Genre: Point-And-Click Adventure
Release date: December 3, 2015

When playing episodic games, it gets harder and harder to write the reviews with each new episode. There’s usually very little difference in production quality, so it’s tough to find things to talk about without sharing a bunch of spoilers. But, I’m going to try my best. Dreamfall Chapters Episode 4: Revelations is the penultimate episode in the series. Given other games in the Longest Journey universe, I expect the game to present an avalanche of storytelling with a minimized focus on actual gameplay and puzzles. Let’s find out how they did!  

When we left joined our heroes, Zoe had used a dream machine and made it to Arcadia. She had found the rebels as Episode 3 waned.  Kian stowed away on one of the flying ships to go to the Azadi prison camp for magical beings. Behind the scenes, there’s a mysterious Azadi conspiracy as they prepare to turn on the mysterious machine that was built in Marcuria.

This book opens with Zoe as the lead. She’s in Arcadia, befriending the rebels and looking to find the purple mountains and Abnaxus. You’ll get to explore the rebel camp, then go back to the city. Along the way Zoe meets with a variety of characters, and Brian Westinghouse makes his return. Brian is a mysterious character who’s been in all Dreamfall games to date. Then Zoe’s story diverts from Marcuria as she starts her travels in search of the purple mountains. Crow accompanies Zoe through most of this episode, and that makes it seem extra special.

Kian plays a smaller role in this episode than Zoe. His part in the story is nonetheless of vital importance. He works to infiltrate the magical prison camp and save Pip, his young magical friend. Kian’s arc unveils answers to a lot of questions about what the Azadi are doing with magical beings. The game is full of gut-wrenching moments and surprises, but I’ll refrain from providing any spoilers.

Based on Kickstarter updates, Dreamfall Chapters had their engine upgraded. That caused a delay in the release of Episode 4. The new engine is supposed to improve performance. I’m comfortable saying that the game runs great and the graphics look fantastic. This is the most bug-free episode of Dreamfall Chapters yet. I did lose my custom key mappings, but all my saved games moved over without issue. Overall, the new engine is a win for game-players, especially if that means we get Episode 5 sooner rather than later.

At times the voice actors feel a little sloppy or stilted at times, but I quickly warmed to them. During this episode I noticed a lot of pop culture references to things like Star Wars and Doctor Who. Each time I noticed one it made me smile. There are also a few in-jokes about how great Zoe looked. Zoe’s various models in each episode have caused a lot of controversy, as people thought she looked too different from her Dreamfall counterpart. I didn’t mind, though.

My initial expectation of this episode were met. The puzzles were close to non-existent, with the focus on expanding the narrative. The puzzles you do encounter are pretty easy. Thankfully, however, you won’t find any of the pixel hunting problems that appear in past episodes.

Once again, I enjoyed my trip to Arcadia. The visuals are fantastic and the story is top notch. I’ve said in other reviews that I suspect Dreamfall Chapters will work better as a single combined game than it does as an episodic adventure. We’re almost to the finish line; and I hope I can carve out a day or two to tackle the game as one unit. If you’re a Dreamfall fan, be sure to pick this one up!

+ Fantastic visuals + Great story including the return of some fan favorites   – Puzzles are weak