Should I play Princeless Bride and Mask of Eternity before this?

[tslaccount]

I never got around to playing either game. How many references and immersive details will I miss out on? I could probably dig up KQ7 somewhere if I had to.

[Cez]

Well, the intro to the game has a lot to do with how KQ7 ended.

But you don't NEED to. Especially not MoE.

[KatieHal]

Princeless Bride. While we make a few references to MoE, they're limited and don't really affect the plot very much. Princeless Bride on the other hand has a quite few important developments that affect our plot, so if you haven't played that one yet, you'll be wondering what a few things are.

I will say that I DO think the game can be played without playing either of those, but for a fuller idea of everything, yeah, KQ7.

[darthkiwi]

I was going to post, but then you two summed it up perfectly.

So, yes, there are references to KQ7 which do not require you to have played the game, but for the full experience you probably should.

For MoE, though... to be honest, I can only remember one reference, and that was actually King Graham telling another character about the events of MoE. So there's actually no need for me to even summarise the plot for you because Graham will do that for you if you get to that bit. So you really don't need to play it.

[Halgroda]

tslaccount for someone who really liked KQ7 I would suggest picking it up not because TSL has a lot of references to it but because its just a fun game, MOE was an Okay game in my opinion but not the greatest, but if you like action adventure you'll probably enjoy it.

Below are links to where you can pick up the entire series for 30$ without DRM plus being able to install it on any computer and have it work.

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/king%E2%80%99s_quest_7_8
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/king%E2%80%99s_quest_4_5_6
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/kings_quest_1_2_3

I'm not affiliated with Gog.com just a huge fan of there service.

[wilco64256]

Yeah if you have a more modern system getting things from GOG is definitely the easiest route to take.  If you want just KQ7 and MoE they're only $10 and they both played just fine for me on Windows 7.

[dark-daventry]

I can vouch for KQ7 and MoE running flawlessly on windows 7 from gog. As everyone else mentioned, I'd definitely recommend KQ7, as there are plenty of plot details from that in TSL. MoE is really up to you. If you've played it, you'll notice things here and there, but nothing that's extremely plot sensitive.

[tslaccount]

Great, thanks for the replies. I have the old KQ collection discs that go up to 7, so I'll try and install them.

(Posted on: April 07, 2011, 12:46:20 AM)

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

I played through it. Very mixed bag. Kq6 was definitely the pinnacle.

I think a lot of the distaste came from the awful animation. Poor Roberta Williams, you know she must've felt bad at some of the subpar material that was in KQ7. The voice acting was decent, but the bizarre Looney Toons slapstick and horrible artwork really detracted from the overall story. Good music, though. Mark Seibert always brings his best.

It's pretty obvious that a lot of 90s game studios must've outsourced to the same cheap animation studio, as they got the notorious Zelda CGI games as well.

[Roivas]

MoE running flawlessly

I thought this statement was a bit off, since the game tends to crash at random, even under ideal conditions.

[dark-daventry]

MoE running flawlessly

I thought this statement was a bit off, since the game tends to crash at random, even under ideal conditions.

Not for me; when I have a good computer, I'm able to run MoE without any significant hiccups. Perhaps flawlessly was the wrong word to use, but the point is that I experienced no crashes or any other significant issues that hindered game-play for me.

[Roivas]

MoE running flawlessly

I thought this statement was a bit off, since the game tends to crash at random, even under ideal conditions.

Not for me; when I have a good computer, I'm able to run MoE without any significant hiccups. Perhaps flawlessly was the wrong word to use, but the point is that I experienced no crashes or any other significant issues that hindered game-play for me.

Maybe that's just my horrible luck with PC games coming to the forefront. I've crashed nearly every game I've ever played and kinda stayed away from the computer games for a long time to avoid all the crashing problems I would regularly run into. So far my GoG version of KQ8 has crashed on me 10 times and I have only just gotten into the Realm of the Dead.

[dark-daventry]

MoE running flawlessly

I thought this statement was a bit off, since the game tends to crash at random, even under ideal conditions.

Not for me; when I have a good computer, I'm able to run MoE without any significant hiccups. Perhaps flawlessly was the wrong word to use, but the point is that I experienced no crashes or any other significant issues that hindered game-play for me.

Maybe that's just my horrible luck with PC games coming to the forefront. I've crashed nearly every game I've ever played and kinda stayed away from the computer games for a long time to avoid all the crashing problems I would regularly run into. So far my GoG version of KQ8 has crashed on me 10 times and I have only just gotten into the Realm of the Dead.

What are your computer's specs?

[Roivas]

What are your computer's specs?

A dual core Intel with 2gb of RAM and a 8600 GE NVIDIA video card. So not great, but my PC isn't a slouch either. Sadly, I'm also running Vista Home Premium. It works... kinda.

[dark-daventry]

What are your computer's specs?

A dual core Intel with 2gb of RAM and a 8600 GE NVIDIA video card. So not great, but my PC isn't a slouch either. Sadly, I'm also running Vista Home Premium. It works... kinda.

From what I can glean, the only possible problem there would be Vista; I don't think MoE should have any issues running on that machine of yours. Have you tried running the game in compatibility mode? Or as an administrator? sometimes those solutions work. You could also try changing the graphics settings. If all else fails, go to the Gog.com forums and see if anyone else has the same issue as you; I had some issues with Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, and the gog.com forums got me a fix within minutes.

[snabbott]

My laptop has similar specs (but 4 Gb RAM), and MoE runs amazingly slowly on it.

[dark-daventry]

Hmm. Snabbot, do you have the gog.com version? I don't have my desktop on hand to test the performance out at the moment unfortunately. I left that back in my dorm room. I'm on my macbook at my house... No need to carry a desktop everywhere I go. I can't recall any serious issues with Mask running on my desktop, but I think I only played through the first level. I'll have to revisit that someday soon.

[Lambonius]

I never got around to playing either game. How many references and immersive details will I miss out on? I could probably dig up KQ7 somewhere if I had to.

At this point, the ONLY reason to play those games is to have a complete idea of the story going into TSL.  Otherwise, avoid them like the plague; they're both terrible.  Well, I suppose Mask of Eternity had a few redeeming qualities back in the day, but it hasn't aged well.

[Roivas]

Well, I suppose Mask of Eternity had a few redeeming qualities back in the day, but it hasn't aged well.
[/quote]

Ehhh... even for the time MoE was pretty outpaced by the other games on the shelf. Ocarina of Time came out the same year on the N64 and was even superior to MoE in terms of graphics in spite of being on a much more inferior console in terms of graphic ceiling.

[Matt Vassar]

References to Rosella's "carefree spirit" and her impending marriage to Edgar will make a whole lot more sense if you're familiar with KQ7.

There are fewer references to Connor and the Mask of Eternity (a conversation with the pawn shop owner comes to mind). Mask of Eternity is a God-awful game and I'd recommend avoiding it if at all possible (yes, I played it in full when it first came out, as well as all the other games. Two words: avoid it).

[liggy002]

I don't think you should play Mask of Eternity before or after anything at all.  Never would be a better idea.