King's Quest by the Odd Gentlemen (Trailer inside!)

[AndreaDraco]

Well, having played and liked The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, I think a clever mix of platforming, fast-paced sequences, character-driven narrative and ingenuity of writing may work fantastically for a game that is supposed to embody a fantasy caper in a wondrous land. Such a setting and such a tone don't blend well with the morality plays Telltale is currently exploring, but lends itself well, at least I think and hope, to a game more akin the aformentioned The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom or event Two Brothers.

At the cost of being unpopular, I will say that, as long as it is not a pure adventure game like those of yore -- a genre that unfortunately has become, in my opinion, narratively stale and cobwebby, incapable to innovate itself and, in doing so, amaze and spellbind --, I'm confident it could be a success.

[Collector]

Or an altenative to Threepwood there is this from BT:

[DeadPoolX]

As far as the graphics are concerned, there is no one defined look for the KQ series. We've had EGA (both AGI and SCI), VGA, SVGA, and 3D.

To me, this new KQ game doesn't look particularly childish or silly. It's just using an exaggerated, cel-shaded style.

I'm sure the less serious look is because the KQ series frames itself around fairy tales, and the cel-shaded graphics are probably to keep the recommended system requirements down.

We're not going to get the sort of graphics used in games like Battlefield 4 or Dragon Age: Inquisition. Even if we did get that, I'm sure someone would complain.

Beyond that, we simply don't know enough about the game to make a judgment call one way or the other. Instead of trying to rip the entire game apart based on a teaser that's less than two minutes, perhaps we should remain cautiously optimistic until we know more.

[Collector]

There was someone from Activision that posted on the Sierra Gamers FB group that it was most definitely not a platformer, so I am perfectly willing to assume that it was some misguided decision to make the trailer look action packed. I say misguided because of the likely primary customer base being disillusioned they way that many of the reactions have shown. I am willing to wait and see. I would still like to see a less cartoonish sprite style.

[MusicallyInspired]

I don't mind the stylized look. It's no where near as goofy as KQ7. At least not in my opinion. It's not straight cel-shaded, just a bit of shading. I'm perfectly happy with the look. I just want some more info on gameplay. I'm already trusting it's not a straight platformer. I do predict some kind of Tomb Raider-inspired approach (the old TR not the new TR), like AITD/Indy:IM mixed with classic puzzle solving. What I'm hoping for are large wide open areas (nothing like Skyrim or anything, but fairly large) or at least a lot of varied locations with more than 3 or 4 "rooms" each. We'll see.

I'm sure we'll see some fanmade tools eventually if this gets popular enough and then we can alter Graham's model to look a little less cartoony without the oversized nose, if that really bothers everybody.

[Gooey98]

I'm excited for this. Doesn't look exactly the same as the old games, but the setting/world look similar, and I think it will be a great game.
I never noticed this until I saw this trailer, but why is the feather on the left side of Graham's head in the first few games, but on the right side later on? That doesn't make sense to me.
Obviously Graham could put the feather on the other side of his hat if he wanted to, but I don't know why.

[Collector]

The evolution of Graham:

[Spikey]

I don't mind the look, because King's Quest is in dire need of adapting graphics to this age.
This is certainly a radical approach, but yeah, as has been said so were KQ4, KQ5 and KQ7; if it helps the overall atmosphere of the game, it is fine by me.

The trailer is somewhat hard to analyze. For the old fans, It is hard to deduce what the exact nature of the gameplay is, or what is gameplay or cutscene at all. There is no conversation or that many story elements shown. Dragon, dwarf, cave, forest. Nothing new. There are almost no characters in the trailer except for Grahms. All this must mean that they made the trailer to appeal to a different set of peoples than...well...us. If they meant to try and impress us, they would have had at least a small, dark sentence said by an evil, menacing wizardy foe, or something wise and powerful said by the someone along the vein of a Queen Icebella or Tatiana (yeah that was qfg but whatevs).

[Corwim]

Hm, not very impressed with the trailer really, at least it doesn't change my wariness about this game ever since they announced it. To be honest, the only thing that has got me really interested in this game so far is the excitement and approval that Ken and Roberta Williams have expressed for it.

Ah well, guess we'll have to wait and see where the focus of the gameplay will lie and how the actual game will turn out to be, I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best!

[Maxor127]

It looks more like a Dragon's Lair game than a King's Quest game, which I don't think will appeal to anyone. You can't resurrect one of the most famous adventure game franchises of all time, and not make it an adventure game. I like the graphics, though, if that's actual gameplay graphics and not cutscenes. Graham looks way too young and scrawny. But if it fits then story, then great. I don't really care if it's a true adventure game or not as long as it's good. But if it isn't an adventure game, it makes me doubt how much I'll like it.

[DeadPoolX]

According to Matt Korba (the lead designer at The Odd Gentlemen, who's been answering questions on Facebook in the Sierra Gamers group) this is definitely going to be an adventure game.

It's just that trailers demand action, and showing what generally makes up the bulk of adventure games -- such as dialogue, puzzles, and exploration -- translates into a very slow and boring trailer.

It's true it won't be point-and-click, but P&C doesn't really work well in a 3D environment anyway. Besides, they've also got to make the game playable on the consoles, so using a control scheme that depends on a mouse and keyboard setup wouldn't be smart.

It won't be a classic adventure game from the 80s or 90s, but that's a good thing. That style of gameplay is outdated and doesn't fit in with modern gaming standards. So long as the game has a good story, good characters, and has the general overall "feel" of a KQ title it'll do well.

[Rudy]

Also, it's a brand new game with a new story, so NOT a remake.

[MusicallyInspired]

Series of stories, actually. It is episodic.

He did say that it will certainly not be a platformer or action-oriented at all, that he values hard thinking, a sense of wonder, and exploration. I'm nothing but intrigued. I don't want to draw conclusions, but it sounds like he does actually get KQ.

[Collector]

Though it is not necessarily a deal breaker for me, I detest episodic releases. I probably will wait until all are released before buying.

[Tawmis]

Though it is not necessarily a deal breaker for me, I detest episodic releases. I probably will wait until all are released before buying.

Ditto.