Fans of The Longest Journey and Dreamfall will once again return to Arcadia, should Red Thread Games' Kickstarter campaign prove successful.
The Longest Journey fans are a patient bunch.
The classic adventure game was released in 2000; its sequel, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, followed six years later. Dreamfall left us hanging, deliberating the fates of its sharply-drawn, empathetic characters for another half-dozen years. Finally, a new chapter is in development: Dreamfall Chapters. Series creator Ragnar Tørnquist is again taking the helm, though with a new studio created specifically to bring heroines Zoë Castillo and April Ryan back to our monitors.
That new studio is Red Thread Games--and like many independent developers, it has no lack of great ideas and creative drive. What it doesn't have, however, is the funding for a full game. And where else but Kickstarter would such a studio turn for support? Today, Tørnquist and team have announced their crowdfunding program for Dreamfall Chapters, outlining an $850,000 goal, as well as their vision for the game, its characters, and its world.
I got in touch with Tørnquist to clarify that vision. Dreamfall Chapters has a storied legacy to live up to, and I asked him why he thinks The Longest Journey and Dreamfall have attracted such passionate fans.
"They're very personal games, almost intimately so," he responds. "And while they're not perfect by any means, I think they're broken in just the right ways. They don't feel mass produced. There are still sharp edges and rough surfaces, unpolished and handcrafted. They feel honest, alive and real. They both have, as I'm so fond of saying, a soul."
"Tooting our own horn a bit, I also think both games feature very strong characters that players feel something for and care about, and good stories that really engage. Everyone who plays TLJ and Dreamfall has a strong emotional reaction to the games--both positive and negative--and those feelings linger and are remembered years after playing. I don't think you can play our games and not feel anything."
The lovely worlds also have a lot to do with the series' success, and Tørnquist admits that Dreamfall stumbled a bit in that regard, at least in comparison with its richly conceived predecessor. Expect to see that richness return in Dreamfall Chapters. "There will be more interactivity, more spaces to explore, more things to look at and to dig into. Scenery, characters, books, documents, strange creatures, sights and sounds… We want to bring back the magic from TLJ, that unique and special feeling of being in a place rich with history and lore. A place that's lived in, with living characters who live real lives, with families and friends, ups and downs. Worlds that exist beyond the confines of the screen."
One of the strengths of the series is how its people, places, and story beats live on in the minds of its players. It's hard to forget April Ryan's avian sidekick Crow, who delights in his womanizing ways. Or Burns Flipper, foul-mouthed hacker extraordinaire. Or indeed the worlds of both Stark and Arcadia, the former acting as the technology-focused yin to the other's magical yang. Dreamfall and The Longest Journey can wriggle into your psyche and remain there for good. The games didn't just make a mark on their players, however: they made a mark on Tørnquist, too.
"There's so much of myself in April Ryan, Zoë, Kian--Crow, definitely--and TLJ was the most personal and intimate story I have ever told," he says. "It's so close to my heart, such a big part of what I was back then, and even now. It's almost uncomfortably revealing, and it's a bit hard for me to sit down and play that game without feeling exposed."
"So yeah, I don't think I could go on making games without first making Dreamfall Chapters, and being able to conclude Zoë's story and the Dreamer Cycle. It's really, really important to me, and to all of us on the team."
The memories are fondly recalled, but that was the past. What, pray tell, does the future bring for Zoë, April, Brian Westhouse, and their contemporaries? (Caution: Spoilers ahead!) Dreamfall ended with one of its main characters presumed dead, and the other in a coma. It's hard to imagine a newcomer jumping head first into the continuing story and making much sense of it, and Tørnquist admits that if you haven't played Dreamfall, you might be a little lost. However, the team is aiming to shepherd new players into the universe without boring returning fans. But what about returning fans? What events will usher us back into the ongoing drama? (Caution, once more: spoilers for Dreamfall ahead!)
Says Tørnquist: "So Zoë is lost in this place called the Storytime. She's still in a coma, it's a year later, and the doctors are losing hope that she'll ever wake up. But Gabriel, her dad, still has faith. After all, that's what Dreamfall was all about--faith--and that's not lost on any of us. Players will have to help Zoë escape Storytime, wake up, be reborn, and confront who she was and who she's turning into. It's about growing up, growing into yourself, becoming who you're meant to me, or who other people need you to be--and to be okay with that, to be comfortable with your role in this world."
"And the worlds have changed quite a bit, too. With WatiCorp's Dreamer released--think game console that allows you to dream lucid, realistic dreams, where you are in control of what you see and feel and experience--the world has become completely addicted, and society is crumbling. People are hooked up at home or in opium den-like Dream Factories that have popped up everywhere, and they're not going to work or taking care of their loved ones or doing anything at all. So the world is just falling apart."
You'll experience the story from three different perspectives--no surprise, given that Dreamfall took on the same structure. But Zoë is still the main character, and Dreamfall Chapters will bring her story to a conclusion. Adds Tørnquist, "Dreamfall Chapters is a game about changes. About life. About the chapters of existence--growing, learning, adapting. And time will pass in the game, from early spring through to winter, as our characters continue their journeys."
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