Which did you love more.... Monkey Island Series or King's Quest series?

[Daventry]

Just curious here. These two are about tied in my heart I love them both so much and have so many fond memories of both of them. If I could only choose one though...... it would have to be King's Quest. Lucas Arts was awesome as we all know, but to me Sierra in her prime was to adventure games what Disney is to animated features. The master. Any way, which do you love more?

Daventry

"The spirit of adventure will never die!"

[Ninja Dodo]

Having been exposed to Monkey Island much later I find it hard to compare them but I have fond memories of playing King's Quest.

[AndreaDraco83]

I haven't to think about it even for a minute: all the life long King's Quest :)

Although, for the sake of the argument, the two are pretty incomparable: light-hearted fantasy series with a seriousness always in the background and comedic-whacky series with a heart of absurd don't match very well :P

[FlightlessWings]

Monkey Island for me :D

[Gazzoid]

Well, i've not played any of the Sierra games, apart from Gabriel Knight, because the bulk of them involve too many dead-ends and deaths for my liking. Plus, some seem to have action/RPG elements, which i don't like the sound of in an adventure game. I mean, a lot of the mini games in adventures can be annoying as it is. And even though i think i'm not too bad, when it comes to accepting dated graphics, i think the Sierra games are probably at bit too dated for me.

So, the shortest and easiest answer would be: Monkey Island.

[misslilo]

There's not a shred of doubt in my mind - Monkey Island! :)

I never really could get into Kings Quest...

[The Seed]

Monkey Island becasue it has amzing writing, Kings Quest doesn't.

[Lucien21]

Monkey Island by a mile.

[QFG]

It's a strange pick for me... I enjoyed King's Quest more when I was younger, but Monkey Island more when I was older. Go figure.

So I'd say it's a tie.

[AndreaDraco83]

Monkey Island becasue it has amzing writing, Kings Quest doesn't.

This statement makes me wonder... Have you played, say, King's Quest VI?

Just an examplee:

Alexander [about a way to make the Lord cry]: Perhaps, a tale of my love?
Lord of the Dead: There is nothing you can say of love that will make me cry, mortal. I have had Cleopatra and Helen of Troy stand before me, and they moved me not. Your common desires mean nothing to me.

This is an example of amazing writing, in my opinion.

[Kazmajik]

I got into Sierra games before I got into Lucasarts, so it's King's Quest as well. The first one I ever played was IV: Perils of Rosella, and I was hooked. Right after I finished it I played V and then VI, which is the ultimate. Then I went back and played 1,2 and 3, then 7 and 8 as they arrived on the scene. I'll always have a particular fondness for IV.

Later on I played all the Monkey Island games, and loved them, but it's just not the same. Although I can totally see how if they had been my first adventure experience that I would have that same particular fondness.

I'm looking forward to The Silver Lining, if it ever gets finished in my lifetime.

[inm8#2]

gotta say King's Quest - I was a sierra kid

[MoonBird]

Monkey Island - Definitely.

PS. Where's the poll? That would be useful here :)

[The Seed]

This statement makes me wonder... Have you played, say, King's Quest VI?


As a matter of fact I have, and my opinion stands. Good try though.

[Collector]

Monkey Island becasue it has amzing writing, Kings Quest doesn't.
AndreaDraco83 beat me to it, but you have obviously not played any but possibly the earliest of the KQ games.

By far KQ for me, too. In some ways it is a little unfair to compare the two series as there is at least 6 years difference in the release dates between the first KQ game (1984) and the first MI (1990). Six years in which there were big advances in PCs. MI1 was current with KQ5. Because of the nostalgia factor, for most people this question might as well be "Which did you play first as a child?" I played both the first time as an adult. Mi always struck me as having rather juvenile humor, something that didn't do much for me as an adult. Another thing that influences my opinion is that my first exposure to KQ was 6. Put in the perspective of that masterpiece the crudeness of the earlier games becomes a lot more forgivable from a historical viewpoint.

I also strongly suspect that the strong aversion that some have to the possibility of death in a game comes from childhood impressions that have carried over into adulthood. I don't mean to demean anyone in this preference, but it is something that I do find it curious.

[LadyLinda]

It's King's Quest for me!!

[DEMON]

Monkey Island for me, I loved the trilogy and enjoyed the 4th installment as well.
Btw this thread simply begs for a poll :P

[The Seed]

AndreaDraco83 beat me to it, but you have obviously not played any but possibly the earliest of the KQ games.


I have them all in a compilation and have attempted to get into them, but honestly nothing about the games, nor the dialogue, has ever managed to grab me.

I also strongly suspect that the strong aversion that some have to the possibility of death in a game comes from childhood impressions that have carried over into adulthood.

Or maybe the fact that it's just ridiculously annoying and unnecessary. The dead ends don't exactly help either, that’s just shoddy/lazy game design.

[CrimsonBlue]

I'll always prefer Monkey Island, and if I were to try and look at it objectively, I'd say Monkey Island is a better game, simply because it contains little of the old-fashioned design that would've been a no-no today - like dead ends and unfair deaths without warning. There is a reason why even today, most adventure games follow the same set of rules from by Monkey Island.

Also, dead-ends are more or less extinct today. If you were to make a game today where you had to start anew because you forgot something earlier, I doubt it would've recieved pleasent reviews, and I'd also feel sorry for the developers whose decision it was.

But that's just how I view it. Personal preference will always be games which doesn't punish you for trying out different things and exploring - which is why I like MI better than KQ.

[Erwin_Br]

Chalk up another Monkey Island supporter here.

MONKEY ISLAND/RON GILBERT

[Jayel]

Every memory I have of Monkey Island (the first two games anyway) is sheer joy. Every memory I have of King's Quest games is frustration. To be fair, I haven't completed any of the King's Quest games to make an objective judgment.

What the hell? My browser just spell corrected "judgement" to "judgment". That doesn't look right...

[Brimstone]

I'm a really big fan of both series and it's true that they aren't really alike enough to actually compare but the last game of each series leaned me closer to King's Quest. It was the Monkey Kombat in MI's last game that tore it. If they would have kept the usual insult sword fighting, it would have won hands down.

[Squinky]

What the hell? My browser just spell corrected "judgement" to "judgment". That doesn't look right...

Judgement is correct, and judgment is American.

Also, I'm a Monkey Island woman through and through.

[D.C.]

I love old school Sierra, but Monkey Island wins hands down in my opinion. I was never a massive King's Quest fan...

[Akril]

I never heard of LucasArts until I was a teenager, but I've known Sierra since I was six or seven. Thus, I have more emotional attachment to a lot of Sierra's games, which makes my opinions of the two series a bit biased.

I'm not sure that I'd like to compare King's Quest with Monkey Island, though. They're so different that it's like comparing apples and oranges.

[kadji-kun]

Its like comparing Master Chief to Gabriel Knight.

or

First Person Shooter to Bejeweled.



It just shouldn't be.

[Daventry]

Monkey Island leading 12 - 8 so far...

Alot of you are right, in that the two are different enough to be difficult to compare. I didn't intend to compare them so much as discover which one is more adored by the wonderful people of these boards.

Oh and I guess a poll would have been a good idea...lol... not sure how to create one!

Daventry

"The spirit of adventure will never die!"

[Thello]

Having only played the King's Quest series about two years ago, I can safely say that for me, only the sixth one was worth playing. It was fantastic, but the rest of the series ranged from decent (3, 4) to just godawful (5, 8).

As a series, Monkey Island is still as playable today as it was when it came out. While the fourth one suffers from fan-service overload, the other three are classics.

[AndreaDraco83]

By far KQ for me, too. In some ways it is a little unfair to compare the two series as there is at least 6 years difference in the release dates between the first KQ game (1984) and the first MI (1990). Six years in which there were big advances in PCs. MI1 was current with KQ5.

You're completely right: the technical gap between the two is so huge it could easily contain an entire era of games designing. I also agree with you with the dead/dead end subject: as a child, one can easily be frustrated (and even as an adult I'm still frustrated by the stairs/cliffs/whale tongue), but often, especially in latter games, the dead scenes were so fun that was actually a pleasure :D

[Burge]

I was a Sierra kid before being a Lucasarts kid but I have to vote Monkey Island. MI vs Space Quest would be a tougher choice.

[Psychocandy]

Although I grew up with the Sierra series and was exposed to Monkey Island later in life, MI definitely wins it for me. In my opinion it's a total cracker of a series which towers above King's Quest in almost all respects - but each to their own, of course! :)

[Collector]

I also agree with you with the dead/dead end subject: as a child, one can easily be frustrated (and even as an adult I'm still frustrated by the stairs/cliffs/whale tongue), but often, especially in latter games, the dead scenes were so fun that was actually a pleasure :DThe only dead ends that annoy me are the ones that take you a long time to discover you have gone down a dead end, requiring you to restore to a much earlier point. Otherwise, it's the same as trying a puzzle solution that didn't work, so you try it a different way. No big deal.

[Ascovel]

The only dead ends that annoy me are the ones that take you a long time to discover you have gone down a dead end, requiring you to restore to a much earlier point. Otherwise, it's the same as trying a puzzle solution that didn't work, so you try it a different way. No big deal.

Unless you were playing for many hours straight and forgot to save at all. ;)

[Bojevnik]

vote for sierra games (qfg),
the puzzles seemed more logical

[AndreaDraco83]

Unless you were playing for many hours straight and forgot to save at all. ;)

This happened to me in King's Quest II: I was so astonished and speech-less, for hours, that I learned very fast to save at least two times every fifteen minutes or so...

In Police Quest II, I've done no less than sixty/seventy savegames, which is also fantastic if I want to replay some specific segments' of it.

And, those old Sierra's classics... How I miss those sudden deads :D

[skurken]

Monkey Island by far.

[Ascovel]

This happened to me in King's Quest II: I was so astonished and speech-less, for hours, that I learned very fast to save at least two times every fifteen minutes or so...

In Police Quest II, I've done no less than sixty/seventy savegames, which is also fantastic if I want to replay some specific segments' of it.

Saving games in Sierra games could be quite frustrating too with those saves count per folder limitations. Yet the only Sierra game from the bunch that I played that I thought had ridiculous dead ends was Leisure Suit Larry 2. I have still King's Quests 2,3,4,5 before me.

[cwapitm]

Monkey Island series of course. I was never really a Sierra fan. Too difficult, too many dead ends, too many ways to die. That being said KQVI is a classic. I have played through all the King's Quest games (with a walkthrough in hand) except for number III and IV.

I don't know if I'll ever beat III, even with a walkthrough, because I keep falling off those cliffs in the beginning.:crazy: Plus that one always seemed especially difficult even compared to the others.

I might have to give IV another go though sometime.

[AndreaDraco83]

I have still King's Quests 2,3,4,5 before me.

I must admit that KQ2 is forgettable, but KQ3 is one of the best of the entire series, in my opinion: extremely difficult and unforgiving, but also extremely satisfying.


I don't know if I'll ever beat III, even with a walkthrough, because I keep falling off those cliffs in the beginning.:crazy: Plus that one always seemed especially difficult even compared to the others.

I might have to give IV another go though sometime.

As I said, KQ3 is indeed hard, and the cliffs leading to the village are perhaps the most tricky I've ever seen, but if you can past through these obstacles you'll find a game profound as none other (of its age, of course).

KQ4 is another strong entry in the series, even if the infamous whale tongue is maybe even more difficult than KQ3's cliffs :D

[Ninja Dodo]

KQ3 was one of my favourites but replaying it recently I had to stop because I ran into a particularly nasty dead end.* Irony.

* by the time I ditched Manannan the pirates were already gone

[kitkatrpn]

For me it's Kings Quest...no doubt about it!

[Gledster]

I only ever played KQ3 and it annoyed me SO much (constantly being captured by that blummin wizard) that I gave up!

So, despite being a HUGE Sierra fan, it's MI all the way for me.

[Collector]

I only ever played KQ3 and it annoyed me SO much (constantly being captured by that blummin wizard) that I gave up!
You owe it to yourself to at least play KQ6. Many consider it to be the jewel in Sierra's crown. It was written by Jane Jensen, the creator of the Gabriel Knight games. You can still easily and cheaply find the new KQ collection, which has KQ6.

[youfightlikeadairyfarmer]

but the last game of each series leaned me closer to King's Quest.
Please tell me that this means you don't include Mask of Eternity as a King's Quest game. If that's the case, I'd probably agree with you. I loved KQVII. Not that I didn't enjoy Escape at all.

I'm with the OP, it's an extremely tough decision. I'll say Monkey Island, though.

[Gledster]

You owe it to yourself to at least play KQ6. Many consider it to be the jewel in Sierra's crown. It was written by Jane Jensen, the creator of the Gabriel Knight games. You can still easily and cheaply find the new KQ collection, which has KQ6.

I'm very tempted. I've got some birthday money to spend and since I joined on here I've realised how many games there are that I still want to play!

So many games, so little time. :(

Thanks for the advice Collector.

[Gonchi]

I've always preferred Sierra to LucasArts, however, the King's Quest series is by far my least favorite of the Quest games, so I'd pick Monkey Island. Practically any other Sierra series though, and I'd of gone against it.

[MdaG]

I played the Lucasarts game before getting my hands on the Sierra ones and by then the latter felt old and unpolished. Monkey Island it is then.

[Sik]

As a series, I prefer Monkey Island to King's Quest. If I were to compare my favorite games from the two series (King's Quest 6 and Monkey Island 2), it would be a touch choice, though. I'm leaning towards King's Quest 6. None of the other King's Quest games even come close to the general quality of the Monkey Island series in my book, though.

[crabapple]

Because of the nostalgia factor, for most people this question might as well be "Which did you play first as a child?"
I didn't play either one as a child. I played them as an immature grownup, many years after they first came out, and neither series was among the first games I played. I played the Monkey Island series first, since it was still being sold at the time.

My favorite would be Secret of Monkey Island. I generally like the LucasArts games better than the Sierra games because I think they're made better and are more reliable. I don't like dead ends or sudden or frequent death or bugs. Although I really like the idea of the King's Quest games, I find I don't enjoy playing them as much as the Monkey Island games.

Another thing that influences my opinion is that my first exposure to KQ was 6. Put in the perspective of that masterpiece the crudeness of the earlier games becomes a lot more forgivable from a historical viewpoint.
If I were used to playing games like this
Adventure on the Atari 2600 (http://www.mobygames.com/game/atari-2600/adventure/screenshots)
I'd have thought KQ1 looked pretty d@#n good. And I'd have thought the gameplay was amazing. And who knows what I'd think of it today -- probably a lot better than I do.
(I actually did play Adventure on the Atari, and I considered it one of the better games made for the Atari. So I'm reasonably sure I'd have enjoyed KQ1 if I'd played it when it first came out. But even if I had, I think I'd still prefer Monkey Island.)

I also strongly suspect that the strong aversion that some have to the possibility of death in a game comes from childhood impressions that have carried over into adulthood. I don't mean to demean anyone in this preference, but it is something that I do find it curious.
I don't think it comes from bad memories. I think it's inborn and has more to do with the type of gameplay a person enjoys. The first adventure games I played had few or no deaths. The first game I played where death was a problem, which was along about the 4th or 5th adventure game I played, I thought it was a pain in the a$$. It got in the way of my enjoying the game -- and years later it still does. It's expected in an RPG or action/adventure game, but I don't like it in an adventure game.

(In case you were wondering, I chose your post to quote because I thought it was interesting -- not to create an argument with you, just to express an alternative point of view from someone else who didn't play either series as a child.)

[Christian IV]

Monkey Island V is my favorite of that series. :)

Seriously tho, both have their special qualities and both were seminal and important in ringing in another phase of Adventure game development. The Kings Quest games have their own charms, I recently began replaying them and marveled at the pleasure of simply going along on the journey, true, as some have mentioned there are ways to die, and that is a bit troubling, and makes one more alert. But there are moments of glory and beauty too.

The Monkey Island games are marvelous in their own way, they are more, hmm, frontal, and robust, strong in their presentation and full of fun and good humor. I found it a bit sad that Elaine changed so much in the third title, I found her much less interesting and more of a characture, so the power of the story faded a bit, but the visuals got better and better in their surrealistic way. So, I am afraid i am going to have to take the cowards way out and say BOTH. :)

[Nachtmusick]

Kings Quest was charming, Monkey Island was juvenile, so I vote King's Quest.

[Milad241]

Monkey island for sure...actually i didn't like king quest at all