An Air of Tension and Hostility

[TheReturnofDMD]

Hi

In the short playing time of the demo, I began to notice that there is lot of tension and almost hostility in this chapter and in the Green Isles. The atmosphere of the game is...not what I'd call intense, but then again not a certainly welcoming atmosphere either, and even the usually mild mannered King Graham seems to be on edge, and I get the feeling that not of a lot of the Green Islanders appreciate his presence and are only giving him the respect they are because of Alexander. While playing as Graham on the Isle of the Crown, the vibe so to speak that the characters gave off make me think that Graham is not thought of well, and the last time I felt anywhere near this feeling was in KQ6 playing as Alexander.
In conclusion it sets a very good tone and I can already feel the edge that was missing in previous KQ's.

[doom saber]

I felt that too.  I sort of thought that the Hassen seems more harsh than he did in kq6.  Seems like a different character imo

[Baggins]

Hassan seems like he's turned greedy.

[koko_99_2001]

I'm not disagreeing since I noticed the same about Hassan.  But we need to know/realize the circumstances which have caused this. The King of the Green Isles is under some kind of spell. It was very public. It had just happened. I'd say everyone's in a bit of shock. Plus, we've been told that the characters would be more human in this than the other games. So I've got to assume that the reason people may seem more harsh is because, sometimes during stressful circumstances, people are thinking more along the lines of "I need to take care of myself."

Though, I would love to hear another team member's opinion as to why this has been implemented.

[sivvrianBARRY]

Eh, I personally thought the whole "ravaged due to the tragedy" deal was fairy-tailish and unrealistic. If the President was terminally ill, I'd probably pause a couple seconds, say "that's a shame," and continue on in my day. I wouldn't ask myself how I could go on and close my shop out of grief.

Not necessarily a criticism, as it IS a fantasy world, after all, but I certainly wouldn't call it "realistic" or "human."

And yeah, Hassan seems like a completely different character. But that's to be expected, especially since they can't get the original voice actors.

[Rosella]

But it's different in the Land of the Green Isles because everyone KNOWS Alexander. When you talk to Hassan in KQ6, he tells you how Cassima and Alaria used to take visits to the other islands. It shows how much more personal the ruling is. You don't just respect the royals, you love them. With that in mind, I think it seems a lot more clear why you would close a shop when something like that happens. Not to mention the fact that the Pawn/Book shop owners knew Alexander before he was King, and probably could be considered somewhat friends.

And I think Cat's explanation of why Hassan is different is brilliant. People are a bit scared and might tend not to trust others as much, become more selfish.

[koko_99_2001]

Eh, I personally thought the whole "ravaged due to the tragedy" deal was fairy-tailish and unrealistic. If the President was terminally ill, I'd probably pause a couple seconds, say "that's a shame," and continue on in my day. I wouldn't ask myself how I could go on and close my shop out of grief.

I guess the thing to remember is that King's Quest, TSL, The Land of the Green Isles...they ARE fairy-tales

[TheReturnofDMD]

Actually, it is realistic for a person to be upset or show great emotion if a leader gets sick or dies. When JFK was killed, many people actually cried for him and on the other end of the spectrum the anti-JFK people were happy about his death. Now...That is a form of personal leadership...Now think about it on a much smaller scale; A small group of small islands, many of whose inhabitants such as Hassan knew Alexander personally before he was King and also that he saved their kingdom from Alhazared and the disharmony he caused.

[Cez]

Eh, I personally thought the whole "ravaged due to the tragedy" deal was fairy-tailish and unrealistic. If the President was terminally ill, I'd probably pause a couple seconds, say "that's a shame," and continue on in my day. I wouldn't ask myself how I could go on and close my shop out of grief.

Not necessarily a criticism, as it IS a fantasy world, after all, but I certainly wouldn't call it "realistic" or "human."

And yeah, Hassan seems like a completely different character. But that's to be expected, especially since they can't get the original voice actors.

Even if he was murdered?

you have to see the context of things. What actually happened during what. Of course, we wouldn't spoil the game that much, so we left a lot of stuff out of the demo.

But yes, Hassan also knows Alexander, and the isle is pretty small. Good leaders are loved, and remembered. And Alexander is known by the village, some know him more than others because he's somehow reclusive.

Also, if you went through the conversations, Hassan's ferry was restored during Alexander's government.

Finally, there were a lot of people at the celebrations when the tragedy took place.

Yeah, I analyze everything, and I'm actually really glad this is what you guys are reading from chapter 1, that whole feeking of desolation and slow peaking desperation Graham is feeling inside, I wanted that to be reflected in the world around him

but don't fret. Chapter 2 bring a shiny day

[Alexandar28]

I thought of two other reasons for the desolation over the landscape.

One, remember it started raining as soon as Alex and Rosella were cursed.  I don't remember if it was stated outright, but it's definitely implied that this is another part of the curse.  Rain and ugly weather is usually depressing in itself but it's possible part of the curse involved sending a spirit of desolation across the land.  We already know the Black Cloak people are powerful so perhaps in addition to cursing the twins, and changing the weather, they cursed the spirits of the people in some form?

The second reason is looking at the possible mentality of the common people.  They probably know the story of Graham, a common man who became king.  Then they hear the story of Alexander, a supposedly common man who found out he was a prince, and ended up marrying a princess.  It's a fairytale.  If it could happen to Graham and Alexander perhaps it could happen to them?  Perhaps one of them was destined to be a king somewhere or would find out they really had royal blood.  It would have given them a dream, even if in reality it wasn't likely to happen.  And then the fairytale ends (supposedly) very tragically.  The commoner who became king looses both his children in one swoop, the commoner who found out he was a prince is horribly cursed.  It would have killed the dream, a commoner can't rise above his station without it ending horribly?  That would make anyone depressed. 

Good thing Chapter 2 is going to be happier!  Bring back the dream! 

[linus]

Well, I really like this dark and edgy atmosphere which also reflects on the characters' moods. Hassan's behaviour was certainly a surprise to me, because I had remembered him as a friendly and helpful guy.

The dog guard hoping for a culprit to be found and punished before thinking of what can be done about the King and his sister was also a nice detail showing the general agitation.

[doom saber]

I disagree that the different voice actor for Hassen changed his personality completely.  I believe that dialoge and the writer's perception of the character was the reason why he acts so differently.  I am not sure if someone theorized that Hassen's behavior is because of the moarning for Alexander, but if it is, it still contradicts kq6.  I mean Hassen personally knew the royal family along with their daughter.  The Cassima gets kidnapped and then the King and Queen gets killed.  If Hassen's behavior is because of Alex, surely he would go crazy and kill everyone if the royal family dies after Cassima was rescued from being kidnapped.

It is possible that the curse made the people "evil" like how it altered the land.

If other wise, I will just pretend that this character is the son or twin brother of Hassen.  I was a fan of Hassen in kq6, so I am a bit dissappointed that Hassen cares more about profit than helpfulness.

[Yonkey]

I have decided to move this thread to Plot, because the reason for all the apparent tension, hostility, tragedy, melancholy, etc is directly related to it.

As Cesar said, we cannot reveal what happened during the intro without spoiling the game, but rest assured that all characters are acting this way for a reason, one that Graham is wanting to get to the bottom of by the end of Chapter 1.

Keep up the speculations though, this thread makes for quite an interesting read!

[Baggins]

I also got the impression from all the other information about Hassan from the Companion, KQ6, and the Guidebook that the Ferry used to be a free service, at least for the royalty or those friends with the royalty.

It also used to only be run by the ferryman and his son, no need for any other crew.

The Guidebook's implication was that Hassan was only a child when Derek visited the lands. ...or alternatively Hassan was the ferryman at the time Derek was visiting, and Derek met Hassan and his son.

There is some evidence that Hassan may also have a son of his own in the companion, since the book mentions he is old at least compared to Alexander, and that  Hassan mentions that the ferry is run by "me and mine". Of course he may be referring to his ancestors.

[Yonkey]

I thought "me and mine" was referring to his ship crewmembers.

And yes, judging by his accent, he is clearly not from the Green Isles, so I can see how it was implicated that he's a foreigner.

[Baggins]

Well his age is definitely older than Alexander, as he continually refers to Alexander as "youngen", and there is at least one quote saying he is "old" or "older than alexander"(I'll look for the quote).

We only read about a ferryman and his "young son" in the guidebook. No specific names. In the game We never see the "ferryman's son".

Either this means Hassan is the father mentioned in the guidebook, or he is the son.

The former is unlikely since KQ6 says he is a bachelor.

On the other hand if you do the math in the official timeline. If Hassan is the son, he would only be at the most 10-15 years older than Alexander. Because the companion mentions Derek had visited the islands about 6-7 years after KQ1.


I don't know when you had Derek visiting islands in your timeline however.

[samthunder]

Is it just me or was this demo extremely short? [spoiler]After talking with those two in the castle garden, getting the coin bag, changing into the adventure clothces, and paying off the sailor, I went to the island of the Sacred, and heard an Oracle. [/spoiler] After that, it ends? Is that all in this demo? Did I complete this demo, or did I do something wrong?

Did anyone else have such a short demo?


Sam
silentt1999@yahoo.com

[Fizbop]

I had the same demo.  I believe they just wanted to get a basic feel for error encounters.  Hence the shortness.  Playing many times helps them fix things that could seriously hurt the game.  By making it short and repeditive.  They made it easier to find possibly major errors.

Just my theory,  Not fact.

[Rick_Florez]

For those of you who say that Hassan's character appears different in this game, try playing KQVI again.  Go to the ferry immediately, knock on his door and talk to him.  You'll notice he isn't too nice to strangers.  He's only nice to you once he knows who you are and that you are friends with the princess.

Graham doesn't look like a king when he first visits Hassan and thus needs to do some convinving before Hassan considers lending him his only means of living.  This isn't too far off from the original character.

[Baggins]

For those of you who say that Hassan's character appears different in this game, try playing KQVI again.  Go to the ferry immediately, knock on his door and talk to him.  You'll notice he isn't too nice to strangers.  He's only nice to you once he knows who you are and that you are friends with the princess.

Sure he's grumpy and won't let soliciters into his home (I'm not sure I would either), but once he knows Ali knows Alexander(according to Alexander that is), he's more than willing to help out as much as he can even if he doesn't know Alexander himself. Hell, he even takes Alexander's word that Ali sent him at face value.

But even then the Hassan in the demo doesn't feel like the same character. Especially if you know more about the character from the manual and companions.