Dreamfall Chapters: Books 3-5

The last three books of this series take you even deeper into the compelling worlds of Stark and Arcadia, providing a truly thought-provoking tale. They brilliantly deliver the pay-off set up by the first two, digging into Zoe and Kian's fears and letting you tag along as they overcome their respective challenges. Both characters are appealing because they're realistically drawn; full of doubt and self-recrimination, but determined to do whatever it takes to redeem themselves for past failures.

If things were surreal in the first two books, they're even trippier here; the story jumps back and forth among the dream world and the two waking ones, effortlessly weaving multiple threads into a thought-provokingly weird story arc. As strange as things get, the story's emotional core is what holds it together; everyone's felt loss, betrayal, anger, love and fear and can identify with the heroes' uniquely human flaws. Humor also plays a big part in the game's success, since it prevents the narrative from becoming too heavy and melodramatic. Along with the well-written story, Dreamfall Chapters: Books 3-5 offer great voice acting and truly beautiful graphics. The magical world of Arcadia on its own is worth a folder full of screenshots. As with Books 1 and 2, the only issue with calling Books 3-5 "games" are their limited interactivity. There's not much you could call "gameplay" here; really, it's a bunch of beautiful mini-movies playing one after the other. The Interactive Novel is on the rise -- perhaps this is the start of what should be called the Interactive Movie? Anyway, despite their relative lack of interactivity, you shouldn't miss these episodes. They're some of the best-looking, most mind-expanding things you'll ever point and click on.