Games Showcase: The Longest Journey

The Longest Journey is perhaps the pinnacle of the point and click genre. It certainly occupies that place for me.

And, it seems I’m not alone. It’s currently the first point and click in the Metacritic PC Game all time rankings, at spot #78 with a score of 91.

The Longest Journey on Metacritic

Screenshot

So, what’s all the fuss about?

It’s about the story, of course. Forget the witty one-liners and silly plots that many popular adventure games are built around; this one has serious world building and an epic plot. As the name suggests, it’s about the journey.

At the same time, the game is witty, and there is plenty that is silly. The Longest Journey shows that it’s possible to have your cake and eat it, in point and click terms.

You play a young woman called April, an art student. She finds herself in a moderately dystopian futuristic setting that you will have a little trouble connecting to at first—because it is a world you haven’t encountered before. From there, you’ll pass through dreams and more, then back again, meeting fascinating characters along the way.

It’s one of those games that is an experience that will stay with you. Did I mention that I recommend playing it? I do.

Running on Linux

This is a bit of a challenge.

The game is available on GOG and Steam, but probably won’t work out of the box. There is an updated VM called ResidualVM that runs on Linux, but you’ll need to compile a recent enough version, and that didn’t work for me.

Here’s how I got it working.

There is a mod for the game that provides AI-upscaled graphics, and that turned out to help.

First, buy the game on Steam. Find the files—for me they were under `/home/<user>/.steam/debian-installation/steamapps/common/The Longest Journey`—and copy them out, as you’ll be modifying things a bit.

Follow step 2 of the HD mod instructions to download the mod and extract the files into that same folder:

The Longest Journey HD

Follow step 3 of those same instructions, getting the Windows version of ResidualVM; extract it to a subfolder of your game folder called `vm`.

You’re nearly done. The trick I hit on is that we’ll use Steam’s windows emulation layer, Proton, to run the Windows version of ResidualVM.

If Proton is not already installed, you can get it by changing any Steam game to run via Proton. It should be the Experimental version; or, update the version name in the instructions below to use a different version.

Then, launch Residual VM under Proton as follows, from the game folder you created:

Then configure the VM by following steps 4-8 of the HD Mod instructions.

And that’s it. Even the longest journey must start with a single step, and you’ve just taken it!

Getting Stuck

There is a point early in the game when you will likely get stuck looking for a jukebox.

Let me save you the frustration: in the exact same location where you learn about the jukebox there is a tiny clickable area in the top left of the screen that lets you explore the room further.

Sequels

The sequel, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, is also a “must play” in my book. It is somewhat marred by frustrating “action/puzzle” elements that interrupt the adventuring; and it’s not actually a point and click, having switched to a 3D third person format. The puzzles are simpler, so don’t come for the challenge; but the story and world building are amazing. It’s beautiful. This one will stay with you forever, too.

After that is “Dreamfall: Chapters” which I didn’t really get into because of the episodic way it was released; I was busy with other things at the time. The reviews are mixed. I should play it some day but it’s not at the top of my TODO list.

The Longest Journey doesn’t really have an ending, then; it’s about the journey.

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