The Quest For Glory Thread!

[Numbers]

First of all, QfG4 is unquestionably the best of the series. Ask anyone.

Second of all, QfG5 is still rather fun, despite its flaws, and there are plenty of worse franchise finales out there.

Finally, QfG3 is not that great. I've played all of the games in the series, and 3 is easily the dullest. 1, 2, 4 and to a lesser extent 5 all managed to keep my attention. Not 3. It's completely irrelevant filler. That's all it is. I got bored halfway through the game and gave up on it for almost a year before coming back to finish it. Right now, I'm playing through the series in order and once again, my playthrough came to a screeching halt with 3. I'm skipping it and moving onto 4. If there's any game in the series that doesn't deserve to exist, it's 3.

[GrahamRocks!]

First of all, QfG4 is unquestionably the best of the series. Ask anyone

Oh, I'm not denying that fact. I agree, but I like 5 as well!

Second of all, QfG5 is still rather fun, despite its flaws, and there are plenty of worse franchise finales out there.

*cough* Box Office Bust *cough*

Finally, QfG3 is not that great. I've played all of the games in the series, and 3 is easily the dullest. 1, 2, 4 and to a lesser extent 5 all managed to keep my attention. Not 3. It's completely irrelevant filler. That's all it is. I got bored halfway through the game and gave up on it for almost a year before coming back to finish it. Right now, I'm playing through the series in order and once again, my playthrough came to a screeching halt with 3. I'm skipping it and moving onto 4. If there's any game in the series that doesn't deserve to exist, it's 3.

Yeah, it seems that's everyone's opinion on 3 except mine. Although, most of the time it's "OMG! TOO MUCH TALKING! BLARGH!" and yet, I had the exact opposite reaction.

I actually like talking to NPCs in these games. Gives the world some depth. Heck, I liked it in The Silver Lining as well.

I like the fact that magic wasn't just an offensive bag of tricks. In fact the vast majority of the spells are there for utility with some crossing over to attack spells

It honestly made magic a lot more alive for me then in any other game in existence where magic is just: Lightning bolt, fireball, magic missile, hurt people spell, killing spell... This magic actually felt like magic and not just the power of killing.

*nods* I agree! I like how there's lot of practicality in Gloriana Magic.

[Neonivek]

Also, I'm training Swimming because I can

Trust me you will need it.

Also I am not saying 5 is a bad game, I am just saying that it is the good game of a great series.

[GrahamRocks!]

Come to think of it, does Katrina give you the Water Breathing Amulet or is that strictly from Erana? If so, then I'll train it anyway.

[Bludshot]

There is a lot of wasted potential in 3, the setting was really cool and playing peacemaker could've been very interesting.  Unfortunately it feels like everyone just kind of phoned it in, using the tried and true formula without adding anything new.

[Neonivek]

Unfortunately it feels like everyone just kind of phoned it in, using the tried and true formula without adding anything new

To me that is because it was them perfecting the formula.

Similar to Kings Quest 5 in that it was not too new but was the step towards the perfected Kings Quest formula.

[Bludshot]

Not sure I understand what you mean, Wages of War didn't really add anything that Trial by Fire didn't already have, and in fact there a lot less to do in Tarna, it was almost as short as the original game.  No formula perfection. 

Plus I don't understand the King's Quest 5 example, because I feel like the one nice thing to say about that game is that it added a lot of innovation, even if it was sloppy.

[Neonivek]

Trial by fire though was bogged down by a lot of their other decisions as well as the dated graphics. Yet I guess if you can look past all of Trial by Fire's flaws it does stand up to the third which sort of doesn't elevate itself too well.

Mind you funny you say that the third is almost as short as the first game (it lasts quite a bit longer if you don't read a guide... trust me... NEVER play the original version. The remake actually edits the forest to be easier to navigate).

Since to me the 4th was a recreation of the first game except much better. I'd say it was a dark reflection of the first game, but I am not sure that was what they were going for. They had to know how similar the 4th game was to the first, it had to be intentional.

Then again the 4th might have been "The final game" in essence, so it probably had elements from all the previous games.

[Thaumaturge]

Having played all five Quest for Glory games, Quest for Glory 3 is easily my favourite: the beautiful setting and wonderful locations (the city of Tarna, the temple, the Simbani village, the Heart of the World, etc.), the characters, certain of the events (telling Salim about Julanar, the various interactions in the Heart of the World, the final confrontation, the temple judgement, etc.) all combine to place it for me above the other games in the series.

In all fairness, there's likely at least a little bias on my part: it is, I believe, the first Quest for Glory game that I ever played, and part of certain treasured memories. Nevertheless, having played it more recently, I don't think that said bias fully accounts for my preference for Wages of War.

I'll admit that Wages of War isn't perfect; there are things that I think could be improved: the ritual of creating a wizard's staff could be made more involved and more interactive, Erana's backstory could have been touched on (beyond the minor implication of her having been there), the village could have been bigger, etc.

Second to it I'd likely place Quest for Glory 4, but while that has a number of excellent elements -- the wonderful conclusion of Erana's story, at least until the fifth game; the Rusalka (especially when playing as a paladin); Toby and the little girl, etc. -- it never quite manages to charm me as well as does the third game. It doesn't help that I enjoy the combat systems from the first three games -- that in Wages of War in particular, and that in the AGD remake of Trial by Fire more yet -- but am no great fan of the system used in four.

As to Quest for Glory 5, I honestly rather enjoyed it. Again, it's not perfect, but I love the way that it brings back old characters and ties off old threads. I love finally meeting the Famous Adventurer (and the music that they play in his house is just wonderful: wistful, old, reminiscent), and finding out what became of Elsa, and seeing Rakeesh again, and so on. The graphics looked fine to me: not as good as those in three and four, but good nevertheless. My only real dislike is the combat, which I feel became somewhat generic.

On a side note, I too didn't know that one could calm Issur in order to get the bellows in Quest for Glory 2! Levitation hadn't occurred to me, I don't think, but surprises me less. ^_^

[Bludshot]

I should probably point out I adore Wages of War, being the weakest link in a great series is still a positive.

But it should have been better, if you aren't a fighter/paladin there isn't very much for you to do, and I feel you don't get enough time with Tarna and the Leopardmen village (Simbani village is great if you are a fighter) in the same way there was an attachment to Shapeir or Mordavia.

[Blackthorne]

The hyberbole against QFG IV.5 at the Quest For More Glory site is the pontification of mental midgets. 

First off, the game is very old - at this point, I don't know for sure, but I think it came out in 1999 - it was created with a very early version of AGS - DOS based.

Second, the game never claims to be any kind of official sequel in any capacity - only one who has a damaged cerebellum couldn't recognize that the game was satire/parody.  One can tell it was made by someone who was a fan of the games.

Third, the humor in some places is most certainly crass, and not witty.  Again, this was in the early days of amateur game making, and someone obviously made this as a joke.

Some people act like this is such an abomination, when rather it was a shoddily made parody that gathered a life of its own because some people can not take a joke.  Personally, I think the idea of the game was much better than its execution, but I don't think it's so horribly offensive that it can't be named.  Also, whether or not anyone wants to admit this, this - being one of the first fully made amateur adventure games made with AGS - spurred on others to pursue this and thus kept the adventure genre alive by others who were obviously more capable.

I do think it's funny that people think "Infamous Adventures" loves it - when everyone there has their own identity and opinion on the piece.  If you've not played it, and you're merely listening to the hyperbole and ranting of others, then you really have nothing to say about this game - or members of Infamous Adventures or Infamous Quests.


Bt

[Numbers]

The hyberbole against QFG IV.5 at the Quest For More Glory site is the pontification of mental midgets.

I think it's just easier to label a specific forum based on what you saw a few people say in it. Everyone has their own unique opinions in (almost) every forum, but the ones who talk the loudest are what casual visitors are going to hear. I didn't spend much time reading the forums at Infamous Adventures, but I did gather that the people there seem to enjoy KQ5 the most, as opposed to the people on this forum who enjoy KQ6 the most. I'm positive that's not the case for everyone in both forums, though. I'm certainly not as big a fan of KQ6 as most of the people here are. I'm also significantly less tolerant of KQ7 than most people here.

Back to QfG, I just barely noticed that Paw finally got around to doing a QfG2 LP, and started it all the way back in May. Maybe I should be paying more attention to stuff.

[Neonivek]

(Referencing the 4th game) it never quite manages to charm me as well as does the third game

To me it is because they sort of go for a different style in each game. With the 4th being a genuinely dark setting (In fact the only dark setting in the series).

Heck the 5th game goes for a sort of mythic feel in my opinion, probably to reflect on how you essentially became a demigod.

[GrahamRocks!]

I read "mental midgets" in Sludge Vohaul's voice.

Yes Numbers, and he also did QFG1. Although, I'm assuming you've already watched that, so I won't be redundant.

Neonivek, demigod? Well, the old Gods were considered Heroes, despite some (like Hercules/Heracles) being part human part god.

btw, I think I need a little help from some Mythology nerds, particularly Norse Mythology, for my QFG fanfiction. See, in two of the games, that country's afterlife is heard about. WOW has the Egyptian Underworld (which name escapes me) and DF had Hades and mentions the Elysian Fields on the notice board about King Justinian.

I've been debating whether I should use Hel/Valhalla/Folkvangr/whatever other afterlifes there are in Germanic Mythology, or the Christian Heaven/Hell (seeing as that is what I'm what I'm most familiar with, being a christian myself) which would make some sense since I've mentioned God a few times in dialogue already, or if I should make up my own afterlife.

I mean, Valhalla/Folkvagnr would make sense from a Mythological standpoint (since Spielburg and my version of Willowsby are very Germanic). But... I can't imagine anyone but Fighters would want to constantly battle, eat, drink beer, and party all day and all night.

I just can't imagine a Paladin really liking that very much.

[Blackthorne]

I read "mental midgets" in Sludge Vohaul's voice.

Hahah, I didn't know if anyone would catch the subtle joke!  Hahah.  Nice grab.


Bt

[Numbers]

What's a Paladin?

Sorry, I was dying to use that this whole thread.

In all seriousness, you can use whatever religion you want. The mythology/lore changes with each QfG game anyways.

And yes, I have seen Paw's LP of the first QfG game, and the chronicles of the great adventurer Sneakyfeet.

[Neonivek]

Neonivek, demigod? Well, the old Gods were considered Heroes, despite some (like Hercules/Heracles) being part human part god

The Hero in Quest for Glory is so powerful by the 5th game that not only can he take on armies and is more powerful then previous enemies who were able to take on entire kingdoms but he is able to do stunning feats like defeat the Hydra or use the ultimate spell that I won't spoil.

By Demigod I mean the hero in Quest for Glory at that point is clearly super human.

I remember the first game where the Brigands were actually able to mob you to death. 5th game hero? He would laugh!

[crayauchtin]

Come to think of it, does Katrina give you the Water Breathing Amulet or is that strictly from Erana? If so, then I'll train it anyway.

There's three different people who can give you the Water Breathing Amulet, depending on your choices. It is not possible to win the game without it.

If I may weigh in as far as which game is the best and why... I think each one has some pretty spectacular strengths and weaknesses. For me, story-wise, QfG3 was the weakest (with 5 as a close second). It was apparent in 1, 2, and 4 that they'd been planned out years ahead of time (which they had)... the story behind QfG3 just didn't seem to have the same level of depth.

QfG5's story would be excellent if they'd delved more into what the hell Minos was thinking, because his grand evil scheme looks like a mishmash disastrous mess. Personally, I think Minos was losing control of his own plan by the beginning of the game and I think -- since the intro video gave away the villain -- that they should have put in some cut scenes to exhibit that fact.

I think the story in QfG4 was the strongest, the artwork was beautiful. The only issues with it were the huge number of bugs and I didn't really like the combat system. I thought the VGA point-and-click gameplay was at it's best in QfG3 (I'm not saying the remake of 1 because, even though it worked exactly the same and it was flawless, it was basically a test-run for the series converting to VGA.)

All in all, my favorite QfG was QfG2 because, even though I much prefer point-and-click to the text-based gameplay (except when it comes to conversation, I like being able to ask things that are off-the-beaten path). The gameplay and the story were both superb, the biggest weakness in that game is just that it came out before better gameplay and graphics were available.

[Bludshot]

cray I recall that QFG3 was in fact a bit of an afterthought, without the same time and effort put in.  I think the story was that since Sierra was getting a lot more fans it was decided that QFG should get an entry that would be lighter in tone than Shadows of Darkness.

[Neonivek]

yeah the combat system is pretty much the worst thing about the Quest for Glory series. It is actually one reason I do chose to be a mage all the time, because it is always a lot better then combat with anyone else.

story-wise, QfG3 was the weakest

More so then the first one which basically starts and ends with "Hey, there is a villain who did bad stuff to us. Can you stop her?"?

Then again how it panned out and the characterization does help it quite a bit... The story certainly flowed a lot better.

Though I still like QFG3's set up.