The Good and the Bad - King's Quest Edition.

[Tawmis]

So we all love Sierra games - but no game is perfect. Not even KQVI (I am looking at you folks who don't realize KQIV is the best KQ game!)

Anyway -

What is good AND bad about...

King's Quest 1 - EGA
King's Quest 1 - SCI (the remake by Sierra)
King's Quest II -
King's Quest III -
King's Quest IV -
King's Quest V -
King's Quest VI -
King's Quest VII -



.... I guess there might be people who think something is good about Mask of Eternity?
Mask of Eternity -

[Collector]

King's Quest 1 - VGA

You mean the AGDI fan game?

[Tawmis]

King's Quest 1 - VGA

You mean the AGDI fan game?

I should call SCI. I always call it VGA.

[Collector]

All SCI0 & SCI01 games are EGA. Most SC1+ are VGA, there are a few SCI1 games that have EGA variants. A couple are basically VGA, but include an EGA driver that simulates EGA by dithering the palette to drop it down to 16 colors.

[Tawmis]

All SCI0 & SCI01 games are EGA. Most SC1+ are VGA, there are a few SCI1 games that have EGA variants. A couple are basically VGA, but include an EGA driver that simulates EGA by dithering the palette to drop it down to 16 colors.

Just gonna call it "NON EGA ORIGINAL VERSION"

[BBP]

Haven't gotten round to completing KQ1 yet.

King's Quest II -
Good: mutiple solutions to puzzles, vampire, effective
Bad:
MARRY GIRL
Don't be in such a hurry, you don't even know her.
ASK NAME
You ask the lady her name. "Valanice," she responds.
MARRY GIRL
Congratulations! You are now engaged to Valanice!


King's Quest III -
Good: Immersive story, punishments (I loved being a snail), hiding things from the wizard, Erlkönig, multiple ways to get past the yeti. (Take THAT, KQ%!)
Bad: ending is a bit awkward.

King's Quest IV -
Good: immersive story, making friends with animals, extended bad endings, gorgeous art
Bad: TROLL CAVE

King's Quest V -
Good: Weeping Willow song, graphics, Petra, tiddly-winks
Bad: nonsensical puzzles, maze abundance, waiting puzzle, voice acting

King's Quest VI -
Good: music, voice acting, puzzles, multiple endings, branching puzzle in easy and hard path, scene in the Land of the Dead visits the screen where you go all too often when you "die", sword fight...
Bad: Girl In The Tower

King's Quest VII -
Good: Epitaphs, pretty woodlands, Colin, dr. Cadaver, Land Beyond Dreams
Bad: Falderal, Boogeyman, They Don't Run, final puzzle with the wand.

[Rath Darkblade]

King's Quest II -
Good: multiple solutions to puzzles, vampire, effective
Bad:
MARRY GIRL
Don't be in such a hurry, you don't even know her.
ASK NAME
You ask the lady her name. "Valanice," she responds.
MARRY GIRL
Congratulations! You are now engaged to Valanice!

I've never played KQ2 (EGA, that is), but that had me howling in laughter.

[Tawmis]

King's Quest II -
Good: mutiple solutions to puzzles, vampire, effective
Bad:
MARRY GIRL
Don't be in such a hurry, you don't even know her.
ASK NAME
You ask the lady her name. "Valanice," she responds.
MARRY GIRL
Congratulations! You are now engaged to Valanice!

You're not wrong about that ending...!

King's Quest III -
Good: Immersive story, punishments (I loved being a snail), hiding things from the wizard, Erlkönig, multiple ways to get past the yeti. (Take THAT, KQ%!)
Bad: ending is a bit awkward.

What did you find awkward about the end? That Graham and Valanice didn't search for their abducted son?
I am guessing, there's some backstory about how they did and could never find him. Somewhere.

King's Quest IV -
Good: immersive story, making friends with animals, extended bad endings, gorgeous art
Bad: TROLL CAVE

The troll cave is very much like the ... is it SQ2 cave with the gem in mouth.

King's Quest V -
Good: Weeping Willow song, graphics, Petra, tiddly-winks
Bad: nonsensical puzzles, maze abundance, waiting puzzle, voice acting

Was also not a fan of the maze. And the maze if you mapped it had to turn the paper if you were turning left and right. Was wild.

King's Quest VI -
Good: music, voice acting, puzzles, multiple endings, branching puzzle in easy and hard path, scene in the Land of the Dead visits the screen where you go all too often when you "die", sword fight...
Bad: Girl In The Tower

I don't mind the soundtrack song... sounds very Disney'eque.

[Collector]

Haven't gotten round to completing KQ1 yet.

While most seem to prefer the originals over the remakes, KQ1SCI was Josh Mandel's first game. The artwork is lovely and it is just about the most charming of all of the Sierra games. That, plus the soundtrack was by Ken Allen. KQ1AGI was just Greensleeves with the usual hoots, beeps and honks for sound effects.

[notbobsmith]

KQ1:
GOOD: The charm. It set the tone for the entire series with its use of fairy tales.
BAD: Any walking/climbing puzzle. Like the tree with the golden egg or the beanstalk.

I'm not sure if I've ever played through the remake.

KQ2:
GOOD: More interesting settings with the dark Dracula's castle and the strange other realm.
BAD: Lots of ways to dead end (the collapsing bridge) or make things ridiculously frustrating (the thorn maze needing the sugar cube which you get in a nonsensical manner)

KQ3:
GOOD: The introduction of magic spells makes things interesting, but
BAD: Having to type things exactly could be frustrating

KQ4:
GOOD: The story. The family is reunited but Graham becomes ill. Bigger stakes than what we've seen before.
BAD: Again with the walking/climbing puzzles, like the whale tongue,

KQ5:
GOOD: A big step up with the graphics and inclusion of voice acting.
BAD: Nonsensical puzzles (cheese for the transfer machine) and several ways to dead end (leaving the town too early with no way back)

KQ6:
GOOD: Multiple endings and a sense of wonder that really captures what KQ is all about.
BAD: I guess I'll go with what BBP said: Girl in the Tower. You can tell they were trying to go with Disney here which was starting its 1990s renaissance, but "Beauty and the Beast" it is not.

KQ7:
GOOD: The cel animation art style is very nice. More recent adventure games continue to use this style.
BAD: Ooga Booga is a Nightmare Before Christmas ripoff. It's not even subtle about it.

Okay, I'll give it a try:

MOE:
GOOD: I do appreciate that they give a variety of environments. The town, snowy mountains, the Underworld.
BAD: Just everything. It's not an adventure game. The action game it's trying to be (Tomb Raider) isn't very good. The whimsical setting of KQ has been replaced with a generic fantasy story. Everyone speaking "Ye Olde English" now.

King's Quest III -
Good: Immersive story, punishments (I loved being a snail), hiding things from the wizard, Erlkönig, multiple ways to get past the yeti. (Take THAT, KQ%!)
Bad: ending is a bit awkward.

What did you find awkward about the end? That Graham and Valanice didn't search for their abducted son?
I am guessing, there's some backstory about how they did and could never find him. Somewhere.

It is addressed a little in the 2015 King's Quest.

[Rath Darkblade]

Wait, I haven't replied to this yet? *blush* My bad. Let me try to redress the situation:

KQ1:
GOOD: I agree with NBS, KQ1 is a very charming game and sets the tone for the rest of the KQ games.
BAD: Puzzles that rely on timing, especially with faster computers. (QfG3 and QfG4 suffer from that too). The remake addresses this.

KQ2:
GOOD: I especially liked Dracula's castle -- appropriately spooky.
BAD: Dead ends and frustrating puzzles. The remake addresses those.

KQ3:
GOOD: Interesting premise, especially magic spells.
BAD: Mahna-Mahna-Man makes his entrance and kills me way too often. Very hard to get off the mountain.

KQ4:
GOOD: Great story! First time to roleplay a lady. Big stakes. Graphics takes a big step forward.
BAD: The climbing puzzles again -- I was killed wayyy too often while climbing stairs. Also the whale tongue. Ugh. (Loved it that LSL3 made fun of that).

KQ5:
GOOD: Graphics gets better. I haven't tried it with the voice acting, because I like having the subtitles at the same time (because voice acting sometimes can't be understood). The adventure feels more "epic" - there is more to do.
BAD: NBS has it right: some puzzles make no sense. Also, Cedric gets on my nerves.

KQ6:
GOOD: Great story. I created multiple saves to experience all the endings.
BAD: Yes, Girl in the Tower. Also, the fact that when you die, you can't skip the Grim Reaper "NEXT!" scene.

KQ7:
GOOD: Graphics and animation both look good.
BAD: I haven't played it yet, so I can't say. I'm not looking forward to the Ooga Booga bit, especially since it sounds so childish.

[Tawmis]

KQ1:
GOOD: The charm. It set the tone for the entire series with its use of fairy tales.
BAD: Any walking/climbing puzzle. Like the tree with the golden egg or the beanstalk.

Going to agree on both of these statements. I thought it was a cool touch to bring in various fairy tales into one world.
And by far, the beanstalk is the worse King's Quest puzzle. Worse than any set of stairs.

KQ2:
BAD: Lots of ways to dead end (the collapsing bridge) or make things ridiculously frustrating (the thorn maze needing the sugar cube which you get in a nonsensical manner)

The thorn maze thing is absolutely silly.

KQ3:
GOOD: The introduction of magic spells makes things interesting, but
BAD: Having to type things exactly could be frustrating

Yes, to both. But for me the bad of King's Quest III was the eagle feather. Waiting for that thing to drop could take a very, very, very long time.

KQ4:
GOOD: The story. The family is reunited but Graham becomes ill. Bigger stakes than what we've seen before.
BAD: Again with the walking/climbing puzzles, like the whale tongue,

I also thought the big good thing was - it was the first time in Sierra that a female was the lead. (Does KQ4 predate Tomb Raider?)

MOE:
GOOD: I do appreciate that they give a variety of environments. The town, snowy mountains, the Underworld.
BAD: Just everything. It's not an adventure game. The action game it's trying to be (Tomb Raider) isn't very good. The whimsical setting of KQ has been replaced with a generic fantasy story. Everyone speaking "Ye Olde English" now.

Wait, I haven't replied to this yet? *blush* My bad. Let me try to redress the situation:

To be fair, I posted these questions for most of the main games, so it's easy to see how ye might have missed this.

KQ2:
GOOD: I especially liked Dracula's castle -- appropriately spooky.

Yes, they did a good job with Dracula's castle.

KQ3:
BAD: Mahna-Mahna-Man makes his entrance and kills me way too often. Very hard to get off the mountain.

Yes, especially where rocks are purposely blocking your view of the path.

KQ4:
GOOD: Great story! First time to roleplay a lady. Big stakes. Graphics takes a big step forward.

Ah, we agree!