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The storyline in Dreamfall is outstanding, one of the best I’ve ever seen. I beat the game in only 3 days, simply because the storyline had me coming back for more constantly. I stayed up till 2 in the morning playing this one and the storyline made it well worth it.

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey takes place 10 years after the first game (which bare in mind I’ve never played). You are Zoe Castillo; you live with your father Gabriel in a town called Casablanca. You’ve recently dropped out of college and broken up with your boyfriend Reza. Zoe appears to be in a slump, unsure what to do with herself and where to go from this point in her life. Then, things start to go south.

Your best friend (as well as ex-boyfriend) Reza calls you up and asks you to meet him at a local coffee shop. Once you make it there he asks you to do him a favor which consists of picking up a package at some company called Jiva for him. He would do it, but he simply doesn’t have the time. Here is where the adventure begins.

I don’t want to ruin the storyline for anyone but it is at this point the game really begins. You are taken on a whirlwind adventure between two different worlds (Stark and Arcadia, which I’ll explain in a moment) not to mention Japan and the USA. You actually get to play as three different characters in the game. Not only do you play as Zoe Castillo, but you also get to play as April Ryan (who apparently was the main character in the first game) and another character named Kian. You play most of the game as Zoe but you also spend time as both April and Kian. April seems to play an important part of the storyline however I’m a little puzzled about Kian’s role in the game. He seems to play a very minor role that I feel like could have been played by the game itself rather than the player.

Now, onto these two different worlds. Well, a better term would be “realms” actually. There is Stark, which is where Zoe lives, and Arcadia where April and Kian reside. April is originally from Stark but choose to stay in Arcadia after going there 10 years prior. Stark is basically our world moved forward by about two centuries. Arcadia, on the other hand, appears to be an alien and magical place where magic can be found everywhere.

The storyline in this game is the selling point for it. Graphics are very good, some of the best graphics I’ve seen on the Xbox system in recent memory but they aren’t breath taking. The gameplay itself on the other hand, well I wish they had spent as much time on that as they did the story.

The gameplay is lackluster at best; everything you have to do in this game for the most part is handed to you on a silver platter. There is very little explanation needed in this game. Everything is laid out for you. There are very few puzzles in the game and the ones that are there seem simple enough. I did struggle on a few puzzles though, so maybe some of the readers will find them challenging. Then again I’ve never been a good puzzle solver.

There is one really good feature about the gameplay I liked, which is the ability to choose the direction of a conversation. Much of the game is spent having conversations with other in game characters. This may be boring (VERY boring) but it brings along the story quite nicely. During these conversations you are often given the opportunity to choose your character's response. I found this to be a very unique touch. You can be aggressive when asking someone a question or you could be subtle. You could lie about your identity or you can tell the truth. All these are up to the player to decide.

The downside to this, however, is you pretty much end up going or doing the same thing regardless of your answer. You may ask a question differently but in the end it doesn’t affect the outcome of the story itself.

The developers deemed this game an Action RPG but the “action” blows chunks. You do some fighting in the game as each character but there is very little you can actually do. A punch here, a kick there and outside of the chance to swing a sword and staff with Kian and April the fighting lacks any sense of fun.

The controls for the game are very simple to figure out, once you run into a wall a few times that is. You’ve got the typical over the shoulder view in this one where you watch the character’s backside as you tell him or her where to go with the controller.

The interface is very simple to understand. The A button allows you to interact with the people around you and talk to them. You could hit the X button and quietly think something about the person or people in front of you. The directional pad brings up your inventory, which tends to be very important in the game itself. Zoe always carries a mobile phone with her and you will use it multiple times in the game. As for April and Kian, you usually pick up items along the way that are important to how you play the game.

You also have the “focus field” which can be activated by click the left joystick. This field allows you to select items or people you want to interact with. Some items have different reactions when you interact with them up close or from far away so keep that in mind while playing.

If you played the first installment in this series I suggest at least renting this game so you may continue the story. For other gamers, just rent this one. You’ll be done playing it once you’ve beaten it. There is very little replay value in this one, at least in my opinion.

The ending to the game left much to be desired (reminded me a lot of the Halo 2 ending as far as leaving you hanging) so I pray the developers do another game to actually finish the story. If they don’t I’ll be very upset with them because this story deserves to be finished. If nothing else at least play this game to witness the story unfold, you won’t be sorry you did.