The Longest Journey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the computer game. For the book by E. M. Forster, see The Longest Journey (novel).
| The Longest Journey | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Funcom |
| Publisher(s) | Empire Interactive Entertainment Egmont KE Media Micro Application |
| Designer(s) | Ragnar Tørnquist Didrik Tollefsen |
| Release date(s) | March 20, 2000 (Germany) April 20, 2000 (UK) November 16, 2000 (US) |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: M (Mature) ELSPA: 15+ |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Media | 4 CD-ROMs |
| Input | Keyboard, mouse |
The Longest Journey is a 1999 point-and-click adventure game by Norwegian studio Funcom.
It features a minimalist user interface, rich world and storyline, and simple puzzles in response to the escalating difficulty in adventure titles at the time, focusing instead on involving storytelling. Its premise of a world being separated into science and magic generated interest in the mainstream, in an age where adventure games had long been driven into a niche.
The game's graphics drew praise from critics for their persuasive portrayal of both fantasy and cyberpunk futuristic settings. While its translation into ten different languages was lauded, the game was criticized for its extensive dialogue of almost 8300 individual voice samples.
A sequel, Dreamfall, was released on April 20, 2006.
Players play as April Ryan through 13 chapters of adventure and mystery to save the two worlds: Arcadia, the world of magic and Stark, the world of science.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
April Ryan, an 18-year-old art student, is having strange dreams. A conversation starts between her and a strange man outside her home, who tells her why she has these dreams and the meaning behind them. The man also tells her that the line splitting two worlds is growing thin, and that the dimensional cracks between them will widen, causing chaos on both sides. April later learns that she is a "Shifter", one who is capable of walking between these worlds, and is then tasked with restoring the Balance between those dimensions before it is too late.
[edit] The Balance
Ages ago the Earth was once one planet, where technology and magic co-existed in harmony. But human-kind began to exploit that power, putting the balance of the cosmos in peril. An apocalypse would soon come and destroy the Earth. To prevent that, four extraterrestrial creatures, Draic Kin, came as eternal servants and custodians of the Balance. They split the Earth into two, Arcadia (magic and chaos) and Stark (technology and order). This was done by constructing a tower joined with a magic disc. That tower now exists in the Divide between the two worlds, in the Guardian’s Realm, and is occupied by Humans who are born to the task by the Balance. Those guardians each live in the tower for one 1000 years each, and it is their responsibility is to balance the flow of magic and science.
The two worlds are only visible to each other by the way of dreams, and the divide is passable only to Shifters. The four Draic-Kin remained in order to protect the Balance, with two in Stark and the other two in Arcadia.
[edit] The Factions
The Sentinel is a religious order formed by the Kin, whose mandate is to protect and keep the Balance, and was equally split between Stark and Arcadia. In Arcadia the Sentinel has great influence over the major human cities, especially in Ayrede (where Marcuria is located). In some respects they are the Government with extensive tradition built in their culture. However in Stark their philosophy doesn’t mix amongst technology and logic, and became weak, having to exist in secret.
The Arcadia Sentinel is entrusted with the safety of a stone disc, counterpart to the one that exists in the Guardian’s Tower. That disc is the key to the Guardian’s Realm and isn’t complete without four jewels, which each Kin has. Due to risk of human theft, the disc was broken into 4 pieces, and given to 4 magical species for safe keeping. Should the realm need to be repaired, it is their job to assemble the disc.
The Vanguard/Church of Voltec is a religious order that opposes the Sentinel. As the Sentinel thrived in Arcadia, and diminished in Stark, disagreements ensured and many in the Stark Sentinel wanted reunification, a return to the old days where humankind could control the cosmos, disregarding the risk of total chaos. They then broke off from the Stark Sentinel and formed the Vanguard. When the current Guardian, Adrian, needed to be replaced, the Vanguard started to kidnap those born to the task and perform experiments on them in an effort to control them.
In Stark, the Vanguard is known as the Church of Voltec, with a massive financial empire that can rival governments. They own multinational companies, planets, and armies. They own literally all of Newport and dominate space. In Arcadia, they openly preach their ideology, and are slowly gaining influence amongst the people in Marcuria, who are tired of old tradition and looking for change. In Arcadia they have an alliance with the Tyren, a warring and aggressive race, whose armies are more powerful and experienced than the armies of Ayrede.
[edit] Locations
Newport, Stark is a city based on our world in the future of 2209, where humankind is a space faring race and the gap between the rich and the poor is immense. The city of Newport is one of the great cities of the age, with flying cars and immense skyscrapers that dominate the skyline. Newport is separated into three levels.
The lowest level is dirty, noisy and bleak. It is occupied by the poor and homeless who do not have access to the upper levels without proper ID. The mid and upper levels are very clean, and fashionable with a higher level of technology. The main form of transportation on the lowest level is the subway. In the upper levels there are shuttles and tubes.
Venice, Newport is situated just outside the city on the lowest level. It is a converted industrial sector away from the noise and mess of the city. Its residents are poor and homeless, with most of them young students, looking for a better life.
Border House is a where April lives. It is run by Fiona and Mickey. April’s two best friends, Emma and Charlie, both live there. As does Zack, a jerk that April and her friends hate.
Fringe Café is a small single story joint where Charlie and April both work. The café reflects Venice in both its décor and customers.
Marcuria, Arcadia is a city with a level of technology reminiscent of colonial times. The city is heavily influenced with magical and mythical themes in its culture. It is mostly inhabited by humans, but magical species can be found. The city is the capital of Ayrede, and is one of the greatest cities of the age. It is enclosed by fortress walls and is a major port. As maritime travel is the best form of transportation in Arcadia, maritime culture is also heavy in the city.
[edit] Plot
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 Dragron, one of the Draic-Kin. The White says that April is the mother of the future, and also her child. 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 everyday. He tells her that she has a destiny. And if she doesn’t face those nightmares she’s having, they’ll appear even when awake. April is freaked out on how he knows about the nightmares, and refuses to talk to him any further.
Later, with strange dreamlike mythical things happening to not only her, she knows Cortez has the answers. With Zack the only one who knows where Cortez might be, she trades a date with the jerk. Meeting Cortez, he reveals there are players bigger than the police 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 All Tongue, common language of Arcadia. There 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 all those 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. Also only he can open the entrance. Tobias reveals that April is a strong shifter. As April doesn’t 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 fills her in on further information about the Vanguard, also known as the Church of Voltec. That night April ruins Zack’s date, establishing a vendetta within Zack.
The next day April visits Warren Hughes, a homeless buy 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 Hitler-type person, is the head of the Vanguard. And 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 HQ is located in Grendel Avenue, upper-level Newport. She needs fake ID, which 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 inn-keeper Benrime Salmin. Also there is a strange creature, Abnaxus, ambassador of the Venar who happens to know who April is. His species sees all of time, but there happens to be a veil in the future that he cannot see past. That is the time of uncertainty and chaos. After he leaves, April falls asleep in the bar of 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 Alias, The White Dragon. She does this by rescuing a talking bird that she named 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 Klacks Tower, Crow escapes from his drunken owner and joins April on her journey.
On the way, she gets captured by an evil woman, the Gribbler, in the forest. The Gribbler eats humans and furry creatures called the Bandu. April kills the Gribbler, while rescuing one of the captive Bandu. The Bandu honor her for saving their species and give her accommodation for the night. During which, she gets visited by their spirits who gives her the name April Bandu-embata. This then fulfills the prophecies of the Bandu, and they give her the 1st piece of the disc.
When April arrives at the tower, she challenges Klacks to a maths dual: His Magic Vs her calculator. He loses and snatches the calculator from her. He is intrigued with the device to the point of insanity then gets sucked in it. April then frees 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.
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. Later with the storm heavily engulfing them, the captain realizes what she has done and locks her Talisman in the deck down below. April then uses an axe in an effort to free her Talisman. But she accidentally smashes the deck and sinks the ship.
She wakes up on a wooden debris raft, alone with only Crow. The rest of the crew had been rescued, but left her to drown as punishment. Just after Crow leaves to search for land, April gets pulled down to the bottom of the ocean by the Maerum (Mermaid-like creatures). Initially there to serve them as a fishing slave, she recovers her Talisman and uncovers an ancient cave showing the history of the Maerum and Alatian (who are both enemies). They two species were once one, and food flourished around them. But now separated food is scarce. April shows the Maerum her discovery, which happens to fulfill the prophecies of the Waterstiller. But one prophecy remains, to make peace with the Alatian. So the Maerum send her to Alais.
There she fulfills the prophecies of the Windbringer, and convinces the Alatian to make peace with the Maerum. In an abandoned costal sea cave where both species once lived together, ambassadors from each side brings stones which combine to from the 2nd 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 to the disc. The Blue then takes her to a Dark People ship, which had set sail for the specific purpose of giving April the 3rd piece of the disc. The Dark People had also searched through their extensive library to locate the position of the Guardian’s Realm entrance. It is now in space and they give her a star map.
Back in Marcuria, the city is abandoned and on the eve of a Tyren invasion. At the Harbour she gets attacked by the Chaos Votex, now bigger than before. 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 for revenge. April manages to escape, but Emma and Zack gets shot as bystanders. April then gets cornered in front of the Fringe Café.
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 gives April a lesson on how to shift. Alvane then lets April back into Arcadia. There April visits Abnaxus, who has been waiting for her, the Kan-ang-la. He gives her the final piece of the disc. At the Enclave, April learns that Tobias has been murdered. There she unites the four pieces into one disc. 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 and then dies, only to be reborn again through the egg she had laid. Shifting back to Stark, she 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 steps in. 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 Arcadia half of Holloway.
Unable to shift out of the building due to magical barriers McAllen had installed, she surrenders the 2 jewels and the disc, which he then stores in a safe. Refusing to tell him where the Guardian’s entrance is, McAllen leaves April alone in room containing a machine that breeds Warrior Shifters. One of them escapes and attacks her. April manages to escape out onto a hoverpad high above the city, but is again trapped. Cortez then appears in the nick of time, having escaped and kills the monster. McAllen then appears confronting Cortez. It is revealed that they both are the two Stark Kin. Also 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 Kin then attack each other falling off the pad into the city. They transform from their human form into dragons, but it appears they both die.
Retrieving the disc, and the 4 jewels, April returns to Flipper. He had been shot by Halloway who took the deciphered map. Fortunately he made a copy. The entrance is near the Morning Star, the busiest space station in orbit around Earth, and Halloway was bringing Adrian there. Flipper then dies. At the station, April locates and frees Adrian. Launching themselves in separate maintenance pods, they approach the Entrance and Adrian opens up a massive portal. They both enter, and Halloway sneaks in behind them before the portal closes.
In the Realm April crash lands alone. Before she can reach the Tower, she must complete 3 trials. For the third, she summons Crow who appears through a small portal. Crow goes missing after he completes his task, so April continues forward. Adrian then appears and lets April inside the Tower. Inside, it is revealed April is not the next Guardian, but Halloway, who just enters, is. April then attacks Halloway with her Talisman, which heals him. Halloway is balanced, joined with magic and logic. 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 completely changed, continues her journey back to the 2 worlds. Crow finally returns to find 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 who is 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.
[edit] Species
- The Draic Kin, also known as the Dragons, are a race of ancient, extraterrestrial beings that have arrived to Earth before the Divide. The Draic Kin assisted the humans who Divided the world but twelve thousand years later, they have internal disagreements about the reunification of the worlds, which has already led to civil strife. The two Starkian Kin are the Green (Jacob McAllen) and the Red One (Cortez). The two Arcadian Kin are the Blue (Old God) and the White One (aka the Mother). The Arcadian Kin show themselves in their dragon form. Where as the Starkian Kin hide themselves in human form.
- The Bandu are furry mole people who live underground in tunnels. They have the power to shape the earth for their needs. During the game their species are being terrorized by an old woman similar to that from Hansel and Gretel. They possess one of the four pieces of the disc.
- The Maerum are water creatures, similar to mermaids but without scales. Living in underwater cities, they are only known to Humans in sea folklore. They are both brothers and enemies of the Alatian, whose ancestors came to Earth with the Draic-Kin. Their species is diminishing as food is becoming scarce.
- The Alatian are flying creatures, that are well known to the humans unlike the Maerum. They have a great talent to remember tales, which start since the beginning of the Divide. As brothers and enemies of the Maerum, their food too is becoming scarce, causing the Alatien to be no longer as strong as they once were. The Maerum and Alatien together possess one piece of the disc, split evenly between them.
- The Dark People are a mysterious race of people with great power. Not much is known about them, but they are clearly well aware and knowledgeable of April’s journey to save the Balance. They possess one piece of the disc.
- The Venar are an earthly tree-stump looking race who sees all of time: the past, present, and all the threads of the future. They have extreme difficulty in realizing and living in the present. That is why Abnaxus, one of the few of them that can, is their ambassador to Ayrede carrying their piece of the disc.
[edit] Characters
- April Ryan is the young heroine of the game who has artistic aspirations. As a resident of the technology-driven world, Stark, she discovers that she is a Shifter - a person with the power to move between worlds. Her journey begins when she unwittingly transports herself to the magical Arcadia. She is the daughter of the White Dragon, as she herself felt a connection between the two of them and it is confirmed by the White Dragon. Moreover, her Stark parents adopted her. April is voiced by Sarah Hamilton.
- Crow is a fast-talking, black-feathered bird who endured years of ill-treatment from his alcoholic master (who shut him in a trunk) before escaping. He becomes April's wisecracking sidekick and is integral to several of the game's challenges. Despite his name (which April gives him), he is not actually a crow and becomes offended when he discovers what crows are in Stark. It is revealed that April named him after Crowboy, a cartoon hero of her childhood. Voiced by Roger Raines.
- Burns Flipper was an eccentric, foul-mouthed hacker who provided April with invaluable aid. He lost his legs in an accident and hovered around in a floating wheelchair, à la Charles Xavier. Flipper was killed by Vanguard agents, when they discovered he was helping April. Voiced by Andrew Donnelly.
- Gordon Holloway is Jacob McAllen's right-hand man, warped by magic and science to become the next Guardian so that the Vanguard may disrupt the Balance. He speaks in a cold and collected tone and has no qualms about committing violence. It is revealed that he was stripped of the emotional part of his soul, which became the Arcadian Chaos Vortex. Voiced by Kevin Merritt.
- Charlie, Emma, Fiona and Mickey are April's friends and neighbors at the Border House. The game presents a possible attraction between Charlie and April, but it is not explored, and neither is Charlie's character, very much. Emma was April's best friend and tried to save her from the Vanguard, but was gunned down for her efforts. She survived, however. Fiona and Mickey are the lesbian couple who own and manage the Border House. Emma is voiced by Julia K. Murney. Charlie is voiced by Mark Anthony Henry. Fiona is voiced by Francesca Longrigg.
- Zack Lee is a tenant in the Border House who lives across the hall from April. Obnoxious and chauvinistic, he sold April out as revenge after she rejected his advances and was gunned down by Holloway's men. His death is disputable. Voiced by Ron Gallop.
- Vestrum Tobias was the highest-ranking Sentinel, who taught April Alltongue, a universal language. He was assassinated shortly before Marcuria, the Arcadian North's capital, was invaded. Voiced by Ron Foster.
- Roper Klacks is an evil alchemist who lives in a floating castle some miles north of Marcuria. He has a tendency to petrify his victims. April defeated him in a math duel with the help of a calculator, and when he tried to study it he was consumed by a bluish energy. It is unknown what exactly happened to him. It is later revealed that he was an agent of the Vanguard. He is trapped by April in a calculator. Returns in Dreamfall Voiced by Ralph Byers.
- Brian Westhouse is originally from Stark who now resides in Marcuria, and had been journeying in the Tibetan winter of 1934. Cortez saved him from near death and took him to a monastery. Although he is a non-shifter, he took part in a ritual that sent him through the divide. His path wasn’t easy and got stuck in the divide for nearly 300 years before reaching Arcadia. Where he went, time doesn’t pass as normal so he didn’t age. He is nicknamed "The Rolling Man" by Marcurians because he rides a bicycle, a vehicle foreign to them. Voiced by Ralph Byers.
- Adrian is the present Guardian, originally from Stark. He returned there, but was at a loss of what to do as no-one had come to assume his position, and was captured by Holloway. One of April's main objectives is to locate him. He is voiced by Louis Aguirre.
- Lady Alvane is a mysterious old woman who recounts the story of April's quest. She also appeared inside the story giving asylum to April when she was chased by Vanguard agents. She lives in the House of All Worlds, possibly located between the worlds like the Guardian's Tower, since a Shift can be opened in it. Amongst fans, there is a speculation [1] that Lady Alvane is April as an old woman, but this was deliberately left ambiguous by the game's designers [2].
-
The White Dragon, also known as the White Mother, was a great protector on the side of the Sentinels and the only female Draic Kin. She died due to injuries sustained while battling the Chaos Vortex. She lives through her daughter, who is April's sister. Voiced by Nicole Orth-Pallavicini.
April is in Arcadia with the White Kin - Cortez is a peculiar old man who served as April's mentor. She is wary of him at first, but later grows to trust him. He is much more than he lets on - in one of the game's most memorable scenes, he reveals himself to be the Red Dragon, but apparently perishes at the hands of his brother, the Green Dragon. His pocket watch, which he gave to April and called his "heart", ceased to function soon after his battle with the Green. He is voiced by Louis Aguirre.
- Jacob McAllen is a wealthy magnate and leader of the Church of Voltec, a powerful Stark cult that is actually a front for the Vanguard. Towards the end of the game, it is revealed that he is the Green Dragon. It is unknown whether he lived or died following his battle with Cortez. Voiced by Ralph Byers.
- The Blue Dragon is the eldest of the Draic Kin. His gigantic form has slumbered at the bottom of the Arcadian ocean for millennia as he awaits the right time to return to the stars from which he came, together with his Alatien (winged folk) and Maerum (mer folk) children.
Note: the actor names above are for the English language version.
[edit] Trivia
- April's toy ape is a source of a many references. Firstly it is called Guybrush. This is a tribute to Guybrush Threepwood, the hero of the Monkey Island series. The fact that April says Guybrush doesn't like being called a monkey is also a reference to the Discworld series, where the orangutan Librarian of Unseen University had a reputation for violently mauling people who were unfortunate enough to refer to him as a monkey instead of an ape. April also says that he is 'an officer of the law', which could also be a reference to the Librarian's short stint as a member of the Ankh Morpork Watch (the Discworld equivalent of the police force) in the Discworld novel Guards! Guards!
[edit] External links
- The Official Site
- The Longest Journey at MobyGames
- TLJWiki, the wiki describing the game world and story in detail.
- TLJ Viewer, a useful tool for extracting materials from the game's resouces.
