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Your Favorite KQ games?

Started by TheReturnofDMD, July 29, 2010, 12:39:54 PM

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Allronix

Quote from: crayauchtin on August 06, 2010, 05:10:59 PM
Allronix, are you sure *we're* not twins?? :P
My list is almost exactly the same as yours, although I'd rank KQ3 (original and remake) a bit higher because the waiting didn't bother me unless I forgot to get everything ready for the cookie during his first journey, and I'd include MoE (very low) on the list.

I've got a twin, and she's too busy with grad school to go posting here. I'm just slacking off between Microsoft Certification study drills. (Got my MCDST - YAY! Now for the Windows 7 upgrade to it...)
Old Adventure Gamers never die - they've always saved first.

Jafar

Actually, I love all of the games. (Except MoE, but who's gonna fault me for that? :angel: )
I really like how each game evolves the series a little more each time.

KQ1 Original is probably the one I replay the least. It's nothing personal, it's just that KQ1 doesn't have the same speed settings as other AGI games, so you can only play on Slow, REALLY Slow, or Way Too Fast. :P
Still, it was the starting point, so I respect it for that.
And it did have some cute touches, like the finger counting easter egg, and Graham's hat falling off as he bows.

KQ2 tends to get a bit of flak for the random puzzles, but you can see how it improves on KQ1.
The introduction and ending are more fleshed out, the graphics are better, the areas have more descriptions, you have a lot of cool places to explore, and a bunch of easter eggs to find.
It also has some cool ways to die, like getting possessed by the ghosts, drinking the poison water, and annoying Neptune.
The only thing that really bugs me is the snake\bridle puzzle. I can think of ways to defend almost every other infamously hard puzzle in the KQ series, but I STLL don't get the snake\bridle thing. XD

KQ3 is where the storytelling starts to pick up. They did a good job of making Manannan scare you with his random appearances. (That dramatic PC Speaker music helped there. :P)
I think one of the best moments in the series is when you finally deal with Manannan and that triumphant music plays in honor of your newfound freedom. :P
It was also cool getting to use the transformation spells. (And finding ways to die with them... :P)

The waiting, though...it'd be nice if they could come up with a way to cut down on it.
At least while waiting for Manannan, you could collect all of the spell ingredients, and prepare all of your spells. But the pirate ship just goes on, and on, and on... Then again, you could always sink it with the storm spell if you're bored... XD
In any case, I think it's all worth it for that reunion back in Castle Daventry. I love KQ3's ending.


KQ4 made the big jump to the SCI engine, so you get some nice benefits out of that. You have a full soundtrack, that grand fanfare opening.
The storytelling also took a step up. It's sad, seeing Graham on his deathbed. (The bad ending always makes me cry. :P)
I think it also does a good job of making you feel small and helpless in a frightening, dangerous land.
Sure, you have some friendly characters like the bard, and the Seven Dwarves, but then you have the ogres, the troll, the creepy witches, the zombies...Lolotte made for an intimidating villain as well.
It also has some of my favorite deaths...the zombies, the ogre, the random swamp monster, and stupidly waking Lolotte up. :P

It also has a lot of nice little details if you look for them...you can try to take the fisherman's coffee, you can try to kiss random people\monsters, you can try to scream for help when you're in Lolotte's dungeon. It's also fun to have the game scold you for trying to steal or kill people. :P
The only thing is that some parts are kinda unforgiving. If you're VERY precise, you can sneak past Lolotte's goons okay, and with some practice, you can catch the glass eye in one try, but the Ogre cave is just pure luck. :P
All in all though, I think its a great game.


KQ5...I see a lot of hate for it these days, but I love the game.
It does have flaws...the desert maze is very harsh if you don't know where to go, the red X tends to pop up too much when trying to interact with things,, and you have a lot of dead ends...still, there's too much charm for me to not like the game. The voice acting is silly, but in a good way, only a couple of voices really annoy me. It has some great music (Sometimes I hum Graham's theme on peaceful days :P), awesome death scenes (The puns came out in full force this time XD), and the infamous Graham Scream that went on to be reused in every other Sierra game. :P

I dunno...its just silly, good fun. I love parts like Graham's sarcastic showdown with the witch, meeting those thugs in the inn, the Queen Bee with the southern belle accent, annoying that crazy old hermit on the beach, the showdown with Mordack...I just find it to be a loveable game all around. :P
It's probably the one I replay the most.

KQ6...well, gee, what can I say that no one else already has? XD
I hate to sound cliched, but it's pretty much the series at its peak. The amount of detail is amazing, the voicework is awesome, the soundtrack is beautiful (I actually like Girl in the Tower, though I prefer the intrumental version.), and you have all of the memorable characters, easter eggs, and good old Rotten Tomato. XD


KQ7 is very underrated, I think. Most people write it off because of the cartoony graphics, but hey, they said the same thing about Wind Waker. :P
Maybe it does come off as a little Disney-ish, but KQ games ARE based on fairy tales, so I don't think its a horribly unfitting change.
It has a good story (Malicia could've been a pretty terrifying villain if they didn't make her so silly.), and I like how Valanice finally gets time in the spotlight. Falderal's just too silly not to love, and trying to trade random stuff with the kangaroo rat is always fun.
Also, there are no dead-ends, so that's a plus.

The thing that bugs me is the interface, though. The X of Non-Interactivity from KQ5 returns, and all of the interaction icons just got compressed into a boring "do stuff" cursor. I know they wanted to make things simple for new players and all (I think they wanted to live up to KQ's reputation as a beginner's adventure game series, for once. :P), but I miss being able to do everything seperately. It really cuts down on looking for the fun, little details. You tend to have a lot of cool looking stuff in the background that you can't get any comment on, and maybe one or two sparkles to click on.
Maybe they just didn't want to have a narrator...I dunno. :P

It also makes most of the dangerous situations kinda silly. Clicking on the Boogeyman is just going to get you killed now instead of 5 seconds later, same with clicking on the scorpion, the nightmare, the giant lizard...
I also think the death messages could've used a bit more flavor. Some are kinda funny, but mostly it's just obvious hints on what you should've done.

Still, KQ7 is a fun game, and I don't think people should be too quick to dismiss it.


KQ1SCI... I think its probably the best of Sierra's remakes. (Though if my guess is right, its also the only one that wasn't noticably rushed.)
It pretty much keeps all the basics the same, doesn't leave anything big from the original out, and gives the game a great touch-up. All of the new music is awesome, and I like the new ending a lot better than King Edward just keeling over and disappearing. :P
You also have some nice little touches like counting your fingers while invisible, trying to pick the lock on the mountain door, calling the rat a mouse, asking the parser "Who, What, When, Why, How"...its just a very polished remake.


So yeah. I pretty much just love all of them. XD
Maybe I'm biased, overly nostalgic, too soft on them, or just plain sappy, but all of the KQ games are my favorite.
So yeah,that's my two cents...or 40, I went on for a while.  :P
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Enchantermon

Quote from: Baggins on August 07, 2010, 04:04:56 AMIn most versions, if you don't have the scarab there is a zombie guarding the front door to the mansion, that will kill you. So without the Scarab you can't even enter the house.
Maybe that's only in the AGI version, because I don't recall that ever being the case in the SCI version.
Quote from: Baggins on August 07, 2010, 04:04:56 AMNow if you use cheat code to get the crypt key, you can get into the crypt without the scarab, and there is an easter egg death notice, where the mummy can kill you. Then it asks how the hell you got in there without the scarab.
Hah, that's awesome.
So what if I am, huh? Anyways, I work better when I'm drunk. It makes me fearless! If I see a bad guy, I'll just point my sword at him and saaaaaaaaaay, "Hey! Bad guy! You're not s'posed to be here! Go home or I'll stick you with my sword 'til you go, 'Ouch! I'm dead!' Ah-ha-ha!" Ha-ha. *hic* See? Ain't no one gonna be messin' wit' ol', Benny!

veralynne

King's Quest VII - My mom saw this in the store and got it for my sister and I for Christmas, making it the first KQ game we ever played. So much nostalgia and love. I loved how many different areas and characters there were, and I always felt suuuuper creeped out during Ooga Booga (damn you, Boogeyman!). It wasn't nearly as hard as other games, but I have a major soft spot for it. And I loved that you got to experience totally different things as Valanice and Rosella.

King's Quest VI - The only reason 7 is above 6 is for the nostalgia factor. We definitely played 6 way more often (my mom got us the collection with Colonel's Bequest and whatever the Christmas after she got us 7 because we played 7 so much). I loved the storyline, looooved the Green Isles, loved how every time Shamir showed up in disguise my sister and I would screech, "Look! His eyes! Don't trust him!" So good. By far the most intriguing of the games.

King's Quest III - This was so hard. But that's part of what made it good. It was soooo frustrating when Mannanan showed up, but oh well.

King's Quest IV - I, for some reason, had a harder time with this one than with 3. Not sure why. I liked being Rosella, and I thought it was a bizarre, fun little game. Parts of it definitely made me nervous while walking through it haha.

King's QUuest I - Just a classic. My sister and I switched between the remake and the original pretty frequently.

King's Quest V - My problem wasn't really with Cedric, or the voice acting, but it just...was kind of a dull story. I found Graham really annoying in this one haha. It was interesting to a point, but then it just seemed like they didn't know where to go with it so they just threw random things in there (throwing a pie in the yeti's face, the whole evles emerald honey fail, using a tambourine on that creature). I don't think I ever finished it.

King's Quest II - It just seemed so random. Not much of a story line, but still a fun adventure game.

MoE - I didn't play it much. My problem WASN'T with the fact that you were killing things or that it was 3D (Although the graphics, while visionary at the time...wow. JUst. Not good.) My sister moved out shortly after we got this and I was young and therefore too scared to play it by myself. My biggest issue was that it had nothing to do, really, with King's Quest games, and the fact that it was so much more about killing and potions and what have you rather than puzzle solving felt like a lame attempt to try to "keep up with the times." I think as a game it stands alone fairly well, although I don't think it's anything crazy impressive. Just a standard 90's game. As part of the series, I think it falls pretty flat.

Baggins

QuoteMaybe that's only in the AGI version, because I don't recall that ever being the case in the SCI version.
The zombie guarding the front door to the mansion is definitely in the SCI version. It prevents you from getting inside the mansion at night if you don't have the scarab, and will killy you. This prevents the player from starting the ghost sequences.
Well, ya, King's Quest is on Earth. Daventry is very old city from a long time ago. It's in ruins now and people aren't quite sure exactly where it used to be. There are some archaeologists searching through the ruins, they think they know its Daventry. But its somewhere on Earth."-Roberta Williams http://kingsquest.wikia.com/wiki/File:Daventryisearth.ogg

KatieHal

I saw an LP where someone avoided that by typing "open door" from one step down instead of directly at the door. I think they may have already had the scarab, but the zombie didn't even come out if he did that.

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

Enchantermon

Quote from: Baggins on January 05, 2011, 12:33:27 PMThe zombie guarding the front door to the mansion is definitely in the SCI version. It prevents you from getting inside the mansion at night if you don't have the scarab, and will killy you. This prevents the player from starting the ghost sequences.
No offense.....but I really don't think that's right, unless you just recently tried and confirmed it. The reason is because when I first played KQIV, I never attempted to go past the homicidal trees in the forest (I assumed that they were there to provide a logical boundary to the map), and so I made it into the night several times without the scarab, and I remember going into the house at night at least once and hearing the baby in the crib. Then when I got completely stuck and finally checked the UHS out of desperation, I started on the slow path to discovering the hideout of the witches.
Now, I do remember a zombie popping up at night in front of the house (I remember because I questioned why there was a zombie where there was no grave), but I don't remember it keeping you from entering the house.
Regardless, now I'm curious, so I think I'm going to see if I can duplicate this tonight.

(Posted on: January 05, 2011, 05:47:58 PM)


Okay, I concede, Baggins, you're right. It's incredibly easy to avoid her though, by doing what Katie mentioned, so no doubt that's what happened when I played it those many years ago; I just unknowingly opened the door before stepping up to it all the way and never knew she was there.
So what if I am, huh? Anyways, I work better when I'm drunk. It makes me fearless! If I see a bad guy, I'll just point my sword at him and saaaaaaaaaay, "Hey! Bad guy! You're not s'posed to be here! Go home or I'll stick you with my sword 'til you go, 'Ouch! I'm dead!' Ah-ha-ha!" Ha-ha. *hic* See? Ain't no one gonna be messin' wit' ol', Benny!

Baggins

#67
Fascinating thanks Katie.... In theory you could possibly dig the graves and get the treasures, if you could get the zombies trapped behnd obstacles while you dig. This would make it possible get into the crypt without the scarab, without resorting to cheat codes.

As I recall though if you have the scarab the zombie at hte door never actually appears. It only appears if you lack the scarab.
Well, ya, King's Quest is on Earth. Daventry is very old city from a long time ago. It's in ruins now and people aren't quite sure exactly where it used to be. There are some archaeologists searching through the ruins, they think they know its Daventry. But its somewhere on Earth."-Roberta Williams http://kingsquest.wikia.com/wiki/File:Daventryisearth.ogg

KatieHal

#68
Indeed. In fact, LPer LateBlt did a video about how yes, you can do the digging without the scarab. :)

However, you cannot get Pandora's Box without it. (Also shown in his video there.)

That video is also how I knew about the trick to get inside without being zombie'd.

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

Baggins

Ya, my point was you could get to the crypt, but you'd get the mummy death scene without using cheat codes. I.E, the "How the hell did you get here" death. Which is what you saw in the video.
Well, ya, King's Quest is on Earth. Daventry is very old city from a long time ago. It's in ruins now and people aren't quite sure exactly where it used to be. There are some archaeologists searching through the ruins, they think they know its Daventry. But its somewhere on Earth."-Roberta Williams http://kingsquest.wikia.com/wiki/File:Daventryisearth.ogg

KatieHal

I love that they say that when you get in without it!  :rofl:

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

Enchantermon

Yeah, I literally lol'ed when I saw that. Such wit! I may have to try that as an aside during my KQIV LP just for kicks.
So what if I am, huh? Anyways, I work better when I'm drunk. It makes me fearless! If I see a bad guy, I'll just point my sword at him and saaaaaaaaaay, "Hey! Bad guy! You're not s'posed to be here! Go home or I'll stick you with my sword 'til you go, 'Ouch! I'm dead!' Ah-ha-ha!" Ha-ha. *hic* See? Ain't no one gonna be messin' wit' ol', Benny!