This is definitely more in the veins of LucasArts - the game never threatens to kill you, and you are free to explore without any such danger. On the puzzle side too, the game is also rather reminiscent of LA classics: most of the challenges ranges from fairly simple, to modest difficulty, but it is the kind of puzzles that are a joy to play, counting on you being intuitive and creative with what you have at hand.
Above all else though, The Longest Journey is primarily about the story, and it is quite a page-turner indeed; this is a game that's difficult to quit, because you will want to see what happens next, what revelations are to come, what fantastic characters you are about to meet. TLJ joins such stellar diamonds as Gateway, Myst, Baldur's Gate and Planscape Torment in being one of the best "books" I have ever played, since it is really about exploring an extraordinary great tale.
I remember I felt kind of sad when the game ended, not because it wasn't an fulfilling ending, nor because the game wasn't long enough (this is one of the lengthiest game of its type, by the way), but it just felt too good to come to an end!
So yeah, in short, if you like a game with a perfect and intelligent plot, together with fun puzzles, unique atmosphere, and plenty of interesting characters, you are bound to like The Longest Journey. There is simply no other game quite like it, neither before, nor after its release. Simply magical!

I too must admit this was a great surprise :)
Although I already own the 4 CD + 2 CD + DVD version, I have to have this one too :D

I'm somewhat in agreement with this and I'm somewhat not. Sure, sometimes a story can take you in directions you never anticipated, and that's not always a bad thing. In fact, a lot of the time, it's a good thing. Ultimately, whoever's writing the story has to let it flow... they have to let the story drive them instead of the other way around, and more often than not, if a writer tries to force the story into a certain path, it either breaks the story, breaks the writer, or both.
But on the other side of things, for something like Longest Journey and Dreamfall, those games were very story-driven. You weren't so much playing games as being told stories and just kinda sticking your fingers into them every now and again. Which meant that the people who were crafting the story had to get it "right." And at times TLJ's story (while sweeping and grand and majestic and a whole host of other words in that vein) sometimes got a little too much so for its own good. Likewise, Dreamfall's story was so convoluted that it was hard to follow at times. I mean, sure, I always understood the basic premise of what was going on, but there were times when a lot of the nuances were just lost on me, and I felt I was missing out.
Which is something you just don't want happening to your audience. There was such a wealth of material, so much good stuff going on there, that to lose any of it because the writing was just a little bit... unsure of itself at points... that was just a shame. If things had been tightened up even just a bit, it could've been even better than it was. And it already was a hell of a ride. I know I'd grab the sequel when it hits.

The soundtrack is identical to the one available at longestjourney.com. They both have 36 tracks though, not 32.

Whoops, forgot about the jukebox tracks. Too bad it's the same one though. :/

Amazing!
In half an hour the game got almost 120 pure 5.0 ratings :)

More useless TLJ trivia: There was a soundtrack CD released, but the free MP3 soundtrack is still the most complete version. The MP3 soundtrack has seven unique songs that weren't on the CD, while the CD has one song that wasn't included in the MP3 version.

GAAAH crap.
Once again, GoG releases an excellent game that I already have on Steam over a year ago :(
The result of this is that my Steam purchases (of older games) are pretty much ground to a standstill, because every time I think about buying a game, I can't help but think to myself:
"In a few days, weeks or months my GoG may have this for sale. At a competitive price, but with better (DRMless) features"
The regrets, they're too much! First Sacred Gold, Beyond Good and Evil, now this!
With my luck, next you'll release Titan Ques and Psychonauts!

Well I for one am hoping for your bad luck, no offense. :P

HA!
SOLD!
THANKS!

This is a total instabuy! The Longest Journey is in my top five best games of all time. I 'acquired' the sound track a long time ago, but now I can finally own it legit! Plus I totally have the hots for April Ryan.

I already own two copies of this game (4CD and the DVD that came with Dreamfall SE), but I will probably buy it here too. I will wait for a some sort of sale though :)

HA!
It's working perfectly on Win7 64 . Much better than the stEAm and retail cd versions ever did on XP for me. And it still looks great on a 24'' LG.

It's the GOTY edition actually, and you can buy it here for $8. :)
Dual Core Optimizer if you're with AMD.
Otherwise right click the process in task manager and change the affinity setting thingy.
Anyway, I have the box copy of this game already...but it's four CDs and doesn't come with the soundtrack. Plus, compatibility. I'll pick it up for sure when I have money.
Very very nice surprise, GOG -- here's hoping for Dreamfall. :)

One of my Top 10 games of all time.
Great to see TLJ join the GOG party.