History VideoGame / DreamfallTheLongestJourney

* CloningBlues: [[spoiler: Faith]]. Also, a popular WMG for many characters.

* HackingMinigame: Justified. Oliva de Marcos gives Zoë the software she uses to hack electronic devices and explains that it's specifically designed to look like a game so that if someone comes by and sees her screen, they'll think she's playing a game.

* StealthBasedMission: Several parts, most notably the Grubber cave and the [=WATICorp=] building.

* TheStinger: The ending... again.

* WhamLine:
* WhiteVoidRoom
--> '''Damien:''' ''[To Zoë]'' [[spoiler: I'll be here when you come back.]]

* AntiHero:
** ClassicalAntiHero: Zoë.
** [[PragmaticHero Pragmatic Anti-Hero]]: April and Kian.
* ApocalypseHow: A global Class 0 in the form of the Collapse.

* OneHundredAndEight: Only one copy of Roper Klack's book remains because when the reader reaches page 108 ''they explode''. The last remaining copy has been de-enchanted though, and is safe to read. [[TakeOurWordForIt At least, that's what he says...]]

* TheConspiracy: Project Alchera is a blend of the [[GovernmentConspiracy government]] and [[CorporateConspiracy corporate]] variants, as [[OneNationUnderCopyright corporations act as the world government in the setting]]. [[spoiler:TheJapanese toy manufacturer [=WATICorp=]]] is involved in the development and spreading of {{Mind Control Device}}s disguised as lucid dream toys. Unfortunately, none of them had any idea that there was an entire world of magic that used the same wavelengths as the project. The central AI latched on in curiosity and [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom suddenly instant chaos, test subjects manifest in Arcadia, two worlds in danger, etc.]].

** [[spoiler: Kian]] slowly goes through one over the course of the game, which

* LeftHanging: Just WTF happened [[spoiler:to all the main characters in the end]]?! That's for starters, and if you want to know how bad it was, go to the [[WMG/DreamfallTheLongestJourney WMG subpage]] and marvel at its size. Luckily, Dreamfall Chapters does a good job of resolving a lot of the cliffhangers.

* SequelTheOriginalTitle
* [[spoiler:ShootTheShaggyDog: April is killed near the end.]]

** Apparently, Tørnquist borrows heavily from Australian Aboriginal mythology. "Alchera" is the Arrentje for "dreaming", which natives understand as a process of shaping the cosmos. [[spoiler: In that context, the Undreaming can be understood [[OhCrap as a process of un-shaping the cosmos]]]]. [[spoiler: Eingana]] is the name of Aboriginal creator goddess who governs life and death and lives in the [[spoiler: Dream time, mythological era of totemic spirits]].

--> '''White Kin''': (to Zoë) Faith will bring you where you are needed the most.

** In RealLife Morocco, just over 99 percent of the population is Arab-Berber, about 90 percent speak Moroccan Arabic and/or a Berber language, and nearly everyone is Muslim. Zoë Castillo lives in Casablanca but has a European surname (and a European name) and speaks with a British accent (and drinks wine, has premarital sex, and celebrates Christmas). There are a few people walking around in normal Moroccan/Muslim outfits but they're set dressing, you mostly can't even talk to them. Also, for some reason most important people in the Japanese corporation you visit are white. You could argue that it has something to do with it being set in the future, [[LeastCommonSkinTone but why does the future have to be increasingly more white?]] In all fairness, though, Dreamfall is still significantly less white than TLJ - not just the Stark part of it, but the Arcadian part, as well.

* DarkestHour: [[spoiler: The ending: April Ryan was hit with a spear and tumbled into the water, never to emerge; Kian had a crisis of faith and was promptly imprisoned; Zoë was sent into a permanent coma; Faith dies after living a tragic life of FateWorseThanDeath.]]

** [[spoiler: Kian]] had the beginnings of one at the end of ''Dreamfall.''
* HollywoodHacking: Hacking into electronic devices in the 23rd century apparently involves symbol-matching puzzles.
** HackingMinigame: Justified - Oliva de Marcos gives Zoë the software she uses to hack electronic devices and explains that it's specifically designed to look like a game so that if someone comes by and sees her screen, they'll think she's playing a game.

* LukeIAmYourFather: Faith is really [[spoiler: Zoë's sister and their mother is potentially yet again the first White Dragon]].
** [[spoiler: Actually their mother is Helena Chang (that was confirmed in Dreamfall Chapters).]]

* ShoutOut: The naked bald blue-glowing PhysicalGod of a Guardian, [[spoiler:Gordon Halloway]], looks suspiciously similar to Dr. Manhattan from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''.

-->'''Brian Westhouse:''' [[Film/EventHorizon Where we're going, we won't need wings to fly!]]
** [[ShoutOut/ToShakespeare Shout-Out: To Shakespeare]]: One of the major locations is Venice (not the real one, but a neighborhood of the fictional American city of Newport), which is home to a street gang called the Shakespeareans. There's also a Chinese street vendor, who at one point describes himself as the [[Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice "best merchant in Venice"]].

--> ''Damien (to Zoë)'': [[spoiler: I'll be here when you come back.]]

** ClassicalAntiHero: Zoe.

** In RealLife Morocco, just over 99 percent of the population is Arab-Berber, about 90 percent speak Moroccan Arabic and/or a Berber language, and nearly everyone is Muslim. Zoe Castillo lives in Casablanca but has a European surname (and a European name) and speaks with a British accent (and drinks wine, has premarital sex, and celebrates Christmas). There are a few people walking around in normal Moroccan/Muslim outfits but they're set dressing, you mostly can't even talk to them. Also, for some reason most important people in the Japanese corporation you visit are white. You could argue that it has something to do with it being set in the future, [[LeastCommonSkinTone but why does the future have to be increasingly more white?]] In all fairness, though, Dreamfall is still significantly less white than TLJ - not just the Stark part of it, but the Arcadian part, as well.

* CreepyTwins: The two Asian twins working for [=WATICorp=] that pursue Zoe across the game.

* GoalInLife: Discussed in-depth, especially with Zoe's story arc.

** HackingMinigame: Justified - Oliva de Marcos gives Zoe the software she uses to hack electronic devices and explains that it's specifically designed to look like a game so that if someone comes by and sees her screen, they'll think she's playing a game.
* HomelessPigeonPerson: Beggar Crazy Clara has a pet that defies biological definition and that Zoe has to rescue from Azadi to get Clara to tell her some plot-relevant stuff.

* IdiotBall: [[spoiler: Allowing a very shady character, that you have just promised to take down, to put you into what is essentially a temporary coma without anyone you know/trust to watch over you or even know about it. Little wonder that Zoe ends put into a more permanent coma with little chance of survival.]]
* InTheFutureWeStillHaveRoombas: One level has Zoe sneaking into a corporate headquarters by following cleaning bots through passages that open for them.

* LukeIAmYourFather: Faith is really [[spoiler: Zoe's sister and their mother is potentially yet again the first White Dragon]].

* PrecisionFStrike: Alvin Peats when talking to Zoe: "You're connected to that fucking girl."

** Zoë realizes that [=WATICorp=]'s ''products'' are Stepford Smilers; at the beginning of the game, she realizes that when Wonkers, her Watilla, talks about what he does while she's not home, he's trying to communicate that he's lonely, but is literally incapable of expressing or understanding it in any way possible. Reza's Watilla Lucia is similarly unable to communicate or understand her mental state in regards to his disappearance, but it's clear she's even worse off than Wonkers, who can at least rest assured of Zoe returning home once in a while.

--> ''Damien (to Zoe)'': [[spoiler: I'll be here when you come back.]]

* JanitorImpersonationInfiltration: Zoë dresses as a janitor to get into Wati headquarters. Once in though, she doesn't fool the guard robots, commandos, or even the scientists working in the lab, so she needs to hide when they approach.

** Zoe is of mixed descent, Spanish and Chinese--at least [[DependingOnTheWriter according to one of the writers]].

The second game of the ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney'' series, it is an {{Oddly Named Sequel|2ElectricBoogaloo}} to the AdventureGame classic ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney''. The game was released in 2006. It introduces a new heroine, Zoë Castillo, a 20-year-old college dropout living in Stark (our familiar Earth, albeit two centuries into the future) ten years after the events of the original ''TLJ''. After she starts receiving eerie messages from a StringyHairedGhostGirl to go "find April, save April" (and her ex-boyfriend disappears on top of that), Zoë has no choice but to delve into another [[TheConspiracy conspiracy]] investigation. Meanwhile, April, the heroine of the original game, is effectively trapped in Arcadia (the magical alternate reality) and fights against TheEmpire of Azadi, while an elite Azadi SuperSoldier and third protagonist, Kian Alvane, is sent to assassinate her. Fans welcomed ''Dreamfall'' enthusiastically, but the reviews were rather mixed, primarily "thanks" to unsatisfactory (and, according to many, superfluous) action-adventure elements and the ending being a love child of a CliffHanger of cosmic proportions and the NoEnding trope.

* TheAlcatraz: Friar's Keep, the tower the Azadi use as a prison, which April needs to rescue Zoe from.
%%* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Reza.
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: Playing as Zoe, April, and Kian.

* {{Arcadia}}

* AstralProjection: Zoe's trips to Arcadia, in a nutshell. She's not a Shifter, like April, but merely winds up there while dreaming. Unlike normal astral projections, her presence in Arcadia is very much physical.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Zoe and April's story arcs are dedicated to them DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife. And wouldn't you know it? They both seem to have found it by the end of the game. In a very [[EsotericHappyEnding esoteric sort]] of way, sure, but they have found it, nonetheless.

* BigBadEnsemble: [=WATIcorp=] for Stark and the Six for Arcadia. However, since Stark and Arcadia are separate, they never come into contact with one another. Only when ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'' debuts will it be known if they will encounter each other.

* {{Callback}}: ''Dreamfall'' is full of these.

* CerebusSyndrome: This game plays a lot more seriously than its predecessor.

* CombatDiplomacyStealth: You are occasionally given multiple paths to victory, especially when playing as Zoe. For example, when sneaking into the Victory Hotel, you can either fight and knock Vinnie unconscious, sneak past him while he is checking his pizza, or talk him into letting you in.
%%* ComputerEqualsMonitor
* ConstructedWorld
* CorruptChurch: The Azadi's religion, [[spoiler: Kian calls them out on it before he's arrested.]]
* CreepyTwins: The two asian twins working for WatiCorp that pursue Zoe across the game.

* CyberPunk: ''Dreamfall'' is more sleek about it than the original game.

** And then in ''Dreamfall'' April ''herself'' ends up being called Raven. Since the most appropriate word, "kruk", was already taken and "wrona" would still sound rather improper for a positive character, Raven was turned into "Kruczowłosa", which essentially means "The Raven-Haired One".[[note]]April is a redhead[[/note]]

* DyingTown: Newport in ''Dreamfall''. Marcuria begins showing early signs of this.

* TheEmpire: The Azadi have conquered much of Arcadia.
* EmptyPilesOfClothing: Zoe's first trip back out of Arcadia has her disappearing but leaving her clothes behind. In subsequent trips, she's gained enough mastery of her abilities to disappear without leaving anything.
* EverythingIsOnline: The Wire is an omnipresent wireless network that links everything on Earth with a computer chip - which means almost everything, from mobile phones to smart fridges to traffic lights. It is essentially an environment of constant communication, integration and exchange of information. The Wire is monitored by the EYE, and a lot of money can be made on the black market by severing or shielding objects from the Wire, especially mobile phones. The Wire also functions like the Internet it evolved from, playing host to news feeds like The Hand That Bites.The mysterious network failures known as "The Static" have even resulted in fatal car accidents, and, indeed, one of the things you get to hack during the game is a car.
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The tower the Azadi are building in Marcuria. The ending makes it even more ominous.

* FantasticGhetto: The Marcuria ghetto for the "magicals", set up by the Azadi occupants.
* FantasticRacism: Between humans and magical races and magical races themselves, most notably the Azadi and their treatment of magical races.

* FourthWall: Played with. When Zoe first enters Marcuria, she comments that everything looks like something out of a fantasy role-playing game.

* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: It is surprisingly easy to outsmart the guards at Friar's Keep. Zoe can convince the guard on his level to leave the door slot open by promising to... sing him a song. Then the prison keeper lets April in because he is too lazy to deliver the sandwich to the other guard himself.

* HowWeGotHere: Most of the narration is Zoe recounting the events of the past few days.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: The deity of the Azadi Empire is the God''ess'', emphasis on the second syllable.
* KudzuPlot: You have no idea...
* LaResistance: The small group lead by April to fight the Azadi in Marcuria.

* LimitedWardrobe: Partially averted, with different, context-sensitive outfits for both April and Zoë.
* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:The dreamer machines]] can have this effect. They even have a flower component that covers a person's face.

* KnightTemplar: The Azadi, who seek to [[spoiler: destroy the world in order to "cleanse it"]].
* TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar: The Collapse in Stark is due to magic going away. It's heavily implied that most of the advanced technology (e.g. FTL, antigravity) is impossible with pure science and was the result of magic bleeding in from Arcadia through cracks in the Barrier. Once the Barrier is restored by the new Guardian, it's back to using old tech for the people of Stark. By the same token, pure complex technology is impossible in Arcadia due to laws of nature being in flux. Thus, even Azadi technology is reinforced by magic, although you may be arrested for suggesting that.
* {{Matriarchy}}: The Azadi Empire is ruled by six Empresses, political power is expressly the woman's domain (though military power is the man's), they worship a Goddess, and the term for an orphan without fortune or connections is a "motherless" child. Sub-trope Enlightened Matriarchy (great cultural and scientific achievements, started off saving the entire civilization), or Original Matriarchy (overstayed their welcome big time to become an occupation, [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremism]] on full display including the FantasticGhetto, repressive government, assassinations, and mass murder).
* MegaCorp: Lots of them in Stark, e.g. [=WATIcorp=]. Even the police is owned by a megacorp. What does this mean? When you're arrested, you're read both your rights ''and'' a catchy soda ad.

* NoobBridge: The music puzzle that lets Zoe out of the caves into Marcuria. It requires two elements that will not be immediately apparent to new players, namely that a certain item from the previous location could be picked up and used on the wall symbols to reproduce the melody hummed by random encounter enemies on said location. Incidentally, you can kill those enemies, leaving you with no melody if you failed to pay attention.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The way Brian Westhouse behaves in this game is ''vastly'' different from the way he behaved in ''The Longest Journey''. It's not quite clear what happened to him between the games [[spoiler: and after his encounter with The Undreaming]], but it sure is very important.
** A more straigtforward example would be Sister Sahya, who is a part of an extremely matriarchal culture, taking orders from the Prophet, who is rather obviously male. April even lampshades on it.

** The protagonist and the narrator is named "Zoe", which is the Greek for "life".
** Zoe lives in Casablanca, "Casablanca" is the Spanish for "''white'' house". Faith lives in a bizarre ''black'' dollhouse.
** The image of the big red dragon found on the floor in the hall of [=WATICorp=]. Anyone who played ''The Longest Journey'' knows that [[spoiler: red dragon - or [[InsistentTerminology Kin]] is the true form of Cortez]].

* SimultaneousArcs: Occurs throughout the game after you're introduced to the other two characters. Produces a very striking moment, when Kian meets April and player is being switched from one to other in their dialogue.

* {{Steampunk}}: The Azadi machinery in general looks more modern than the rest of Arcadia. WordOfGod is that there is a good reason for that.

** Zoe realizes that [=WATICorp=]'s ''products'' are Stepford Smilers; at the beginning of the game, she realizes that when Wonkers, her Watilla, talks about what he does while she's not home, he's trying to communicate that he's lonely, but is literally incapable of expressing or understanding it in any way possible. Rezza's Watilla Lucia is similarly unable to communicate or understand her mental state in regards to his disappearance, but it's clear she's even worse off than Wonkers, who can at least rest assured of Zoe returning home once in a while.

* StoryToGameplayRatio: As an adventure game, the game is obviously story-heavy. However, the actual ratio changes during the game. The first few chapters have more traditional adventure game elements with puzzles about finding out who to talk to and what items to use. Later the gameplay becomes more and more straightforward, almost to an EnvironmentalNarrativeGame level, and the ratio of cutscenes also increases. At the later parts of the game, your inventory is mostly empty. There are some chapters that have nothing else than walking down a path and talking to someone at the end.
* TechnicolorPeople: The magical people has various skin colors, like yellow or purple.

* TookALevelInBadass: April is just a normal art student in the first game, but a competent fighter and a rebel leader in the second.
* TwoLinesNoWaiting: The plot structure, albeit with three plot strands.
* UncomfortableElevatorMoment: Zoe has one with a [=WatiCorp=] employee if she decides to go into the elevator with her while infiltrating its HQ.

* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: The Azadi airships in Arcadia.

The {{Oddly Named Sequel|2ElectricBoogaloo}} to the AdventureGame classic ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney'', ''Dreamfall: The Longest Journey'' was released in 2006. It introduces a new heroine, Zoë Castillo, a 20-year-old college dropout living in Stark (our familiar Earth, albeit two centuries into the future) ten years after the events of the original ''TLJ''. After she starts receiving eerie messages from a StringyHairedGhostGirl to go "find April, save April" (and her ex-boyfriend disappears on top of that), Zoë has no choice but to delve into another [[TheConspiracy conspiracy]] investigation. Meanwhile, April, the heroine of the original game, is effectively trapped in Arcadia (the magical alternate reality) and fights against TheEmpire of Azadi, while an elite Azadi SuperSoldier and third protagonist, Kian Alvane, is sent to assassinate her. Fans welcomed ''Dreamfall'' enthusiastically, but the reviews were rather mixed, primarily "thanks" to unsatisfactory (and, according to many, superfluous) action-adventure elements and the ending being a love child of a CliffHanger of cosmic proportions and the NoEnding trope.

Please add character-related tropes to the '''[[Characters/DreamfallTheLongestJourney characters tab]]'''.

%%* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo
* OneHundredAndEight: Only one copy of Roper Klack's book remains because when the reader reaches page 108 ''they explode''. The last remaining copy has been de-enchanted though, and is safe to read. [[TakeOurWordForIt At least, that's what he says...]]

* RansackedRoom: The friend's place in the beginning is turned over by the baddies trying to find the journal.

* [[spoiler:ShootTheShaggyDog]]

** In RealLife Morocco, just over 99 percent of the population is Arab-Berber, about 90 percent speak Moroccan Arabic and/or a Berber language, and nearly everyone is Muslim. Zoe Castillo is from Casablanca but has a European surname (and a European name) and speaks with a British accent (and drinks wine, has premarital sex, and celebrates Christmas). There are a few people walking around in normal Moroccan/Muslim outfits but they're set dressing, you mostly can't even talk to them. Also, for some reason most important people in the Japanese corporation you visit are white. You could argue that it has something to do with it being set in the future, [[LeastCommonSkinTone but why does the future have to be increasingly more white?]] In all fairness, though, Dreamfall is still significantly less white than TLJ - not just the Stark part of it, but the Arcadian part, as well.