History VideoGame / TheLongestJourney

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Inverted. In this game thirteen is a lucky number.

%%* MacGuffinDeliveryService

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Subverted. In this game thirteen is a lucky number.

The game is available on both UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and Website/GOGDotCom, but notoriously difficult to get to run on modern systems. It is, however, currently [[http://wiki.residualvm.org/index.php/The_Longest_Journey fully playable]] in the [[http://www.residualvm.org/ ResidualVM emulation engine]] (an offshoot of [=ScummVM=]), albeit with some glitches and missing features.

''The Longest Journey'' is a 1999 AdventureGame developed by Norwegian company Funcom and written by Ragnar Tørnquist for UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows. Famous for its expansive storyline, a lovable, GenreSavvy heroine, and flawless gameplay (as far as [[PointAndClickGame point-and-click]] gameplay goes), the game is commonly credited with resurrecting the AdventureGame genre after its crisis in the late 90's. An OddlyNamedSequel, ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'', was released in 2006, and another, ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'', between October 2014 and June 2016 (in [[EpisodicGame five episodes]]). In November 2014, '' The Longest Journey'' also received an iOS port.

''The Longest Journey'' is a 1999 AdventureGame developed by Norwegian company Funcom and designed by Ragnar Tørnquist for Microsoft Windows. Famous for its expansive storyline, a lovable, GenreSavvy heroine, and flawless gameplay (as far as [[PointAndClickGame point-and-click]] gameplay goes), the game is commonly credited with resurrecting the AdventureGame genre after its crisis in the late 90's. An OddlyNamedSequel, ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'', was released in 2006, and a second sequel, ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'', was released in five episodes between October 2014 and June 2016. In November 2014, '' The Longest Journey'' also received an iOS port.

April Ryan is an [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent ordinary art student]] living in the CyberPunk metropolis Newport and applying for the local Academy of Arts. She has her share of problems with her parents, insecurity about her future, and increasingly strange dreams, but she also has some great friends, a job, and a friendly landlady. Then a weird CoolOldGuy named Cortez appears and tells her that she is TheChosenOne who has to SaveBothWorlds -- and then he sends her to that [[AnotherDimension other world]], {{Arcadia}}, she is supposed to save. As her familiar world [[WhenDimensionsCollide crumbles around her]], April has to dive deeper into the secrets of the universe, fulfill cryptic prophecies, bring down an AncientConspiracy or two, cope with her friends' deaths, save the [[PhysicalGod Guardian of the Balance]], and ultimately restore the harmony between the Twin Worlds of Stark and Arcadia. And that all in less than two weeks.

''The Longest Journey'' is a 1999 AdventureGame developed by Norwegian company Funcom and designed by Ragnar Tørnquist for Microsoft Windows. Famous for its expansive storyline, a lovable, GenreSavvy heroine, and flawless gameplay (as far as [[PointAndClickGame point-and-click]] gameplay goes), the game is commonly credited with resurrecting the AdventureGame genre after its crisis in the late 90's. An OddlyNamedSequel, ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'', was released in 2006, and a second sequel, ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'', was released in October 2014. In November 2014, '' The Longest Journey'' also received an iOS port.

* ChildhoodBrainDamage: April's dad was drunk and dropped her when he held her as a baby for the first time, causing a serious cranial trauma that took several years to heal, during which she couldn't walk or speak. Although she eventually grew up normal (as normal as a half-dragon Shifter can be, anyway), her father's repressed guilt over the incident resulted in her very strained relationship with him and eventually led to her running away from home before the start of the game.

* CerebusSyndrome: Initially the story does not take itself too seriously, being at some points an AffectionateParody of fantasy stories and even campy at times, with lots of LampshadeHanging. But the story starts to take a very dark turn when [[spoiler:the Tyren army invades Marcuria]] and [[spoiler:Emma is shot by the Vanguard]].

* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: There are other things too, but special mention goes to Detective Minelli. First you poison him to get him to move, then you steal his glass eye (he obviously becomes very panicked when you do this). Other solutions involve conning your way around problems.

April Ryan is an [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent ordinary art student]] living in the CyberPunk metropolis Newport and applying for the local Academy of Arts. She has her share of problems with her parents, insecurity about her future, and increasingly strange dreams, but she also has some great friends, a job, and a friendly landlady. Then a weird CoolOldGuy named Cortez appears and tells her that she is TheChosenOne who has to SaveBothWorlds -- and then he sends her to that [[AnotherDimension other world]], {{Arcadia}}, she is supposed to save. As her familiar world [[WhenDimensionsCollide crumbles around her]], April has to dive deeper into the secrets of the universe, fulfill cryptic prophecies, bring down an AncientConspiracy or two, cope with her friends' deaths, save the [[PhysicalGod Guardian of the Balance]], and ultimately restore the harmony between the Twin Worlds of Stark and ArcadiaNumber: itself. And that all in less than two weeks.

* ChildhoodBrainDamage: PlayedForDrama. April's dad was drunk and dropped her when he held her as a baby for the first time, causing a serious cranial trauma that took several years to heal, during which she couldn't walk or speak. Although she eventually grew up normal (as normal as a half-dragon Shifter can be, anyway), her father's repressed guilt over the incident resulted in her very strained relationship with him and eventually led to her running away from home before the start of the game.

* DeggansRule: Followed via Cortez and Charlie.

* CymbalBangingMonkey: The Guybrush monkey toy.

* DismantledMacGuffin: The Stone Disc, the key to the Guardian's realm in the first game. Justified in the BackStory: the disc was originally kept at the Sentinel Enclave, ready for pickup by TheChosenOne, but then the Vanguard tried to steal it. Afterwards, the Sentinels decided to break it up and hand the pieces over to the four magical peoples most motivated to keep it hidden (since most magical creatures would likely perish if the Twin Worlds were forcibly reunited).

* LampshadeHanging: Done a lot.

* KeepItForeign: In the Spanish version Cortez is not Hispanic, but rather a Frenchman named "Corthes".

* PercussiveMaintenance: The housekeeper at the Mercury theatre kicks the flickering neon sign with his broom in hope to get it to work again.

* YouCantMissIt: The mapmaker's directions in the delivery mission.

* DeggansRule: Followed via Cortez, Charlie, Warren, and Father Raul.

* {{Arcadia}}
* BittersweetEnding: After all her numerous trials and sacrifices throughout ''TLJ'', April is basically given heartfelt thanks...[[spoiler: and then left to her own devices]]. She even admits as not knowing how to feel as she starts her trek "home".

* ChekhovsBoomerang: Mr. Guybrush.

* InTheDoldrums: The Guardian's realm looks like this. It turns out to be a FisherKingdom--in [[VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney the sequel]], the replacement for the first game's ailing Guardian adds plant life and a proper sky.

* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: The Gribbler, [[http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/1/12384/523354-gribbler_large.jpg ye gods]].

* MovingBuildings: Klack's castle.

* NPCAmnesia

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Subverted. In this game thirteen is a lucky number and an ArcNumber.

April Ryan is an [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent ordinary art student]] living in the CyberPunk metropolis Newport and applying for the local Academy of Arts. She has her share of problems with her parents, insecurity about her future, and increasingly strange dreams, but she also has some great friends, a job, and a friendly landlady. Then a weird CoolOldGuy named Cortez appears and tells her that she is TheChosenOne who has to SaveBothWorlds -- and then he sends her to that [[AnotherDimension other world]], {{Arcadia}}, she is supposed to save. As her familiar world [[WhenDimensionsCollide crumbles around her]], April has to dive deeper into the secrets of the universe, fulfill cryptic prophecies, bring down an AncientConspiracy or two, cope with her friends' deaths, save the [[PhysicalGod Guardian of the Balance]], and ultimately restore the harmony between the Twin Worlds of Stark and Arcadia itself. And that all in less than two weeks.

* ArcNumber: 13

''The Longest Journey'' is a 1999 AdventureGame developed by Norwegian company Funcom and designed by Ragnar Tørnquist for Microsoft Windows. Famous for its expansive storyline, a lovable, GenreSavvy heroine, and flawless gameplay (as far as [[PointAndClickGame point-and-click]] gameplay goes), the game is commonly credited with resurrecting the AdventureGame genre after its crisis in the late 90's. An OddlyNamedSequel, ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'', was released in 2006, and a second sequel, ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'', is currently in development for an episodic release, starting in October 2014. In November 2014, '' The Longest Journey'' also received an iOS port.

%%* AlmostDeadGuy: Flipper.

* ContemplativeBoss: [=McAllen=] assumes this pose when April meets him in his office.

* CreepyLongFingers: Abnaxus.
* CreepyMonotone: Gordon Holloway.

* CyberPunkIsTechno

* DownTheRabbitHole: Pretty much the point of the first part of the game.

* MoveAlongNothingToSeeHere: The