Went to reddit and asked...

[Tawmis]

... folks to rank the KQ games, worse to best - and no surprise, generally KQ6 was the best. KQ4 landed a few times there. But surprisingly a lot of people also put KQ3 there as the best.

[Rath Darkblade]

No surprise? Why?

Surely this is a matter of personal preference. It doesn't make KQ6 "better" or "worse" than any other KQ game. It's just a matter of what you, or someone else, thinks. Tomorrow they might think differently.

I'd also be interested in how many people were simply trolling, along the lines of "KQ6 is best! Boo to all the rest!" etc. Such votes, obviously, shouldn't be taken seriously.

[Tawmis]

No surprise? Why?

Surely this is a matter of personal preference. It doesn't make KQ6 "better" or "worse" than any other KQ game. It's just a matter of what you, or someone else, thinks. Tomorrow they might think differently.

I'd also be interested in how many people were simply trolling, along the lines of "KQ6 is best! Boo to all the rest!" etc. Such votes, obviously, shouldn't be taken seriously.

No, folks ranked the games. And most provided reasons, for the ranks. (You can click the thread and see the entire thing).

[Rath Darkblade]

Um, sorry; where is the thread? *shrug* All I can see is what you posted, i.e. this:

"Went to reddit and asked...
Post by Tawmis » Sat May 11, 2024 8:47 am

... folks to rank the KQ games, worse to best - and no surprise, generally KQ6 was the best. KQ4 landed a few times there. But surprisingly a lot of people also put KQ3 there as the best."

So ... where is the reddit thread?

[Tawmis]

Um, sorry; where is the thread? *shrug* All I can see is what you posted, i.e. this:

"Went to reddit and asked...
Post by Tawmis » Sat May 11, 2024 8:47 am

... folks to rank the KQ games, worse to best - and no surprise, generally KQ6 was the best. KQ4 landed a few times there. But surprisingly a lot of people also put KQ3 there as the best."

So ... where is the reddit thread?

You and your weird ass browser issues. Do you not see the embedded reddit post?

Anyway thread.

[Rath Darkblade]

Oh! I didn't realise it was embedded. (I use NoScript, a free and open-source extension. By default, NoScript blocks active (executable) web content, which can be wholly or partially unblocked).

So, if any website is running malicious script, by default, my browser won't run it. On the other paw, my browser won't run non-malicious script either, unless I allow it. Now that I allowed it, I can see the embedded reddit post.

It's interesting ... but what the last person said about PQ1 is disgusting. ("All of Police Quest can eat a ****." Charming!)

Personally, I would rank them as follows (from best to worst):

1. KQ4. I finally played it a year or two ago, and I love the female protagonist, and the day-night cycles. I love the fact that it's all up to Rosella. Female protagonists can kick ass too. I wonder why there aren't more of them.

2. KQ6. Alexander finally gets his own game. The setting feels slightly smaller, however. But Alex has to go from island to island, which makes it bigger.

3. KQ5. Yes, I know I diss Cedric a bit -- but not because of the poisonous/venomous thing. It's just that, Graham is trying to explore the world, and as soon as he does, Cedric starts to mother him. "Ooh no, don't go in there!" OK, Cedric ... please let me make my own decisions, and stop nagging me. If I die, I die. But it's up to me. Stop it. Please.

Other than Cedric, everything is great here. The hand-painted scenery is superb. The world is vast. The tension is palpable as you sneak into the wizard's castle. (As Deekin would say, "The tension builds! The music swells!")

The only bad thing (other than Cedric) are the dead ends.

4. QfG1, 2 and 3. I'm putting these together because I couldn't play them until the remakes. (The DOS versions always crashed for me, not sure why). Once I did -- they are superb games. (And yes, KQ3 is very intense, especially in the beginning).

5. KQ7. I haven't played it yet. I should do that one of these days.

6. KQ8. I just couldn't play it. And I tried. I really, REALLY tried. But it was way too dark and depressing.

7. 2015 KQ game. I haven't played it yet. Is it good?

[notbobsmith]

You and your weird ass browser issues. Do you not see the embedded reddit post?

Anyway thread.

I had the same problem. All I see in your initial post is "reddit" in orange in a larger font. No link.

KQ6 is widely regarded as the best of the series. I've also seen it as Best Adventure game in general. I tend to agree, at least as best in the series. Multiple paths and endings (very rare for Sierra). Good puzzles. The islands really capture the sense of whimsy the series has. No way to "dead-end" the game that I am aware of.

I'm not going to rank all of them just now, but (not counting Mask of Eternity) I'd put KQ5 as worst. Only one way to finish the game. I think you can only get the maximum score, even. Several ways to "dead-end" which is a big step back in terms of game design. Most other games had solved this years before. A bunch of non-nonsensical puzzles: cheese for the magic transference machine? And a reliance on random encounters: you have to get caught and end up in the dungeon when your instinct is to avoid being caught. And I haven't even mentioned Cedric.

7. 2015 KQ game. I haven't played it yet. Is it good?

It's... okay. It was released in chapters. Over a few years if I recall correctly. The first chapter was pretty good. Pretty much what you expect from an adventure game: exploration, getting inventory items, solving puzzles. Subsequent chapters moved away from that and ended up being more of a puzzle game. I got the impression that the team ran out of ideas and/or budget.

[Tawmis]

4. QfG1, 2 and 3. I'm putting these together because I couldn't play them until the remakes. (The DOS versions always crashed for me, not sure why). Once I did -- they are superb games. (And yes, KQ3 is very intense, especially in the beginning).

I assume you mean KQ1, 2 and 3?

For the crashing - are you using DOSBox on the originals?
And are they pirated copies?

[Tawmis]

You and your weird ass browser issues. Do you not see the embedded reddit post?
Anyway thread.

I had the same problem. All I see in your initial post is "reddit" in orange in a larger font. No link.

Weird. Are you running the noscript thing similar to Rath? Because the embed is on both forum themes.

[Rath Darkblade]

KQ6 is widely regarded as the best of the series. I've also seen it as Best Adventure game in general. I tend to agree, at least as best in the series. Multiple paths and endings (very rare for Sierra). Good puzzles. The islands really capture the sense of whimsy the series has. No way to "dead-end" the game that I am aware of.

Wait, what? I solved KQ6 in one way, and that's the only way I know of. (Yes, I now remember the multiple endings - i.e. you save the girl or you don't. By "you don't", of course, I mean that you don't save the girl because so-and-so arrests you / the genie turns against you / etc., etc. But that's pretty common for Sierra).

So what do you mean by "multiple paths"? I only found one.

I'm not going to rank all of them just now, but (not counting Mask of Eternity) I'd put KQ5 as worst. Only one way to finish the game. I think you can only get the maximum score, even. Several ways to "dead-end" which is a big step back in terms of game design. Most other games had solved this years before. A bunch of non-nonsensical puzzles: cheese for the magic transference machine? And a reliance on random encounters: you have to get caught and end up in the dungeon when your instinct is to avoid being caught. And I haven't even mentioned Cedric.

Hmm, I agree about the dead-ends.

I forgot about the cheese for the magic transference machine ... how does that make sense? But surely that's not as ridiculous as the cat moustache.

And what's so bad about Cedric? I agree he's annoying. A bit like the KQ equivalent of Jar-Jar from Star Wars. But he's not a gamebreaker, right?

[Rath Darkblade]

4. QfG1, 2 and 3. I'm putting these together because I couldn't play them until the remakes. (The DOS versions always crashed for me, not sure why). Once I did -- they are superb games. (And yes, KQ3 is very intense, especially in the beginning).

I assume you mean KQ1, 2 and 3?

For the crashing - are you using DOSBox on the originals?
And are they pirated copies?

Yes, I mean KQ1, 2 and 3. Oops.

As for pirated copies -- Of course not! The KQ series is affordable enough on GOG, there's no need for piracy.

But the crashes were happening years and years and years ago, back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth (and used 5.25" disks). I think KQ1 was the only one I played, and I never got very far.

Now that I have access to the AGDI versions of KQ1, 2 and 3, I see no reason to play the originals again. The AGDI versions are (surprise, surprise) far better-looking, and in the case of KQ3, less nerve-wracking.

[Tawmis]

Now that I have access to the AGDI versions of KQ1, 2 and 3, I see no reason to play the originals again. The AGDI versions are (surprise, surprise) far better-looking, and in the case of KQ3, less nerve-wracking.

Prettier does not always mean better.

[notbobsmith]

KQ6 is widely regarded as the best of the series. I've also seen it as Best Adventure game in general. I tend to agree, at least as best in the series. Multiple paths and endings (very rare for Sierra). Good puzzles. The islands really capture the sense of whimsy the series has. No way to "dead-end" the game that I am aware of.

Wait, what? I solved KQ6 in one way, and that's the only way I know of. (Yes, I now remember the multiple endings - i.e. you save the girl or you don't. By "you don't", of course, I mean that you don't save the girl because so-and-so arrests you / the genie turns against you / etc., etc. But that's pretty common for Sierra).

So what do you mean by "multiple paths"? I only found one.

I had to look up exactly what they were. I only really remembered the one with Cassima's parents:

https://strategywiki.org/wiki/King%27s_ ... ow/Endings

[notbobsmith]

You and your weird ass browser issues. Do you not see the embedded reddit post?
Anyway thread.

I had the same problem. All I see in your initial post is "reddit" in orange in a larger font. No link.

Weird. Are you running the noscript thing similar to Rath? Because the embed is on both forum themes.

I'm using Firefox. My security was set to "Strict". I can see it now when I set it to "Standard".

[Tawmis]

You and your weird ass browser issues. Do you not see the embedded reddit post?
Anyway thread.

I had the same problem. All I see in your initial post is "reddit" in orange in a larger font. No link.

Weird. Are you running the noscript thing similar to Rath? Because the embed is on both forum themes.

I'm using Firefox. My security was set to "Strict". I can see it now when I set it to "Standard".

Ah, interesting. I guess I am too trusting and left Chrome, on whatever it's version of "Standard" is.