Have you heard of Sierra Entertainment? Yes? Well I wasn't expecting another
answer. But did you knew that they have risen to glory with the series King's
Quest? No? I didn’t know it until recently too. For many years I have known
Sierra as the guys behind games like Empire Earth and Caesar.
Anyway believing it or not their golden series has
been King's Quest and it is now alive again with the latest re-imagining by Odd
Gentlemen and Sierra. But let's start from the beginning. What is King's Quest,
who is the King, why he gives quests to people?
Disclaimer: I have never played the old King's Quest
series, so I'll compare this one to other adventure games instead of its
predecessors. If you're looking for an opinion how the new game is compared to
the previous ones I'm afraid you will not find it here.
In the five series re-imagination you will follow the
story of Graham. From his hopeful knight exam up until the time he becomes King
Graham. Now, now, no need for harsh words. It's not like I spoiled anything,
you will learn this in the first minutes of the game.
King's Quest itself is structured in way of a story -
Graham tells his granddaughter her favourite story about how he tricked a
dragon and stole his treasure - a magical mirror and returned it to the King
who was so thankful that he made him a King. After the end of the story
Graham's granddaughter is not satisfied though and he decides to tell her
another one, one she has never heard before - the one of how he became a
Hopeful Knight.
Honestly there is not much to say about the game. King's
Quest even re-imagined is a classic adventure game. You walk around talk to
people, they request certain item from you, you hunt for it, solve puzzles,
bring them what they need, they give you new item and ultimately you complete your main
objective. By its spirit and mood the game reminds me of another classic and
that is Monkey Island. There are differences of course, like Graham is a lot
smarter than Threepwood for example. Not to mention that the series has more
action in it, well not as much as other similar games like Wolf among Us. But I
divert, KQ remind me of Monkey Island, because of its silliness and goofy
characters. For example the royal guard which after being chased by bees jump
in the water one by one only after they're attacked by the bees. Or...I'll
actually let you find the others on your own. Also as I already mentioned the
mood of the game is light and without much tension. The humour of the game is
also of similar "not-laughing-out-loud" type but more like
"smirk knowingly". A type that I have started to like more and more.
True, there is fail state in the game but when you die
the game brings you in front of the giant mirror where your story is displayed
while you tell it and old Graham or his granddaughter says something along the
lines of "This is not what happened" and then the game brings you
back to your latest checkpoint. Their remarks about your mistakes are mostly
witty and funny but not many and they quickly become repetitive (or I just
failed too many times). Will you fail as much as me? Well it depends how good
you are at QTE segments. The puzzles probably will not give you any trouble as
they are not really hard. For comparison Book of Unwritten Tales 2's ones gave
me a lot more trouble. The big issue that you will encounter is that you
will need to walk around a lot. This first episode is a lot bigger than other
episodic games. But the problem is not the wandering itself but the fact that
for some reason Odd Gentleman has not included a map in the game or any matter
of traveling fast between locations, so be prepared to get lost.
A cool thing that they did and is related to the
puzzle solving are the multiple solutions with different consequences. For
example when you need to find a new wheel for a cart, Graham goes in search for
something round and you might steal a shield or a table...or you might even buy
them, this choice also has its own consequences. Which only show how much more
thought the developers have put in the puzzle solving than it looks.
Another thing that I like in the new King's Quest is
the aesthetic. The game looks like a fairy tale of high quality and style. The
animations are nice, detailed and with good variation. The colours are vibrant
and bright. And while we are at this matter the voice acting is at top level too
which is great bearing in mind that there is a lot of talking going.
Conclusion
As someone who has never played the old King's Quests
I came to this game without any expectations. And I left impressed and inpatient
for the second episode. King's Quest is a lot longer and meatier than other
episodic adventure games and I find this fantastic. Also the game has great aesthetic;
it truly brings you in a fairy tale. A silly one, but greatly voiced. In other
words King's Quest does great job in immersing you in the tale. The game is
also not trying to be something that it is not and its jokes while not
hilarious definitely bring exactly the right amount of humour.
Under all this for good or for bad you will find a
classic adventure game. Graham with your help will help
people...creatures...characters to get certain items, then they in turn will
give him items that will allow him to advance the story. And this will repeat
until the fulfilment of the main objective. I cannot miss to mention that the
Odd Gentleman has gone a bit further in puzzle solving when they have made some
puzzles to have more than one solution, each with different consequences. This
logically brings also more than one end to the episode.
Now the classic aspect that I mentioned combined with
the size of the world that you roam and the lack of map creates a problem. You
will go by foot trough the same places quite a lot and this may be a problem
even for the biggest fans as it become tedious quite quick. Sadly even if it
sounds like a small problem it is a rather big one as it breaks the immersion
and turns the game into a choir.
Luckily this is the only real problem of the game and
if you can look past it, King's Quest 2015 is an adventure game that if you are
a fan of the genre you cannot miss. I hope that in the next episode they will
fix what they have missed in this one and will allow this great otherwise game
to shine in it’s fullest.
Links:
Няма коментари:
Публикуване на коментар