Dreamfall Chapters

72%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,872 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • gameplay
Dreamfall Chapters Game Cover
Dreamfall Chapters is a strong adventure game, held back only by the required knowledge base for entry. A fascinating game with interwoven tales, beautiful set pieces and believeable protagonists, Dreamfall is going strong and only getting started.
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Dreamfall Chapters is a 3D adventure game that continues the story of the Dreamfall and Longest Journey series. The player controls multiple characters in a game that blends sci-fi, fantasy, and cyberpunk elements. The game features puzzles, character development, and a rich, immersive narrative centered around the struggle between technology and magic.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Linux
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

72%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,872 reviews
story876 positive mentions
optimization20 negative mentions
  • Engaging and emotional storyline that keeps players invested.
  • Beautiful graphics and world-building that create an immersive experience.
  • Meaningful choices that impact character relationships and story outcomes.
  • Gameplay can feel tedious with excessive dialogue and slow pacing.
  • Some puzzles are poorly designed and lack clear instructions.
  • Many plot points feel rushed or unresolved, leaving players wanting more.
  • story2,388 mentions

    The story of "Dreamfall Chapters" is a complex and engaging continuation of the saga that began with "The Longest Journey," weaving together the narratives of multiple characters, particularly Zoe and Kian, across two distinct worlds. While many players appreciate the depth and emotional resonance of the story, some criticize its pacing and the presence of plot holes, suggesting that familiarity with the previous games is essential for full enjoyment. Overall, the game is praised for its rich storytelling, character development, and the impact of player choices on the narrative.

    • “The whole saga is a sweet mix of whimsy and intrigue, and after three great games, I've been deeply enchanted by the setting, the story, and the characters.”
    • “The story shines when seen in its full great scope and very up close from the characters' point of view, but fails to gracefully connect in the middle.”
    • “This is a beautiful game with a compelling story and very memorable characters, dreamfall chapters successfully concluded the longest journey saga almost 10 years after the last game, with what I can say to be an awfully magnificent ending.”
    • “Dreamfall Chapters promised a captivating story, but instead delivered a tedious slog.”
    • “The story is dull and complete nonsense.”
    • “The story has constant plot holes with random characters that randomly show up and can do exactly what is necessary when the plot needs it, but will never be mentioned or utilized again.”
  • graphics443 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful art style and vibrant environments, while others criticize the outdated character animations and poor optimization. Although some players find the visuals stunning and immersive, particularly in the context of the game's narrative, others note significant performance issues and graphical glitches that detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the graphics are generally considered appealing, they may not meet the expectations set by more modern titles.

    • “The graphics are amazing, I'm looking forward to where the story goes, just hope it isn't ruined by being split into episodes, which is becoming popular with many games these days.”
    • “The graphics are breathtaking and the soundtrack is simply amazing.”
    • “The graphics are beautiful, but just a bit glitchy.”
    • “The graphics are horribly unoptimized on the Unity 5 engine; I clocked my tanked-up GPU running at 80% just on normal graphics. Good luck to you folks trying to get it running on higher without setting your house on fire, and it doesn’t even look that amazing. I think the development team just cranked up all the post-processing steps and crossed their fingers.”
    • “The graphics are outdated yet the performance is quite bad, worse than many new games such as Witcher 3, Doom 2016, Rise of the Tomb Raider, etc. The character animations are abysmal by today's standards, and the facial animations are nonexistent.”
    • “The graphics are unbelievably bad -- it looks worse than the first Dreamfall, all things considered.”
  • gameplay402 mentions

    The gameplay in "Dreamfall Chapters" has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its simplicity and linearity, often comparing it to point-and-click adventure games or interactive movies. While some appreciate the focus on story and character development, others criticize the lack of engaging mechanics, repetitive tasks, and frustrating puzzles, leading to a gameplay experience that feels tedious and underwhelming. Overall, the game prioritizes narrative over gameplay, which may appeal to fans of story-driven experiences but disappoint those seeking more complex gameplay elements.

    • “I won't spoil anything, but here's the gist: the gameplay is smooth and fluid, and the graphics hold up well, even by 2024 standards.”
    • “The gameplay is simple but is not really well explained early on, leading to some very frustrating moments that could have easily been avoided.”
    • “Gameplay is enjoyable with a good amount of unique puzzles throughout.”
    • “The gameplay is an insult to anyone with intelligence.”
    • “The gameplay is often confusing and counterintuitive, and there are a number of glitches and bugs, mostly graphical.”
    • “The gameplay is slow and tedious.”
  • music161 mentions

    The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its ability to enhance the emotional depth of the narrative and create an immersive atmosphere. Many reviewers highlighted the soundtrack as a standout feature, praising its distinctiveness and ability to underscore key moments in the story. While some noted occasional issues with repetition or lack of variety, the overall consensus is that the music significantly contributes to the game's appeal, making it a memorable experience for players.

    • “The soundtrack deserves a special shoutout for its distinctive sound and for doing what all the best soundtracks do: underscore the emotional tone of the scenes, while simultaneously driving the plot home.”
    • “The music is amazing and gives me shivers every time I load up the game.”
    • “The graphics are breathtaking and the soundtrack is simply amazing.”
    • “The music is awful and annoying.”
    • “Music is far too simplistic, forgettable, used incorrectly or not at all in places - this is surprising considering music is such an integral part of an atmospheric and story-driven experience.”
    • “The music/sound atmosphere does not hook me like Dreamfall did.”
  • emotional114 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is widely praised, with many players expressing deep connections to the characters and story, often resulting in tears and heartfelt moments. The narrative is described as a powerful emotional rollercoaster, enhanced by a beautiful soundtrack that underscores key scenes, providing a satisfying and touching conclusion to the saga. However, some players noted a diminished connection to certain characters compared to previous installments, yet the overall experience remains profoundly moving and memorable.

    • “The game's beautiful graphics, intriguing puzzles, and emotional narrative will keep you hooked.”
    • “The story had me shedding a few tears at the end; the epilogue was heart-wrenching.”
    • “This is an emotional conclusion to the series.”
    • “This is not a game, but a long-winded, artfully boring story experience.”
    • “Only played book 1 and am disappointed by the bad graphics, boring story, and glitches.”
    • “Being such a long game, averaging around 20-30 hours for the first 4 books, it really draws out and explores everything that it can, without it seeming like a bland and boring story.”
  • humor92 mentions

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its light-hearted and witty dialogue, particularly from characters like Crow and Enu, which often provides comic relief amidst darker themes. However, some found the humor to be hit-or-miss, with instances of cringe-worthy jokes and forced attempts at comedy that detracted from the overall experience. Overall, while the game successfully incorporates humor into its narrative, opinions vary on its effectiveness and execution.

    • “The political crisis in Europolis was laughingly naive for an 'M'-rated game ('we have armed soldiers on the streets, but let's just wait until the election!' yes, it always helps).”
    • “There are also some quite funny characters (Mira, Shitbot, Crow... just hilarious).”
    • “The humor is pretty good, but don't expect to laugh at every scene, of course.”
    • “Terrible humor that's absolutely not funny (meet the sand-witch that sells sandwiches).”
    • “You get to play as a semi-depressed, fully apathetic Zoë Castillo, who aimlessly walks around a metropolis doing mundane chores, such as following a silly (and awfully unfunny) robot around.”
  • atmosphere83 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its stunning visuals, immersive sound design, and evocative music, creating a rich and engaging experience that enhances the storytelling. Many reviewers highlight the game's ability to transport players into its beautifully crafted worlds, filled with unique characters and compelling narratives, despite some criticisms regarding gameplay pacing and music quality. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature, making it highly recommended for those who appreciate story-driven adventures.

    • “The atmosphere of each era is presented really well, and it's through these little 'pointless' things that make it more distinguishable.”
    • “The whole atmosphere of the game is just amazing.”
    • “It's obvious that a lot of care and love was put into this game, from the detailed and vibrant environments to the atmospheric, moving music, and the well-acted, thought-provoking plot and dialogue.”
    • “And the world lacks atmosphere.”
    • “There were too many scene/character changes, too many cutscenes, or too many loading and intro screens that quickly wrung out any of the atmosphere I had absorbed exploring and interacting with the world.”
    • “The music/sound atmosphere does not hook me like Dreamfall did.”
  • optimization75 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including frame drops and stuttering, even on high-end hardware. While some users noted improvements following patches, others criticized the game's reliance on the Unity engine, which they felt contributed to its poor optimization. Overall, the consensus suggests that despite decent graphics, the game's performance remains a major drawback.

    • “It has nice music, story, and considering it's a Unity game, I was surprised with perfect visuals and performance as well, even on older PCs.”
    • “Also, having started the game early on, performance in the 'final cut' is indeed much better than before.”
    • “Most of the performance issues mentioned in other reviews are due to this area, but the issues have been largely resolved with a recent patch by the developers.”
    • “The performance of the game is laughable even on a GTX 1080 at 1080p, a stuttering mess.”
    • “Unfortuately, this game is horribly optimized; I am getting like 15-20 fps on high on an R9 280X... now I know I don't have the most powerful card, but really?”
    • “Atrociously bad optimization and graphics even on the highest settings.”
  • grinding45 mentions

    The reviews for "Dreamfall Chapters: The Final Cut Edition" overwhelmingly describe the grinding aspect of the game as tedious and frustrating. Players express disappointment with the slow-paced gameplay, repetitive puzzles, and excessive dialogue that detracts from the overall experience, often leading them to seek external help to progress. While some appreciate the story and clever puzzles, the general consensus is that the game suffers from a lack of engaging gameplay, making it feel like a chore to play.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Loved Dreamfall and wanted to get invested in the story here, but what little gameplay is here is tedious.”
    • “The gameplay is slow and tedious.”
    • “Overall the game manages to drag out what could've been a nicely paced 2-hour per episode experience into a tedious 5-hour walkathon, with very little exposition.”
  • stability33 mentions

    The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting various graphical glitches, bugs, and performance issues, particularly with frame rates and environmental interactions. While some users experienced minor annoyances that did not significantly disrupt gameplay, others faced more severe problems, including freezing and crashes. Overall, while the developers are actively addressing these issues through patches, the game is still perceived as somewhat buggy and in need of further optimization.

    • “Otherwise a flawless experience; runs great on deck using the highest visual settings.”
    • “The gameplay is often confusing and counterintuitive, and there are a number of glitches and bugs, mostly graphical.”
    • “The optimization of the game is also kind of poor; my system was capable of running the game, yet the frame rate was all over the place and there were some graphical glitches to be seen.”
    • “In my opinion, this game was released buggy, still is buggy and unplayable. I don't know if anyone has had better luck, but I'm giving this game a bad rating because I have not been able to play the game just because of that. There is no way for me to play the game without it glitching out on me, and from the looks of it, my system should be able to run it.”
  • character development32 mentions

    Character development in the game is widely praised for its depth and engagement, with many reviewers highlighting the strong storytelling and the emotional weight of character choices. While some noted that character relationships can sometimes feel secondary to the overarching narrative, the overall consensus is that the character design and development significantly enhance the immersive experience. The combination of rich character arcs and beautiful visuals contributes to a captivating adventure that resonates with players.

    • “It is a captivating and immersive adventure game that masterfully combines compelling storytelling with rich character development.”
    • “The storyline throughout is very captivating and the character development makes it more engaging.”
    • “Followed the series from the first The Longest Journey game and was pleasantly surprised to see that it remained an excellent story with great character development in each new iteration.”
    • “I also got the feeling that character development and relationships both took a backseat to the epic scale of the story.”
    • “There was no player-controlled character development for him; he was a preprogrammed storytelling device, not a character.”
    • “This game reminds me in some ways of puzzle-adventure games I used to play in the 90s (King's Quest, The Legend of Kyrandia, and so on), in that it focuses only on story and puzzle-solving, rather than also on character development (like in role-playing games).”
  • replayability16 mentions

    Overall, the game offers a solid level of replayability, primarily due to its choice-driven narrative that significantly impacts the story's outcome. Many players have expressed enjoyment in revisiting the game to explore different decisions, with some logging over 60 hours and still eager for more. However, a few reviewers noted that while the replay value is enhanced by the choices system, its execution could be improved, and some felt less inclined to replay the entire game after experiencing certain endings.

    • “This makes the replay value pretty good: I've played all the way through twice, logging about 65 hours, and am still looking forward to coming back for more in the future.”
    • “The story is very engaging and with your choices actually changing things, there's more replayability than has been traditionally associated with these sorts of games.”
    • “Overall, it's a pretty worthy game when you can get ~30 hours of gameplay plus high replayability value due to the multiple choices you can make inside the game.”
    • “The new choices system, which lets you (slightly) alter certain story elements, adds some replay value, but its implementation could have been more subtle and organic.”
    • “I guess this was mainly formulated to increase replayability, but even though I have a lot of affection for the story world, I don’t feel like replaying the entire game just to see what would have happened if I hadn’t allowed Brian Westhouse to stay behind in Abnaxus’ home.”
    • “The replay value should be high in episodic adventure games where you have so many choices, but after playing chapter 2 and getting one ending, I just felt 'holy shit.'”
  • monetization2 mentions

    The monetization of Dreamfall Chapters is perceived as exploitative, with some players feeling that the game prioritizes profit over genuine representation, particularly regarding its LGBTQ+ character. Critics express disappointment in the lack of meaningful inclusivity, suggesting that the game's marketing may have been disingenuous, leading to buyer's remorse among players.

    • “Dreamfall Chapters feels like a cynical cash grab.”
    • “I regret purchasing this game right now and potentially rewarding such cheap exploitation.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

70% average critic score

Buy Dreamfall Chapters

Play time

14hMedian play time
15hAverage play time
22hMain story
36hCompletionist
5-30hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 24 analyzed playthroughs

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