'Dreamfall Chapters' given October date

Kickstarter success and cult series follow-up 'Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey' will commence its storytelling voyage on October 21.

The game reintroduces characters from 'The Longest Journey' (1999) and 'Dreamfall: The Longest Journey' (2003) -- both critically acclaimed upon release -- though

'Dreamfall Chapters' is designed to bring satisfaction to both long-term fans and newcomers to the series.

Players step between the technologically advanced civilization of Stark and the rustic, fantastical Arcadia, taking control of three characters as they seek to save the two linked worlds.

'It's a meeting between, let's say, 'Blade Runner' and 'Game of Thrones,'' says writer Dag Scheve in an accompanying video, it's 'choices and consequences' that players can watch unfold in front of them; a game that merges narrative and puzzles, offers design director Martin Bruusgaard, effervescent over 'amazing locations' that are full of 'tons of tiny stories just waiting to be told.'

Proposed as a Kickstarter project in February 2013 and with its original designer at the helm, 'Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey' set an $850,000 goal and raised nearly double that at $1.5m, with further funding coming from the Norwegian Film Institute.

Then in June 2014, a move aimed at easing pressures on budget and production schedules was annonuced, dividing the once-continuous experience into five separate episodes.

The first of these, 'Reborn,' is now set for October 21 on Macs, Windows PCs and Linux; the PlayStation 4 edition and subsequent episodes are still being anticiapted for 2015.