Should I buy this game?

meretchen

I might buy "The Longest Journey", which looks like a pretty cool game. However, I have at one time seen it described as "a thrilling action-adventure" *jibbly jibbly*. And I really, really, truly believe in my heart of hearts, that life is too short for hybrids.

So fellow adventure gamers. For someone who enjoyed games such as Sam and Max, Gabriel Knight, Monkey Island and Syberia but didn't like Kings Quest VIII and that Indiana Jones game that looked excactly like a Lara Croft-game - would you recommend the game "The Longest Journey"?

In other words: is it an adventure game or an *shudder* action-adventure game?

TelltaleTool

It's a pure adventure game, but I would argue that hybrids aren't a bad thing. There are a lot of badly done ones, but sometimes it's done really well.

MeaningOfLife

Yes, get The Longest Journey as it's more of a click and point traditional adventure game.

But since you said you don't like the new 3D exploration/adventure games, then don't bother with the sequel, Dreamfall, as it's just like that even though I really like the graphics, voice acting, and the music, but the gameplay is shallow and not much of puzzles.

Soultaker

The original The Longest Journey is a classic point-and-click adventure game of epic proportions; no action about it. It's also considered quite the classic, so you should definitely give it a try. (Beware of some awkward animations, some varying-quality voice acting, and a slightly cheesy back story though.)

The sequel (Dreamfall: The Longest Journey) is a bit different; much more action (horribly implemented) and way less puzzling/adventuring. I can't really recommend it, except that you'll probably want to play it anyway since TLJ will leave you wanting for more (even though it's already an incredibly long game).

Derwin

Agreed with Soultaker. Get The Longest Journey, and then decide later about the sequel, as it does have some action sequences.

LittleBuddy

The Longest Journey is quite good and you should definitely get it if you enjoyed those games. There is no death, you are given infinite time to think even in critical situations, there are tons of dialogue and items and some tough puzzles, plus it's long and should be cheap anywhere. Dreamfall is almost completely different, though. It's an adventure in the sense that you have to use the power of dialogue to advance in several instances, but there are action sequences (nothing really hard), stealth sequences (which are not too good) and very little puzzles, it's pretty straightforward. Thing is, the story is well written and quite interesting despite the enormous cliffhanger, so maybe you can see the cutscenes in youtube after playing TLJ or something.

Emily

I'm not much of an action gamer but I really enjoyed Dreamfall. I actually liked it more than TLJ (probably because I found the storyline more interesting). In most cases you can avoid combat with stealth or just by finding another way around an obstacle, and I didn't find the combat that was in the game to be too difficult. (Not that I remember, anyway, but it has been a couple of years...)

I played it with a gamepad, which probably made the action sequences easier to deal with.