The Longest Journey

 PC
  • Publisher: Funcom
  • Release Date: Nov 16, 2000
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 578 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 490 out of 578
  2. Mixed: 56 out of 578
  3. Negative: 32 out of 578
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  1. okamimiyazaki
    Jun 18, 2014
    6
    Meh... At first, I loved this game to death. I thought it was amazing. The voice acting and dialogue are superb, as is the plot. It makes you feel attached to the characters (especially April) and really whisks you away.

    However, after a while, it started to feel like a chore, as if I was playing it just to see what happened, not because it was still fun (it wasn't). The puzzles are    Meh... At first, I loved this game to death. I thought it was amazing. The voice acting and dialogue are superb, as is the plot. It makes you feel attached to the characters (especially April) and really whisks you away.

    However, after a while, it started to feel like a chore, as if I was playing it just to see what happened, not because it was still fun (it wasn't). The puzzles are often silly and arcane. The game is VERY slow-paced and honestly the plot could have been told in 15 hours instead of 40 hours. Much of the game consists of doing filler quests - finding items and solving strange puzzles. Also, the insanely slow pace with which characters move (even with the escape key) and sometimes forces you to watch them to stupid things, such as take out a pipe and smoke it, then put it back, becomes annoying after a while.    … Expand
  2. Mozzeltoff
    Sep 5, 2016
    7
    For the first and last couple of chapters of this game I was engrossed. Much of the dialogue feels natural, the relations between the characters real, the world and lore fleshed out- as a story or film, I think I would have loved this game. I could talk for ages about the story potential and world building, more than what the character limit allows for sure.

    As a game however, it runs    For the first and last couple of chapters of this game I was engrossed. Much of the dialogue feels natural, the relations between the characters real, the world and lore fleshed out- as a story or film, I think I would have loved this game. I could talk for ages about the story potential and world building, more than what the character limit allows for sure.

    As a game however, it runs into a few of the issues common to click and point adventure games- frustratingly slow puzzles that require running back and forth over the map, or going through all your items to find out what will work, or having to run the character through the hints to a puzzle you've already figured out but can't complete until she does, or just repeatedly spamming conversations with people until they give in and do as you asked. There were definitely a few times where a puzzle seemed forced in just for the sake of it and didn't add anything to the game but frustration. Some puzzles felt more intuitive and made sense in the context however, and I did enjoy the game despite the occasional frustration of trial and error puzzles. The game was also kind in that it tells you when an item can be used, by having it light up when hovered over something else, rather than have you madly bash all the items against each other and the environment until something sticks.

    I also, personally, did not like the main character much, or the reoccurring sidekick later on. April to me felt like someone who wasn't considerate of others, had a habit of inane comments, and wasn't as fleshed out as some of the side characters. I realise part of this was because of design (the character needed to have something basic to say on random things clicked, or ask sometimes obvious or irritating questions to make sure that the player had all the info needed) and the fact the main character is an 18 year old art student who's personality is 'snarky'. This is definitely more down to personal taste, although it did spoil the game for me sometimes when I felt so at odds against the main character, although this may be due to me being used to modern 'choice' games where the main characters are the player, instead of individuals the player is following but needn't fully identify with.

    Still, this game has concepts and content ahead of it's time, and really blends the fantasy and sci-fi aspects together well, and as mentioned before, as a book or film (more likely a book) this would have done well. Making it into a game, however, didn't add anything to it. There was no part of the story that needed to have a game mechanic to really enjoy, and the puzzles often slowed the story down instead of enhance it. Also, while I'm normally a person who fully engages in 'lore' games and love world building, I found The Longest Journey's method of mandatory story telling rather tiring. You HAD to sit and listen to a tale carefully, or go study texts, in order to have any idea of what you were doing (even though the main character would still often act as if they hadn't heard the same information as you), or just spam esc, skip the conversation but sit through the unskippable animations, and read it in your journal later like a script. The voice acting was amazing and most of the dialogue well written, but at points (especially in acardia) you were lore dumped and it wasn't so much that you were seeking out this info for your own enjoyment, but that it was just that you had to exhaust every dialogue option possible for some puzzles to be solvable whether you knew the solution or not. I much prefer to seek and read info at my own pace and choosing instead of sitting and listening to a character explain the political climate and history of a different world because it's probably needed to progress the story. Probably- but it's easier to ask all the questions now, rather than learn you need to walk back through x number of areas to ask it because it turns out you did need to ask it.

    I would recommend this game, certainly as a classic and just as a genuinely good game. It's dated, yes, but if you're going to play an older game graphics and mechanics are a thing you just accept won't be as good as some of the modern games. The story is amazing and the game world fascinating. However, I would recommend it with a little hand waggle, as it suffers as most click and point adventures do where most of the game can be tediously drawn out by unneeded puzzles and fetch quests.    … Expand
  3. DantheMan
    Jan 6, 2012
    6
    If you're looking for a balanced review of the game read on. Fanboys just downvote me and move along. The highlight of the game is the way the story and voice-acting haul you into the game and create a compelling atmosphere to find out what happens next. Every character is well-developed and the art assets all converge in a convincing way to support the text. The story is one of the bestIf you're looking for a balanced review of the game read on. Fanboys just downvote me and move along. The highlight of the game is the way the story and voice-acting haul you into the game and create a compelling atmosphere to find out what happens next. Every character is well-developed and the art assets all converge in a convincing way to support the text. The story is one of the best in any adventure game. On the downside the graphic resolution is poor and is a major distraction. The character animations are laughably bad. Moreover, the pacing of the game plays very very slow. Many of the puzzles are obtuse or simply inane. If you read the user reviews the common theme of those who rate this game a 10 is "great story" and it's true. The story is great. The common theme for those who dislike this game are "poor game" and that too is true. The design of this game is below average. Personally, I played this game all the way to the end to see how it ended. But unlike those blinded by nostalgia I won't pretend this the super awesome game because it's not. It's a great story that covers up a rather poor game.… Expand
  4. neck
    Feb 18, 2013
    6
    While the technical aspects of the game (Graphics, UI, Controls, Sound) are all perfectly fine for a game developed in the late 90's, the gameplay is kind of broken. Now, I'm an old-timer when it comes to point-n-click adventures. I've played all the LucasArts classics and some other games that were mostly overlooked (e.g. Woodruff the Shnibble of Azimuth) and I'm used to difficultWhile the technical aspects of the game (Graphics, UI, Controls, Sound) are all perfectly fine for a game developed in the late 90's, the gameplay is kind of broken. Now, I'm an old-timer when it comes to point-n-click adventures. I've played all the LucasArts classics and some other games that were mostly overlooked (e.g. Woodruff the Shnibble of Azimuth) and I'm used to difficult puzzles. But TLJ takes it way too far. The puzzles are extremely cryptic and all over the place. Sometimes, they don't even make any sense. The distance between one part of a puzzle and the other part is way too big, there are often way too many items involved and, as said, making the connection between a combination of items (which is ridiculous in itself, item combination puzzles are inherently broken) and their use in the game is way too cryptic. I like difficult puzzles where the solution isn't absolutely obvious, but they still have to make sense. And in TLJ they often don't. That said, TLJ is a mediocre to good game at best. Even though I'm only giving it a score of 6, I still think it is worth playing, considering that, by now, it's extremely cheap and you can sink (thanks to those cryptic puzzles) a lot of time into it.… Expand
  5. Keymaster1
    Sep 17, 2010
    5
    The Longest Journey was a very fun, in depth story about a college student (April Ryan) and her epic journey through two different worlds. The game was fun, but it was VERY winded with unnecessary dialog, slightly thin characters and a lot of loose ends. The puzzles started off difficult, but became rather easy and common sense oriented after awhile. All of the art work and game design wasThe Longest Journey was a very fun, in depth story about a college student (April Ryan) and her epic journey through two different worlds. The game was fun, but it was VERY winded with unnecessary dialog, slightly thin characters and a lot of loose ends. The puzzles started off difficult, but became rather easy and common sense oriented after awhile. All of the art work and game design was very well done for an older point n' click game. Overall if you are looking for a long adventure game with lots of puzzles, check it out just make sure to skip through much of the 10 min plus dialog (From every damn character! jeez!!). Make sure to save often, you do not want to have to re-sit through some of these story or dialog segments trust me! 5/10… Expand
  6. ZeTomes
    Jun 25, 2015
    5
    I really wasn't able to continue playing this game, I've never played it before, to the point I searched everywhere for rankings and opinions trying to understand if I was misjudging it. I think I'm not. The first impressions pointed me to the illogical puzzles I was going to face during the game. The first one pictured me that. I hate games with illogical puzzles and I hate pretentiousI really wasn't able to continue playing this game, I've never played it before, to the point I searched everywhere for rankings and opinions trying to understand if I was misjudging it. I think I'm not. The first impressions pointed me to the illogical puzzles I was going to face during the game. The first one pictured me that. I hate games with illogical puzzles and I hate pretentious games. The 1st Alone in the Dark is a masterpiece, the 4th resembling this one is a pretentious bull evacuation. Grim Fandando and Sanitarium among many others (Captain Blood, Botanicula, Machinarium, The Last Door, Myst, Riven, etc.) belong to the top. I should try playing it, but what can I do...? It doesn't appeal to me!… Expand
  7. YanoZ.
    Aug 26, 2007
    6
    Interesting stoyline, but the graphics are HORRIBLE!
  8. Xzenor
    Mar 4, 2020
    7
    I wanted to play the trilogy in the right order so I started with this one.
    It's old and the few 3D objects look like crap but that's too be expected for a game this age. The gameplay is a straightforward point & click adventure with a long and pretty good story but nowadays games are more accessible to the not so die hard gamer and help the player a little more. I have become used to    I wanted to play the trilogy in the right order so I started with this one.
    It's old and the few 3D objects look like crap but that's too be expected for a game this age. The gameplay is a straightforward point & click adventure with a long and pretty good story but nowadays games are more accessible to the not so die hard gamer and help the player a little more. I have become used to that and I no longer have the patience to search every corner of the gameworld to be able to continue the story.
    So I used a walkthrough.
    One minor annoyance is that April (main character) doesn't run that fast and there's a lot of running around that you can't skip..    … Expand
  9. mugsy
    May 10, 2020
    6
    I completed this game and never got the appeal and hype. There are plenty of better adventure games from around the same year or even years before it.
  10. dlcatalin
    Jul 12, 2020
    7
    Finished it in 2020, used a mod that makes graphics more modern. It's a good game ... but not as good as people refer to it. It got boring a lot. I could predict a a lot of the end game adventures and that is really really BAD for an adventure game if you know by intuition what will happen next.
  11. Mytzenka
    Jan 23, 2021
    7
    I never really liked this game as much as everyone else did. Yes it does have an interesting - though not terribly original - story and at least some of the characters are also interesting. Especially April is excellent. Also, the backgrounds are quite nice to look at and the ending is especially good (and completely unexpected).

    But this is were the good stuff ends. The puzzles in this    I never really liked this game as much as everyone else did. Yes it does have an interesting - though not terribly original - story and at least some of the characters are also interesting. Especially April is excellent. Also, the backgrounds are quite nice to look at and the ending is especially good (and completely unexpected).

    But this is were the good stuff ends. The puzzles in this game are downright terrible. Arguably the worst in any adventure game and I am not only referring to the now infamous inflatable ducky puzzle. Puzzles require leaps of logic and can mostly really only be solved through trial and error. Also, so often you really have no idea what you should be doing or that there is a puzzle there in the first place. It gets slightly better as the game progresses, but not much really.

    Then there is the length. The Longest Journey is indeed Long! Too long!! Mostly because the story is extremely stretched-out. Moreover, everything in this game is slow: the character animations are slow, the walking is slow and much of the speaking is slow as well. This, combined with the puzzles, makes the game just a chore to play.

    Finally there is the character models. Boy do they look HIDEOUS! Both in-game as well as in the cut-scenes characters look like drugged-out alien zombies. April herself is actually the worst offender. She even looks bad on the box art. Cannot imagine how somebody thought this was acceptable, even back in 1999.

    So there you have it. While this review may sound overly negative I would still recommend this game, but only for it's story - and for the sequel(s) that follow it.    … Expand
  12. Demon2017
    Sep 18, 2022
    7
    Хорошая игра. Не шедевр, как многие говорят, но история мне понравилась. Проблема разве что в нелогичных головоломках и парочке затянутых моментов, ну и концовка маленько разочаровала.
  13. tsschindler
    Sep 2, 2021
    6
    I’ve never been a huge fan of point-and-click games (which I associate with absurd puzzles getting you stuck in a middle of somewhat good story - infuriating) and, honestly, till now I hadn’t heard a word about this game. Apparently though, it is one of the genre’s classics and one of the best point-and-clicks of all times. This was how it was pitched to me by a friend (an enthusiast ofI’ve never been a huge fan of point-and-click games (which I associate with absurd puzzles getting you stuck in a middle of somewhat good story - infuriating) and, honestly, till now I hadn’t heard a word about this game. Apparently though, it is one of the genre’s classics and one of the best point-and-clicks of all times. This was how it was pitched to me by a friend (an enthusiast of such games) and we ended up playing it together. And boy, was the journey long…

    TLJ is the first game from Funcom, a Norwegian studio, released in 1999. And you can clearly see it’s 22 years old: low poly models, prendered backrounds etc. The visuals are not hideous though, it’s just clearly visible it’s an old game. Classic, creepy FMVs are also there, don’t worry.

    My experience with this renowned classic started with manipulating the game’s files. Because, unfortunately, as Windows 10 is not able to run old stuff properly, clicking mechanism in the game was completely broken, making TLJ unplayable. Fortunately, this wasn’t only my problem and after going through a short tutorial, I managed to somehow fix it. SOMEHOW, because clicking was still broken but a bit less. Welp.

    Nevertheless, we jumped into the story and initially I was sure it’s a kind of a gate keeping game, that is supposed to keep the noobs out of the point-and-click business. One of the first puzzles is 1) timed, so good luck with broken mouse clicks 2) so abstract that unless you follow a walkthrough, trial and error seems to be the only method to solve it. Luckily, a veteran was supporting me – and after making it to the 4th chapter (out of 13) the plot actually started to be intriguing and my annoyance dropped down a little.

    Nevertheless, I wasn’t mind-blown: TLJ tells a story of a teenage April Ryan, destined to save the balance between two worlds – Stark, a world of science and logic (which apparently is “our” world) and Arcadia, a land of magic and unlimited possibilities chaos. Why? Because if they are not balanced, bad things will happen. That’s basically all there is, and cool cyberpunk motives appearing during Stark levels do not improve it much. Neither do loads of cheesy lines and unfinished subplots. By no means is the story bad, it’s just pretty generic. The writers apparently tried to develop it a bit but it’s just another epic world-saving scenario.

    Except for some ridiculous puzzles, quest solving can be absorbing and that is what keeps the player with the game. A player like me, of course – I bet point-and-click fans can find all they need in TLJ. Once again, I’m grateful there was another person playing with me: otherwise I’d quit it pretty quickly.

    What was driving me crazy was the inconsistency of game mechanics. Sometimes to drink a potion you have to use it on yourself but sometimes you just click the button from the drop-down menu; sometimes to ask your companion for a favor you have to talk to him but sometimes you use him (!) on an item that needs to be interacted with etc. I was getting stuck frequently not because I didn’t know what to do but because the game couldn’t decide how it wants to run its UI. Also, as in all games of this genre you are offered a ton of dialogue options, yet your choices don’t really matter – if you don’t hit the right one at first, you just keep talking till nothing remains. And as much as I like listening to stuff in games, the awareness of total linearity was a bit disappointing.

    I guess this wasn’t a game for me – but I understand how it was a milestone in genre development. That aged a bit too much, unfortunately.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Best PC Game of 2000
6
#6 Most Discussed PC Game of 2000
11
#11 Most Shared PC Game of 2000

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Quandary
    90
    TLJ is a masterpiece and one of the best Adventures to be released during the past few years. Unfortunately it should be avoided by people who are violently repelled, for themselves or their offspring, by some extremely crude language.
    Read full review
  2. GameSpy
    92
    The powerful story affects you as it unfolds and by the end you will be drained--your life will never be the same again. This game could do to adventure games, what Doom did for the FPS. A must buy for anyone and everyone.
    Read full review
  3. IGN
    93
    This game does more than just recreate the nostalgic experience of old school adventure gaming, it actually reinvents how stories can be told in the medium, and gives us a glimpse of what we can expect in the years to come.
    Read full review
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