Paw's KQ Mask of Eternity retrospective
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiEmtrjW_sk&feature=feedu
I so agree with him. If it wasn't named KQ, it would have been a decent game imho.
EDIT: Damn topic title typo >_>
I so agree with him. If it wasn't named KQ, it would have been a decent game imho.
EDIT: Damn topic title typo >_>
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Comments
Both sides will never come to an agreement over the game!
I fall more to the side that's a great KQ game, one of my favorites even, after KQ6. It moved back towards KQ6's less childish style! I even accept the move towards a more QFG-style game. Not something I'd want to see happen alot, but I think would be fun in the occasional KQ game.
Fix'd.
I was never interested in KQ8, because I was a point & click nut and generally neither liked nor played 3D action-type games. I was interested in solving puzzles, not hacking my way through obstacles. Because of that, for me nothing in KQ8 would have been enough to make up for the style of gameplay.
It may have been a decent game in and of itself, but as a KQ game I feel like it was too much of a departure from what made the previous games popular. It meant KQ entered a genre in which I just had no interest. Which is fine I guess - it's just a game I don't want to play.
Remember people have played it are mixed on it, either love the game and it's puzzles or they don't. But they played it and because of that they had the chance to make their decision and opinion in a honest way.
Also the combat in the game is really very simplistic and easy... Especially if on easy mode. Quest for Glory (which was one of the inspiration for the games combat and RPG elements) has far more complicated and more action packed battle systems. All combat in KQ8 is based on 'point and click', and clicking until the enemy falls over. Enemies pose little risk, it's very difficult to actually die from enemies in the game, even on hard. Combat is not skill based, it also doesn't require aiming.
But puzzle wise (not counting the spell fetch quests which are only there to strengthen your character or the Torin's Passage (1995) style tile puzzles), the game actually has some of my favorite puzzles in the entire series, some that require thinking towards physics. Like using fire to melt ice, and then ice to freeze the water! Or using an axe to cut down a tree to stop the flow of water to a mill!
The game has a wide open exploration of the early KQ 1-4 that later games lost as the new lands became more claustrophobic in scope.
I also remember KQ1 and KQ2 tossed enemies at you in over world but all you could do was avoid them (as the narrator explained in KQ1, Graham was too weak or not skilled enough to defend himself!). They are there to get in the way (the sorcerer), to kill you (wolf, witch, and ogre) or lead to unwinnable game (if the dwarf takes any of the three great treasured). So to me personally I saw the enemies in KQ8 as a kind of a nod back to KQ1 (and the wolf, Hagatha, and enchanter in KQ2). But unlike Graham, Connor actually could defend himself! Roberta claimed that some of the bigger enemies were sort of a nod back to the Dragon and Giant in KQ1 (which could be defeated!), but Connor chooses or is fated (prophecied) to take a more violent approach since he's combating truly evil creatures. Mark Seibert saw the combat as a nod back to the sword fight in KQ6. Ironically the ultimate evil in the game cannot be killed through violent means!
Another similarity between the heros of KQ1 and KQ8 is that both are knights of low or little nobility trying to save Daventry (which has fallen on bar times) for the king of the realm. In the case of KQ1, Graham saves the kingdom to help king Edward. In the case of Connor it is to save the kingdom for King Graham (to restore him)! He becomes a knight in the last 3rd of the game! Interestingly both Graham and Connor share the same title of Sir Knight in KQ1SCI and KQ8!
Dracula is a "romance novel" (not betwen Dracula and any other character mind you), as is the The House of Seven Gables. Both may also be classified under 'gothic' (don't confuse with "Goth").
Romance as a genre had a different meaning back in victorian times!
I would never read one of the modern low class, 'baudy' "Harlequin" "romance novels'!
But I have no problem reading old classics!
Even still some of the things we now consider classics, were the 'baudy' dime novels of there day! Not fit for the upper class sensibilities! Many of what might have been considered a baudy "romance" back then, might be considered classics now (and not so 'baudy')!
But still, when it comes to KQ8, most people make judgement based on "pictures" of one aspect of the game. Without knowledge that there is much more to the game than that! Really not even a clear picture on how went about implimenting that aspect of the game!
As Roberta pointed out;
Yep, all those parents that refused to play KQ3, or allow their children to play, and even criticized it, because they read about the magic system from the box!
They are just as bad!
I would never take the word of someone who hadn't played the game over, those who have!
As we know there are plenty of examples of critics loving the game (stating it remained quite true to KQ)! There were those critics that disliked the game after playing it (saying it didn't remain to true to KQ)! There were those who lie inbetween!
So this is a game for someone to truly make a decision and valid opinion (at least one I would take seriously) requires them to actually play it!
Oh, please. Everyone is entitled to "judge" for themselves whether or not they want to play a game -- or read a book or watch a movie -- based on their own personal preferences. If puzzlebox already knows he/she doesn't care for combat, then he/she doesn't need to play KQ8 to know "it's just a game I don't want to play". I don't think you're doing KQ any favor by responding to such a statement as if it were a condemnation.
Eh, I'm not really judging it. It's not that I think it's bad for what it is, just that I have to make my purchasing decisions somehow, and KQ8 doesn't seem like a game I want to spend my time and money on.
Everyone can have their reasons for choosing not to play a game or choosing to spend there money on it!
On a side note, you could also download two playable demos of KQ8, one that covers the first world (kingdom of Daventry), and the second world (Dimension of Death)! Those were free, and I think also give a good idea what the game is like! By playing both, would give a person a good idea on how to judge the game! If one doesn't like the first third of the game, they are less likely to enjoy the rest of the game! Although personally the third world is one of my top favorites!
With movies there is usually trailers!
With books free chapters or first page chapter blurbs (a short paragraph from the boon used as a hook)!
There is usually something to allow the consumer to 'demo' the product in some way!
Wow. That's...seriously?
The full post in which she went off on the fans, to defend her vision in the old Sierra forums is posted in a previous post! She was not happy! She promised to post regulary, but after her fans basically starters calling for her 'head'. She pretty much avoided the MOE forums. It may very well be because her 'fans' and the occasional threats from the more crazy ones, that drove her more toward the private life, and limited interaction with the public!
The other game she had been known to get defensive over with the fans over was KQ7, as it was nearly universally critically panned (40% rating aggregate)! She claimed to have received alot of negative letters over it!
It almost seems like "your way, or the highway".
This isn't a I hate/love KQ8 topic. This is a topic about a reviewer who shows why at least half of the KQ fanbase felt betrayed or dissapointed with MoE. Heck, he says it is a good game, just that it has almost nothing to do with KQ sans some minor cameo's.
I suppose he will review TSL once episode 4 is out, with the remakes most likely in his upcoming review.
ANy hint when TSL ep 4 is? /wink
I can imagine the next one (for Paw's series) might take a bit--there are a good number of fangames to play! KQ1 remake, KQ2+, KQ3R, IA's KQ3, TSL...plus some other things that will fall under the 'legacy' topic!
Bt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority
It depends on
1. if the authority being appealed to is an 'appropriate/legitmate' expert on the subject or not.
2. If there is a consensus among legitimate 'authorities/experts' on the subject.
Is "Paws" a 'legitimate expert? ...and is there a consensus among 'legitimate experts"? Who knows!
I would argue there never was any consensus since this game has been loved and loathed by the so-called 'experts' (game critics)! ...and fans alike! Most may have been more positive about it, but many weren't. There is no consensus!
Bt
Actually, sometimes acclaim/scorn from critics in general can be misleading. I can say first hand that I've seen movies, which were highly praised by critics, that I simply loathed. Also, there are movies that critics complain at length about that I find I truly enjoy watching.
Further, not all critics can even agree and it's sometimes hard to know who has legitimate concern and who is just nitpicking for the sake of it.
I'll give examples:
Certainly, there's something to be said for taking critics' views into account when choosing what to watch/play, but often you really do need to take such opinions with a grain of salt.
EDIT: this being said, I enjoy Paw's entire retrospective on the KQ series, and I heartily agree with his assessment of MoE.