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A look at the King’s Quest series

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Just played the first 3 King’s Quest games (original versions) for essentially the first time and while I found the first 2 charming in their way (specially exploration and map-making), I really liked the third. I now this is almost 30 years but, bear with me I’m just playing most of them now Foot in mouth  (started KQ4 now…). I don’t see a lot of talk about the third one, compared to newer ones of the series (well, I’m sure it’s liked, it does have 2 remakes Smile) but it has some particular points that I found interesting:

- The little story in the manual that sets up a dark storyline of the evil wizard that kidnaps babies until killing them at 18 is intriguing, minimal exposition and suddenly the player is one of those kids.
- There is no clear goal at first, just slowly exloring what is going on.
- The timed aspect worked really well for me, figuring out the patterns of the sorcerer, how much time I had to explore, quickly putting everything in its place, do chores, repeat. There is always a sense of danger, that leads to careful preparation. At one point I made a map (before finding the map in game…) with locations, the sorcerer sleeping and going out times and and where all the ingredients were.
- Exploration is fun, you have the ingredients you need, a village to search them. Very open - the only problem I found here is that most of the spells last ingredients are stuck behind a single puzzle wall- getting money to buy them.
- Lots of room for experimentation with the spells, specially after the first act.
- The plot connection to king’s quest only shows up in the last third of the game.

So, what’s the consensus about this one? I don’t see a lot about it except there was some complaints at the time of release.

     
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Nice, you got through KQ1 and 2 pretty quickly. I’d be curious to know what you thought of KQ1 (in this thread or in a new one), since it was a groundbreaking game.

It makes me insanely happy that you liked KQ3! I have such fond memories of the beginning especially, sneaking around Manannan’s house while he was away, avoiding the cat, and learning to cast spells. And it’s quite adventurous after that: oracles, pirates, dragons . . .

Regarding the plot connection: It’s funny, as a kid I bought KQ3 instead of KQ2 at a KB Toys because I could tell from the back of the box that Graham in KQ2 was a returning character from KQ1 and I didn’t want to be confused by any previous story that I missed out on. KQ3 looked like a new story, so I chose that instead. This probably worked out for the best, because KQ3 is awesome and KQ2 . . . not so much. But needless to say, KQ3 turned out to be more connected than I expected, story-wise.

KQ3’s gameplay design is clever, and I still rank it high in the series. I rank my favorite King’s Quest games (most to least favorite) as: 6,3,4,5,1,7,2

     
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When I replayed KQ3 to review it (after replaying the first two) it struck me that this game took a big step forward in terms of storytelling. The other two had very loose stories with gameplay that didn’t have much to do with the story, where in #3 the story and gameplay are more tightly integrated.

Also the real-time clock, ability to leave the house to go to a totally new place (with consequences for getting caught), and then the distinct journey from Llewydor to the pirate ship to Daventry makes the quest feel much more active than the first two games where you more or less bop around the same grid the whole time.

My review is here, if you’re curious. I think the complaints at release were mainly related to people being upset that Graham wasn’t the protagonist, without the internet it took months after release for players to reach to the point in the game where the connection to previous games became clear.

I liked KQ4 a lot, too. Have fun with it.

     
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Very interesting that you especially liked the timed elements. If the game was reviewed today those would more than likely be listed under ‘the bad’. I agree with you that they create a really threatening atmosphere in the first part of the game that couldn’t be replicated with unlimited time walking around.

     

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wilco - 22 August 2014 06:11 PM

- There is no clear goal at first, just slowly exloring what is going on.
- The timed aspect

That’s why I hate it. Also the the cat who runs all over the place randomly getting in your way. I never got past the first part.

     
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Out of the first three KQ games I’ve always liked 3 the best. It has a different and more interesting vibe about it and the fact that it has more coherent story than the first two is a huge plus. I always enjoyed being on the edge becauses of Manannan, but then again, as a kid, I first went through it by using and walkthrough, so the timers didn’t bother me as much then. But the very first time I played it I didn’t have a walkthrough and the timed wizard just added to the excitement.

     
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the game was my idea of terror when I was a kid, but I am glad that you enjoyed replying it, my reply two years wasn’t that enjoyable ,since I had to use a walkthrough for a game that I finished long years ago without.

     
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The cat did have a tendency to get in the front of the player, but it was solvable by scaring him off trying to pick him up. At first I was paranoid that the cat was a spy and avoided doing stuff when he was around… Best cat moment was calling the player a creep when you get the animal mind read spell. Actually the whole different stuff you could do with the spells was enjoyable when you set out in a big adventure
Worst part of stairs was at the very end Rosella always getting in front when going down from cloud kingdom and wanting to finish the game.

In some ways it kind of remimded me of when I played Zelda 2 for the first time a couple of years ago. At first glance a hard game but once you analyze and start planning your moves it becomes a rewarding experience.

Caliburn - 22 August 2014 07:21 PM

Nice, you got through KQ1 and 2 pretty quickly. I’d be curious to know what you thought of KQ1 (in this thread or in a new one), since it was a groundbreaking game.

My first contact with KQ1 now was dying 3 times in a row in the aligator pit Smile but after getting the hang of it the playthrough went smooth. I can only imagine how groundbreaking it was but even now I think it has its charm. It may be that I just like mapmaking but again the exploration part was fun, no handholding and just figuring out how big the world is and what each screen had. The other interesting part of the game was that you basically could “buy” your way out it which finally made appreciate why there is a point system in Sierra games. (only took me 30 years Tongue). Text parser gave me hard time at some moments in the beginning (took me forever to figure out you had to actually look INSIDE stuff) but after a while I got the hang of it.

I agree that KQ2 was not very intereting, it’s equivalent of a todays yearly sequel to a successful franchise: the structure glues it self to KQ1, the map is very similar but it’s more linear because finding the keys has to have that order. Still, it was not hard at all and had that batmobile moment that left me baffled Smile

fov - 22 August 2014 07:30 PM

My review is here, if you’re curious. I think the complaints at release were mainly related to people being upset that Graham wasn’t the protagonist, without the internet it took months after release for players to reach to the point in the game where the connection to previous games became clear.

I liked KQ4 a lot, too. Have fun with it.

Nice review, some fair points. 
Now the intro of KQ4 does take the joy out of KQ3 ending…  Foot in mouth

     

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I really hated KQ3 the first time I played it because of the timed aspect—the wizard kept catching me. It never occurred to me that the wizard would stay away for a certain amount of time and I could use the timer to predict when the wizard was coming back. For some reason I assumed the wizard would return at random times and I had to learn that he was predictable from a walkthrough.

I also didn’t like the dead end you get if you experiment with the flying potion.
I know a lot of KQ games have puzzles you can’t solve without dying first, but KQ3 seemed the worst to me.

I also didn’t like falling down the stairs and down cliffs. There are places on the path to the wizard’s house where you can’t even see where you’re stepping because the path is behind a rock. It may not be the toughest puzzle, but it seemed particularly unfair.

It always bothered me that King Graham would consent to young women being sacrificed to a dragon. Even if he were in ill health (and he probably was, judging by what happens at the beginning of KQ4), it made him look just as feeble and ineffective as his predecessor—worse actually, because his predecessor was at least able to find a younger guy who was up to the task of saving the kingdom.

IMO KQ3 is a lot more enjoyable on a replay, when you know more about what to watch out for and can appreciate more of the details that went into the game.

     

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Another thing no one mentions is i hated waiting for the eagle to drop it’s feather.
Sometimes the eagles just fly’s off the screen without dropping it and just random.

Originally thought this was going to be a puzzle to get the eagle feather.

 

     
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When I was a kid, I loved King’s Quest III!  I remember, I bought it in a bargain sale - only $20!! (Which was a good deal of money for me in 1988!!) But, man - the story.  To me, it was really cool that you weren’t Graham.  I wondered how it all fit together - and the clock combined with that theme that played whenever Mananannan came into the room?  I remember a lot of night in front of the computer, no other light on in the room but the glow of the CRT, and even my little PC speaker eeking out those little beeps and boops would scare me. The game had it all too - so many different, cool areas - A PIRATE SHIP??

I was equally enthralled when KQIV came out and I picked that up - I always liked exploring the forests in the first few KQs because of all the cool locations.  IV had that great pool with Romanesque columns, etc - the scary trees in the forest.

I will probably go play that one again today, just cause!  Haha.


Bt

     
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wilco - 22 August 2014 06:11 PM

(started KQ4 now…)

By the way, if you haven’t done so, I recommend you set up MUNT, the emulator of the Roland MT-32 sound module, for use with King’s Quest 4. KQ4 was the first game to support music (and some sound effects) on the Roland MT-32. It was fairly expensive hardware that not a lot of gamers owned, but it provided a significant improvement over the Adlib/SoundBlaster music. You can compare the intro music in its Adlib and MT-32 renditions here.

Several games in the late 1980s to early 1990s supported the MT-32. So if you take the time to set up MUNT, it’ll be even more worth it for King’s Quest 5, which has a lot more music than KQ4 and sounds great on the MT-32.

By the time of King’s Quest 6, the General MIDI standard (for later devices like the Roland Sound Canvas SC-55) had become popular. So for KQ6 it’s probably better to use General MIDI music (depending how it sounds on your computer), even though KQ6 still supports the by-that-point older MT-32 device.

There are various guides around on getting MUNT set up with DosBox. Feel free to reach out to me by PM if you have questions.

     
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daleks13 - 23 August 2014 11:08 AM

Another thing no one mentions is i hated waiting for the eagle to drop it’s feather.
Sometimes the eagles just fly’s off the screen without dropping it and just random.

Originally thought this was going to be a puzzle to get the eagle feather.

I’ve read somewhere that was a problem after finishing the game. I got lucky and the feather fell the second time I went down the hill. My main problem with random stuff was actually the bandit in the treehouse.

Caliburn - 23 August 2014 01:25 PM

Awesome sound advice

Thanks, managed to get it to work with your links and an youtube guide, it does sound noticeally better.

Meanwhile, I have little progress in KQ4. Keep getting stuck… Game seems harder.

     
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KQ4 is a bit trickier. To get started, you actually have to go for a swim, if I remember.

Bt

     
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Nah,  think the location shooting, is not set for this yet.


     
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Ok, made some progress but that whale tong and dark cave troll/chasm! So much rage!!! What’s going on in this game?

     

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