For anyone born in the early 90’s like me, the name Kings Quest will likely be met with a muted response. Born out of the early 80’s and quickly building its name as a classic franchise of the era, the series unfortunately disappeared amongst the dissolution of the point-and-click genre in the late 90’s and had since become a vague memory lost in the history books – that is until now. With the recent resurgence of adventure games, Kings Quest has been resurrected for the modern generation by the team over at The Odd Gentlemen. Taking elements of what made the franchise popular to begin with but mixed with more modern sensibilities, this is a Kings Quest title that doesn’t just sit at the side-lines imitating the likes of Telltale Games, but consciously makes an effort to be more than just a vehicle for a whimsical narrative – though that’s not to discredit the story in the slightest.
Once again in the starring role of King Graham of Daventry, this ‘re-imagining’ of the franchise takes an interesting approach to the narrative delivery and mimics the style of ‘The Princess Bride’ – framing the story around the idea that an old King Graham is telling his granddaughter heroic tales of his youth. With a magic mirror that can look into the past, the player takes control of young Graham and the ‘origin’ story of his knighthood is begun. There’s dragons, there’s action, there’s wonderful and wacky characters – and even some opportunity to do some decision making that while may not bare heavy consequences, it’s nice to have such freedoms available.
Though cutscenes taking place in the present day divide the action up throughout, the bulk of the story is told through the general gameplay action and the plentiful monologue/running commentary tid-bits (told by old King Graham) that are littered throughout. Despite the story-telling premise being far from original, the formulae is certainly played with nicely throughout and the writing takes advantage of this kind of set-up with plenty of quirks and witty dialogue.
Though the story itself packs more than enough adventure and wonder into its generous five hour length, where Kings Quest really shines is in its colourful cast of characters. With each and every character bringing their own unique personality into the mix, they always have something new to bring and a heap of hilarious dialogue. Ditching the tone that saw the previous series instalments grounded in a more serious reality, the people here are all wild caricatures and not a single moment is wasted. The wacky and over-the-top characters are played upon to great effect, and some belly-laughs are likely to erupt. The writing here is clever and legitimately funny, and you’ll find that you actively look forward to the moments of conversation because of the impeccable script – something that the voice-actors take and spin into gold. Christopher Lloyd (most famous for playing Doc Brown in Back To The Future) voices old King Graham and does a superb job in particular, though the standard throughout is astonishingly high. Further boosting the portrayal of the characters, their animations are wonderfully flowing and exaggerated, and are a treat for the eyes.
A key aspect as to why this game is so enjoyable is down to the undeniable amounts of charm and personality in not just the characters, but the game world too – of which is often stunning to look upon as the hand-painted textures lend themselves to creating a locales that look as though they’ve been stripped right out of an old-fashioned children’s story book. The world itself is bursting with life and things to interact with, and it’s this strong combination that makes the adventure within Daventry such a pleasant one from start to finish.
Unlike the gameplay helpings of Telltale’s more recent efforts with The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and Game of Thrones – The Odd Gentlemen have put exploration and puzzle-solving back into the heart of the adventure genre once more. Aside from a heavily-scripted prologue that keeps you on a tight leash, it’s refreshing to be once again put back into the thick of it, with freedom to wander/explore, and otherwise soak up the story and environments at your own pace without feeling like you’re riding an on-rails narrative experience. Though clear objectives are given, how you go about accomplishing your goals is naturally down to discovery. Requiring players to look at/use/pick up objects placed around the world and talk to the colourful cast of characters in classic point-and-click fashion – players must use their imagination and wit in order to overcome the games many puzzles.
While the puzzles on offer far from match the bar set by the Adventure Game royalty of Grim Fandango and Monkey Island, they are still rewarding and still offer a sense of real progression as you grab a new item, talk to a new character, or gain access to a new area. If you are seeking for real brain-melters like those found in the adventure titles of yore, then you are going to be disappointed – Kings Quest unfortunately sticks to very basic puzzles with very basic solutions. Though you might stop to think for a minute or two, you aren’t likely to be spending half of your time wracking your brain or savagely cursing at the screen – something of a bittersweet revelation, though ultimately a huge disappointment to old-school adventure game veterans.
Puzzles here are very-much a casual affair, and most solutions unfortunately require you to simply use an item in your inventory with certain objects in the environment – an ability that is even stripped-back to remove the possibility of combining inventory items. There aren’t many actual puzzles to experience in all honesty, with many that do little to tease the brain. Though some parts do require some thought, planning, and forward-thinking, these are unfortunately few and far between – but thankfully count towards some stand-out moments.
Though the lack of a real challenge here may seem like a huge problem, in context of this particular game it actually benefits the game greatly, particularly in regards to the story-telling which is made more enjoyable. With the removal of fiendishly difficult scenarios to power through, the pacing of the game is kept at a relaxing pace and gives a strong boost to immersing you into the game world, making your trip within the kingdom of Daventry an ever-enjoyable one. With action scenes thrown in that make an effort to include not just QTE sequences but more player involved actions – the gameplay here is simple, but there’s plenty of fun to be had and an adventure to embark upon that feels full of curiosity.
Now then, it wouldn’t be an epic adventure without a few missteps along the way, but unfortunately for Kings Quest these particular ones aren’t found within the storyline. Despite the huge amount of fun I had overall with this game, I certainly wasn’t left without my complaints as the end credits rolled. Though it is easy to forgive the title for such issues because of how lovingly crafted this game clearly is, it was hard to not get frustrated at times over some design oversights. The most common gripe I had was over the speed at which players Graham can move from place to place in the map. Though Graham does move at a brisk pace, this does little to help the speed of things when you want to go from one side of the map to the other. It’s honestly painful at times, particularly during periods of player experimentation when you may not know how to further progress. Something as simple as a quick-travel system would have solved this completely, and this issue rears its ugly head further towards the end when the surprisingly expansive game map has opened up to its fullest.
Though it may seem like I’m nit-picking here, a hint system certainly wouldn’t have gone amiss either. Because interactive items aren’t highlighted in the world unless you are within touching distance to them, it can be easy to totally miss something important if you aren’t being fully attentive, therefore halting any future progress until you realise. Not to mention the fact that there’s no objective screen of any kind, so it can be difficult to remember what you should be doing at any given time, particularly in instances where you’ve got a few things to accomplish in order to progress. Though a lot of players are likely to avoid this kind of issue by completing the game in a single sitting, for those such as myself that picked the game back up the next morning, it was a little hard to readjust to what I was in the middle of doing. These minor criticisms aside, Kings Quest is still an immensely enjoyable experience that makes it easy to forgive and forget about its shortcomings.
Verdict
It would have been ridiculously difficult to not compare this series with the current offerings from Telltale Games – but thankfully Kings Quest has more than a single leg to stand on when placed side-by-side. Where Telltale have arguably become a little too comfortable with their current format and style, The Odd Gentlemen have not been scared to mix the formulae up and weave more classic elements back into the genre. While this re-invention of the beloved franchise may not be completely recognisable to those who have such cherished memories of the originals, there’s no denying that the game is brimming with character and charm throughout and is nothing short of fun for both young and old.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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