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How do you feel about Sierra's revival of King's Quest?

Started by Rock Knight, August 15, 2014, 08:13:10 PM

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Rock Knight

What are you feelings on the revival of King's Quest by the newly reborn Sierra?

Are you cynical, or optimistic?

The first image from the game has emerged--a very big tease:


The story--what we know so far--

"King Graham -- revered as the greatest adventurer to ever live -- shares his life's adventures with his curious granddaughter, Gwendolyn. It is through these tales that Gwendolyn discovers the true greatness of her grandfather."
 
What do you think?


Numbers

Quote from: Lambonius on August 16, 2014, 02:36:38 PM
Mask of Eternity 2!

Mask of Eternity 2? The possibility of incorporating years of adventure game experience with cutting-edge graphics, sandbox exploration, mind-bending puzzles, and lots and lots of gore?

I have no mouth, and I must scream.

Delling

Quote from: Rock Knight on August 15, 2014, 08:13:10 PM
The first image from the game has emerged--a very big tease:


The story--what we know so far--

"King Graham -- revered as the greatest adventurer to ever live -- shares his life's adventures with his curious granddaughter, Gwendolyn. It is through these tales that Gwendolyn discovers the true greatness of her grandfather."
 
What do you think?

:D :D

Oh, man... so many questions... is Gwendolyn Alex or Rosella's daughter? Will she be the main playable character? (Because if so... so. much. win.) Given her name and the cultures the kids were likely to marry into, I'd even guess she's Rosella's daughter! :D (No guarantee of this since "Gwendolyn" is a sensible name for their culture of origin too.)

I'm really curious to see how this plays out. :D I'm already imagining something Zelda-esque. :D

...
...

Also, also, hi, everyone, don't mind me, just dropping through to see if someone else had said anything here of late, saw this, and had to comment... it's back to Thesisland for me now. (Maybe I'll be back once I've submitted or sat my viva... we'll see...)
Noli me tangere! Nescio ubi fuisti!
Don't touch me! I don't know where you've been!

Marquess of Pembroke
Duke of Saxony in Her Majesty's Court
Knight of the Swan for Her Imperial Highness

...resistance was obviously useless against a family that could invent italics.

"Let the locative live."

http://my.ddo.com/referral/Delling87

Big C from Cauney island

Gwendolyn sounds like "Gwydion", or possibly something like the chronicles of Prydain. 

The logo looks very KQ5-esc.  The logo looks very similar to the start of KQ5.

After all these years....

Numbers

I'm thinking that the game will be Graham narrating his past experiences to Gwendolyn, similar to Guybrush narrating his past experiences in Monkey Island 2, so I doubt Gwendolyn will be the playable character. I imagine the plot will be a re-telling of 1, 2 or 5, but my money's on 1.

I'm also holding out hope that there will be a combat mode should you want to get down and dirty and just beat the sh*t out of the bad guys, but they should make the combat every bit as hard as the puzzles, ala Dark Souls, so no matter what you do, the game has longevity, multiple ways to play, and will take a while to beat.

You hear that, developers? Hard puzzles. Not obtuse or ridiculous puzzles, like what the original series sometimes delved into, just challenging ones that make sense.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

Bludshot

So I guess this isn't a reboot? That's nice, I thought initially we were getting a re-imagining of the franchise.

I get having Graham as the protagonist for a first game but I hope after that we get some new protagonists, the nuclear royal family all had good runs.  Honestly though the King's Quest series was always hit or miss so a revival doesn't have to worry about meeting high standards. :P

Also 'Gwendolyn' is slightly less dorky that 'Gwydion' so good on her.
Deep Thoughts with Connor Mac Lyrr
"Alack! The heads do not die!"

JDHJANUS

I'm actually really excited and optimistic about it. I think a lot of people have gotten up in arms about the whole "It's not a point-and-click adventure game." The Odd Gentlemen took the time on their Twitter page to respond to tons of messages explaining that it is still in fact an adventure game, just one that will not rely on old school point-and-click engines. And it makes sense. If they're going for a true third-person 3D adventure game, one that can easily be ported to the PS Network and Xbox Live, then it makes sense to have controls along the lines of something like Ico or Skyrim.

I'm not sure as to whether or not there will be a combat option in the new game. Matt Korba, the head of The Odd Gentlemen, is definitely a classic King's Quest fan, and a lot of his interactions seem to hint at a more traditional adventure game as opposed to an action-adventure like MOE. Then again, it is so early in the game's development, a lot could change between now and release day.

I think the biggest thing people need to understand is that this game will not be like the old-school classic King's Quest games. Not that there's anything wrong with any of those games, but the market for adventure games has changed so much in the past 30 years, and I think that this game will hopefully serve as a springboard to open up a new generation to the wonders of the adventure game genre.

In the meantime, I can only sit back and excitedly await what The Odd Gentlemen have in store. They realize that they have a LOT hanging on their shoulders, and I think they seem up to the task!

As John Williams put it in one of the Sierra groups on Facebook, this game will have 1 of 2 reactions. Either it will be a complete and total failure to revive a franchise that hasn't seen a new game in 16 years, and will be forgotten (or hatefully remembered) as a poor game, or it could open up the door for a brand new era of adventures, one that will blow away all of our expectations and leave us breathless with what can be done with a series that has impacted adventure gaming and revolutionized the genre for 10 years. I'm personally hoping for and believing in the latter. :)

All that to say, I am an eternal optimist, but I understand how this announcement has led a lot of people to be somewhat wary and a bit skeptical of what's going to happen. A really good, honest perspective of the revival of Sierra was put forth by Frederik Olsen and Troels Pleimert of SpaceQuest.Net yesterday in their new podcast, Backseat Developers, and I really liked what they had to say! Warning, though. There is strong language, so if that bothers you, don't listen.

http://t.co/1rI2QQoMjB

Have a great day! Talk to you later!!!!

JDHJANUS
Josh
Please tell me the answer. Is fate unchangeable? Even at his most powerless, man's existence is never without meaning. - Suikoden's Intro

Lambonius

Quote from: Numbers on August 17, 2014, 04:30:58 PM
I'm also holding out hope that there will be a combat mode should you want to get down and dirty and just beat the sh*t out of the bad guys, but they should make the combat every bit as hard as the puzzles, ala Dark Souls, so no matter what you do, the game has longevity, multiple ways to play, and will take a while to beat.

Dark Souls is my favorite game of this past console generation, and even I think that's a terrible idea.  No combat in King's Quest!!  ;)

snabbott

I'm cautiously optimistic. I don't really care that it's not going to be point-and-click as long as it's fun and intelligent. And please, no combat!

Steve Abbott | Beta Tester | The Silver Lining

Numbers

There can be like a sex mini-game between Graham and Valanice, made specifically for Wii Motion Controls...
Perhaps a gambling side quest to show the ever downward-spiraling life of Alexander...
A pole-dancing game with Rosella entertaining Vulcanix trolls, with similar controls as Guitar Hero...
A first-person shooter section with Gwendolyn as she takes up Connor's crossbow and gets ready to open a can of whoopass on the much-feared Owl City...
Maybe a rap song in the end credits...

I'm a well of good ideas! Stop laughing! Take me seriously!!!
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

kyranthia

I'm also cautiously optimistic.  Even if it is somewhat combat based, if the combat and puzzles are woven together well, I'd be okay with that.  I kinda thought Skyward Sword in the Zelda series had a decent balance of that at times  (not always, but when it worked, it worked well).

So, I guess we'll see.  I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for updates and see what we get.

And...I'm definitely going to play it, no matter what.  :)

stika

Wait, there's combat in the new King's Quest? I had no idea o.O

GrahamRocks!

I don't really mind that. Graham may value brains and guile over brawn, but that doesn't mean he can't pick up a sword and fight. He's not the finest knight in all of Daventry for nothing!

Numbers

KQ2+ made kind of a compromise by having Graham in a swordfight but making it happen as a cutscene so the game didn't have to rely on the players having quick reflexes they didn't need anywhere else in the game.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

GrahamRocks!

*nods* I was originally thinking that they could have foreshadowed Alexander's fight in KQ6 by having the fight like that, but then I realized that would make him look like a terrible fighter.

GrahamRocks!

Naw, really?! ;)

It's okay, I'm terrible at detecting sarcasm too sometimes.

Blackthorne

I'd say I'm more curious than anything.  I don't have an opinion  right now either way; all I can say is "I want to see what they're doing."  So, really, until I see something more concrete than a logo/title screen, I'm just curious.  I do hope it's a good game, though, cause honestly - we don't need another bad King's Quest from "Sierra".


Bt
"You've got to keep one eye looking over your shoulder
you know it's going to get harder and harder as you
get older - but in the end you'll pack up, fly down south, hide your head in the sand.  Just another sad old man, all alone and dying of cancer." - Dogs, Pink Floyd.

JDHJANUS

So, not sure if you guys have seen or heard this, but got this information from the Sierra Chest group over at Facebook, as well as The Odd Gentlemen's Twitter feed.

The Odd Gentlemen met with Ken and Roberta Williams to show them what they're doing with the next King's Quest game. They posted the following picture showing Ken and Roberta looking at some concept art:

https://twitter.com/TheOddGentlemen/status/526885279970254849

Ken Williams himself posted in the Sierra Chest group with the following message:

"Both Roberta and I loved the game. Here's the letter that Roberta sent them:

'...To Matt and Lindsey, Bill and Scott,


I, too, wish to thank you for a lovely morning yesterday reliving – to some extent – my old life as a Sierra game designer. I admit that I was a bit skeptical at first, and also somewhat nervous because I haven't been in the computer game industry (notice I call it computer game industry rather that the video game industry; that shows how far back I go!) in too many years to contemplate! But you guys blew me away with your ideas, your creativity and the beauty of the newest King Quest game. But best of all, I could see that you truly are the ones to take King's Quest into the 21st century and reintroduce it to a whole new generation. You totally have it down!

I can't wait to see how it develops, I can't wait to play it myself – and I truly can't wait to see how it blows away the competition!!

Best to you –

Roberta...'

Roberta wasn't just being polite. She really did like the game, as did I. The best thing about the game is that they really did get inside of what made the old games so successful and the game feels like a natural successor to the series. They "got it" as to what Roberta was trying to accomplish, and then used today's technology to build the game better than we would have ever thought possible. As we were watching the game, the #1 thought in both our minds was that we couldn't wait to get our own copy and play it, and that's something that rarely happens. Congrats to the team!"


And finally, Ken posted the following picture, in which you can see some amazing artwork of what Graham will look like and how he ages in the game!

Talk to you later!

JDHJANUS
Josh
Please tell me the answer. Is fate unchangeable? Even at his most powerless, man's existence is never without meaning. - Suikoden's Intro

daventry

#19
Roberta and Ken Williams at the OddGentlemen Studio, Please let them be Involved with KQ9 :suffer: :suffer: :suffer: :suffer: :suffer: :suffer:

Please Please if you can, show this to Ken and Roberta Williams and to The Odd Gentlemen  ;D ;D

http://videobam.com/xmWxF

http://daventrychris.deviantart.com/gallery/51596054/King-s-Quest-2015

http://daventrychris.deviantart.com/gallery/48988654/KQ-1-2-5-plus-TSL-XPS-Memories