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So I have 3 votes for The Black Cauldron and 1 for Phantasmagoria 2. This will be interesting. I actually did read all of the Lloyd Alexander books as a kid and really enjoyed them. I didn't see the Disney movie until much, much later. Early 2000s or so. For the longest time, the only reason I knew this movie existed was seeing the game in the Sierra catalog. I think it was widely considered a low point for Disney animation. It's been a while, but I don't remember it being that bad. It certainly wasn't traditional Disney, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I know they took some liberties with the story, but it's been so long since I've seen the movie and even longer since I've read the books I don't think I could get into any specifics. But the big things: The Black Cauldron is the second book in the series so all of the character introductions from the first book happen there. The Horned King was in the first book. The removed a character: Gwydion, who was a prince of this land. For the longest time, I always thought of him when I saw the name in KQ3. Wait. Gwydion. Lloyd Alexander. Hmmm.

Anyway, back to AGI and Tandy 3-voice sound!

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Sun Sep 02, 2018 12:28 pmI actually did read all of the Lloyd Alexander books as a kid and really enjoyed them. I didn't see the Disney movie until much, much later. Early 2000s or so. For the longest time, the only reason I knew this movie existed was seeing the game in the Sierra catalog. I think it was widely considered a low point for Disney animation. It's been a while, but I don't remember it being that bad.

Same. I played the game, which led me to find the book series in the school library. I didn't see the movie until its 1998 VHS release.

The movie was released in the middle of Disney's "Dark Age" (the 20-ish years between Walt's death and the Disney Renaissance) and kind of got swept up the wave of adult-oriented animation at the time. Tonally, I think it's more like Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings than any Disney movie. But an interesting thing about the game is that if you've seen the film, you can try to solve the puzzles based on the movie's story, or find alternate paths instead.

Wait. Gwydion. Lloyd Alexander. Hmmm.

More than coincidence, I think.

Wait... Gwydion. Manannan. Llewdor. And I just read my first book of Celtic mythology...!

Now I'm curious. Was Roberta reading Welsh or Irish mythology when she wrote KQ3?

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:33 am Wait... Gwydion. Manannan. Llewdor. And I just read my first book of Celtic mythology...!
Now I'm curious. Was Roberta reading Welsh or Irish mythology when she wrote KQ3?

In several interviews she admits to borrowing lore and various "children stories" to fit them into KQ. So I would not be surprised if the answer was "Both."

Double, double toil and trouble;
Cauldron's done; what's on the bubble? (Best I could come up with)

The Adventures of Willy Beamish
The Black Cauldron
The Colonel's Bequest / Dagger of Amon Ra
Conquests of Camelot
Conquests of the Longbow
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
Gold Rush
Heart of China
Lighthouse
Phantasmagoria
Phantasmagoria 2
Shivers
Torin's Passage

Four games remain. Which will it be? Polls close Wednesday.

I still want to save GOLD RUSH for last, because of the three different ways...

So next, I would say Willy Beamish.

I don't think I've ever finished the game, to this day. (Eventually plan on replaying all the Sierra games I have and see if my memory is correct, or if I did finish it and just don't remember it).

It's Spooktober, so I vote Phantasmagoria 2.

Given the time of year I will echo Datadog.

Make that three

Go ahead and have yourself a double helping of cheese. Phantas!

So I have 4 votes for Phantasmagoria 2 and 1 for Willy Beamish. 'Tis the season, so this will be fun. So I will now venture forth into the horrors of... '90s FMV!

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Wed Oct 10, 2018 7:07 pm So I have 4 votes for Phantasmagoria 2 and 1 for Willy Beamish. 'Tis the season, so this will be fun. So I will now venture forth into the horrors of... '90s FMV!

Remember, when you're angry that you played this horrible game, I didn't cast this vote!

(It's not even that horrible - just has nothing at all to do with the first - other than it's horror... and depending on the version you're play, it does have a brief scene of nudity in it, so some might consider that a redeeming quality)

Don't forget to keep your save games.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 10:44 am

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Wed Oct 10, 2018 7:07 pm So I have 4 votes for Phantasmagoria 2 and 1 for Willy Beamish. 'Tis the season, so this will be fun. So I will now venture forth into the horrors of... '90s FMV!

Remember, when you're angry that you played this horrible game, I didn't cast this vote!

(It's not even that horrible - just has nothing at all to do with the first - other than it's horror... and depending on the version you're play, it does have a brief scene of nudity in it, so some might consider that a redeeming quality)

Started Chapter 3, as I posted elsewhere. I guess it is kind of tricky to make a direct sequel to Phantasmagoria. Horror franchises, for the most part, start with a new cast each time. With Phantasmagoria, there was no "villain" that can be made into a returning character like a Freddy or Jason. And having Adrienne get swept up in another "adventure" would be hard to believe. There really isn't much choice but to start from the beginning with a new character and new premise. Adrienne was actually mentioned in Chapter 3. I sometimes wonder what happens to the characters at the end of a horror movie. How do they explain what happened to the authorities? Adrienne has a lot of bodies to explain and she is the only one left alive.

Phantasmagoria 2 was a good choice for Halloween. On to the final 3.

The Adventures of Willy Beamish
The Black Cauldron
The Colonel's Bequest / Dagger of Amon Ra
Conquests of Camelot
Conquests of the Longbow
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
Gold Rush
Heart of China
Lighthouse
Phantasmagoria
Phantasmagoria 2
Shivers
Torin's Passage

Polls close Wednesday.