A 30-minute demonstration of Dreamfall Chapters
Pre-alpha but shaping up nicely.
Here's a 30-minute walkthrough of a murky prison level from Dreamfall Chapters, the Kickstarted 3D adventure by Dreamfall creator Ragnar Tornquist and his Norwegian Red Thread Games.
There's a version narrated by Tornquist and design director Martin Bruusgard, and a version that's not. Both are below.
Dreamfall Chapters is pre-alpha, due November, and on this evidence is shaping up well. Characters are designed with strong personalities, and the environment is atmospheric and believable.
The performances are a little wooden, and there's no real sense of panic as you flee a prison (and why does the warden just stand there waiting for you to talk to him rather than summon guards to apprehend you?), but this being an adventure game means you need time to look around and solve locked-door puzzles, as well as characters to bounce off and explore dialogue-related puzzles with.
The puzzles are promising, too. These are only early examples, but stuffing a pillow on the end of a broom and shoving it out the window to soak up arrows from soldiers below, then using the arrow to pick a lock, is already better than most games manage.
Then there's getting around an unlockable door by finding an elevator shaft with a chain that leads up to the surface, but is coated in slippery oil. The napkin you pick up won't shift it, it just gets soaked in oil, so you need something else. The answer isn't one I would have immediately thought of.
