I understand it is flawed, from the simple point-and-click combat to the silly grunt Connor makes when clipping something, but KQ8 was always going to be a part of the series falling under the Sierra banner and a piece of work led by Roberta herself, as were all other seven parts previously.
However widespread its faults are, I believe it still has an impressive scale of depth, story and character. To whatever degree its original nature was meddled with by executives, the change was still a brave move and at the very least it was interesting to witness how previous games may have felt in tone if their atmosphere was more realistic. I love the comedy of KQ1 through KQ7 (another personal favourite, you're all probably going to question the legitimacy of me having an opinion
) but for the story that KQ8 told, the violence and darkness was very justified.
The backtracking was not unseen in previous adventures and the dismissal of the royal family, while disheartening, widened the scope of the franchise even if it did so in the last installment. King Graham was featured very little, but the opening FMV shows us how the family had finally managed to settle down despite years of strife. He is even seen discussing the successful production of crops that the Magic Mirror foretells. Finally he can oversee this without anything else overshadowing it! In KQ8 they are not abandoned characters, but rather victims who we, their own Guardian since the early 1980s, should feel motivated to save. The choice of lowly Connor also reinforces the notion of royalty not amounting to greatness, as we saw in the original game some twenty years prior, when a King sent a serving Knight out to regain the glory of his Kingdom. It's a clever angle that could have been pushed better, bringing the series full circle.
I respect everyone's opinion and yes, to many, KQ8 was an absolute farcical disappointment, and on a technical level I may have to agree. In terms of story, though, I completely understand where Roberta was headed with it.
On a separate note, why can't I actually write KQ-8? Is it because it was never actually called that or something to do with the legalities of numbering The Silver Lining?
