#Dreamfall chapters final cut review series#

What a letdown… Maybe the puzzle creator was given an early holiday. What is most disappointing is how everything was balanced so well in Book Four: Revelations and hopes were peaked for this conclusion. The puzzle element seems to play second fiddle…well, not even second fiddle, to be honest - rather it is barely even present at all. Standing around a hospital room, constantly looking at photos and keepsakes until something, anything happens. Press a lever nearby, collect a few items around a house, keep hitting the same button to slowly row a boat, view various objects numerous times to get the desired trigger to move things along… Yes, that last one in particular is something that actually kicks off the chapter in the worst possible way.

#Dreamfall chapters final cut review series#

Instead, gamers are treated to nothing more than a series of events where the aim is to run from location to location, carrying out minimal actions as more of the story unfolds and threads start coming together. Book Five: Redux is nothing more than a prolonged interactive ending sequence, and whilst it is pleasing to have some closure, it would have been even more impressive to have felt like the choices made throughout actually had any strong effect, and that a significant role was to be played in the final throes of the outing.

What is missing, and what is wrong, though, is how pretty much all of the wonderful gameplay elements of the previous entries (bar Book Two, which also ditched enjoyable adventuring in favouring of sewing plot seeds), have now gone completely. All of the characters from the past four books also play their parts, as expected, with a (not-so-)surprising guest finally making an appearance towards the end.

Nothing has changed in terms of presentation values, with Dreamfall Chapters continuing to be extremely gorgeous and filled with strong voice acting and an atmospheric score.