Dreamfall Chapters Book One: Reborn

 PC
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. GamingTrend
    Mar 22, 2015
    90
    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.
  2. Vandal
    Mar 22, 2015
    85
    If you like this kind of episodic game, it's a great choice. Decisions and some innovative features lead the way to the first chapter worth checking out.
  3. COGconnected
    Mar 22, 2015
    85
    Dreamfall Chapters – Episode 1 does an excellent job of laying the groundwork for what is to be sure to be a helluva journey.
  5. Pelit (Finland)
    Mar 22, 2015
    84
    Reborn is a promising start for the new entry in the Dreamfall saga. The story is as ambitious as it has always been in the series and Europolis is a gorgeous location to explore. Hopefully he remaining episodes will continue (and end!) the story in a satisfying way. [Dec 2014]
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  6. GameCritics
    Apr 13, 2015
    80
    The opening chapter provides a strong foundation on which to build an engaging (and hopefully not too regressive) adventure game experience.
  7. Hardcore Gamer
    Mar 22, 2015
    80
    On the whole the team at Red Thread Games has done an incredible job updating The Longest Journey for the modern era.
  8. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Mar 22, 2015
    80
    I don’t like dividing the games into the episodes. But if there is no other way to get it funded let's take it as a necessary evil. The first part is a promise of the unique experience with well-written heroes. [Issue#247]
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  9. Polygon
    Mar 22, 2015
    80
    It’s a series of small, deliberate steps that efficiently clears the way for longer, more exciting strides.
  10. Ragequit.gr
    Mar 22, 2015
    80
    AAA level writing, voice-acting and storytelling, Chapters was lovingly made for the Dreamers, the rabid fans awaiting for the continuation of Zoe's story ever since '06. In spite of the obvious limitations of the Unity engine, the game, much like it's predecessors, transcends the medium's limitations in order to deliver the next chapter in one of interactive fiction's most poignant sagas. The uninitiated will be completely mystified and off-put, but the original Dreamers, the ones who helped fund Chapters, are in for the ride of their lives.
  11. GameStar
    Mar 22, 2015
    77
    The crux of the episode format escapes: I have no conception of how far-reaching the consequences of my decisions will be.
  12. Destructoid
    Mar 22, 2015
    75
    The cast is interesting and memorable and the various settings are well realized, but it feels that more can be done with all of these elements that will likely be presented in future releases, which I'm keen to play.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 60 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 60
  3. Negative: 13 out of 60
  1. JAGUAR10
    Jun 13, 2015
    1
    Do not believe all the 10's this game was given. They are mostly from 'Kool-aid' drinking fans who are basing their rating on so desperatelyDo not believe all the 10's this game was given. They are mostly from 'Kool-aid' drinking fans who are basing their rating on so desperately wanting this game to be good but they are not living in reality. I'm wondering how much they were paid to give it 10's? I was leery of this game from the start due to my admitted grudge against Ragnar Tornquist for not making a sequel to Dreamfall in a timely manner, his constant egotism, his dropping enticing hints over the last 9 years, his making The Lost World before starting on Dreamfall Chapters, etc. etc. etc. When Chapters came out I refused to buy it - instead I watched a famous You Tube player play it first to see if it was any good (it's pretty bad when you can get just as much out a game by watching someone else play it). I was bored to death - it was way too political, socialistic, communistic and anti-American (they've turned Crow into a ridiculous, rootin-tootin' cowboy advertisement). The joy of TLJ was it's humor and humorous situations and characters - I did not laugh once watching this chapter being played. Dreamfall combined humor with a dark and suspenseful story and then left us hanging for 9 years. If the rest of Chapters is anything like the first one it's doomed to failure. Tornquist has not lived up to his fomer glory and has left it too late. He has also turned way too political which is off-putting in an International game. Extremely disappointed but expected.… Full Review »
  2. starckar
    Jun 19, 2015
    4
    Sadly, the developer is encouraging fans to post preferably positive reviews in order to boost up sales. I loved the prequels as much as I'mSadly, the developer is encouraging fans to post preferably positive reviews in order to boost up sales. I loved the prequels as much as I'm dissapointed with what this game has become. For the game itself, the development process, *the developer's attitude*, the change of publishing format from what was originally stated in the kickstarter, and I can go on, and on, and on.… Full Review »
  3. Vamphaery
    Mar 22, 2015
    7
    I won’t elaborate upon the various ways in which the original The Longest Journey touched my life such that it wormed its way into aI won’t elaborate upon the various ways in which the original The Longest Journey touched my life such that it wormed its way into a permanent, rare part of my heart I reserve for very few games. Or how its followup, Dreamfall, left me hanging on the edge of a cliff with one of my favorite video game characters of all time (April Ryan) at the conclusion of its equally memorable tale.

    But sufficed to say, when I learned that this series was receiving the sequel treatment from a team including the original creators funded by Kickstarter, I leapt at the chance to support the survival of a story I didn’t want to see vanish into the ether of gaming history.

    Does the game live up to the legacy of the first two cult classics? Is it the triumphant return of the well written, endearing characters we know and love? Well... for the most part, I have to say yes. Yes it does, and yes it is. But, alas, it’s not an unequivocal affirmative.

    Like Dreamfall before it, DFC is a third person, story-driven adventure with puzzle elements, albeit sans the action segments this time around. (Thankfully. I never liked them personally.) As promised during development, it does strike an interesting balance between the adventure sensibility of Dreamfall, and the point and click feel of The Longest Journey.

    The visuals range from beautiful and dream-like, to confusingly lit. (Especially in Europolis. Talk about overdoing the lens flares. Wow.) But it all contributes to a wonderful feel that is immediately evocative of Stark in The Longest Journey. Characters are pleasingly detailed, shiny, and stylized.

    Sound design is effective, though there are some instances of a distant sound cutting off sooner than it seems like it should, rather than gently fading out with distance. The music, however, is goose bump inducingly fantastic. Moving and atmospheric in the extreme, I was perhaps most impressed with this aspect of the game’s production. Poole et al have done a riveting job of scoring this world and its story.

    Gameplay consists of using the aforementioned context sensitive icon interactions to solve puzzles, traverse environments, and advance the story. Longtime fans of the series will be pleased to know I found the writing and characterization to be extremely true to the tones and complexities of the previous entries. Zoë and Kian, if anything, feel even more human, vulnerable, and conflicted than in Dreamfall.

    The puzzles you must solve to advance through these areas and progress through the part of the story told in this book are deceptively simple once solved, but I got stuck more than once experimenting with multiple avenues before succeeding. This pads out the duration somewhat, and also feels a lot like The Longest Journey, which I definitely like.

    All of this combined to make me feel secure in the belief that the story, once complete, will be both true to the original games’ legacies, and engaging enough to take me to interesting territory psychologically and thematically.

    This brings me to the sole major criticism I have of Book One: its insubstantial content. There are a grand total of four truly distinct areas in the game, with only one of them being large and fully explorable. You spend very little time in all but one of said locales. My first playthrough took me 6 hours. Not horrible, considering that there are AAA games which last that long. No, the problem is not the price, or the value. The issue is how brief and empty that 6 hours felt, subjectively.

    I can honestly attest that the majority of those hours were spent walking, backtracking, and stumped by one or two particularly inscrutable puzzles. Were the beautiful façade that is the world of DFC as interactive as it is atmospheric, I might not have minded. As it stands though, beyond the key characters and hot spots, there's not much to see and do in Europolis. It's beautiful, big, and well... quite empty feeling.

    Worse still, very little of the story is advanced. Just when I was beginning to become truly intrigued and immersed... that was it. To Be Continued. The cut off point felt quite unnatural and poorly paced in my opinion as well. Less of a self contained beginning-middle-end cycle and more of a "beginning, middle, and... uh... that's it?"

    Despite these criticisms, in actuality I love the game. It is a return to a world and to characters that I have loved, and missed. It oozes mood, charm, and humor. Characters have inner worlds and are multifaceted, nuanced, fully developed people for the most part. Something I have bitterly missed since the first two games, and something far too rare even today in digital narratives. The music is spine tingling. The tone and general direction of the story feels in every way like it will fit into the larger mythos and texture of the saga, and it is in many ways like coming home.

    That's worth some shortcomings and growing pains if you're a TLJ/DF fan.

    Balance be with you.    … Full Review »
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