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Space Quest 6 in retrospect

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What are your feelings about SQ6 in retrospect?

     
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Advie will be with you in a sec.

     

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Good but not as good as every other game in the SQ series.  Also, really REALLY annoying in the way that it sets up a damn cliff-hanger ending that demands resolution in a sequel that was in no way certain to materialize.

The characterization of Roger really bugged me, too.  I may have been one of the few people that actually LIKED the fact that Roger’s character grew significantly in SQ4 and 5, but 6 deliberately undid all that.  Kind of ruined the whole sense of progression in the series for me.

     
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My real feelings are that I need to play it again. My memories are not good ones, since I felt the graphics were much worse than SQ4/SQ5, the puzzles inferior and the story a vehicle for bodily humor jokes.

     
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The graphics were actually the one part of the game that didn’t bother me.  Of all the Sierra games that tried cartoon-style graphics, this one worked the best, I think.  At the very least, it’s a toss-up between this and LSL7.

     

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Lambonius - 20 August 2014 05:53 PM

Good but not as good as every other game in the SQ series.  Also, really REALLY annoying in the way that it sets up a damn cliff-hanger ending that demands resolution in a sequel that was in no way certain to materialize.

The characterization of Roger really bugged me, too.  I may have been one of the few people that actually LIKED the fact that Roger’s character grew significantly in SQ4 and 5, but 6 deliberately undid all that.  Kind of ruined the whole sense of progression in the series for me.

I think the game’s main problem is it’s sense of flow.
I mean, the way the story progresses, you can kind of tell it was the work of two different minds; or perhaps a better way of putting it is it feels like a rough draft of an amazing game. Some parts of the game are really well thought out and really awesome, and it has some of the best moments, dialogue and descriptions of the series. But it was harmed greatly by it’s development. I still give it an A, though, perhaps more because I see the potential than what is, but even then, what is is a pretty great game. I do think Josh got what he was going for, because it does remind me of SQ3 in spirit, without being a retread.

Why did the characterization of Roger bug you? To be honest, I never felt Roger needed an arc. He’s always been portrayed as sort of the loser of the galaxy, and sort of a goofball. The characterization of him in 5 as this take charge hero didn’t sit right. Roger’s not a hero in the Captain Kirk vein; he’s more of an idiotic, lazy John McClane, always at the whim of fate and in the wrong place at the wrong time. He does take initiative to save the day a few times earlier in the series, but mostly his heroism is in response to what he’s been handed. Whereas 5 positioned him as more of an idiotic Captain Kirk. And the whole idea of him as a Space Captain also didn’t sit right—I was happy he was bounced back down to being a Janitor in 6.

I love the grungy, “don’t give a damn”, sort of just going by the seat of our pants attitude of the game, reflected in Roger’s character. Roger went from hero to zero to captain to mop jockey and now really doesn’t give a crap. Not in a jaded way, either, more in just a grungy “meh, whatever” way. Scott Murphy once said SQ4’s darkness reflected how dark things had become working at Sierra; I believe SQ6 represents Josh’s “meh, working here is crap but who cares at this point?” attitude, and it fits in well with the time it was created in—the mid ‘90s grunge ‘whatever’ era.

I guess I just like the sort of lazy, loser Roger that 6 gives us. The guy that even the Narrator rags on. He’s not a Mike Dawson, a detestable, unlikable character. He’s more a galactic Homer Simpson. An annoying, idiotic, sort of self centered, childish, but somehow lovable Mop Jockey.

Actually, I think Roger was Sierra’s best character. King Graham was great as ageneric Harrison Ford-esque buff adventure hero, but Rog is the most rounded. You could make an argument for Larry Laffer….But I’m biased as SQ is my favorite Sierra series.

 

 

     
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Dance Magic Dance - 20 August 2014 06:05 PM

I guess I just like the sort of lazy, loser Roger that 6 gives us. The guy that even the Narrator rags on. He’s not a Mike Dawson, a detestable, unlikable character. He’s more a galactic Homer Simpson. An annoying, idiotic, sort of self centered, childish, but somehow lovable Mop Jockey.

Who on earth is Mike Dawson?

I’m torn as to whether I would rather SQ6 not exist. It’s always nice to have a series end on a high note, and with Roger as captain from a janitor in SQ5 is a nice ending. Then again, maybe it’s appropriate for both Roger and the SQ series to return to where it began - low budget, janitorial trash.

Ah what the hell, let’s just wait for Advie’s pronouncement Grin

     
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Dance Magic Dance - 20 August 2014 06:05 PM

Why did the characterization of Roger bug you?

Basically everything that you say you liked about it, I disliked, and vice versa.  Smile Different strokes for different folks, eh?  I thought the Roger as captain spoof worked amazingly well in SQ5, and the story of that made for a great sequel to SQ4—finding out who Bea was, eventually wooing her, etc.  It’s not like Roger suddenly became an awesome space captain—he DID cheat his way into it, remember.  Conversely, I found the lazy, who-gives-a-shit attitude of Roger in SQ6 to be extremely annoying.  To me, he WAS unlikable, and didn’t even feel like the same character that had come from the previous few games.  SQ6 felt like the radical departure for me.

     

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Lambonius - 20 August 2014 08:20 PM
Dance Magic Dance - 20 August 2014 06:05 PM

Why did the characterization of Roger bug you?

Basically everything that you say you liked about it, I disliked, and vice versa.  Smile Different strokes for different folks, eh?  I thought the Roger as captain spoof worked amazingly well in SQ5, and the story of that made for a great sequel to SQ4—finding out who Bea was, eventually wooing her, etc.  It’s not like Roger suddenly became an awesome space captain—he DID cheat his way into it, remember.  Conversely, I found the lazy, who-gives-a-shit attitude of Roger in SQ6 to be extremely annoying.  To me, he WAS unlikable, and didn’t even feel like the same character that had come from the previous few games.  SQ6 felt like the radical departure for me.

I can get why you liked SQ5 and it’s characterization of Roger. It is a clever game and not the “Star Trek rip off” some have called or “Roger Beamish” as a bitter Scott once called it. It’s a great game, it’s just I always liked Roger being more of a lazy bum because it made a nice contrast to the stock-hero characters of Sierra’s other games (mainly King’s Quest). You have in those games the ultra buff and ready for anything King Graham, fearless and heroic; Alexander, the gentleman hero; Rosella, the badass adventure girl….Roger as sort of the hapless lovable doof of the galaxy, the underdog hero, was fun for meas as a contrast.

And he’s relateable, sadly.

Although, I’ve yet to face any invading Sariens or the Sequel Police. I have been harassed by the Fun Police, in the form of the parental units and other authority figures, but that’s a different tale for a different day.

 

 

     
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Lambonius - 20 August 2014 05:53 PM

Good but not as good as every other game in the SQ series.  Also, really REALLY annoying in the way that it sets up a damn cliff-hanger ending that demands resolution in a sequel that was in no way certain to materialize.

The characterization of Roger really bugged me, too.  I may have been one of the few people that actually LIKED the fact that Roger’s character grew significantly in SQ4 and 5, but 6 deliberately undid all that.  Kind of ruined the whole sense of progression in the series for me.

This!

I also remember it was buggy as hell, at least the windows version.

I think it was one of the first adventure games in the socalled hi-res back then, but it never felt that way. I don’t know if it’s due to the quality of the backgrounds or the lack of solid cutscene’s, but it often looked a lot less detailed than some of the better “low res” games like Day of the Tentacle.

And indeed, I also much prefered Roger in SQ4 and SQ5, where there was at least a sense of progression rather than just being the comedic moron.

     
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Roger’s character has always been a bit problematic, as he really didn’t have one in the couple of first games. it all came from narrator really. I’ve always liked how Roger was portrayed in 3 and 4. He kinda always tried to do the right thing, he just was a bit unlucky about it until he got to the succesfull end.

5 always felt like it could have been given any name really, but they jsut decided to go full Star Trek parody with SQ title. There Roger is given a bit more personality and that comes from that he’s given more lines to speak. There he still is the unlucky wannabe hero though.

6 always felt like a departure from that, like the couple of jokes about Roger being a lazy bum taken from the previous games have taken over him completely. There’s a term “Flanderization” which nicely covers it. You take the most noticeable personality trait and max it to the extreme and thus the character becomes that single trait.

     
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Lambonius - 20 August 2014 08:20 PM

It’s not like Roger suddenly became an awesome space captain—he DID cheat his way into it, remember.

So did Kirk. Wink

tomimt - 21 August 2014 03:42 AM

There’s a term “Flanderization” which nicely covers it.

Aha, a fellow troper.

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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I like SQ6. 5 is best for me though.
Hoping for SQ7. miss Roger so much…

     
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Lambonius - 20 August 2014 05:56 PM

The graphics were actually the one part of the game that didn’t bother me.  Of all the Sierra games that tried cartoon-style graphics, this one worked the best, I think.  At the very least, it’s a toss-up between this and LSL7.

As far as the character-art goes, I’d agree, but the awful 3-D rendered images was a graphical downgrade from previous installments in my opinion.

     

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Lambonius - 20 August 2014 05:56 PM

The graphics were actually the one part of the game that didn’t bother me.  Of all the Sierra games that tried cartoon-style graphics, this one worked the best, I think.  At the very least, it’s a toss-up between this and LSL7.

LSL7 looked fantastic, but I can’t say the same for SQ6. It was like awkward early 90s pixel art, with bad perspective and cheesy gradiant shading. It was really not a good looking game.

It wasn’t great in any other regard either. SQ5 and SQ6 were both major departures but I feel like SQ5 worked and was funny and SQ6 didn’t.

     
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diego - 20 August 2014 05:50 PM

Advie will be with you in a sec.

already been told

     

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