I never got to play the original King's Quest series, which debuted back when I was a kid, but I heard a lot about them and loved the idea. So when I found this remake at GameStop, I bought it and devoted a few days of gaming to it.
It's good, I'll say that up front. I do remember some other Sierra games from my misbegotten youth and this is about on par with them - the puzzles don't always make sense, but they're still interesting and fun to solve. I enjoyed guiding Graham down the virtue paths and interacting with the NPCs. My favorite part was Chapter 3, mostly because I just thought Princess Neese was absolutely precious and I loved her little romance with Graham. (Still have to go back and try it with Vee - she seems quite lovely too.) All of the NPCs are enjoyable; Achaka is particularly marvelous. Mannanan is wonderfully sinister and Hagatha was an extremely compelling character - I liked her expanded backstory. The explanation of Graham's declining health was heartbreaking but majestic. (And speaking of majestic, what can I say about Mr. Fancycakes?)
The part that leaves me dissatisfied, though, is Graham's family. I feel like his relationships with everyone except Gwen and maybe Valanice are much too underdeveloped. I was also kind of disappointed when, after loving him to pieces for the first three chapters, I started to have problems with Graham in Chapter 4. His favoritism of Alexander and Gwen over Rosella and Gart didn't sit well with me, and I don't feel like his decision regarding the future of Daventry was well explained or justified at all. Maybe I'm just giving it entirely too much thought, but if you're going to make the decision to do what Graham did, there ought to be a clear understanding of why. I also wasn't too crazy about Gwen herself by the end of the game; she sort of wore out her welcome with me and when I played the epilogue a second time, I found myself pressing the skip button a lot just so I wouldn't have to listen to her talk.
For what it is, though, KQ2015 is definitely a worthwhile and enjoyable game and I'm sure I'll be playing it again very soon. I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Fun game, crazy puzzles, some emotional dissatisfaction
I never got to play the original King's Quest series, which debuted back when I was a kid, but I heard a lot about them and loved the idea. So when I found this remake at GameStop, I bought it and devoted a few days of gaming to it.
It's good, I'll say that up front. I do remember some other Sierra games from my misbegotten youth and this is about on par with them - the puzzles don't always make sense, but they're still interesting and fun to solve. I enjoyed guiding Graham down the virtue paths and interacting with the NPCs. My favorite part was Chapter 3, mostly because I just thought Princess Neese was absolutely precious and I loved her little romance with Graham. (Still have to go back and try it with Vee - she seems quite lovely too.) All of the NPCs are enjoyable; Achaka is particularly marvelous. Mannanan is wonderfully sinister and Hagatha was an extremely compelling character - I liked her expanded backstory. The explanation of Graham's declining health was heartbreaking but majestic. (And speaking of majestic, what can I say about Mr. Fancycakes?)
The part that leaves me dissatisfied, though, is Graham's family. I feel like his relationships with everyone except Gwen and maybe Valanice are much too underdeveloped. I was also kind of disappointed when, after loving him to pieces for the first three chapters, I started to have problems with Graham in Chapter 4. His favoritism of Alexander and Gwen over Rosella and Gart didn't sit well with me, and I don't feel like his decision regarding the future of Daventry was well explained or justified at all. Maybe I'm just giving it entirely too much thought, but if you're going to make the decision to do what Graham did, there ought to be a clear understanding of why. I also wasn't too crazy about Gwen herself by the end of the game; she sort of wore out her welcome with me and when I played the epilogue a second time, I found myself pressing the skip button a lot just so I wouldn't have to listen to her talk.
For what it is, though, KQ2015 is definitely a worthwhile and enjoyable game and I'm sure I'll be playing it again very soon. I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.