who did believe that the things that were going on might be something that couldn't be easily rationalized away, even when April herself didn't want to believe it all at first.
2) Sadly, Charlie was also one of the few returning characters for whom they did not get the same VA that was in TLJ, along with Cortez/Manny Chavez, in his incredibly tiny cameo at the very end after the credits, the point of which eludes me aside from perhaps simply showing off their Cortez character model that they didn't use anywhere else in the entire game at all. Oh, and I guess Gordon Halloway, but he was the full-on Guardian at that point, with appropriate voice affects, so it would've been hard to tell anyway. Everyone else, I think, had their original voice actors though, which was cool.
3) The talking animations. Well, they weren't so bad when it was two characters standing and facing one other while talking. But when it was two characters sitting and talking to each other, it edged into uncanny valley territory. Mainly this was because their bodies simply did not move at all. They'd nod or shake their heads occasionally and their eyes would move, but for the most part, particularly with Zoe, everything below the neck was entirely motionless. It was freakish, and far more so than I remember it being when I played it before.
4) The combat was crappy. Again, more so than I remember it being the first time I played it. This time through, I tried my best to avoid it whenever possible, and did a fairly good job of doing it. Let's see... fought Jama once at the beginning... the mandatory fight the first time you play as April... a druggie in Venice as Zoe, who went down in two hits... those little troll things in the caves under Marcuria as Zoe when she first arrived there (although I could have avoided them, it was easier just to kill them)... and several generic swordsmen while playing as Kian, who were all pretty easy because Kian is buff... and that's about it, I think. That's still more than I would have liked, though. The combat is really bad.
On the other hand, I didn't have nearly as much problem with the stealth stuff this time around as I seem to recall having the first time through. Mainly because I found that you don't actually have to use the sneak function to avoid most of the things that you're trying to avoid. >_>; There are a few things that you must use sneak to... well, sneak up on, but otherwise, if you're just trying to avoid something rather than actually get close to stealth attack it or whatever, then you can usually just run around willy-nilly, as long as you stay far enough away (which isn't very far).
Anyway, aside from that, I had no real problems with it. I seriously hope that the very next thing they do after The Secret World is get back to Dreamfall Chapters and then, hopefully, The Longest Journey 2. I'm not going to be holding my breath, however. :/
Minor nitpicks (and some spoilers for both Dreamfall and TLJ in the first couple of points):
1) Dreamfall portrayed Charlie as the skeptic and Emma as the true believer, while in the original game, it was kind of the exact opposite. Charlie, in the first game, seemed to be the only one who did believe that the things that were going on might be something that couldn't be easily rationalized away, even when April herself didn't want to believe it all at first.
2) Sadly, Charlie was also one of the few returning characters for whom they did not get the same VA that was in TLJ, along with Cortez/Manny Chavez, in his incredibly tiny cameo at the very end after the credits, the point of which eludes me aside from perhaps simply showing off their Cortez character model that they didn't use anywhere else in the entire game at all. Oh, and I guess Gordon Halloway, but he was the full-on Guardian at that point, with appropriate voice affects, so it would've been hard to tell anyway. Everyone else, I think, had their original voice actors though, which was cool.
3) The talking animations. Well, they weren't so bad when it was two characters standing and facing one other while talking. But when it was two characters sitting and talking to each other, it edged into uncanny valley territory. Mainly this was because their bodies simply did not move at all. They'd nod or shake their heads occasionally and their eyes would move, but for the most part, particularly with Zoe, everything below the neck was entirely motionless. It was freakish, and far more so than I remember it being when I played it before.
4) The combat was crappy. Again, more so than I remember it being the first time I played it. This time through, I tried my best to avoid it whenever possible, and did a fairly good job of doing it. Let's see... fought Jama once at the beginning... the mandatory fight the first time you play as April... a druggie in Venice as Zoe, who went down in two hits... those little troll things in the caves under Marcuria as Zoe when she first arrived there (although I could have avoided them, it was easier just to kill them)... and several generic swordsmen while playing as Kian, who were all pretty easy because Kian is buff... and that's about it, I think. That's still more than I would have liked, though. The combat is really bad.
On the other hand, I didn't have nearly as much problem with the stealth stuff this time around as I seem to recall having the first time through. Mainly because I found that you don't actually have to use the sneak function to avoid most of the things that you're trying to avoid. >_>; There are a few things that you must use sneak to... well, sneak up on, but otherwise, if you're just trying to avoid something rather than actually get close to stealth attack it or whatever, then you can usually just run around willy-nilly, as long as you stay far enough away (which isn't very far).
Anyway, aside from that, I had no real problems with it. I seriously hope that the very next thing they do after The Secret World is get back to Dreamfall Chapters and then, hopefully, The Longest Journey 2. I'm not going to be holding my breath, however. :/
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-09-19 02:37 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-09-19 05:32 pm (UTC)From:Compare this conversation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISe1RPRzXXc#t=7m11s) in Dreamfall...
Emma: April was gone. Vanished. If it hadn't been for the things she'd told us, I would have simply believed that she was another victim of the Collapse.
Zoe: What things?
Charlie: This is where it gets complicated. She spoke about another world. A sort of...parallel magical dimension. We didn't believe--
Emma: You didn't believe her, Charlie. I never doubted her.
Charlie: Fine. I didn't believe her. I'm still not sure I do, despite the things I saw during the Collapse.
...with this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8q1HHCh_N4#t=0m42s) from TLJ:
April: I've been, uh, chosen to save the world.
Emma: Stop kidding around, April. We're serious.
April: So am I. I told you you wouldn't believe me.
Emma: You're actually telling us the truth? What do you mean you've been chosen to save the world?
April: As in there's something really bad going down. I can't say exactly what, but Cortez is with the good guys, and I've been...drafted.
Emma: Look, April...if you're having some kind of nervous breakdown, we'll do anything to-
April: God, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. Forget it! I don't even believe it myself, so why should you?
Charlie: I believe you, April. I've seen things these past few days - strange inexplicable things - and my Grandma taught us there's a lot more to this world than what meets the eye... And after all, it's you saying these things, my friend April. I've never known you to lie, or even exaggerate the truth. If you believe it, I believe it. And I'm sure the same can be said for Emma.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-19 06:09 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-09-20 12:12 am (UTC)From: