Regardless, what I am pleased aboutis I can pretty much go straight on to Chapter 3.There is a Monty Python skitabout black pudding and how it was so black, even the white bits wereblack, and there is a bit of that here. Nonetheless, on the strength ofthis, I can’t wait for the rest.Dreamfall Chapters: Book Two- RebelsIt took me a while to get tothis and I am not sure how I feel. I have to confess I was predisposed to like it I have playedthe other games more than once, and have almost every boxed versionavailable in English in my collection. It ends a tad abruptly, and as astandalone episode it is less than it will be as the first instalment ofa whole. The playing character will also “look”towards a hotspot he/she can interact with as you pass, and actionsicons will be available if you stop to further investigate.Fundamentally, this episode setsthe table for what is to come.
You can die, and I did, but the game resetsbefore the key moment, and it saves automatically, rather than at will,so watch for the relevant icon. You can also map the keyboard controls, whichmeans you can use right mouse for forward motion and steer the characteraround using the mouse (my preferred configuration), rather than usingw,a,s,d keys for movement. If language offends, gird your loins beforeentering her establishment, but you will also encounter it elsewhere sobe prepared.Dreamfall Chapters uses a thirdperson perspective, with the view over the shoulder of the playingcharacter, although you have a pretty much unfettered 360 degree panningaround that character. I hope we see moreof him, although he may dedicate himself to a life of welding.Language can be (more than)colourful and Mira, proprietor of the Pandemonium garage, is the mostcolorful character by far. Theyaren’t poor, just less than their surroundings.“I don't want to remember.I want to just move on”.While it’s a Machiavellian plot,with dark undercurrents of political intrigue, it can also be humorous,most notably through a hovering bot called Shitbot. While lip movement is good, they are a tad toowooden, accentuated by the pasted on hair that doesn’t move a jot. But the biggest visual issue is thecharacters themselves. It's audibly excellent as well, and I include the score.There are some “glitches” eyes flash and while Zoe moves out of the wayof NPCs, gates pass through Kian. Someare seemingly innocuous – what to choose for the boyfriend for lunch –and others have more profound outcomes, resulting in a shift in the“balance” (the equilibrium between chaos and logic, and a key part ofthe Dreamfall universe).Graphically, Europolis sparkles.Wind everything up to maximum if you can, and lay back and enjoy thevisual feast. The different responses are generally subtlevariations on a theme, as opposed to being blunt opposites, and theyhelp define Zoe, or your own vision of who Zoe is (or should be). Hover the mouse overeach option, and Zoe essentially mulls things over to herself about thatparticular response.
The playable character (lets go with Zoe forthe moment) will generally have to respond to a question or situation,and will have a number of simple options available. These choices are, by and large, presented in a way that makesconsiderably good sense. Ican go anywhere”Then it’s back to Zoe, severalmonths on and now in Europolis, a city described by Red Thread duringits Kickstarter campaign as “the filthy bowels and bloodied entrailsof Europe'.
It also has one of the silliest puzzlesolves I have come across for a while, and I intend to say no more aboutit.“I'm rootless. It’s a year after those events, and he seemsto have accepted his fate, but we very quickly find him trying toengineer an escape, the result of a surprising twist and an uprisingtaking place around him.This is our only exposure toArcadia in this chapter, and we get but a glimpse of the “magical” sideof the world, and only a peek at the machinations enveloping that realm.We will no doubt return, and it’s tantalising, albeit relatively shortand mostly straightforward. A soldier and assassin, wewould expect to find him in jail, given he was hauled away as April fellfrom the pier in Dreamfall. It does help you settle into thegame mechanics though, and it probably should be looked at as more of atutorial prologue to the main story.We then skip to Kian Alvane,awaiting execution in a jail cell in Arcadia. There is a rich tapestry to what andwhy this place is (like most things in the Dreamfall world), and whileit was somewhat perfunctory, it’s necessary given where we left off.That said, I wasn’t unhappy to leave.