The Longest Journey: Dreamfall

[Calin Leafshade]

I finished Dreamfall a couple of weeks ago and i was wondering if anyone can suggest a game with a similar kinda feel to it.

It wasnt really the plot that drew me in it was more the characters and the general tone of it.

Zoe Castillo is probably one of my favourite game characters of all time. She's just so believable.. something which seems to be lacking in video game characters with big coats and pointy hair.

It was a game which was for adults without being full of gore.. which i liked.

so any suggestions?

[ThreeOhFour]

The closest thing I can recommend is probably Fahrenheit (AKA Indigo Prophecy), in terms of game style. In terms of games that I'd recommend you play for characters and the whole atmosphere of the thing, I'd suggest Beyond Good and Evil. Although it really isn't much like Dreamfall, and I hear people say it was too easy/short/etc I really enjoyed it.

I really wish I could recommend the Syberia games, but although they contained some nice enough moments scattered throughout, I really can't recommend them

Whether you'd enjoy these 2 games or not is not something I can say for certain, but they're the closest things in my finished games list to Dreamfall

[Ali]

I very much agree with Ben, except I'd say you should definitely consider Syberia. It's an absolutely beautiful game visually, narratively and in terms of characterisation. One of my favourites, with a well written lead character too!

If you can get hold of it, you might just like The Last Express. Very different to Dreamfall in many ways but with very rich characterisation.

Again, if you can track it down Starship Titanic is a distinctly underrated and unique game written by Douglas Adams. It had a very well rounded atmosphere which like Dreamfall was very absorbing. The tone of the game wavers between maudlin and comic and there are only a few characters so it's not quite like Dreamfall.

Also, I assume you've played The Longest Journey!

And, because I take every opportunity to plug them on these boards: Myst, Riven, Exile etc.. Don't listen to their detractors, they're excellent, and the feel of the worlds have a similar tone. They have almost no characters though.

In my opinion the games suggested so far are a better than Dreamfall in many respects. It had far too little game for me, and the story wasn't quite strong enough to warrant such lengthy cutscenes. I think I understand what you liked about it though.

[ThreeOhFour]

I very much agree with Ben, except I'd say you should definitely consider Syberia. It's an absolutely beautiful game visually, narratively and in terms of characterisation. One of my favourites, with a well written lead character too!

Well, then, seems like I didn't have to recommend it anyway  .

I admit to enjoying the games, and the story was touching to the point that I felt really quite emotional at the end of the second one, but the slow pace and puzzle design is what really held back the games, for me anyway.

Also, while I was never any really good at the puzzles in Myst games, I found that the universes created in Riven and Revelation really captured my imagination and drew me in. I guess this counts for the 'general feel of it' side of things.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

And, because I take every opportunity to plug them on these boards: Myst, Riven, Exile etc.. Don't listen to their detractors, they're excellent, and the feel of the worlds have a similar tone. They have almost no characters though.

Weird.  I found ALL of the Myst games to be uniformly boring and devoid of anything resembling cohesive, interesting stories or gameplay, and by gameplay I mean a measure of something beyond button pressing and slide puzzles.  Myst in particular is a sequence of FMV's leading to overly complicated, disassociated puzzles leading to more FMV's.  Now that's just my opinion, but it's no less valid than yours.

[Jimbob]

Little Big Adventure 1 and 2!

I'm still making my way through The Longest Journey at the moment... just got the underwater bit... not started Dreamfall yet... but enjoying it very much so.

EDIT: Just thought I'd add possibly The Nomad Soul / Omikron, not just because it's got David Bowie, but because I thought it was pretty good and had a unique concept to it, despite the execution of it (it tried to be every genre possible throughout it's length and really should've just been an adventure game)...

Also, LBA2 is in my top 10 ever, because it tries a lot of things and invariably succeeds when it shouldn't. It's quirky mind you, and some people don't quite agree with its mechanics...

[Calin Leafshade]

The Nomad Soul is a great game. David bowies addition is awesome.

I loved it up until i learnt i was in a game... Might as well have woken up and it was all a dream

[Ali]

Now that's just my opinion, but it's no less valid than yours.

Spoken like a veteran of internet debates!

I suppose they're not that similar to Dreamfall in terms of gameplay because the Myst games are all puzzle and less story and Dreamfall is all story and less (at some point no) puzzle. For me, the story of the Myst games is beautifully integrated into those buttons and slide puzzles you mentioned, but that's not everyone's experience.

I remembered another distinctly esoteric game, which you probably won't find anywhere. Blue Ice is an utterly unique adventure which is made up almost entirely of atmosphere, but with rich characters and bizzare metaphysical gameplay.

[LimpingFish]

Never a fan of Myst, can't stand The Longest Journey.

Liked Omikron, though.

I'd recommend Pathologic. It's freaky.

[discordance]

The only Myst game I liked was Riven, but I REALLY liked Riven. I think the puzzles in that game were the best I have ever experienced. They seemed so intricately interlocked with the world, and interlocked with each other -- you'd find random things everywhere and not know what they did, and then as you explored more everything would gradually attain significance, until you could fit all the pieces together and make something work. And there was always a piece of every puzzle that was missing or broken, and you had to guess or work it out some other way.

Even the story drew me in. It's all revealed slowly and gradually and without any character interaction whatsoever, but still, it pulled me in.

[Technocrat]

I'm going to have to second Fahrenheit (aka "The Indigo Prophecy" in the USA) in terms of feeling, even if the story goes a bit  later on. And naturally, The Longest Journey as well (just working my way through it at the moment).