The Longest Journey
Encyclopedia
The Longest Journey is a point-and-click adventure game
developed by Norwegian
studio
Funcom
for the PC
. 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.
The game drew praise from critics for its enigmatic, complex storyline and high production values, but was criticized for some of its more obscure puzzles.
A sequel
, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, was released on April 20, 2006.
In October 2011, it was announced that The Longest Journey was being ported to iOS
, with the articles mainly focusing on the iPhone
. It is yet unknown if the game will be available on iPod
and iPad
as well.
, and Stark: a world of science
and technology. The protagonist, April Ryan
, is an 18-year-old art student living in Stark. She learns that the line between the two worlds is growing thin, causing chaos on both sides. April also learns that she is a Shifter, one who is capable of walking between these worlds, and is then tasked with restoring the Balance between the dimensions before it is too late.
Later, when strange dreamlike mythical things start happening not only to her but also to her friends, she realizes that Cortez has the answers. With Zack being the only one who knows where Cortez might be, she trades information on his whereabouts for a date with him (despite disliking him). April meets up with Cortez, and he reveals that there are players bigger than the police who are after him. He then opens a shift and persuades April to step through. April appears in a temple in Marcuria. There she meets Tobias Grensret, Vestrum of the Sentinel. By allowing the magic into her, she learns Alltongue, the common language in Arcadia. Tobias tells her about the Balance, the Sentinel, and the Vanguard. He says it has been 200 years since the current Guardian, Adrian, needed to be replaced. Growing tired, Adrian started to pollute the Balance, and had to return back to where he was born, Stark.
This meant that the Balance is now unguarded, allowing Chaos from Arcadia to breach the Divide, explaining the strange things happening in Stark. As Adrian is no longer in the Guardian’s Realm, the only way back there is through the original location where the Guardian’s Tower was built. He is also the only one who can open the entrance. Tobias reveals that April is a strong shifter. As April does not know how to shift yet, she visits Brian Westhouse, a friend of Cortez and originally from Stark. There he gives her a pocket watch, which April uses to unintentionally open a shift. Back in Stark, Cortez gives her more information about the Vanguard, also known as the Church of Voltec. That night April ruins Zack’s date, establishing a vendetta with him.
The next day April visits Warren Hughes, a homeless boy with clandestine activities and connections. He agrees to help April if she infiltrates a police station to wipe his criminal record and find his sister. April does this, and also finds a data cube on the Church of Voltec. Hughes then refers her to Burns Flipper. Flipper then reads the data cube and finds out that Jacob McAllen, a wealthy magnate, is the head of the Vanguard. Gordon Halloway, a cold ruthless person, is McAllen’s right hand man. Halloway was meant to be the next Guardian, but Vanguard experiments split him into two, Chaos (in Arcadia) and Logic (in Stark). He tells her that MTI (a very large multinational company) is the front of the Vanguard, and its headquarters is located on Grendel Avenue, upper-level Newport. She needs a fake ID, which a criminal named Flipper will make, to access the upper levels.
Meeting Cortez and Father Raul in a Christian cathedral, Cortez tells April that Arcadia is on the brink of war. Still waiting on fake ID, she goes back to the Border house for the night. She then unintentionally shifts back to Arcadia. Entering The Journey Man inn, she meets the innkeeper Benrime Salmin. There is also a strange creature there, Abnaxus, ambassador of the Venar who happens to know who April is. His species sees all of time, but there is a dark veil in the future that he cannot see past. That is the time of uncertainty and chaos. After he leaves, April falls asleep in a chair in the inn.
In the morning, she visits the great Library of the Sentinel Enclave. She learns there are four magical species that guard the parts of the disc, and each has prophecies of a savior who will restore the balance, only to finally break it. She gets a lead, the island of Alais, where flying creatures called the Alatian have tales since the start of the Divide. She gains passage on a ship that will take her to Alais, The White Dragon. She does this by rescuing a talking bird that she names Crow. However, before she can leave she has to first free the wind, which an evil Alchemist, Roper Klacks, has put a spell on. Leaving for Klack's Tower, Crow escapes from his drunken owner and joins April on her journey.
On the way to the tower, she is captured by an evil woman, the Gribbler, in a forest. The Gribbler eats humans and furry creatures called the Banda. April kills the Gribbler while rescuing one of the captive Banda. The Banda honor her for saving their species and give her accommodation for the night. That night, she is visited by their spirits who give her the name April Bandu-embata. This then fulfills the prophecies of the Banda, and they give her the first piece of the disc.
When April arrives at the tower, she finds herself in a labyrinth. After much searching, she finally finds Klacks. She challenges him to a math duel: his magic versus her calculator. He loses and steals the calculator from her. He is intrigued with the device to the point of insanity and gets sucked in it. With Klacks' magic, April manages to free the wind. Just before April sets sail for Alais, Tobias tells her that she is the next Guardian, and gives her the Talisman of the Balance. April is shocked with this news, especially because Tobias kept this secret from her until now.
On the voyage to Alais, a Chaos Storm attacks the ship. The captain changes course, but with the fate of the Balance in peril, April sabotages their compass with her talisman to resume course. In the middle of the storm, April wants to retrieve the talisman, but is noticed by the captain. He realizes what she has done and promptly locks her Talisman in the deck down below. April tries to retrieve the device, which is locked in a chest, with an axe, but ends up sinking the boat.
She wakes up on a wooden debris raft, with only Crow to be found nearby. The rest of the crew had been rescued, but left her to drown as punishment for sabotaging the compass. Soon after Crow leaves to search for land, April gets pulled down to the bottom of the ocean by the Maerum, which are Mermaid
-like creatures. Initially there to serve them as a fishing slave, she meets the Maerum queen, recovers her Talisman and uncovers an ancient cave showing the history of the Maerum and Alatian, who are both enemies. The two species are revealed to have the same ancestors and have lived in peace for many years before the war. They used to live together without problem, however food has become scarce as they have both expanded past their initial territories. April shows the Maerum her discovery, which happens to fulfill one of the prophecies of the Waterstiller, a foretold of savior for the Maerum. After fulfilling the second prophecy, killing a dangerous Snapjaw, only one prophecy remains: for her to reunite the Maerum and the Alatian. As such, the Maerum take her to Alais.
After searching through ancient ruins, traveling through large forests and climbing up in trees, she finally arrives at the Alatian village. Learning the four important tales of the Alatian, she manages to get an audience with the Alatian Teller, who is queen of her people. She fulfills the prophecies of the Windbringer by flying without wings, with the help of a little magic and convinces the Alatian Teller to try to make peace with the Maerum. In an abandoned coastal sea cave where both species once lived together, ambassadors from each side (the Teller's guard and the Maerum Queen) bring stones which combine to form the second part of the disc. April then asks the Maerum to take her to their sleeping God. There she meets the Blue Dragon, who gives April one of the Jewels which are to fit into the disc. The blue dragon then takes her to a ship inhabited by the Dark People, which had set sail for the specific purpose of giving April the third piece of the disc. The Dark People had also searched through their extensive library to locate the position of the entrance to the Guardian’s Realm. It is revealed to be in space and they give her a star map with its location.
Back in Marcuria, the city is abandoned and on the edge of a Tyren invasion. At the Harbor, she gets attacked once more by a Chaos Vortex, even bigger than the last. Petrified, she accidentally opens up a shift behind her leading to the Cathedral in Stark. Father Raul reveals he is a Sentinel Minstrum of Stark, and tells her that Cortez has gone missing. April then goes back to the Borderhouse, where Gordon Halloway is waiting for her. Zack has sold April out as revenge for missing their date. April manages to escape, but Emma and Zack get shot as bystanders. April heads for the Fringe Café but Halloway's assistants quickly catch up with her.
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Miraculously, a shift appears that leads to a wooden cottage with Lady Alvane. Alvane had opened the shift for her, and tells April she is in neither Arcadia, nor Stark, nor the Guardian’s Realm. She reveals that the Vanguard are holding Adrian captive, and teaches April how to shift at will. Alvane sends April back where she visits Abnaxus, who was expecting her, the Kan-ang-la. His people have been guarding the fourth and final piece of the disc, which he gives to her. At the Enclave, April learns that Tobias has been murdered. There, she unites the four pieces of the disc into one. With the Tyren army having just arrived at Marcuria, the road back to the city is blocked.
April then finally opens a shift by herself and arrives back to the location of the White Kin. The White is dying, with her fight against Chaos taking its toll. She gives April her jewel, reveals herself as April's actual mother, and then dies. April is understandably shocked, not realising that her childhood adoption was quite so significant. The White's egg then hatches a new White Kin, April's 'sister'.
Shifting back to Stark, April gives Flipper the star map for him to decipher. Receiving the fake ID, she goes up to Grendel Avenue. Whilst digging through McAllen’s office, she triggers an alarm and McAllen traps her in the room. He tells her he has Cortez captured, and has the two Stark jewels of the Kin. He plans to place Halloway in the Tower, and reveals the Chaos Vortex is the Arcadian half of Halloway.
Unable to shift out of the building due to magical barriers McAllen had installed, she surrenders the two jewels and the disc, which he then stores in a safe. Refusing to tell him where the Guardian’s entrance is, April is left alone in room containing a machine that breeds Warrior Shifters. One of them manages to break free and attacks April. She manages to escape out onto a hoverpad high above the city, but is once again trapped. Cortez then appears in the nick of time, having escaped, and then kills the monster. McAllen appears after, confronting Cortez. It is revealed that they both are the two Stark Kin. Also revealed is that McAllen had created the Vanguard and wanted accelerated reunification so the Kin could be free of humankind, even if this meant an age of Chaos. The two Draic-Kin then attack each other but and end up falling off the pad into the city. They transform from their human forms into dragons, but both appear to die.
Retrieving the disc and the four jewels, April returns to Flipper. He had attempted to betray April to Halloway, but had been mortally wounded as 'payment'. Halloway took the deciphered map, but Flipper had managed to make a copy, which he gives to April before dying. The entrance to the Guardian's Realm is near the 'Morning Star', the busiest space station in orbit around Earth, and Halloway was apparently taking Adrian there. At the station, April locates and frees Adrian. Launching themselves from the station in separate maintenance pods, they approach the correct co-ordinates, and Adrian opens up a massive portal. They both enter, and Halloway sneaks in behind them just before the portal closes.
In the Guardian's Realm, April crash-lands alone. Before she can reach the Tower, she must complete three trials. On her way to the tower, she encounters the Chaos Vortex once more, this time sealing it into her Talisman. After the first two trials, she manages to summon Crow through a small portal. He then helps her complete the third task but goes missing, so April continues forward. Adrian appears and lets April inside the Tower. Inside, it is revealed that April is not the next Guardian, but Halloway, who soon enters, is. April then reunites Halloway with his other half which was in her Talisman, making him balanced. As April’s job is now complete, she leaves Adrian and Halloway to complete the changing of the guards. Uncertain of her future, April, whose life has been completely changed, continues her journey back to the two worlds. Crow finally returns to find that April has left.
In the Epilogue, the scene returns to Lady Alvane’s home. She has finished telling April’s story to two teenagers, who look like they are from Arcadia. She reveals that Halloway was the last Guardian and during his reign the two worlds were reunited. When the children leave, Crow enters, clearly well accustomed with Alvane. They have had a long life together with many great adventures, raising the suspicion that Alvane could be April in the future. He also asks Lady Alvane to recount the tale of the young beautiful "warrior princess
" who single-handedly won the war of the balance. Alvane remarks she does not remember it quite like that, but the story begins a long time ago, when Stark and Arcadia were still to be united, and the Guardian was still on his throne. It is possible this is a reference to the sequel, Dreamfall
.
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". 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". The US edition of PC Gamer
praised the "mature and magical" story, the "sumptuous" graphics, and the game's puzzles. The only criticism levied by the magazine was that some parts of the game might be "too edgy" for younger players. The Longest Journey subsequently won the Adventure Game of the Year award by both gaming sites.
By mid-2002, the game had sold 450,000 copies.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
developed by Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
studio
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
Funcom
Funcom
Funcom Productions A/S is a Norwegian video game developer specializing in online games. It is best known for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game titles Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, and its The Longest Journey series of adventure games...
for the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. First published by IQ Media Nordic in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in 1999, it was later localized for and released in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The game was originally written and recorded in English, though most of the localizations were released before the English version.
The game drew praise from critics for its enigmatic, complex storyline and high production values, but was criticized for some of its more obscure puzzles.
A sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, was released on April 20, 2006.
In October 2011, it was announced that The Longest Journey was being ported to iOS
IOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
, with the articles mainly focusing on the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
. It is yet unknown if the game will be available on iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
and iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
as well.
Background
The game takes place in the parallel universes of Arcadia: a world of magicMagic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
, and Stark: a world of science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology. The protagonist, April Ryan
April Ryan
April Ryan is a fictional character from the adventure game The Longest Journey and its sequel Dreamfall: The Longest Journey . In the former, she is the protagonist, and in the latter, one of the three primary characters. In both games she is voiced by Sarah Hamilton.-Background:April Ryan is a...
, is an 18-year-old art student living in Stark. She learns that the line between the two worlds is growing thin, causing chaos on both sides. April also learns that she is a Shifter, one who is capable of walking between these worlds, and is then tasked with restoring the Balance between the dimensions before it is too late.
Plot summary
The story begins in Stark, where April is sleeping in her apartment in the Border House. While sleeping, she unintentionally shifts to Arcadia. There she meets the White Dragon, one of the Draic-Kin, who appears to be hatching an egg on a massive nest. The White Dragon greets her as "my child," and says that April is the mother of the future. At that moment a dark ball-shaped lightning cloud, called the Chaos Vortex, attacks April. She awakens in Stark and dismisses her experience as a nightmare. Outside the house she meets an old enigmatic man, Cortez, who sits outside the house every day. He tells her that she has a destiny and that if she does not face the nightmares she is having, they will start appearing even when she is awake. April is shocked that he knows about the nightmares, and refuses to talk to him any further.Later, when strange dreamlike mythical things start happening not only to her but also to her friends, she realizes that Cortez has the answers. With Zack being the only one who knows where Cortez might be, she trades information on his whereabouts for a date with him (despite disliking him). April meets up with Cortez, and he reveals that there are players bigger than the police who are after him. He then opens a shift and persuades April to step through. April appears in a temple in Marcuria. There she meets Tobias Grensret, Vestrum of the Sentinel. By allowing the magic into her, she learns Alltongue, the common language in Arcadia. Tobias tells her about the Balance, the Sentinel, and the Vanguard. He says it has been 200 years since the current Guardian, Adrian, needed to be replaced. Growing tired, Adrian started to pollute the Balance, and had to return back to where he was born, Stark.
This meant that the Balance is now unguarded, allowing Chaos from Arcadia to breach the Divide, explaining the strange things happening in Stark. As Adrian is no longer in the Guardian’s Realm, the only way back there is through the original location where the Guardian’s Tower was built. He is also the only one who can open the entrance. Tobias reveals that April is a strong shifter. As April does not know how to shift yet, she visits Brian Westhouse, a friend of Cortez and originally from Stark. There he gives her a pocket watch, which April uses to unintentionally open a shift. Back in Stark, Cortez gives her more information about the Vanguard, also known as the Church of Voltec. That night April ruins Zack’s date, establishing a vendetta with him.
The next day April visits Warren Hughes, a homeless boy with clandestine activities and connections. He agrees to help April if she infiltrates a police station to wipe his criminal record and find his sister. April does this, and also finds a data cube on the Church of Voltec. Hughes then refers her to Burns Flipper. Flipper then reads the data cube and finds out that Jacob McAllen, a wealthy magnate, is the head of the Vanguard. Gordon Halloway, a cold ruthless person, is McAllen’s right hand man. Halloway was meant to be the next Guardian, but Vanguard experiments split him into two, Chaos (in Arcadia) and Logic (in Stark). He tells her that MTI (a very large multinational company) is the front of the Vanguard, and its headquarters is located on Grendel Avenue, upper-level Newport. She needs a fake ID, which a criminal named Flipper will make, to access the upper levels.
Meeting Cortez and Father Raul in a Christian cathedral, Cortez tells April that Arcadia is on the brink of war. Still waiting on fake ID, she goes back to the Border house for the night. She then unintentionally shifts back to Arcadia. Entering The Journey Man inn, she meets the innkeeper Benrime Salmin. There is also a strange creature there, Abnaxus, ambassador of the Venar who happens to know who April is. His species sees all of time, but there is a dark veil in the future that he cannot see past. That is the time of uncertainty and chaos. After he leaves, April falls asleep in a chair in the inn.
In the morning, she visits the great Library of the Sentinel Enclave. She learns there are four magical species that guard the parts of the disc, and each has prophecies of a savior who will restore the balance, only to finally break it. She gets a lead, the island of Alais, where flying creatures called the Alatian have tales since the start of the Divide. She gains passage on a ship that will take her to Alais, The White Dragon. She does this by rescuing a talking bird that she names Crow. However, before she can leave she has to first free the wind, which an evil Alchemist, Roper Klacks, has put a spell on. Leaving for Klack's Tower, Crow escapes from his drunken owner and joins April on her journey.
On the way to the tower, she is captured by an evil woman, the Gribbler, in a forest. The Gribbler eats humans and furry creatures called the Banda. April kills the Gribbler while rescuing one of the captive Banda. The Banda honor her for saving their species and give her accommodation for the night. That night, she is visited by their spirits who give her the name April Bandu-embata. This then fulfills the prophecies of the Banda, and they give her the first piece of the disc.
When April arrives at the tower, she finds herself in a labyrinth. After much searching, she finally finds Klacks. She challenges him to a math duel: his magic versus her calculator. He loses and steals the calculator from her. He is intrigued with the device to the point of insanity and gets sucked in it. With Klacks' magic, April manages to free the wind. Just before April sets sail for Alais, Tobias tells her that she is the next Guardian, and gives her the Talisman of the Balance. April is shocked with this news, especially because Tobias kept this secret from her until now.
On the voyage to Alais, a Chaos Storm attacks the ship. The captain changes course, but with the fate of the Balance in peril, April sabotages their compass with her talisman to resume course. In the middle of the storm, April wants to retrieve the talisman, but is noticed by the captain. He realizes what she has done and promptly locks her Talisman in the deck down below. April tries to retrieve the device, which is locked in a chest, with an axe, but ends up sinking the boat.
She wakes up on a wooden debris raft, with only Crow to be found nearby. The rest of the crew had been rescued, but left her to drown as punishment for sabotaging the compass. Soon after Crow leaves to search for land, April gets pulled down to the bottom of the ocean by the Maerum, which are Mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
-like creatures. Initially there to serve them as a fishing slave, she meets the Maerum queen, recovers her Talisman and uncovers an ancient cave showing the history of the Maerum and Alatian, who are both enemies. The two species are revealed to have the same ancestors and have lived in peace for many years before the war. They used to live together without problem, however food has become scarce as they have both expanded past their initial territories. April shows the Maerum her discovery, which happens to fulfill one of the prophecies of the Waterstiller, a foretold of savior for the Maerum. After fulfilling the second prophecy, killing a dangerous Snapjaw, only one prophecy remains: for her to reunite the Maerum and the Alatian. As such, the Maerum take her to Alais.
After searching through ancient ruins, traveling through large forests and climbing up in trees, she finally arrives at the Alatian village. Learning the four important tales of the Alatian, she manages to get an audience with the Alatian Teller, who is queen of her people. She fulfills the prophecies of the Windbringer by flying without wings, with the help of a little magic and convinces the Alatian Teller to try to make peace with the Maerum. In an abandoned coastal sea cave where both species once lived together, ambassadors from each side (the Teller's guard and the Maerum Queen) bring stones which combine to form the second part of the disc. April then asks the Maerum to take her to their sleeping God. There she meets the Blue Dragon, who gives April one of the Jewels which are to fit into the disc. The blue dragon then takes her to a ship inhabited by the Dark People, which had set sail for the specific purpose of giving April the third piece of the disc. The Dark People had also searched through their extensive library to locate the position of the entrance to the Guardian’s Realm. It is revealed to be in space and they give her a star map with its location.
Back in Marcuria, the city is abandoned and on the edge of a Tyren invasion. At the Harbor, she gets attacked once more by a Chaos Vortex, even bigger than the last. Petrified, she accidentally opens up a shift behind her leading to the Cathedral in Stark. Father Raul reveals he is a Sentinel Minstrum of Stark, and tells her that Cortez has gone missing. April then goes back to the Borderhouse, where Gordon Halloway is waiting for her. Zack has sold April out as revenge for missing their date. April manages to escape, but Emma and Zack get shot as bystanders. April heads for the Fringe Café but Halloway's assistants quickly catch up with her.
April then finally opens a shift by herself and arrives back to the location of the White Kin. The White is dying, with her fight against Chaos taking its toll. She gives April her jewel, reveals herself as April's actual mother, and then dies. April is understandably shocked, not realising that her childhood adoption was quite so significant. The White's egg then hatches a new White Kin, April's 'sister'.
Shifting back to Stark, April gives Flipper the star map for him to decipher. Receiving the fake ID, she goes up to Grendel Avenue. Whilst digging through McAllen’s office, she triggers an alarm and McAllen traps her in the room. He tells her he has Cortez captured, and has the two Stark jewels of the Kin. He plans to place Halloway in the Tower, and reveals the Chaos Vortex is the Arcadian half of Halloway.
Unable to shift out of the building due to magical barriers McAllen had installed, she surrenders the two jewels and the disc, which he then stores in a safe. Refusing to tell him where the Guardian’s entrance is, April is left alone in room containing a machine that breeds Warrior Shifters. One of them manages to break free and attacks April. She manages to escape out onto a hoverpad high above the city, but is once again trapped. Cortez then appears in the nick of time, having escaped, and then kills the monster. McAllen appears after, confronting Cortez. It is revealed that they both are the two Stark Kin. Also revealed is that McAllen had created the Vanguard and wanted accelerated reunification so the Kin could be free of humankind, even if this meant an age of Chaos. The two Draic-Kin then attack each other but and end up falling off the pad into the city. They transform from their human forms into dragons, but both appear to die.
Retrieving the disc and the four jewels, April returns to Flipper. He had attempted to betray April to Halloway, but had been mortally wounded as 'payment'. Halloway took the deciphered map, but Flipper had managed to make a copy, which he gives to April before dying. The entrance to the Guardian's Realm is near the 'Morning Star', the busiest space station in orbit around Earth, and Halloway was apparently taking Adrian there. At the station, April locates and frees Adrian. Launching themselves from the station in separate maintenance pods, they approach the correct co-ordinates, and Adrian opens up a massive portal. They both enter, and Halloway sneaks in behind them just before the portal closes.
In the Guardian's Realm, April crash-lands alone. Before she can reach the Tower, she must complete three trials. On her way to the tower, she encounters the Chaos Vortex once more, this time sealing it into her Talisman. After the first two trials, she manages to summon Crow through a small portal. He then helps her complete the third task but goes missing, so April continues forward. Adrian appears and lets April inside the Tower. Inside, it is revealed that April is not the next Guardian, but Halloway, who soon enters, is. April then reunites Halloway with his other half which was in her Talisman, making him balanced. As April’s job is now complete, she leaves Adrian and Halloway to complete the changing of the guards. Uncertain of her future, April, whose life has been completely changed, continues her journey back to the two worlds. Crow finally returns to find that April has left.
In the Epilogue, the scene returns to Lady Alvane’s home. She has finished telling April’s story to two teenagers, who look like they are from Arcadia. She reveals that Halloway was the last Guardian and during his reign the two worlds were reunited. When the children leave, Crow enters, clearly well accustomed with Alvane. They have had a long life together with many great adventures, raising the suspicion that Alvane could be April in the future. He also asks Lady Alvane to recount the tale of the young beautiful "warrior princess
Woman warrior
The portrayal of women warriors in literature and popular culture is a subject of study in history, literary studies, film studies, folklore and mythology, gender studies, and cultural studies.-Archaeology:...
" who single-handedly won the war of the balance. Alvane remarks she does not remember it quite like that, but the story begins a long time ago, when Stark and Arcadia were still to be united, and the Guardian was still on his throne. It is possible this is a reference to the sequel, Dreamfall
Dreamfall
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is an adventure video game with elements of action-adventure. It was released for the Windows and Xbox platforms on 17 April 2006 by Norwegian developer Funcom...
.
Soundtrack
An original soundtrack album composed by Bjørn Arve Lagim and Tor Linløkken has been released and can be downloaded from the [ftp://ftp.funcom.com/media/tlj/tlj_soundtrack/ Funcom FTP server]. 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. There is, however, one track on the CD that is not available from the website. The order and names are also different.Reception
The Longest Journey was well received by the gaming press. GameSpotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
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
Epilogue
An epilogue, epilog or afterword is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work...
does little to wrap everything up". IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
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". The US edition of PC Gamer
PC Gamer
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
praised the "mature and magical" story, the "sumptuous" graphics, and the game's puzzles. The only criticism levied by the magazine was that some parts of the game might be "too edgy" for younger players. The Longest Journey subsequently won the Adventure Game of the Year award by both gaming sites.
By mid-2002, the game had sold 450,000 copies.
External links
- TLJ Viewer, a useful tool for extracting materials from the game's resources.
- TLJwiki, a MediaWiki project dedicated to the game series
- Good old games, Can be still be purchased at GOG.com