King's Quest

   

King's Quest IV (Screenshot)
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King's Quest IV (Screenshot)

King's Quest is an adventure game series made by the American computer game company Sierra Entertainment (formerly Sierra Online). It is factually considered one of the most classic titles of the golden era of adventure games, and some kind of trademark for the company, since it was the first 3d adventure game ever made, and became an uncomparable success. The designer of all of the games was Roberta Williams, co-owner of Sierra.


Games

The world of the King's Quest games is not highly cosistent and sophisticated, but is indeed largely immersive. It encompasses over ten different and beautiful worlds. These include Serenia (KQ V), Tamir (KQ IV), Kolyma (KQ II) and Llewdor (KQ III).

The main characters in each of the series are persons of the family of King Graham or himself. The only exception is KQ VIII where the player has control of Sir Connor of Daventry, King Graham's kingdom (who makes a guest appearance in the KQ II remake, establishing thus a link among the two characters).

Many equivalents of famous characters from myths and legends make their appearance and relate themselves to the puzzles. Namely Beauty and the Beast, Rumplestiltskin, Red Riding Hood, Count Dracula and others appear in the tale, mainly in the earlier parts, when the concept was simply about solving puzzles in a surrealistic fantasy world. The later sequels have been more logical and have a better established storyline, and realistic places and characters.

The first game is known to take place in a 'doughnut' world, that means, no matter what direction the player goes, he will return to the same screen he began. This gave an impression of a spherical (albeit very small) world, and can be explained internally by saying that the character is trapped in the region magically. KQ II and IV held on this although in a more realistic manner. The world becomes 'cylindrical' and the looping occurs only when the characters goes north or south (in the west and east there is the sea, or mountains, or deserts), giving thus an impression of making circles along an island. This way of layout was abandoned in KQ V where a niew policy of sophisticated and realistic storytelling and gameplay was adopted.

There have been eight King's Quest games released: There are a number of websites giving plans for a ninth installment in the series (many just that, plans), but there is no official King's Quest IX.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (1984)

Released in 1983, this was the first completely graphical adventure game. It was also the first Sierra Online game to use the AGI (Adventure Game Interpreter) engine. It ran on DOS and the Apple II and was later ported to other platforms such as the Amiga, Atari ST and Sega. The DOS version was innovative in its use of 16 color EGA graphics.

In 1990, a remake was released by Sierra that used the same SCI (Sierra Creative Interpreter) engine as King's Quest IV.

In 2001, AGD Interactive (http://www.agdinteractive.com) released another, much more extensive remake. Using the AGS (Adventure Game Studio) engine, it featured 256 color VGA graphics, new music, speech, and translations.

The Kingdom of Daventry is in serious trouble because her precious magical items — the magic mirror, sword and chest — have been stolen. King Edward the Benevolent sends his bravest knight, Sir Graham to retrieve them. If he succeeds, he will become the next king.

King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne (1985)

King's Quest II used the same AGI engine as King's Quest I. Due to rather disappointing sales of the 1990 remake of King's Quest I, it didn't receive the same treatment.

The magic Mirror shows King Graham a vision about a beautiful woman, Valanice, imprisoned on the top of an ivory tower. Being charmed by her, he is teleported to the world of Kolyma to rescue her.

In 2002, AGD Interactive released a remake of King's Quest II. Because it not only improved the game engine, graphics and sound but also added some new story elements and puzzles (a rich backstory, a town to visit, references to Graham's past and future), it was titled King's Quest II+: Romancing the Stones (http://www.agdinteractive.com/KQ2.php).

King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human (1986)

The third part was initially criticised by the fans because initially it showed no connectoin to the previous parts of the series. The players had to fight for over a month in order to find in the end why is this called a King's Quest game.

In the land of Llewdor lives the evil wizard Manannan and his slave Gwydion. You play Gwydion on his attempt to turn the wizard into a cat and escape Llewdor. He eventually reaches Daventry where he finds a 3-headed dragon has captured Princess Rosella, daughter of King Graham and Queen Valanice which he rescues. He then learns Rosella is his twin sister, being the royal couple's lost boy, Alexander.

King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (1988)

This game was first published in AGI but not much later it was redone in SCI engine. It was the first King's Quest to use that engine, which introduced mouse and sound card support, but still featured a typing commands interface. It is also the first game in history to support a sound card, which then was intended only for professional use.

King Graham is seriously sick. The Mirror sends Rosella a vision about the fairy Genesta in the land of Tamir. Teleported there she learns about a fruit which can heal her father. However, Genesta herself will die soon if her talisman, stolen by the evil witch Lolotte, is not returned. After Rosella must get the fruit, defeat Lolotte in order to return to Daventry.

King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! (1990)

King's Quest V was the most innovative King's Quest since Quest For the Crown's 1984 release. Released in November 1990, its remarkable graphics was amazing and it became the highest selling computer game in history. It was later released as a talke CD rom (it is noticeable that here Graham looks very young and well-built compared to his assumed years).

The evil wizard Mordack, friend of Manannan, shrinks the Daventry castle and puts it in a bottle. King Graham was the only one who didn't follow, since he was out for a walk during the spell. Mordack wanted Alexander to restore Manannan who was now a cat. Graham arrives in Serenia, and with the help of the wise man Crispin and Cedrick the owl, he must travel to Mordack's castle and free his family. On his way he frees his slave girl, Princess Cassima of the Green Isles.

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (1992)

King's Quest VI is universally known as the high point of the series for its in-depth plot, its landmark 3D graphic introduction movie, and its great voice acting.

Prince Alexander can't get Cassima (Mordack's slavegirl he met during his imprisonment in King's Quest V) out of his mind. The Mirror sends him a vision of her, and Alexander manages to reach her land by ship. He learns that she is destined to be married to the evil Vizier Abdul Alhazred of the Green Isles by force. In the optimal game route, Alexander travels to land of the dead to free Cassima's dead parents who were killed by the Vizier. Alexander must also finally stop the wedding and free Cassima.

King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride (1994)

King's Quest VII's release in 1994 featured Disney-like cartoon graphics and animations and was available only for the Windows platform and in high resolution. It was met with mixed reviews but sales were high.

Queen Valanice and Rosella find themselves drawn into the realm of Eldritch. Separated, each must pursue her own course to help prevent the destruction of Eldritch by Malecia.

King's Quest VIII: The Mask of Eternity (1998)

In 1998, King's Quest VIII was released to very poor reviews and poor sales and was considered by many not to be a real King's Quest because of its Quake-like violence and graphics.

It was the only part of the series where the player is not a character related to King Graham.

The Realm of the Sun is a place above Daventry where the Archons, magical beings, guard the Mask of Eternity. Their chief turns evil and shatters the Mask into pieces. Daventry's inhabitants turn into stone and the land sickens. Connor is the only person to remain alive because a Mask shard fell on his feet. Connor then is appointed by a wizard to travel through different lands and collect all the Mask pieces, eventually arrive to the Realm of the Sun and fix it, bringing life back to his land.

Books

Three books have been published by Boulevard Books.

  • The Floating Castle (1995): Written by Craig Mills, placed between KQ III and IV, it follows Alexander on a quest to discover what is behind the mysterious Floating Castle and the monstrous invasions over the kingdom.
  • The Kingdom of Sorrow (1996): Written by Kenyon Morr, placed between II and III, it follows the adventures of Graham who moves to rescue an imprisoned Fairy Queen held by the giant Dunstan, in order to return balance in nature.
  • See no Weevil (1996): Also written by Kenyon Morr and placed close to the previous book, it focuses on Rosella who on her 15 must run the kingdom of Daventry during an absence of her parents.

The books haven't acclaimed high reviews, but King's Quest fans understand that these books do not belong in the fantasy genre generally, but are written and intended especially for them.

External links








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