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The Longest Journey

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This article is about the computer game. For the book by E. M. Forster, see The Longest Journey (novel).

The Longest Journey
North American boxart
Developer(s)Funcom
Publisher(s)Funcom
Producer(s)Ragnar Tørnquist
Designer(s)Didrik Tollefsen
Ragnar Tørnquist
Programmer(s)Morten Lode
Audun Tørnquist
Artist(s)Didrik Tollefsen
Writer(s)Ragnar Tørnquist
Composer(s)Bjørn Arve Lagim
SeriesThe Longest Journey
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NO: November 19, 1999
  • UK: April 20, 2000
  • US/CA: November 16, 2000
Genre(s)Adventure game
Mode(s)Single-player

The Longest Journey (Norwegian: Den lengste reisen) is a point-and-click adventure game developed for the PC by Norwegian studio Funcom.

The game drew praise from critics for the protagonist April Ryan, considered one of the most memorable female characters in the history of adventure games,[2][3] and also for its enigmatic, complex storyline and high production values, but was criticized for some of its more obscure puzzles.

Gameplay

The Longest Journey is a point-and-click adventure game where the player interacts with objects on the screen to solve puzzles and advance the story. The game features expansive recorded dialogue most of which is non-essential to completing the game but contributes to the setting.

Plot

See also: List of characters in The Longest Journey series

The game takes place in the parallel universes of magic-dominated Arcadia and industrial Stark. The protagonist, April Ryan, is an 18-year-old art student living in Stark, identified as a 'Shifter' capable of movement between these worlds, and tasked with restoring their essential Balance.

The player character, April Ryan, is standing in front of The Tree in her dream.

The story begins in Stark, where a sleeping April unintentionally shifts to Arcadia and meets the 'White Dragon', who identifies her as the heroine of the coming story. Upon learning this, April is attacked by a dark 'Chaos Vortex' and awakens in Stark, where she dismisses her experience as a nightmare, whereof the character 'Cortez' later surprises her by revealing his knowledge. When surreal activity begins affecting her friends, April meets again with Cortez, who transports her to the Arcadian city Marcuria. There she meets Tobias Grensret, Vestrum of the Sentinel; learns Alltongue, the common language in Arcadia; and hears from Tobias that the Balance protecting both worlds is dissolving after the dereliction of its Guardian and must be restored by the appearance of another. To return to Stark, April visits Brian Westhouse, a friend of Cortez, who assists her return; whereupon Cortez tells her of the organization known as the Vanguard or Church of Voltec. Later, April quarrels with her housemate Zack, who earlier assisted her finding Cortez. The next day, April consults Warren Hughes, a homeless boy who agrees to help April if she erases his criminal record and locates his missing sister, in doing which April finds a data cube on the Church of Voltec. Hughes then refers her to a hacker named Burns Flipper, who reveals that that wealthy magnate Jacob McAllen is head of the Vanguard, assisted by Gordon Halloway, a former candidate for Guardianship divided by the Vanguard into Chaos (in Arcadia) and Logic (in Stark), and gives her a false identification by which to infiltrate the Vanguard through its front company MTI.

Meeting Cortez and Father Raul in a Catholic cathedral, Cortez tells April that Arcadia is on the brink of war. Later in Arcadia, April meets the innkeeper, Benrime Salmin, and the clairvoyant Abnaxus, ambassador of the Venar, who identifies the coming danger. In the morning, April learns of four magical species whereof each has prophecies of a savior who will restore the Balance, only to finally break it, and determines to visit one such species, the winged Alatian of the island Alais, having gained sea-travel by rescuing a talking bird that she names Crow and freeing the ships' wind from the alchemist Roper Klacks. En route, April kills the monster known as 'Gribbler' while rescuing one of her captive Banda, whose species later give her the name 'April Bandu-embata' as a mark of gratitude and grant her part of the disc necessary to restore the Balance. At Roper Klacks' Tower, April challenges Klacks to use his magic against her calculator, and wins. Immediately before her departure to Alais, Tobias gives April the Talisman representing the Balance.

On the voyage to Alais, a 'Chaos Storm' attacks the ship, and April sabotages the ship's compass to restore its course. When the ship's captain seizes her Talisman, April attempts to retrieve it, and in so doing sinks the ship, whereupon the crew abandon her on a raft. Thence she is taken prisoner by the Maerum, a Mermaid-like species related to the Alatian, but currently their enemies. In revealing their common ancestry, April fulfills a prophecy of the 'Waterstiller', a foretold savior of the Maerum. After fulfilling the second prophecy by killing a 'Snapjaw', she is conveyed to fulfill the third by re-uniting the Maerum with the Alatians. After a series of tasks and in meeting with the Alatians' leader, April fulfills their prophecy by flying without wings, and convinces the Alatian to make peace with the Maerum. In a coastal sea cave, the Teller's guard and the Maerum Queen bring stones which combine to form the second part of the Balance's disc; whereupon the Maerum convey April, at her own request to the Blue Dragon, who gives April one of the disc's Jewels and takes her to a ship inhabited by the Dark People, who give April the third piece of the disc and give her an astral map locating the Guardian's Realm. At the Marcurian Harbor, April is attacked by the Chaos and returns to the Cathedral in Stark. There, Father Raul reveals that he is also a Sentinel Minstrum of Stark, and that Cortez is missing. On returning to her lodgings, April is caught by Gordon Halloway. Thence, she is rescued by another character, Lady Alvane, who teaches April to shift at will and sends April to Abnaxus to receive the disc's final piece. April then returns to the White Dragon, who reveals herself as April's mother and dies, whereupon a new White Dragon emerges from her egg.

Returned to Stark, April gives Flipper the star map to decipher, infiltrates MTI, and is captured by antagonist McAllen. Unable to escape, she surrenders her two jewels and the disc, and is then imprisoned. Upon escaping in pursuit of her object, she is trapped again; but rescued by Cortez. McAllen then reveals that he and Cortez are two Dragons (called 'Draic Kin', in-universe) meant to protect Stark, but at odds after McAllen's decision to re-unite the two worlds despite the risk of Chaos. The two then appear to die in combat. Retrieving the disc and the four jewels, April returns to Flipper, whom she finds dying after the seizure of her deciphered map by Gordon Halloway, and gains a copy thereof from him, whence she locates the Guardian's Realm near the space station 'Morning Star'. At the station, April frees Adrian, the derelict Guardian, and escapes with Halloway in pursuit. On her way to the Guardians' Tower, she imprisons the Chaos Vortex in her Talisman and later summons Crow, who helps her complete the necessary trials. Inside the tower, April re-unites Halloway with the Chaos Vortex to restore his candidacy as Guardian and returns to Stark and Arcadia, leaving Crow behind.

In the Epilogue, the scene returns to Lady Alvane’s home, wherein she has narrated the entire story to two youths and where she reveals that the two worlds re-united under Gordon Halloway. Upon their departure, Crow enters, asking the tale of the "warrior princess" who won the war of the balance, and whereof she corrects his impression; a possible reference to the sequel, Dreamfall.

Development

The title of the game is a reference to the quote by the Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld: "The longest journey is the journey inward, for he who has chosen his destiny has started upon his quest for the source of his being."[4] Other inspirations for the game included Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and The Books of Magic, Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Joss Whedon's writing in general.[5]

The Longest Journey was developed by a small internal team at Funcom led by Ragnar Tørnquist. It was their first original project. Funcom put little restrictions on the developers except the budget (approx. $2-3 million) and the deadline. Since the team had to develop the game engine and most of the required tools from scratch, they struggled to release the game on time. For most of 1999, the team had to work overtime and during weekends to ultimately meet the deadline.[5]

Soundtrack

Untitled

The Longest Journey is a soundtrack album to the video game composed by Bjørn Arve Lagim and Tor Linløkken. It has been released as a CD and is freely downloadable from the game's official website. There are minor differences between the versions. The web release has seven tracks not available on the CD, and the CD has one track not available for download. Some of the tracks have changed order and a few have a different name. Lagim produced all but the last four tracks of both releases. There are 36 tracks on the web release, adding up to 72 minutes of music. The CD can also be ordered from Funcom's store, but this version only contains 30 tracks.

CD Release
No.TitleLength
1."Main Menu"2:01
2."Prologue"1:38
3."Main Titles"2:57
4."Venice"1:02
5."The First Shift"0:56
6."Marcuria and the Northlands"4:27
7."The Gribbler"1:01
8."The Subway and Hope Street"0:50
9."The Great Library"0:33
10."Reading Music"1:39
11."The Gargoyle and the Labyrinth"2:47
12."The Storm and the Sea"2:08
13."Alais"1:41
14."Inside the Alatien City"0:51
15."The Deep and the Old God"1:43
16."The House of All Worlds"0:41
17."Jacob MacAllen"2:29
18."Death and Rebirth"0:47
19."Danger"1:32
20."Into the Wormhole"1:29
21."Desolation and the Well of Making"0:42
22."The Ghost House"1:35
23."The Tower"1:41
24."Epilogue"1:44
25."End Credits"3:26
26."The Longest Journey Suite"12:05
27."Dragon"5:06
28."Eagle"3:32
29."Dolphin"6:37
30."Unicorn"7:34
Total length:77:10
Web Release
No.TitleLength
1."Main Menu"2:00
2."Prologue"1:35
3."Main Titles"2:56
4."White Dragon's Lair"0:33
5."Venice"1:02
6."The First Shift"0:55
7."Marcuria & Northland" (Name according to ID3, however the official site states the same as the CD-release.)4:27
8."The Gribbler"1:01
9."Subway and Hope St." (Name according to ID3, however the official site states the same as the CD-release.)0:50
10."The Great Library"0:33
11."Reading Music"1:38
12."Gargoyle and Labyrint" (Name according to ID3, however the official site states the same as the CD-release.)2:47
13."Storm and the Sea" (Name according to ID3, however the official site states the same as the CD-release.)2:07
14."Alais"1:40
15."The Alatien"1:07
16."Inside Ancient City" (Official site states name "Inside the Ancient City", this is however the same track as "Inside the Alatien City" from the CD.)0:50
17."The Deep & Old God" (Name according to ID3, however the official site states the same as the CD-release.)1:43
18."A Ship of Shadows"0:27
19."House of All Worlds" (Name according to ID3, however the official site states the same as the CD-release.)0:41
20."Gordon Halloway"1:32
21."Death and Rebirth"0:47
22."Jacob MacAllen"2:29
23."Danger"1:32
24."Into the Wormhole"1:28
25."Desolation and the Well" (Name according to ID3, however the official site states the same as the CD-release.)0:42
26."The Ghost House"1:36
27."The Tower"1:40
28."The Road Back"0:46
29."Epilogue"1:43
30."End Credits"3:26
31."Prelude in C Minor"4:30
32."Winterland"2:03
33."Dragon"5:06
34."Dolphin"6:36
35."Eagle"3:32
36."Shark" (Same track as the one named "Unicorn" on the CD.)7:34
Total length:75:54

Releases

First published by IQ Media Nordic in Norway in 1999, it was later localized for and released in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, and the United States. The game was originally written and recorded in English, though most of the localizations were released before the English version.[6]

In October 2011, it was announced that The Longest Journey was being ported to iOS, with the article mainly focusing on the iPhone.[7]

Reception

The Longest Journey was critically acclaimed. GameSpot called it "one of the best adventure games in years" and applauded the "complex and interesting story" although found the ending lacking as "the epilogue does little to wrap everything up".[9] IGN said the game "actually reinvents how stories can be told in the medium" and noticed the mature content, including "harsh subject matter, and some big time swearing". Some of the puzzles were described as "inane", but on the whole the game "hones the genre into its tightest, sharpest form yet".[11] The US edition of PC Gamer praised the "mature and magical" story, the "sumptuous" graphics, and the game's puzzles.[12] The only criticism levied by the magazine was that some parts of the game might be "too edgy" for younger players.[12] The Longest Journey subsequently won the Adventure Game of the Year award by both gaming sites.[15][16] By mid-2002, the game had sold 450,000 copies.[17]

Legacy

A continuation of The Longest Journey, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, was released on April 20, 2006. The next installment of the series, Dreamfall Chapters, was crowd-funded on Kickstarter and is scheduled to be released in November 2014.[18]

The developers view Dreamfall: The Longest Journey as more of a spin-off than a direct sequel to the first game, as it revolves around a new protagonist, with a new storyline.[5] The direct sequel to The Longest Journey, entitled The Longest Journey Home, was revealed in 2013 and is to be produced after Dreamfall Chapters.[19]

References

  1. ^ "The Longest Journey v1.61 Patch". GameSpot. April 23, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  2. ^ Greg Kasavin (April 18, 2006). "Dreamfall review". GameSpot. Retrieved December 14, 2006. The Longest Journey introduced one of gaming's most memorable heroines, a smart and resourceful young woman named April Ryan.
  3. ^ Sean Molloy (February 23, 2004). "The Longest Journey review". GamePro. Archived from the original on March 8, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2006. April Ryan is one of the strongest, most well-written, and most likeable heroines ever to point-and-click her way around a PC game.
  4. ^ Ragnar Tørnquist et al. (February 22, 2013). RedThreadGames: Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey (live stream). Oslo, Norway: TwitchTV. Event occurs at 10:01:20. Retrieved February 27, 2013. {{cite AV media}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |authors= (help); Unknown parameter |timecaption= ignored (|time-caption= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b c Böke, Ingmar (March 1, 2013). "Dreamfall Chapters - Ragnar Tørnquist". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved March 1, 2013. Cite error: The named reference "Böke" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ Sluganski, Randy. "Interview with Ragnar Tornquist". Just Adventure +. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  7. ^ Videogamer.com – October 27, 2011
  8. ^ Bronstring, Marek (May 20, 2000). "The Longest Journey". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved March 30, 2008.
  9. ^ a b Dulin, Ron (June 26, 2000). "The Longest Journey for PC Review". GameSpot. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
  10. ^ Schembri, Tamara. "The Longest Journey". GameSpy. Retrieved March 30, 2008.
  11. ^ a b Lopez, Vincent (November 20, 2000). "The Longest Journey Review". IGN. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
  12. ^ a b c Steinberg, Scott (February 2001). "The Longest Journey". PC Gamer US. 8 (2). Brisbane, California: Imagine Media: 97. ISSN 1080-4471. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  13. ^ "Longest Journey, The (pc: 2000)". Metacritic. Retrieved March 30, 2008.
  14. ^ "The Longest Journey Reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved March 30, 2008.
  15. ^ "Best and Worst of 2000". GameSpot. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
  16. ^ "Best of 2000 Awards". IGN. January 26, 2001. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
  17. ^ "The Longest Journey – General News". Funcom. July 29, 2002. Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
  18. ^ Red Thread Games (February 8, 2013). "Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey". Kickstarter. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  19. ^ VanOrd, Kevin (March 1, 2013). "Taking The Longest Journey Home". GameSpot. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
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