Feature Article

King's Quest: A Revival Worth Celebrating

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Knight school.

King's Quest would like to tell you a story. It would like you to pull up a chair and listen to a tale of brave knights and loyal friends. It would like to enrapture you with a fairy tale so magical, you might actually believe it to be true.

Of the many games I have seen in action at E3 2015, King's Quest is the one that planted a smile on my face and kept it there. How could it not? As Creative Director Matt Korba led a live demo of the upcoming episodic adventure game, I was drawn in by the beautiful environments, which are quite literally painted by hand and scanned into the game, lending it a special bedtime-story quality. I was drawn in by the incredible soundtrack--a soundtrack that would have made legendary Looney Tunes composer Carl Stalling happy in the way every onscreen action was accompanied by musical onomatopoeia in the form of colorful staccato woodwind phrases and trombone glissandos. I was drawn in by the indelible voice cast, which includes Wallace Shawn (Vizzini in The Princess Bride), Richard White (Gaston from Disney's animated film Beauty and the Beast), and the inimitable Christopher Lloyd, who should need no introduction.

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"It's a long story, but I shall tell it briefly," says the aging King Graham to his granddaughter Gwendolyn, with just enough of a wink to prepare you for the charms to come. King's Quest is structured as a story of old anew, the kind that the storyteller might embellish upon as the years pass. Indeed, this structure is exemplified in the way you can tell Gwendolyn it's a story of bravery, or a tale of friendship, regardless of how you play the fable out. ("Do as I say and not as I do," adults told me as a child, and it seems that philosophy is alive and well.) Once the story begins, however, grandparenting philosophies are temporarily forgotten: a younger Graham, seeking the location of a knightly competition in Daventry, alights from his trusty (and bizarre-looking) steed Triumph and proceeds to fall down a surprisingly lengthy incline, with musical cues emphasizing every bump and roll.

According to Korba, the first chapter's script alone is about 600 pages long--about the entire length of Grim Fandango's. Much of that writing and voiceover is committed to flavor narration that occurs when Graham tries to combine inventory objects that can't be used together, or continues to use environmental objects over and over again. Consider these lines that the older Graham might intone if you try to go west when the game is clearly prodding you to go east.

"After all that graceful rappelling, I was certainly not headed back that way!"

"As I was saying, I followed the road to the east, and headed to the knight tournament."

"Ahem. East!"

"Suddenly, a gust of wind pushed me down the road, and I headed east!"

This beautiful King's Quest image was honored with an Into the Pixel award this week at E3 2015.
This beautiful King's Quest image was honored with an Into the Pixel award this week at E3 2015.

That same gust of wind also pushes a fallen log into the way, blocking Graham's attempts to go the wrong way. What a small detail--and yet, what I saw during the demo proved that King's Quest thrives on these details. And when every line is so cleverly written and so charmingly performed, how can you not be taken in?

Later comes a moment when Graham blows into what appears to be a summoning horn. What might the gangly, good-natured knight-in-training say if you continually interact with it?

"That large horn seemed to be missing some sort of mouthpiece."

"The horn was broken, but that didn't stop me from blowing on it."

"Realizing a lot of people probably put their mouths on that horn, I was disgusted. I slowly backed away and never blew that horn again."

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The sequence next shown off in the demo was one I had seen earlier this year, but even so, I was enchanted by details I had either missed or forgotten. The group of guards barring the way to the tournament entrance, for instance, squabbled over how one of them might be mistaken for another--in spite of each guard looking like a clone of the others. I also fell in love with the way the mirror that figured so prominently in the original King's Quest is used as your inventory interface. The sequence ended when Graham, having successfully built a raft and crossed the nearby river, befriended a squat knight named Manny, who is voiced by the ever-personable Wallace Shawn. Graham is so excited to have found an ally that he bounces around Manny, excitedly saying, "What's your favorite color?! Do you like popcorn-flavored jellybeans?! What's your availability for sleepovers?! Are we in a secret club?!" And wouldn't you know, Manny actually answers Graham's questions.

Korba says there are a lot of story branches in the game, but that King's Quest keeps its signaling of the various paths subtle. (I took this to mean that this is not a Telltale Game, and thus, the decisions you make will not be pointed out and dramatized at every turn.) The final section of the demo showed us such a decision being made when Graham attempted to cross a bridge, only to discover that the bridge was actually the back of a gruesome giant troll. "Hasn't anyone told you it's not polite to go stomping around on people's backs," says the troll, prompting Graham to consider a number of ways he could respond.

Another award-winning Kings Quest image, a watercolor painting by art director Evan Cagle.
Another award-winning Kings Quest image, a watercolor painting by art director Evan Cagle.

You can threaten the troll. You can try playing nice. Or, you can try tricking him, which leads to yet another delightful scene, which follows when you tell the troll that you, too, are a bridge troll. "You're pretty ugly for a troll," says the beast, after giving you a good sniff, at which point he invites you to participate in the secret dance of the bridge troll guild. The dance is quite something to behold, and you must keep pace by pressing buttons in the proper order. (I suppose if King's Quest is to have quick-time events, that a crazy troll dance is at least a good use of them.) The troll is impressed by your moves, and as well he should be: Graham has all the awkward grace of any proper troll.

The demo was then over, and I was left feeling saddened, because, well, the demo was over. I was ready to see more. I was ready to be part of this world, and hear these stories. I was ready to blow more broken horns and dance with more trolls. I'm happy to say that the first installment of King's Quest, A Knight to Remember, is due out in late July. Perhaps if I gaze into my magic mirror, however, I might find some kind of spell that brings this vibrant game to us even earlier. If magic truly exists, surely that would be a good use of it.

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Kevin-V

Kevin VanOrd

Kevin VanOrd has a cat named Ollie who refuses to play bass in Rock Band.

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Rogerkennedy

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24.95 here in australia. ten bucks in the us. makes me sick that these companies try this on us aussies. don't support this game for the sake of aussie gamers.

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deactivated-5ac4063a659ae

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This looks good. I hope it's successful and they also do Space Quest, Police Quest, and Quest for Glory(but mostly just Space Quest)

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Avatar image for deactivated-5bd1e31726b43
deactivated-5bd1e31726b43

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Kevin at the end of this article you say the "first installment is due out in July".... What do you mean first installment? Is the game not coming 100% out on July 28th?

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Disciple_Gamer

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King Quest 6 and Mask of Eternity holds a special place in heart. Remember playing KQ6 on Windows 3.1,

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hystavito

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Those old adventure games made me bug my parents to get my first PC (we had a C64), I gotta admit it was the graphics! :) Looking back they aren't up there with my best gaming memories but I still have some nostalgic feelings for them.

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picklemeier

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Edited By picklemeier

Don Bluth Style. I love it!

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Avatar image for deactivated-5893d17ed65b4
deactivated-5893d17ed65b4

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@picklemeier: Now bring me Space Ace.

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corydl5

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For me my first adventure games came in this huge box set with like 10 or more other games and the three I always loved and played over and over, even to this day are King's Quest 6, Return to Zork, and 7th Guest.

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jedicommand7

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King's Quest 1 was the very first story-driven game I ever finished. Back before the internet and strategy guides and you actually had to figure everything out or call an expensive tip hotline.

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Avatar image for deactivated-5c60a3d1c2911
deactivated-5c60a3d1c2911

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I loved those old Kings Quest game way back when. They were a blast. How many people here remember "Tickle the Uvula"? And those EGA graphics?

Good times. Looking forward to this. :-)

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xeidog69

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Looking forward to this played 1 and 2 on a Packard Bell back in the old days.

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hystavito

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@xeidog69: I haven't seen a Packard Bell in ages :).

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xeidog69

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The porn , reeks of raisins and sadness? https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/8a/4a/be/8a4abee5c2a10894e4832ed683e6f124.jpg

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grove12345

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Weird how Sierra become bankrupt or sold and traded so many times. They created about half of the classic games from the 90s

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Avatar image for deactivated-5893d17ed65b4
deactivated-5893d17ed65b4

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Inconceivable!

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Cloud_imperium

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Edited By Cloud_imperium

Sierra has a lot to live up to. Please don't disappoint.

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Poison-tooth

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So many great voice actors.

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edant79

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Edited By edant79

The art direction in this is perfect. looks very Alan Lee-ish.

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Pyrosa

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My very first PC game was King's Quest I on a Tandy 1000A. This reboot is yet another new game to share w/the kids.

(My 2nd was Rogue, but that's for another thread.)

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Divisionbell

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@Pyrosa: that was my first experience with the series as well. Classic.

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