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Opinions on King's Quest VI

Started by Sir Perceval of Daventry, September 30, 2011, 06:03:26 PM

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Sir Perceval of Daventry

Quote from: Bludshot on October 02, 2011, 07:21:18 PM
I thought Alexander's personality reflected more of a flip in gender stereotypes typically associated with a romantic rescue story.  Cassima has a more confident role in the whole affair while Alexander is far more polite and reserved. 

I always found it pretty amusing and done in good taste, Alexander can be direct when he wants to be, his conversation with the archdruid and his challenge to Samhain come to mind, and as the rest of the royal family he is still clever and noble.

Yeah but his tough moments kind of don't jive with his overall character. Also, his voice actor doesn't really have a commanding sort of voice--so when he's being "tough" it doesn't really come off it. A person's voice matters A LOT. Maybe that's my issue with his character--how he's voiced. Consider how for some the voice actress for Rosella in KQ7 challenged or altered the perception of her character. Well, Alex's voice actor does that for me. He comes off overly timid and I don't really want that in an adventure game hero.

Consider, OT, for example that it was between Tom Selleck and Harrison Ford for the role of Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford is known for his deep, commanding voice--And it's a big part of what made the character a badass.

Cez

#21
Quote from: Sir Perceval of Daventry on October 02, 2011, 08:31:32 PM
Quote from: Bludshot on October 02, 2011, 07:21:18 PM
I thought Alexander's personality reflected more of a flip in gender stereotypes typically associated with a romantic rescue story.  Cassima has a more confident role in the whole affair while Alexander is far more polite and reserved.  

I always found it pretty amusing and done in good taste, Alexander can be direct when he wants to be, his conversation with the archdruid and his challenge to Samhain come to mind, and as the rest of the royal family he is still clever and noble.

Yeah but his tough moments kind of don't jive with his overall character. Also, his voice actor doesn't really have a commanding sort of voice--so when he's being "tough" it doesn't really come off it. A person's voice matters A LOT. Maybe that's my issue with his character--how he's voiced. Consider how for some the voice actress for Rosella in KQ7 challenged or altered the perception of her character. Well, Alex's voice actor does that for me. He comes off overly timid and I don't really want that in an adventure game hero.

Consider, OT, for example that it was between Tom Selleck and Harrison Ford for the role of Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford is known for his deep, commanding voice--And it's a big part of what made the character a badass.

You do know that you are talking about the guy that played the Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, right? :)


Cesar Bittar
CEO
Phoenix Online
cesar.bittar@postudios.com

Lambonius

Quote from: Cez on October 02, 2011, 10:46:52 PM

You do know that you are talking about the guy that played the Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, right? :)

You do know that Disney used pitch manipulation to deepen his voice for that part, right?  :)

Blackthorne

Yeah, we're talking about the dude from "Ice Castles"!

I thought Benson did a great job voicing Alexander.  As the part was written, he was perfect for it.


Bt
"You've got to keep one eye looking over your shoulder
you know it's going to get harder and harder as you
get older - but in the end you'll pack up, fly down south, hide your head in the sand.  Just another sad old man, all alone and dying of cancer." - Dogs, Pink Floyd.

Damar

I find it interesting that the people who liked Josh Mandel's voice as Graham (which I couldn't stand) don't like Benson as Alexander (who I think was awesome.)  I don't see Alexander being any more wimpy than Graham has been written.  If anything, I think he showed more strength in his dialogue than Graham ever did in 5.  Alexander got snippy with the Winged One's guards and with the vizier.  He was strong in his challenge to Samhain.  He sounded desperate with the Druids.  By comparison Graham was all please and thank yous through the entire game.  Maybe he showed a bit more backbone to Mordack.  Slightly.  Personally, I always thought KQ5 made Graham too wimpy.  I never thought that KQ6 did that to Alexander.

Different tastes I guess.

MusicallyInspired


Numbers

I personally don't believe that the acting ability in these games has ever been all that spectacular; as long as the voices match up with the faces, though, I don't really mind.  However, you have to admit that Josh Mandel got stuck with some pretty stupid lines in some parts.

"Thanks again for all your help!" --Graham when ordered to talk to the sleeping bandit

"Excuse me...can we talk...?"  --Graham when ordered to talk to the Yeti

And my favorite:

"Uh...nice birdie...good birdie...heh, heh...gootchie gootchie goo!"  --Graham trying to calm down the baby Roc
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

Sir Perceval of Daventry

But then there's his complete and utter sarcasm to the witch of the Dark Forest, his smooth way of handling the Gnome, and his shrewd handling of the Elf.

"Oh, I didn't know this was a PRIVATE forest. ::) Do you own it?"

"I DON'T THINK YOU NEED TO KNOW!"

"If I let you go, what will you do for me?"



Numbers

Graham, you shrewd negotiator, you.

And then there's one of my favorite parts in the game...

Cedric:  "Look out, Graham--there's a hole in the boat!"
(The boat, which had been working fine until Cedric pointed out the hole, spontaneously sinks.)
Graham:  "Help, hel-blururb!" *wheezes, splutters*
Cedric:  (flies away, leaving Graham to die)
Narrator:  Thanks for playing King's Quest V.

That death scene may have been a d!ck move on the part of the developers, but it was a funny one.  KQVI is noticeably absent of those kinds of scenes.  Unless you have really bad timing and save immediately before you turn into a beast.  That kinda sucks.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

crayauchtin

"If your translation is correct, that was 'May a sleepy hippopotamus lie down on your house keys,' but you're not sure. Unfortunately, your fluency in griffin-speak is too low."

We're roleplaying in the King's Quest world: come join in the fun!

Blackthorne

Quote from: crayauchtin on October 16, 2011, 04:23:28 PM
Best game ever.

Sharp, succinct and to the point!  Excellent review!


Bt
"You've got to keep one eye looking over your shoulder
you know it's going to get harder and harder as you
get older - but in the end you'll pack up, fly down south, hide your head in the sand.  Just another sad old man, all alone and dying of cancer." - Dogs, Pink Floyd.

Cez

Quote from: Sir Perceval of Daventry on October 07, 2011, 05:07:27 PM

"Oh, I didn't know this was a PRIVATE forest. ::) Do you own it?"


Heh, I remember this line very well. This actually influenced me on how I wrote some of Graham's lines in TSL. I remember when I wrote a description of him to go by, one of the things I wrote is that he could have a sense of sarcasm when talking to people "of evil", or that performed deeds he disagreed with. In a sense, that's where his reply to Black Widow comes from when she mentions where all good men have gone to and he says, playing off her own dialog: "Maybe that's because you've eaten them all-- I mean, overwhelmed them all!". In Ep4, he plays with Azure's sense of superiority as well.

When he faces the main evil, however, he's very different. Always showing the strength of a hero.


Cesar Bittar
CEO
Phoenix Online
cesar.bittar@postudios.com