Question re: SQ series

[Tawmis]

I like it. Fight me.

It's on like Donkey Kong... er... Sierra Championship Boxing, I mean!

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No, but really ever since it came out and my dad bought it brand new I thought it was a really neat direction to take King's Quest in. It's still largely adventure-oriented. You have an inventory, there are puzzles to solve. Sure they're simplistic by comparison, but I still enjoyed it.
MOE has been ragged on for years and I feel like it's just a kneejerk reaction now. Like hating on Escape From Monkey Island or something (which I do hate on). But I never did dislike it.

The voice acting is... horrid. Perhaps if I mute it I might be able to play it.
MoE, for me, has been one of the games; even back in the day when it came out, I was simply never able to get into. I remember the intro... and having to see the statues of everyone... and something to collect to free Daventry...
But... nothing ever pulled me into it. Not even the fact that it was a "Sierra" game.
I tried to replay Codename: Iceman an infinite amount of more times, despite the endless frustrations back in the day, more than I ever did MoE.

I don't agree at all that it looks worse than AGI/SCI. You won't convince me there.

It's funny; because for me AGI/SCI looks infinitely better than early 90's 3D graphics.

I tend not to blame games for their graphics quality being a product of their times (and 3D graphics were still in their toddler phase). I also thought the music was great, which is a huge factor in me enjoying games (big surprise).

I will say, Wizardry 7 and 8, both suffer from the "toddler 3D" games; but I've at least beaten both of those several times.
But I actually prefer the other Wizardry games, because the graphics are simple and not so... visually jarring.

[Tawmis]

Well, I won't get into the KQ7/MOE controversy, since I never played either.

I would, despite my clear dislike of MoE, still recommend trying it. What didn't work for me, may work for everyone else.

But I went ahead and got SQ4, 5 and 6, as well as Conquests of the Longbow (yay Christy Marx! ) and GK2. I've never completed any of these games (except for SQ4), and I haven't played SQ6 before. So I'm curious.

The Narrator makes SQ6 a really good game, for that one bit. Otherwise, there were some fun, unique moments... but it felt like a different game. In some regards, it felt like it tried too hard to be funny.

Speaking of Christy Marx, I tried playing Conquests of Camelot too, back in the day, and was always stuck in the duel with the Black Knight. It was painful. So I gave up. It was too bad, but I just couldn't get through it.
Same thing happened to me with CotL ... I kept getting stuck in the board game with the monk, which is why I gave up, back in the day. Anyway, I'm going to give it another try. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! Lay on, MacDuff!
(And yes, I know CotL is Robin Hood, which was centuries before Shakespeare. I've just done lots of research and annotations for a Shakespeare song, so I was on a major Shakespeare bender).

Well in the age of the internet for hints and answers; have you considered revisiting?

Not too far off of where I would rate them, but I would place KQ2 at the bottom and KQ6 at the top. Though I do not dislike MoE, I don't include it in any such list as I do not think of it as a true KQ. As to SQ, invert 5 and 4 and we are good. Sacrilege to some certainly, but I just plain got more enjoyment out of 5.

I think most put KQ6 at the top. And if you love Star Trek, you will love SQ5, undoubtedly, for it's immense amount of references.

Such lists are not just personal tastes, but fist exposure to these games and how they struck you at the time is a big factor. And often the fist game played in the series is the favorite for many. There is no love like your first love, after all.

Heh, which is interesting; because KQ1 was officially the first game I played; but the night and day thing in KQ4 blew my mind. And being the first "girl main character" was so different, that it always stuck out to me.
And while LSL1 was the second game I played; LSL2 is by far my favorite, because it felt so immensely large compared to LSL1. And the box cover is hands down one of the best covers on any Sierra game. Ever.
Other than perhaps, the KQ4 cover we never got....

[notbobsmith]

Speaking of Christy Marx, I tried playing Conquests of Camelot too, back in the day, and was always stuck in the duel with the Black Knight. It was painful. So I gave up. It was too bad, but I just couldn't get through it.
Same thing happened to me with CotL ... I kept getting stuck in the board game with the monk, which is why I gave up, back in the day. Anyway, I'm going to give it another try. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! Lay on, MacDuff!
(And yes, I know CotL is Robin Hood, which was centuries before Shakespeare. I've just done lots of research and annotations for a Shakespeare song, so I was on a major Shakespeare bender).

Well in the age of the internet for hints and answers; have you considered revisiting?

Tawmis is right, there are tips and tricks to the joust, and you can adjust the difficulty of the arcade sequences. The Knight also gives you the option to skip the joust entirely.

My $0.02:
KQ6
KQ4
KQ3
KQ7
KQ2
KQ1
KQ5
MOE

I honestly think that KQ6 is one of the best examples of the adventure genre. MOE... it doesn't feel like a KQ game and I don't think it was a good example of the game it was trying to be.

SQ3
SQ4
SQ2
SQ6
SQ5
SQ1

[Tawmis]

My $0.02:
KQ6
KQ4
KQ3
KQ7
KQ2
KQ1
KQ5
MOE
I honestly think that KQ6 is one of the best examples of the adventure genre. MOE... it doesn't feel like a KQ game and I don't think it was a good example of the game it was trying to be.

Without a doubt, I think, realistically, KQVI surpasses KQIV in every regard (graphics, story, etc.) - but I think KQ4 for me, is like that one movie or book you read, that knocks your socks off - and you've clearly read better books (or seen better movies) - but that one that really blew your mind just stays at the top. And I think that's what it is for me and KQ4.

And... I think you may have nailed it for my problems with MoE. You're right ... it didn't feel like it knew what it wanted it to be. Did it want to be King's Quest? Did it want to be Quest for Glory?
The dated 3D graphics (for me) make it visually jarring to get into (as I said, AGI/SCI is easier on the eyes for me), the voice acting (even back when I first played it), I just remember thinking, "This is pretty horrible." It detracted back then from getting into it - just like an Audio Book of your favorite novel being read by someone who can't do different character impressions, and everything sounds flat and boring. It's your favorite book (Sierra is the favorite company in this case), but the audio is making it impossible to enjoy (on top of the visual).

SQ3
SQ4
SQ2
SQ6
SQ5
SQ1

Interesting you put SQ3 on top like I did. Something about SQ3 is magical.

Or should I say, out of this world.

[Rath Darkblade]

Tawmis is right, there are tips and tricks to the joust, and you can adjust the difficulty of the arcade sequences. The Knight also gives you the option to skip the joust entirely.

He does??? Well, I never ... I never got the option to skip the joust. Or maybe ... I really can't remember.

Dammit, now I want to play Conquests of Camelot again! I'll head over to GOG and see if it's still on sale.....

[MusicallyInspired]

Skipping the joust does affect your overall honour score at the end though I believe. But if you do everything else right you'll still beat the game just fine.