I just finished playing Dreamfall last night and feel compelled to join in this discussion and throw in my two cents...for what it's worth.

I really enjoyed Dreamfall, not as much as it being a "game" but a story. It had a fantastic storyline and great characters. The depth of the story and the atmosphere, the locations, everything was amazing.

That said, I had some issues with the game:
* I never did get a firm handle on the controls. I played with a Sidewinder gamepad and it was difficult to move the characters around. Poor Zoe looked like she was drunk half the time, zig and zagging around. She never could walk a straight line.
* I could never find a happy medium with the camera angles either.
* While I didn't mind the battle sequences, I would have preferred to do without.
* The game needed more puzzles.

I prefer a more traditional point and click adventure game, filled with interesting places to explore, lots of places to click, lots of puzzles to solve, fun characters and depth to the storyline. But I enjoyed this game immensely. It was different, unique and terribly interesting. I can't wait for the sequels. The game left so many unanswered questions...

Gail

Do you guys think the next game will feel similar, gaming-wise? I really hope they take heart to all of the fans' requests and make it much harder, with a bit less action, and more puzzles and thinking.
Other than that - I want everything to remain just the same - a deep intruiging story and characters with 3-dimentional depth!
Oh, it would also be nice to include some cut-scenes in improved graphics, like in Still Life and many other games. They're really fun to watch and serve as a "treat" for solving something, or progressing a lot.

Tomer -- I hope you're right. I hope the developers do take these suggestions to heart. I can't wait to see.

Oh and Becky...I did just play Dreamfall after getting a faster laptop with a better graphics card. I didn't even try buying the game when it came out because I knew it would never run on my old machine. I found the game at Gamestop a couple of months ago for $9.99. It worked great with the faster computer.

I just hope they don't keep increasing the specs with future adventure games. I won't be buying a new system anytime in the near future. I just caught up!

Gail

It's nice to catch up, isn't it?

I just finished Dreamfall and I'm confused. Presumably future games will explain the ending.

I only played about half of this game. I got tired of trying to control character movements. I could not get through the fight sequences. One of the reasons I like point and click games is that because of neck/back injuries my hands do not always do what I want them to. So, there I am trying to do a fight scene and my hands spasm; I'm trying to get the character to move using the controls and, again, my hands spasm.
I agree that the game is beautiful, but I simply could not play. Waste of money.

Hi Syndalee, I'm sorry that you were unable to finish the game through injury. I'm not sure whether this may help but the game is gamepad compatible - also perhaps if you posted on hints you may be able to get save games to get you past the action parts.

May be useful may not be (I've yet to play "Dreamfall" myself) but there was a recent post on Quandary about better handling the controls in "Dreamfall" here.

My two cents into the discussion:

I agree completely that the game has its flaws, although it is among my current favorites, possibly my top 10. Yes, the puzzles are too easy, and because of this, it progressed very quickly and lost some of the power an epic story usually conveys. I was, however, completely engrossed by the game, and it made up for me in emotional, intellectual, and artful storytelling (for an adventure game), what it lost in actual game play.

I have always been bewildered by individuals who state they like to just explore during a game and look at the scenery. I can understand it but have personally rarely felt that way. Dreamfall made me understand the desire to just explore in a game. When most adventure games have clearly smaller budgets than more mainstream games, I am very thankful that someone took the time to make such a beautiful and detailed environment.

Most importantly to me, is that I feel that the authors truly care about their story and tell it with passion. If want you want to find symbolism in this game, it is there everywhere. If you want a clear "conflict and resolution (or in this case cliffhanger)," you have three to enjoy with the different main characters. Both good and evil in this game are developed and complex in this game. Many characters are so developed, and at times flawed, that I want to witness their development. Want to discuss racial divides, religious disputes, troubled youth, loss of individual direction, faith, desire for omnipotence, or success, choosing between family and career? They are all there.

It is very interesting to me to read this thread and see all of the involved discussion, pro and con, about the game. The fact that a "flawed" game can elicit such interest is a tribute to its excellence.

btw, am I the only one who liked the Kian sections of the game? I was waiting for his story and "conversion" to turn sour and go a little "over the top," but I enjoyed it and am eager to play more.

I think the game is well worth playing even if you have to ask for saved games, I am not very coordinated, also tone deaf and when playing some games I need help but don't give up if otherwise I like the game.

I also had problems with the controls and had to change the default controls to avoid getting frustrated every time I needed to run or do something in a hurry.

I like some fighting with the option of sneaking, I am not too good at fighting but I only found one fight too tough (against the guy in the “hotel”) and sneaking him was not easy either because it had to be carefully timed. However, I think that when an Adventure game has fighting, timed or sound puzzles, the box somehow should warn the buyers.

I enjoyed the first lock puzzles but after a couple they started to be too repetitive and long.

I liked the game even when not as much as TLJ until ...



I also hope the next "chapter" comes soon, part of my disappointment was due to the long wait that raised my expectations.

I just finished Dreamfall and it gave me mixed feelings.
The graphics was pretty, the story was interesting, the characters are memorable, yes. With a wireless Xbox controller for windows installed I can play the game in comfort while sitting on my bed with a walkthough on my pillow. Sneaking and Fighting segments were acceptable. I also do not mind the lengthy expositions that make the game appear to me more like a movie than a game. However there is still much I dislike about Dreamfall...

First, I worry that Ragnar has painted himself into a corner after all the rollercoasters that he put the characters through in the second game and that no amount of plausible plot tweaking could save the story. With the episodes coming, the story could continue to go downhill and we will have all kinds of continuity errors and unexplained events that we have encountered in Dreamfall and TLJ1.

Secondly, the weak opening. I tried to share the game with a close friend but I totally lost him after the lengthy Brian Westhouse monologue and the confusing Undreaming gets Brian in the storytime weird scenario (followed by the slightly less confusing scene with the lengthy Zoe monologue where she is in a coma.) The really confusing begining about Brian Westhouse was never explained at all even by the end of the game even though Brian appears in the middle of the game. I wonder if Ragnar had any idea where this was going or Funcom simply decided to go ahead to release this whole mess without any change because of way too much budget spent animating and recording audio for the opening.

Thirdly my fave peeve about the game was the numerous game loading interludes. Just getting from Zoe's house to the gym we have at least 3 such interludes. It is all shoddy programming to me. And what about the install program running whenever autorun detects the DVD in my drive, and that no patch has been put up by Funcom over two years? Guess what Funcom is doing now? They seem to be pooling resources to work on Age of Conan, some online action rpg I guess.

In conclusion I'm sorry to say that the future of this great game just simply looks too bleak to me. Maybe we should start bugging Ragnar on his blog. I don't want this game to die quietly after years of anticipation like GK3 or Tex Murphy Overseer did. I would feel really cheated if this happens.

Hi Benedict -- I agree with you about the frequent load screens. I suspect this was due to planning the game from the beginning to release on both the PC and the Xbox, but that didn't make me like those load screens any better.

I want to see the story (actually, stories) resolved in Dreamfall Chronicles too. I trust Mr. Tornquist as a writer and storyteller -- I think he's one of the best in gaming. I don't think he's painted himself into a corner. My only fear is that the success of Conan will put Dreamfall Chronicles on a back shelf so that it never does get produced.

How much is Dreamfall selling for these days? Do you feel that you got your money's worth?

I definitely do, but that's rather obvious cause I started this thread

Dreamfall really haunted me. What an excellent game! Magic, magic, magic. Anxious to see the third part!

More, very recent information here on Ragnar Tornquist's blog.