Is King's Quest 7 a bad game?

[stika]

Lambonius is about to release his snarkyness on us all   

[KatieHal]

Oh I already am, Lamb, I already am. 

[GrahamRocks!]

Again, I ask, "Why are you here?!"

[Blackthorne]

Because he likes to discuss the finer points of adventure game culture and adventure games in general.  We ARE all friends, and sometimes we disagree.  Talking about disagreements is just as important and valid as talking about what you agree on - or else every discussion would be one big, boring circle of patting each other on the back.


Bt

[Bludshot]

I just see it as evidence of a larger cultural problem, particularly in America.

[GrahamRocks!]

Good point, bt.

[stika]

I just see it as evidence of a larger cultural problem, particularly in America.

between mentioning the CD-I games and this image... this thread is just so full of win

[Blackthorne]

Yeah, when you invoke the Dude, you're pretty much winning anything.


Bt

[MangoMercury]

I'll have to go on the side of the people who like King's Quest 7.  In fact, I've been meaning to play it again soon.

Is it the best King's Quest game?  Not by any means.  Does it have much continuity in comparison to the first six games?  Not especially.  Are there some damn annoying bits to deal with (looking at you, firecracker glitch)?  Of coruse.

But it did try something new.  It also made itself a more accessible game which, with more people getting into games on CD, meant more people trying out King's Quest and looking back through the series as a whole.  I'd actually played King's Quest well before the release of 7, but had long "lost touch" with the series.  KQ7 brought this back for me and without it, I wouldn't have come back to the series.  It also had the appeal to the female audience by letting people control female characters.

Sure, it probably looks a bit janky now, and the voice clips don't sound as clear as they would on a game of today.  But for the time, the graphics were beautiful, and even now, the soundtrack is spectacular.  Maybe not on the same epic scale as King's Quest VI, but it had its own charm and there were some pieces I found particularly atmospheric.  The music at Manor Tsepish in particular always brings chills to my spine and haunts me.

There were some really interesting locations to visit as well, and such a large variety, too.  From being in a desert, to underneath a volcano - a beautiful woodland, and a land of the undead...  So many different characters and personalities to interact with.

I can quite see why some people wouldn't approve of it as much.  It's "lightened up" a well-established series with bright cartoony graphics and songs.  Gone are the humorous death sequences, and numerous references to fairy tale lore.  But I still don't think it's a bad game.  There have certainly been worse games with the "King's Quest" moniker on.  There's still a lot going for King's Quest 7 and I don't think it should be dismissed just because it's moved slightly away from the norm.

[Numbers]

At some point in the future, I would like to see a KQ7 remade with the same VGA interface that KQ5 and 6 had. Dialogue portraits, a script that isn't badly written, less grating voice actors, protagonists you could root for, antagonists that are actually threatening, male characters that aren't boring, female characters that aren't bimbos...this applies to MoE too, by the way.

[KatieHal]

OMG Mango!! It's Mango! Hi Mango! 

[GrahamRocks!]

I actually agree with both Mango and Numbers here. I like 7, but I realize that it could have been better. That would actually be a pretty cool idea to remake it!

[Numbers]

Imagine some of the death messages we could come up with. They would have to be changed to the third-person, of course; but some of them could essentially be the same. (Getting eaten by Borasco could still display the message "Some people are SO rude!")

[Bludshot]

Seems like a lot of effort for little gain honestly.  At best a VGA conversion would make it an average game instead of a poor one, but then I am also very critical of most of the series so maybe a conversion would be a perfectly solid contribution compared to some of the other games.

[br305893]

It's not the storyline or character development I hate as much as the graphics. I personally liked the KQ6 art style much more than the over Disney-fied ridiculousness of KQ7.

[Neonivek]

After playing some other point and clicks there are a few things I do think are big pluses

The first is that you do not need a guide, the game was built in such a way that it was meant to be played from start to finish without any trouble, there are three exceptions
1) The Grain of salt
2) The Crystal of Light (maybe, It never stumped me but I always saw the solution)
3) The Bridle of the Wind (HOW THE WORLD were you supposed to guess that?)

And the second is that everything you can pick up can easily be seen.

You would think these would be obvious but you would frankly be surprised.

When it comes to King's Quest 7 just being playable from start to finish outside the story... It passes. Certainly some of the puzzles could be rather difficult and some are a little tricky today, but it certainly knew how to do it and praised you for knowing the game.