I just want to make a quick note slightly in defense of DMD's (and others') point of view on the whole "short/interactive movie" complaint. Now, after having read through a LOT of the forum topics relating to Episode 1, I understand that it was meant to be an introduction. This is perfectly fine. It's a beautiful introduction and well done, whether or not you think the narrator rambles too much or the mood is too dark (though there are kind of a lot of grammatically awkward lines, but that's getting off-topic). So anyways, the fact that Episode 1 is more intro than actual game is fine and actually kind of a nice idea. However, this was not clear (at least to me) before I downloaded and played the game. Granted, I haven't been to these forums in years and I didn't read many interviews about the game prior to its release, but I've received the newsletter for years (via a different account - I had trouble with the password reminder tool so I just gave up and made a new one) and I played the demo and that sort of thing. So if the Episode-1-is-just-an-introduction concept was discussed somewhere, I clearly missed it, and I would bet that many other KQ fans who are not hanging on POS' every word probably did too. Therefore, I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of the whole defensive attitude some of these comments take regarding the completely legitimate disappointment many of us felt when the episode was over and we'd collected a grand total of 3 items and used 2 in a very straightforward way. Had players been prepared for this ahead of time and been clearly informed that it was just a short intro, you'd be having a lot less complaining going on. My personal feeling is that when something is billed as an "episode", it's a segment of the game that is likely to be self-contained, but certainly has actual gameplay and puzzle-solving and significant progression (think Half-Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2). As I read somewhere else, it's kind of more accurate to call this a "prologue". So please accept that it is perfectly reasonable for people to have had greater expectations and subsequently be disappointed. It's also kind of silly to say "How can people be complaining about how bad the game is when they've only played the first part?? Save your judgment until you've played more of the game!!" Quite frankly, that's what happens when you release games in episodes. It's like a TV show. Your pilot has to set up the show's plot and characters and everything, but it also has to stand on its own and be enjoyable for viewers, or the show won't get good ratings. People cannot count on the promise of future episodes when they are judging the quality of a TV series or a game, and while I understand that you want people to reserve judgment until they've played the whole thing...that just isn't how the world generally works. I mean, these forums have a feedback section for the game so far! People have to operate based on the evidence at hand, and if you want their feedback, you have to accept that and work within the constraints of releasing games in episodic form. There's a reason people talk about first impressions being crucial - it's because they are, and it's no less true for games.
So to sum up: People were not sufficiently made aware ahead of time that this was merely an intro rather than a really playable section of the game. This led to disappointment, which means these people got a poor first impression from the game, and so they are inclined to complain. This is completely reasonable. So please, go ahead and keep telling everyone to calm down, that it's just an intro and it'll get more exciting in the next episode - but also understand that this is a legitimate complaint and use it constructively when it comes time to publicize things in the future. It pretty much just comes down to some miscommunication.
Anyways, just so you know - I do like this intro so far. I was really disappointed at first when I played through, but I am very relieved to know that things will pick up in Episode 2. The game looks great, I am mostly very happy with the voice acting, I love the music....I just can't believe that this was done by fans for free in their spare time. Thank you so much to everyone for working so hard on this. I do apologize if this comment came across as a**hole-ish or lecturing or ungrateful anything like that - I just honestly want people to understand why this critique keeps popping up. (Also, very sincere apologies for the lengthiness of this comment!)