Favorite King's Quest Games
So, which of the classics (and the not so classics) are your favorites, and why? I figure this would be a good way to see where everyone's coming from--and maybe Telltale can use this info to figure out what the people really want in a KQ game.
For me, King's Quest VI is the greatest game of all time. A perfect blend of atmosphere, puzzles, and storytelling. I regularly pull the soundtrack up on my iPod. I love that there are two potential paths, and the attention to detail, like alternate dialogues depending on what order you do things in or what side quests you follow/ignore, is spectacular. I'm invested in the characters, and each time I beat it I just want to go back and explore the Green Isles again (which is one of the reasons I was so excited for TSL).
Every official game has something I enjoy about it, even if some are more frustrating than enjoyable. Even Mask of Eternity did a few interesting things (perhaps not enough, but still...)
And if we include fangames, AGDI's KQII+ deserves an honorable mention for taking so many elements from the original game, but twisting them just enough to make them surprising and exciting.
So what about you?
For me, King's Quest VI is the greatest game of all time. A perfect blend of atmosphere, puzzles, and storytelling. I regularly pull the soundtrack up on my iPod. I love that there are two potential paths, and the attention to detail, like alternate dialogues depending on what order you do things in or what side quests you follow/ignore, is spectacular. I'm invested in the characters, and each time I beat it I just want to go back and explore the Green Isles again (which is one of the reasons I was so excited for TSL).
Every official game has something I enjoy about it, even if some are more frustrating than enjoyable. Even Mask of Eternity did a few interesting things (perhaps not enough, but still...)
And if we include fangames, AGDI's KQII+ deserves an honorable mention for taking so many elements from the original game, but twisting them just enough to make them surprising and exciting.
So what about you?
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Comments
KQ4 would be a close second pick.
I liked the different characters from King's Quest V. I still think of some of the dialogues. The one that I remember frequently is the part when Graham enters the bakehouse and a woman named Amanda is talking to the baker. I thought the conversation was kinda cute. I especially liked the part where she said,"Austin, please keep your fingers out of that pie!"
I liked King's Quest VII because it was like a funny cartoon. I like the part where Rosella drinks the potion that makes her do all these funny motions. When I first saw the game at this place called Computer City, which had a big selection of games, I imagined it having a split screen with Rosella on top and Valanice on the bottom, and that you could control them simultaneously.
What I liked about King's Quest VI was the voice acting. I thought it was really well done. I liked the black widow because she always said the opposite of what she really meant. My favorite part is when Alexander plays the flute for all the plants in the Isle of Wonder. I thought the tune was kinda catchy. The tune that he also plays in the Realm of the Dead was good too. I liked the dancing skeletons. They were good.
I liked King's Quest IV where I could "slip into the soft slippers of Rosella" (I'm sure I read that somewhere, maybe it was in the manual that came with the King's Quest Collection 2). I liked the idea of controlling a female instead of the more dominant male for a change. One part that I thought was well done was the part where Rosella is inside the dwarves' house, and all you had to do was type in "sweep" or "clean" and she does it at a smooth pace. I also enjoyed her organ playing.
I think Lolotte was a great villain in this game. She was really evil, and it really shows when she orders Rosella to fetch her Pandora's box. She was also nice in a way when it came to pleasing her "son" Edgar. Whenever she said how fond he was of Rosella, he would always turn red.
The remakes of the first three games were well done. I enjoyed them all. I think King's Quest II+ did a great job of enhancing the original King's Quest II storyline. I've also enjoyed playing the first three episodes of TSL. I'm looking forward to playing AGDI's King's Quest III Redux as well as IA's King's Quest Kingdom of Sorrow whenever it's released, and Magic Mirror Games' King's Quest IV remake whenever it's released.
In my defense I was very young when these games came out (I was seven when The Princeless Bride was released) and it was one of the few KQ games I could play all the way through. In fact I beat it many times and the game makes me feel very nostalgic.
I'm going to play through the King's Quest games before Telltale brings theirs out and so my opinion will probably change now that I'm older and hopefully wiser.
As for my favorite King's Quest game, that would be IV: Perils of Rosella. It's beautiful on so many different levels. The soundtrack is beautiful, the landscape is pleasing to the eyes, along with it's colors, the story of a young princess, Rosella, trying to save her father is touching and beautiful. It's just an all around great game. My second favorite is VI, followed by V. Then I like 1-3 equally.
KQ6 IS TEH 5UXX0RZ!!11@
But, I played the game all the way through because it was a king's quest game.
Now I look back on it as a decent game. Frankly the puzzles are fairly interesting, the story (while not exceptional) is still better than some of the others, and even though the graphics aren't my favorite style - they have held up remarkably well over time. Put KQ7 up against any other KQ game and it has aged the best graphically. Also, for a voice game of that generation, the acting is decent. It was fairly difficult to find a well voiced game back then.
I was the same way... It was so very different than KQ5 and KQ6... Which I felt were cinematic achievement at the time... I don't know if KQ7 was remade in an art style mimicing KQ6 (albeit with enhanced SVGA graphics), perhaps I might have felt differently...
Take realistic approach... instead of the disneyfied approach.
That was pretty much many of the professional reviewers thoughts as well at the time..
Sorta like what they are doing with the new LSL remakes, or the Monkey Island Special Editions! But please no 'cartoonifying' them...
Also it might be interesting to see a 3D remake of KQ1, as that is the game that I think feels closest to KQ8 as far as style, exploration, story, and 'encounters'.... A lowly 'knight' saving the king...
BTW, is it just me, or is this topic seem redundant... Since this idea must have come up at least a dozen times before! Usually by Anakin
For me, it was technically the first game in the series I beat without needing help from outside the game (people, websites, guides, etc). ..I actually think it's one of the better games for the fact that I didn't feel like the game was taunting me or needlessly penalizing me for mistakes. I believe the term is "guide dang it", and while I love their games, Sierra had these in almost every game they made.
Sorry, got off on a tangent. I've been doing that more often the last few years, I guess I'm getting old.
I also voted for 5 and 6, cause I loved those entries. Perhaps it's just me, but the games really don't come to life until the lines are actually spoken and you have characters speaking with accents or using tones you might not have originally thought.
Much as I'd have loved to have voted for 1-4 and 8, I just don't have enough fond memories. I blame myself for that, of course, cause 8 I couldn't finish due to glitches and 1-4 all invariably had points where I'd become frustrated and turn to outside help for a puzzle I couldn't figure out.. then either feel stupid for missing something obvious, or angry cause the solution didn't make a lot of sense. Or there's also the fact that I last played them over 12 years ago, and my memories are rusty. I played 5-7 far more often (and they were longer) than the earlier games, so I just have more of them ingrained into my mind.
...sorry, I'm babbling, I'll stop.
EDIT: Also, I'm intrigued by the notion of remakes and fan games. I have no idea such things existed beyond the official remakes of early games included with the KQ Collection. It's a shame that GOG doesn't have all the remakes as part of their packages, cause I obviously wouldn't be able to get the collection discs running on here any more, and don't have access to them. I recall the remake of KQ1 being far superior to the original, if only for that blasted Rumpelstiltskin puzzle. But then, that just brings back nightmares of stuff like Infogames and some of their whack-job ideas of puzzles.
AGD Interactive - KQ1-3 & QFG2 remakes
Infamous Adventures - KQ3, SQ2 remakes, & KQ: Kingdom of Sorrow novel-to-game adaptation
KQ: The Silver Lining - Fan made continuation of KQ in chapters (4 released, one more on the way)
SQ0: Replicated - Fantastic AGI-made SQ Prequel
SQ: The Lost Chapter - aka SQ2.5/SQX. Takes place between SQ2 and SQ3. Not as good as SQ0 but notable as the first full SQ fangame to ever come out.
Space Quest Incinerations - Fantastic SQ fangame set a decade or so after the events of SQ6. Great cinematic cutscenes and 3D work. Funny, too. Just came out recently after years of work.
Space Quest Vohaul Strikes Back - Fan sequel to SQ6. Vohaul returns yet again. Great hi res artwork and animation. Well done! Also came out recently after years of work.
King's Quest ZZT 2
and Quest for Glory ZZT - I have to throw a nod to King's Quest ZZT 1 and 2, and Quest for Glory ZZT, for being three of the earliest Fan Games, predating anything AGDI did (or any of the modern teams). They were made back in 1997, 1998, 1999/2000 or so respectively... These are the forefathers of the Sierra fan games front...
Noteable as the first King's Quest fangames to come out.
They aren't much too look (its all ASCII artwork), but overal enjoyable games, some interesting puzzles/sequences, hidden optional quests/solutions, and good overall lengths... Certainly felt they were designed by people who were fans of the original series...
I'm still trying to figure out a puzzle in QFGZZT, I haven't figured out where and how to use the magic mirror to defeat Baba Yaga, or how to save the fox...
Space Quest 4.5: The Voyage Home - It is reasonably enjoyable, fairly long adventure... Although it kinda takes the series a bit too seriously (and there are no deaths as far as I'm aware)...It has a full voice cast...
Owl's Quest: Every Owl Has It's Day - It is also pretty entertaining, albeit short adventure... It does a pretty good job of satirizing Cedric! Also has a full voice cast...
Quest for Glory 4 1/2: So you thought you were a hero?There is a bit of a cult following for the game, its an interesting game to say the least... It has a somewhat serious story in the veign of the orignal series, but then goes about adding humor that would better fit in Leisure Suit Larry series... So player beware... No one made a 'talkie version' as far as I'm awhare... It is a full-length game however...
King's Quest 2 1/4: Breast Intentions - I'll only mention this game as I find the game a bit ridiculous... What's funny is its not a joke... The developer meant it to be serious addition to the series... But most of the concept is laughable... Also contrary to popular belief, it is not a 'porn game'.
Space Quest -1: Decisions of the Elders: Uh, not sure what to think yet... Still haven't completed it, overlooking some hidden inventory items or something... It's not particularly funny, or at least the humor doesn't affect me... Third game to go for the AGI or EGASCI look, but adds cursor instead of parser...
While I do agree with you on SQ4.5 for the most part... You have to remember that most of the fan games, including AGDI's and IA's King's Quest games were made up of 'ripped graphics'' in there initial releases...
These were later 'touched up/replaced' in later "Enhanced/Gold" versions... Likewise the designer of SQ4.5 has started to touch up on his backgrounds as well (still needs its own share of work...)
Secondly, I personally wouldn't consider The Silver Lining among the best the 'community' has to offer... It has had its share of 'grammar' issues (I'm talking about the early Narrator...) It has detoured IMO, greatly from the KQ themes and story (though it has a few well-developed puzzles)...
Personally I think Infamous Adventures is closest to that status (as far as 'best the community has to offer')... Space Quest II Deluxe really hit the nail as far as Space Quest is concerned... Oh, and Box of Mystery's Incinerations is also very well done (as far as staying close to the original material in style and feeling...). AGDI are a close third, and stick close to the KQ6 style if anything (though in someways I think it goes away from KQ themes and styles like TSL with the Father plot/prophecies forced into them)...
Let's just say if I let "ripped graphics" leave games off of the best fans have to offer criteria... Both AGDI and IA would lose points, and POS would be slightly 'higher'... As for Grammar... well I'll take 'english as a second language' as a viable defense in the case of some issues (SQ4.5 was made by a German, as I understand it). It's a bit insulting to make fun of someone because English isn't their primary language...
Also simply because something is a joke, or filled with jokes, doesn't mean it isn't 'worth playing'... Or we might as well ignore Space 2 deluxe...
No they are animated/graphical adventures... Just using ASCII artwork for backgrounds and characters....
If you don't know what ZZT is you, obviously overlooked a major and popular bit of the early Adventure game and RPG history! ZZT was a game engine created by Epic Megagames to allow people to create adventure games, and rpg games on their own without much technical knowledge or fancy equipment... It was very popular back in the mid to late 1990s... It was pretty much one of the first games that put Epic Megagames on the map...
I'd place the ZZT games as one of the best the community has offered (up there with IA's/AGDI's work in quality)... Fits closer to the style of perhaps the early AGI games, are quite massive (as long as early KQ games), and they did as close a job of approximating the world of the early games as possible, without 'ripping' artwork at all...
As for art style, that's comparing apples to oranges... Like comparing the styles of the early KQ games to the middle VGA games, or the later SVGA or 3D games...
BTW, I think the implication that 'making a game' be the only criteria for being the only way to become Sierra's 'greatest fans'... Or that people who makes the games are necessarily the series' strongest fans.... Or perhaps, the implication that only those who worked on the games you liked, or the games you were personally involved with are Sierra's 'greatest fans'...
...is a bit elitist and egotistical position...
There was nothing egotistical about it and I wasn't upset. Though, I was very tired as I don't see the point in stating what I did now, so my apologies. I was just clarifying I guess.
Although I would say some of the games you listed, and pretty much most fan games in general are pretty obscure to the Adventure and Sierra gaming community at large (except for a few devoted forums)... TSL, AGDI and lesser extent IA are the only ones who have got nods from mainstream media of any sort...
BTW, as for SQ0 and SQ:TLC... they also have grammar and overuse of ripped graphics issues (but I won't let that me lower my opinion of them)...
The puzzles in SQ:TLC are somewhat obscure in parts, and it was pretty buggy... Crashed on me before I could ever finish it... Even after trying to patch it... Have had to make due with 'let's play videos'...
SQ0 was slightly more 'polished' imo... better puzzles... Although, the whole "Slouch Vohaul" character (who?) was confusing...
What is up with the whole, 'Xenonian' biology thing in most of the fan games? When official games SQ were clear he was a stupid human (and that main race on Xenon are 'humans')!
I wanna replay some of the original games first, however, because it's been too long and I wish to refamiliarize myself with everyone/everything. It'd probably help me get references in the fangames, too. Much appreciated for the links!