King’s Quest: A Knight to Remember Review

The King's Quest titles were never really a part of my childhood, therefore the return of the series isn't doing much to resonate my nostalgia strings. Mostly because a bunch came out before my time, and when it came to introducing me to various adventure titles of the 90s, I opted for more familiar faces like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

Sierra opted to bring the series back in the now familiar episodic format, that TellTale has largely popularized, and thus introduced me to the Kingdom of Daventry in a charming tale narrated by Christopher Lloyd.

It's clear that The Odd Gentlemen took some cues from TellTale, with various instances where player choice will directly affect the world around them. I liked how the game didn't make it quite clear as to what those consequences are, but I very much enjoyed how they were implemented.

However, King's Quest is certainly a much bigger nod to adventure games of old. It's no point-and-click, that's for sure, as movement is completely left to the player, but there is a much bigger emphasis on collecting various items and using them in opportune times to complete your goal. It starts off slow at first, basically handing you the right items you need, but it certainly gets more intricate as you progress through the first episode.

The story is told through Graham's point of view, as an old man, recounting his tales of adventures to his granddaughter. I specifically loved the implementation of the first location you visit, which you actually then re-visit though at an earlier point in time, meaning a lot of what you saw there initially, is explained. It's one of those "Ah-ha" moments, when you realize for instance why a particular bow was laying so conveniently there for Graham.

Much like Bastion, the narrator reacts to your actions, even if they're not the right ones. The death scenes where you fail or pick the wrong choice are especially humorous as Graham always points them out in a witty way. Likewise he'll aid you when you're stumped, though unless this is your first Adventure game rodeo, I doubt that's going to happen much.

The characters involved in the story are all pretty great. From the pompous Whisper who hopes to establish a fan club to adore him, the merchant who may or may not have a real entry ticket to the Knight's contest, to the peculiar Manny who seems all too helpful in your endeavors, they're all interesting and superbly voiced.

The gameplay elements are also very well implemented. For the most part, you'll control Graham's direct movement, interacting with various objects and characters, but there are a few instances when the gameplay changes to a more action-oriented game. For example, in the last sequence of the intro, you'll ride down a river on a mattress as you shoot a bow to eliminate obstacles, or move to different sides of the mattress to avoid getting crushed. It's a little out of place, but the change of pace is appreciated.

However, there is no denying that the game feels very slow. Adventure games are typically slow to begin with, but when you have direct control of your character, and the game continuously slows you down deliberately to a crawl, it can be annoying. The game tries to emphasize danger by making you feel like you can fall of a wooden log for example, despite not actually being able to, and making Graham move painfully slow across it. It's a strange choice. Why didn't they make those sections more hazardous? Knowing I can't fall off, but still slowing me down to a crawl just adds unnecessary padding to a game that honestly doesn't need it. It's certainly longer than a traditional TellTale episode, and I feel it would have been even without the padding. It's also more expensive than other episodic games as well, Life is Strange included. A single episode costs $9.99, while the whole bundle costs $39.99.

While the aesthetics do somewhat mirror TellTale's adventure games as well, I do think there is a lot more detail present in both the presentation and the animation. The visuals definitely reminded me a lot of Dragon's Lair.

It's hard to judge a new episodic series by the first episode. While first impressions are always important, the first episode usually does just enough to set up its characters, setting and story, and the rest of the episodes drive it home. I'm certainly looking forward to playing the rest and seeing how it all plays out.

*Episodic games are scored after all episodes have been released