The narrator's job is to communicate with the player, but at the same time, the narrator usually treats the player like the character. Basically, while these games have a third person design, they're more of a first person game. When I play a game, I don't think "Graham needs to do this, or Graham just died," it's more of, "I need to do this or I just died." So whether the narrator says "Dying for a drink, Graham," speaking directly to the character or "Riddle fiddle what to do? Something sticky, there's a clue" aimed directly at the player and giving a hint it feels the same to me because its an immersive game and I am both the player and the character. So even when the character doesn't "get" a reference and I do, I still feel like a wall is being broken because the narrator is exiting the world of the immersive game and separating me from the playable character to make a private joke to me. Ultimately though, that's all personal perceptions one way or the other and hair splitting and gets away from the actual question which is whether the narrator is too sarcastic to the point that her genre ceases to be a Kings Quest. Well that and whether she compares to a owl that wouldn't go anywhere fun.
And when it comes down to it, even though I agree the narrator in TSL was more sarcastic than past Kings Quests, I don't think it was by much, and I certainly think she's far closer to Kings Quest territory than Space Quest territory. Space Quest was merciless in it's mockery of both the player/Roger (though parenthetically I think it's a good illustration of the fact that regularly breaking the fourth wall and being sarcastic is funny. The issue is whether it works with the genre of game. It does with Space Quest. It would get old with Kings Quest if done anything more than rarely. And it drove me crazy with Quest for Glory. Stupid puns!) Also, even without the mocking, Space Quest VI had Roger directly speaking to the narrator. And you didn't have to go out of your way to find it. It happened in regular cut scenes. The TSL narrator is much closer to the punny jokes and occasional reality blurring of the Kings Quest narrators than to Gary Owens, or any previous Space Quest narrative text. Much closer. And as for the narrator and Graham directly interacting with each other, unless I'm forgetting something obvious (it happens) it doesn't really happen much at all. The only one jumping right to mind is when Graham burns himself, the narrator laughs, and Graham reacts. And you have to go out of your way to do that. It's got to be the one torch in your room and you've got to think that touching fire is a good idea. Personally I think it comes close to an easter egg. So like I said, I'll grant that TSL narrator is a bit more of a spitfire than past narrators, but she's still very much in the genre of a Kings Quest narrator. I don't think she's anywhere near a Space Quest narrator.