So I finished playing after a couple hours last night -- it mostly took that long because the game initially crashed a few times.
First, an obvious kudos for working so hard on re-creating this game. It's certainly a far cry from being completely amateur. Still, while I realize this game is a fan creation, I think there are a number of negatives I think are worth pointing out. I'd like to start off echoing some of the other feedback I've seen.
1. Narration. I get no personal emotional response listening to the narrator. I also decided it's not really bothersome that her explanations are long-winded. It actually does remind me of the style of King's Quest. What annoys me is that she has an explanation for freaking everything. I click on the wall, she has something to say. I click on the pillar, she has something to say; the painting, the plants, the tree, everything. And really, it's not that what she has to say is all that bad, it's just completely unnecessary. "The pillars are sturdy," really? Oh, and the rug! That, too, needs an explanation.
2. Navigation. It's been literally 18 years (a whole adult was formed) since KQ6, which this game seems to be modeled after. Maybe I could use my keyboard to move a character? Or a joystick? Furthermore, while the narrator has a response for every object, she pretty much decides when my character doesn't want to go somewhere. In fact I do have interest in going to the basement and seeing the tattered reception area. Maybe you could just say "the door is locked" or something. Also, there's actually a glitch worth noting -- when I walked to the right side out in front of the castle, my character literally fell through some little graphic hole. It wasn't intended... he didn't die or anything, but I couldn't get him out.
3. Lack of consistency with original. Since you're re-creating the land of Green Isles -- you're missing that house and garden that Prince Daventry used to pass outside town, with the beast lady or whoever living in it. You're also missing the backside of the castle. Also, don't you have creative license to say, fill in some of the old game's plot gaps? Another gem the narrator told me was "no one ever figured out what that building (on the left in town) was for" ... which first of all sounds like a total lie. But you could actually make that building useful instead. Oh! And the Isle of the Sacred Mountain had footholds you had to climb up, not a grand staircase. I also love how you get the choice to sail to whatever island you want to, unless it's not the one the game wants you to go to. It seems like the map was just a nifty feature creators wanted to incorporate, but didn't plan out.
4. "Pithy" comments. "Tick tock tick tock, are you done trying to do crazy things?" Why, thank you for calling me stupid over and over. I thought I was supposed to click on stuff, not be berated for doing it. And no "cosmic force, like game makers" stopped anything from being in that box, unless that cosmic force was laziness, in which case you could've just said "there's nothing in it."
5. Music. I think the music is really good, but I keep wondering if it will unfold somehow into the game. The piano playing is really dominant in the castle scenes to the point where I wonder if Graham is going to open a door and find someone playing the piano.
6. Puzzles! Seriously, could there be some in the next episode? ***SPOILER.
Onto some positives...
I do (seriously) think the game is a pretty spectacular rip-off of KQ6, and doing a decent job of doing KQ6 justice, so I'll be interested in playing further episodes. I also think that the dialog (outside the narrator, who can kiss my ass for the most part) is very King's Questian, and it doesn't bother me as much as I anticipated, especially because I can click through it. And as I said, I love the music. Some of the video direction is pretty great, too. And I like that there's at least ONE way to die in this episode (albeit the most obvious choice) and that it's not quite as Sierra-esque in that I can just push a "retry" button if it happens instead of an "oh crap, I forgot to save" moment.
