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QfG4 music = all foreboding? Lack of diversity? Not a bit of it. Just think of the music in Erana's Peace, or in Erana's Dream, or near the Staff of Erana, or the battle music (any!), or... 'nuff said.

As for which my favourite QfG game is? Hard to say. I like QfG1 (EGA) for nostalgic reasons, as it was the game that first introduced me to Sierra games in the first place (though not to graphics-based adventure games - that honour (?) belongs to the EGA Maniac Mansion).
Compared to QfG1, I like QfG2 for the more involved story, the more developed characters, the more difficult puzzles.

QfG3... not so much, but it serves to build up Rakeesh's and Uhura's respective back-stories, and also introduces some of the most endearing characters in the QfG canon: Kreesha, Salim, Harami, Manu, Rajah, the Laibon, etc... The top-down map gives an idea of the sheer scale of the Fricanan savannah; you could travel for days and not get anywhere.

For sheer inventiveness, atmosphere, story and characters, though, you can't beat QfG4 in the series. Everyone has something to do, a quest to accomplish (with the exception of the poor fighter, who's stuck with "just kill every monster - hurrah!")

I got QfG5 when it came out (Christmas 1999), installed it straight away and played it for about 6 hours straight. (I was much younger and much stupider in those days). :p I liked QfG5 back then for its (comparatively) lush and beautiful background graphics, the setting, the characters (some recurring, some not), and so on. Of course, I also had some pet peeves... the hero's animation was stilted. The thief traps were sometimes much too hard to solve in time. The Dragon sometimes escaped before I could kill it. And don't even get me started about what happened to Katrina. On the other hand, I loved the pseudo-Greek setting and the characters and quests.

So to cut a long story short (too late!)... it's not really possible to choose. They're all good, but for different reasons. Sorry.

The narration by John Rhys Davies is the icing on the cake for QfG4 and even though much of it music is borrowed, it is forever indelibly etched into my mind whenever I think of the game. It is a real auditory treat.

You are getting tired.
It doesn't budge.

Can I say "I know what you mean", or will I come across as a complete Captain Obvious?

Rath Darkblade wrote:You are getting tired.
It doesn't budge.

Ahh I can hear his voice clear as day in my mind.

Probably QFG1. I think it's the best overall. QFG4 is a close second. It had the best story and atmosphere, but the combat system brought it down a notch.

Surprisingly enough, I don't think I ever posted in this thread.

My favorite QFG games would be HQ/QFG1 and QFG5.

While the overall plot in the first game was nothing new, the game itself was fun and different from Sierra's other offerings. I also played QFG1 when it was originally Hero's Quest, although to be honest, I prefer the QFG name.

I'm not sure which HQ/QFG1 version I like better -- the original EGA or the redone VGA copy made later. Obviously, the graphics in the VGA version were superior to the EGA version; however, I didn't like the claymation-like character portraits in the VGA remake.

Overall I think I like QFG5 the most out of the entire series. I liked the setting, the graphics (which at the time were stunning), the interactivity, character choices, potential romances (reminds me a little of BioWare's games) and seeing old friends.

One thing about QFG5 I really enjoyed was the new combat system. It felt far more fluid and it was much easier to control and attack enemies. I hated the "mash the keypad buttons until I hit something and kill it" approach used in the early QFG games.

Yes, I know many people praise QFG2 and/or QFG4, but I didn't care for either. QFG2 seemed like it went on forever and the I felt completely lost half the time. I think I got turned off QFG4 due to some game breaking bugs. I had the diskette version, so maybe that was the issue.

While QfG4 is still my favorite, one thing for the combat in QfG5 was that it did not go into a special screen for the fight that broke the immersion in the game's world.

DeadPoolX wrote: I think I got turned off QFG4 due to some game breaking bugs. I had the diskette version, so maybe that was the issue.

Understandable. The diskette version was far buggier than the CD, though the CD still had a couple of timer issues, too. Nearly all of these have been addressed by the NRS patches and especially DOSBox.

DeadPoolX wrote: Overall I think I like QFG5 the most out of the entire series. I liked the setting, the graphics (which at the time were stunning), the interactivity, character choices, potential romances (reminds me a little of BioWare's games) and seeing old friends.

Seeing old friend from the previous game was my favorite part of the game too. I love when a series shows this degree of continuity, much like with Gabriel Knight 3 when Mosely reappears in Rennes-le-Chateau.

One thing about QFG5 I really enjoyed was the new combat system. It felt far more fluid and it was much easier to control and attack enemies. I hated the "mash the keypad buttons until I hit something and kill it" approach used in the early QFG games.

I agree. I always avoided combat in the other games, feeling that it was clunky and often unrepsonsive, but in QfG5 it was very nicely designed, even if, perhaps, a bit too action-y. Since you mentioned BioWare, I would like an active-pause option on this game too

QFG2 seemed like it went on forever and the I felt completely lost half the time. I think I got turned off QFG4 due to some game breaking bugs. I had the diskette version, so maybe that was the issue.

QfG2 remains my favorite, mostly because of the Arabian setting which I find deeply fascinating. And yes, with the map at hand, I actually enjoyed navigating to the mase of streets. It was, in a very peculiar way, extremely realistic

DeadPoolX wrote:I'm not sure which HQ/QFG1 version I like better -- the original EGA or the redone VGA copy made later. Obviously, the graphics in the VGA version were superior to the EGA version; however, I didn't like the claymation-like character portraits in the VGA remake.

I have trouble deciding which I like better too. Quest for Glory 1 VGA is one of the few Sierra remakes that I like as much as the original. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. The VGA version has slightly better audio and combat, and of course better graphics. And the icon interface made more sense due to the repetitive nature of a lot of actions.

But the EGA version still has charm in its graphics, and the audio is still excellent, and the combat graphics are nice to look at. And best of all, I like typing made uncovering dialog more challenging, which I actually liked. I liked it so much that I resorted to playing it on a huge 2-color Tandy laptop with a tiny screen. So I played in glorious blue and gray with PC speaker sounds. Actually, that's not true, I was resourceful and used a video in/out cable to hook it up to my Commodore 64 monitor so I could at least play it in black and white without straining my neck. I also played Conquests of Camelot and Black Cauldron that way.

DeadPoolX wrote:Overall I think I like QFG5 the most out of the entire series. I liked the setting, the graphics (which at the time were stunning), the interactivity, character choices, potential romances (reminds me a little of BioWare's games) and seeing old friends.

One thing about QFG5 I really enjoyed was the new combat system. It felt far more fluid and it was much easier to control and attack enemies. I hated the "mash the keypad buttons until I hit something and kill it" approach used in the early QFG games.

If it weren't for the combat, I'd like QFG5 a lot more. I liked the setting and everything too. I even liked the graphics as opposed to some of the more "3d" games, like Mask of Eternity and GK3. Maybe because they used voxels and it allowed for more detail?

DeadPoolX wrote:Yes, I know many people praise QFG2 and/or QFG4, but I didn't care for either. QFG2 seemed like it went on forever and the I felt completely lost half the time. I think I got turned off QFG4 due to some game breaking bugs. I had the diskette version, so maybe that was the issue.

I had the Sierra Originals CD so most of the bugs were probably cleaned up by then. I'd actually been waiting for a Mac version, but when it was canceled, I was out of luck. Then my dad got a Mac with a DOS Compatibility card and it played QFG4 along with a few other Sierra games I was missing out on.

AndreaDraco wrote:

DeadPoolX wrote: One thing about QFG5 I really enjoyed was the new combat system. It felt far more fluid and it was much easier to control and attack enemies. I hated the "mash the keypad buttons until I hit something and kill it" approach used in the early QFG games.

I agree. I always avoided combat in the other games, feeling that it was clunky and often unrepsonsive, but in QfG5 it was very nicely designed, even if, perhaps, a bit too action-y. Since you mentioned BioWare, I would like an active-pause option on this game too

I don't think pausing would've really been necessary.

In BioWare's games you can pause, but that's mostly to give orders to your teammates and possibly switch weapons. You can do all of those in real-time, but pausing makes it easier.

You don't have any party members in QFG5. At one point you can team up with Elsa to kill the hydra and later everyone else groups together when fighting the dragon at the end, but those are the only times you're in a group. For the majority of the game, you're alone, like in every other QFG.

I didn't like QFG5's combat. I liked it in theory, but in reality I remember just clicking as fast as I could. I don't remember any skill being involved. And the worst part was that I'd often be fighting enemies in the distance and I could barely see what was going on.

I agree. Combat in almost every other QfG game (but particularly in QfG3 and 4) was better than QfG5. I liked combat in QfG3 because it reinforced that one-on-one feeling, and the background gave a hint of the idea of "chaos of battle". In QfG4, the spatial movement of the antagonists felt smoother and more "real".