This is a multi-part series
retrospective on Ragnar Tørnquist's Longest Journey Series, made up
of The Longest Journey, Dreamfall and Dreamfall Chapters. Part One is here. Part Two is here.
It took seven years for The
Longest Journey to see a sequel, and when Dreamfall arrived the
gaming landscape had come a long way. It would take another ten years
for Dreamfall's follow up to arrive, and when it did the gaming
landscape had moved even further.
Where TLJ was a standard
point-and-click affair, and Dreamfall a third-person
action-adventure, Chapters would instead present itself as a full
blown episodic drama, a format popularized by Telltale's The Walking
Dead and Dontnod's Life is Strange. The adventure game, long thought
dead, had now been resurrected in a new form, and it seems fitting
that The Longest Journey would see a revival along with it.
Chapters is in many ways
the biggest departure from the series so far. Like the contemporaries
that influenced it, game-play is paired down to a bare minimum, with
character interaction and dialogue taking on a a greater focus. It
would also be the first in the series to give the player binary
choices that would impact the plot of the game. One of the neat
tricks it does is trigger a message stating 'The Balance Has Shifted'
upon an important decision being made. In any other game this would
be a simple reminder to the player, but in a series that has
constantly framed 'The Balance' as a critical, world shaping power,
this gives your decisions real weight.
Dreamfall had finished on a
cliffhanger, leaving many plot threads unfinished. I can't imagine
what it must have been like, waiting ten years, not knowing if Zoë
would even come out of that coma. Indeed, the series was in a
precarious position, and it was only the changing landscape of
crowdfunding that gave it new life. Tørnquist and new developer Red
Thread seem to have been very aware of this, and go to great pains to
truly bring together a satisfying conclusion.
Like
Dreamfall, Chapters is less of a self contained story and more an
installment of a larger series. Going from Dreamfall to Chapters
feels natural, and the two clearly compliment each other as part one
and part two of the same plot.
The
story picks up almost immediately where we left off with Zoë in a
coma, Kian imprisoned and April dead. It doesn't take long to get the
plot moving however, with Zoë finally awaking and moving to a new
city, Europolis, and Kian escaping to an uneasy alliance with the
Marcurian rebellion. It also introduces a new character, Saga, who's
life we play through gradually, and who's importance does not appear
to be immediately apparent.
If
you thought the politics would stop with Dreamfall then you'd be very
much mistaken. In many ways Chapters itself becomes more overtly
political in telling an allegory for the current climate. In
Europolis, we see a crisis unfold around the coming election, as the
two main parties are represented by a right-wing fascistic bully and
a morally compromised centrist, while the far left struggles to make
a diffidence due to constant infighting. Kudos to Tørnquist for so
succinctly framing the problems that continue to plague western
politics.
In
Marcuria, the Iraq War allegory mostly gives way to a focus on
nationalism and xenophobia. Onor Hilloriss, a minor villain, is
clearly a stand in for many right-wing European politicians, and
definitely influenced by one from the UK in particular. Through Kian
we see more of the Azadi's compromised occupation and how it was
intended as a mostly benevolent campaign that was, instead, prolonged
and manipulated by the powerful few for their own ends. A clear
representation of how many feel about the never-ending War on Terror.
Chapters
weaves these stories intrinsically into each other, showing that both
Zoë and Kian's struggle to find a place in the world is absolutely
tied to mankind's self destructive impulses. The political chaos in
Europolis and Marcuria is caused by the exact same longing that the
characters suffer from, and sticking with the themes of the earlier
games, the only cure is to move forward. The past can never be
regained.
And
it's these themes that are so wonderfully brought to a head in
Chapters in bizarre and wonderful ways. Not only does the game draw
back to characters and storylines from the first entry in the series,
but it expands the scope even furthers, from The Balance, to The
Dreaming, to Storytime itself.
It's
fitting, in a way, that each entry in the series has evolved in
tandem with the adventure genre. The Longest Journey couldn't have
stayed a point-and-click adventure game, it had to evolve with
updated technology and changing audience tastes. Just like the
characters, you can't stay in the same place forever, you just can't,
you have to keep moving. It's how you stay alive.
Thus,
over the course of three games, we see old lives put to bed and new
ones embraced. Zoë finally finds her place in the world, Kian
brings an end to the Azadi occupation and April finally realizes her
destiny through reincarnation as Saga, becoming the old lady in the
comfy chair that was recalling the tale all the way back in The
Longest Journey.
On
it's own, Dreamfall Chapters is a fine and inventive episodic drama.
As the final entry in the series, it ties everything together to make
them all greater than the sum of their parts. The stories and lives
we witness are universal, but what's even more wonderful is just how
broad the scope is.
This
isn't a story about mighty warriors or powerful space marines. It's a
story about artists, farmers, mechanics, bar owners and computer
programmers. It's a story about the dispossessed, the persecuted and
the downtrodden. It's not a power fantasy, it doesn't offer any easy
answers, but it's comforting too. It lets the player into the lives
of it's characters and shows that we aren't the only ones who
struggle to find our place in the world.
This
is only reinforced by the diversity of it's characters. Back when I
was talking about The Longest Journey I already mentioned that the
cast was pretty diverse to begin with, but the decision to put LGBT
and POC characters front and center brings it's themes of belonging
right to the forefront. A less diverse game would have been
unquestionably a weaker one.
Gripes?
I have a couple. The change in Kian's voice actor between games is
pretty jarring, particularly how he goes from soft spoken in
Dreamfall to deep and gravelly in Chapters. His redesign also looks
lighter skinned, so take that as you will. The game also struggles to
shake it's predecessors obtuse puzzles every now and again, in
contrast to it's contemporaries more straightforward solutions.
Still, these are all minor, and the freedom to choose the path of the
story, and explore Marcuira in full for the very first time, more
than makes up for it.
The
Longest Journey series was intend to have one more entry, The Longest
Journey Home, a sort of interquel set between TLJ and Dreamfall that
would have followed April and gone back to the series roots as a
classic point-and-click. It was set as a stretch goal for Chapters'
funding, but the goal was never met, forcing Tørnquist to put the
project on ice. In a way, I'm glad that this happened. I don't think
it would be in the series best interest to see a sequel so immediate
or nostalgic. I'd much rather see Tørnquist come back to it in
another ten years time, when the gaming industry, and the world in
general, has once again moved on.
All
things considered, Chapters is a worthy conclusion, and elevates the
series to that lofty status of high art. The worlds of Arcadia and
Stark closely mirror our own, and gently warn of the pitfalls of
historic reverence, and encourages us to take hold of our own
destiny. I can't recommend the series enough. If you've never played
them before, you have to check them out, and if you're a long time
fan, they are absolutely worth a revisit.
Jack Harvey 2017. Dreamfall Chapters is (c) Red Thread Games
1 comment:
Great series of articles. You captured what I loved about the games.
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