Opinions of King's Quest II

[Sir Perceval of Daventry]

Continuing my series wherein we discuss our views and give retrospective reviews on the KQ games, next up is KQ2. After KQ1, we'll go forward to the last 3 games, which are the most controversial for their own reasons.

[Baggins]

You may want to divide KQ1 into two separate discussions.

[Damar]

I really love this game.  It's easily in my top three of all King's Quest.  Mostly that's due to nostalgia.  This was the first computer game I ever played.  I grew up on the game and was playing it before I could even correctly spell words like "horse."  I actually had to get a dictionary and write out a vocab list so that I could have it on hand to spell out the more difficult words.  Even before I played it, I watched my parents play it and offered ideas on what to do or how to word certain commands when the parser was being finicky.

I think the story of this game is simplistic, but there's an elegance in the simplicity.  And the game really seemed to push a lot of what these computer games could do by making you journey under the sea, then up in the sky.  I loved the different tones that each new area brought to the game.  And the Tower Realm was probably my first experience with surrealistic imagery (albeit of a 16 color variety.)  I remember thinking that it was just so weird that there was blue ground and a purple ocean and a pure white quartz tower.

I just had endless fun exploring Kolyma and every time I think of this game I think of myself as a small boy, playing with my family.

[Baggins]

Here is an opinon by John Williams back in 1992, discussing his favorite KQ games;

"King's Quest I" was the finest adventure game ever written, and the most fun to play.. I also liked "King's Quest II"  a lot. I think that both these games are great examples of the kinds of adventure games that I like to play and that started the whole adventure following in the first place... King's Quest I" and "King's Quest II" are unlike most computer games witten nowadays. Frankly, they don't feature the deep, complex plots of games  like "Police Quest III" and "Conquests of the Longbow" and don't have well-developed characters. Instead, basically these games are treasure hunts with lots of fun puzzles thrown in to add challenge. They feature simple goals -- you know what it takes to win the contest with the computer. For me, adventure games have always represented a pleasant diversion -- something I coudl boot up and get lost in for a few hours at the end of a long day. I view them the same way some people view a Rubics Cube or a crossword puzzle. I want simple goals -- something I can jump right into the middle of  and go -- even if I haven't sat with the game in weeks and completely forgotten what went on in the last play session. I want hard puzzles -- real mind benders -- so that when I solve one I can sit  smugly at the computer with a sense of satisfaction. This straighforward "goals and puzzles" approach of adventuring represents the oldest and purist approach to the art form. Everyone at Sierra has their own opinion of how adventure games should work, of course, but as for me, give me that old-time adventuring. Give me the early "King's Quests."

[Bludshot]

Hard for me to judge since it's so old.  But it seemed pretty basic and I remember I needed a walkthrough constantly.  I'm sure it was great for the time but it hasn't aged well.

[DawsonJ]

Hard for me to judge since it's so old.  But it seemed pretty basic and I remember I needed a walkthrough constantly.  I'm sure it was great for the time but it hasn't aged well.

Ditto. I didn't play 2 until after 7 (or MoE) came out.

[Baggins]

I played it after KQ5 and KQ6 (I played kQ5 first)... I may have even played it after playing KQ3 and KQ1SCI and KQ4... My judgements on it are not based on nostalgia really...

I still need to say my peace... I already said it in a few other threads... Oh well, maybe in a future post...

[Blackthorne]

I actually love KQ2 - sure, it's basically KQ1 jacked on some minor steroids, but it's fun.  Plus, I have sweet memories of it as a kid.  My cousin, Connor, had a copy of it and it would work on his computer, but not mine.  So we played it over at his house and had a blast.  I love the game.

In fact, I'd like to see a VGA remake that isn't an enhanced version, well, at least one that isn't Romancing the Stones.


Bt

[Baggins]

KQ2 brought alot of advancements to the series that most people don't seem to realize...

It was the first game to have a proper introduction cutscene. The game also has a linear storyline, longer and improved narration system. There is a description for almost everything, and global descriptions. There is almost three times the text compared to KQ1. The game added scripted events to the series, actions change the characters and locations of the world. For example the mermaid does not appear until you read the first door, the Antique Shop doesn't open until you read the second door, and you can't cross over to the castle until you read the third door.

The world feels more lived in, as many of the characters are connected to other characters, and the narration even explains how some characters are related to each other.... Grandma has some mysterious relationship to Dracula. The monks have a relationship with Dracula, and even warn you about him, giving you a cross to protect you. The ghoul and the ghosts also fear and respect the Count, explaining why they are tricked when you wear his Black Cloak and ring.

Hagatha and the old lady are connected. The old lady even goes as far to explain that Hagatha kidnapped her precious nightengale, and asks for you to get it back...

Grandma, Riding Hood and the Wolf are connected. Riding Hood even explains how the wolf stole the basket from her. She asks you to find the basket and bring it back to her!

You also learn from the flying horse, that he was transformed into a viper by the enchanter that wanders the land.

Each of these give the land a more lived in feel, in which the population interact with each other.

Characters tend to have alot more dialogue with Graham than any of the characters in KQ1.

The game also has a larger soundtrack, more places to explore than the first one.

There is a generally straightforward quest, that is explained to you from the start. In KQ1 it is very possible to start exploring without even talking to King Edward to learn your quest, and everything in the game is pretty random, you can finish everything in any order basically... None of the characters with maybe the exception of the woodcutter and his wife, have any relationship to any other character. Even the random characters really serve no purpose to the story as a whole, and have no relationship to any other characters.

The game has two endings, both a good and a bad one. Yes, the story is simple, but its at least more formed and linear than the completely random treasure hunt of the first one.