Hey everyone, PushingUpRoses here and today I am going back to my roots and covering a
King’s Quest game.
You may be thinking, “But Roses, didn’t you cover all of the King’s Quest games?”
NO, I never got around to the first game, at least not the parser command version for
the computer.
I DID discuss the one for the Master System, and I’ve referenced it many times over the
years on this channel, so it feels like I’ve covered it a million times over.
I’ve decided that today is finally the day to discuss this game officially in all its
glory, because yes: This IS a defense of King’s Quest I, one of the most influential video
games… of all time.
On top of my normal review style and commentary, I’d also like to discuss how designer Roberta
Williams came up with the concept, and why this game is just so damn hard.
As of right now, I haven’t written the conclusion to this video yet, but I am predicting some
introspection and gushing.
Stay tuned to see if my prediction about myself is right.
King’s Quest was developed by Ken and aforementioned Roberta Williams, who are now considered pioneers
in the gaming world.
Their company, Sierra online has created some of the most memorable and technologically
advanced computer games in the mid 80s into the mid 90s, the King’s Quest series being
just ONE of the many franchises the company produced.
Prior to King’s Quest, Ken and Roberta worked on a few other parser driven games like Mystery
House, a monochrome command game with cute little scribblies as characters, and Wizard
and the Princess, which also has cute little scribblies as characters.
Cute snake.
In 1982, Ken and Roberta were approached by IBM, and asked to develop a launch title for
their new computer, the PC jr.
It was announced in PC Magazine, and it boasted a lot of things.
Smooth animation, high quality sound, amazing game selection!
Then the PC Jr. flopped.
Oops.
Because of this, King’s Quest didn’t sell very well.
Or maybe it was because of this god-awful box cover; this is NOT what the main character
looks like.
And you certainly don’t get a sword.
Regardless, after some touch ups, minor changes, and releasing the game on different terminals,
notably the Tandy 1000, it became a HUGE success.
The subtitle “Quest for the Crown” was added for the 1987 re-release, which is the
version I will be looking at.
The first thing I would like to point out are these flags waving in the wind.
Ah yes, you wouldn’t think this is anything special.
But yes it is, yes it is.
In fact, this is the first screen you see in game, and that’s important because this
is the first adventure game to really have animations.
At least, mainstream wise, it is considered the first; I know these things are hard to
determine but a lot of sources to point to King’s Quest as one of the first, if not
THE first adventure game to do it.
Prior to this you would have static settings, usually in a 1st person view, like you see
here in Wizard and the Princess.
This simple animation, happening at the same time your character is exploring, is an innovation,
something we take for granted today but very much worth remembering.
And look at this main character!
Look at him!
Brave Sir Graham in his cyan hat, his weird pink shirt (maybe it’s salmon), and these
supposed boots, walking!
Picking up things!
Falling!
Falling again!
Falling AGAIN.
Getting squashed by a rock!
This was essentially an open world title where you control your character, give him commands,
and watch him flounder about as you traverse a sizeable map.
The plot is quite simple - You are Sir Graham, brave knight under the ruling of King Edward
the Benevolent.
The kingdom of Daventry has become impoverished after three magical items were stolen by some
greedy inhabitants - a magic chest, swiped by a cloud dwelling giant, a magic mirror,
taken by a fire breathing dragon, and a magic shield, purloined by a community of Leprechauns
that have been overwhelmed with an interesting case dance hysteria.
Sir Graham is tasked with finding these items, bringing them back, and if they make it back
safely he is promised the Kingdom.
Rescuing the treasures will not be easy, as there is a series of inventory object puzzles
to complete before you can even try.
And yes, they are hard, and yes, you can find yourself in an unwinnable situation by doing
the wrong thing.
The game does not alert you when you make a mistake, to win you must use the trial by
error method, or you can do what most people do.
Cheat.
This is where a lot of modern criticism for the game stems from - the technical and artistic
achievement is pretty well respected; Ken and Roberta Williams were even honored with
an Industry Icon award in 2014, Ken, being the programmer, and Roberta being the writer
and designer for many of their titles; however present day critics have lambasted Roberta’s
unforgiving puzzle design and frustrating dead ends.
To understand her motivations, I read up on how she began conceptualizing games and why
the puzzle design ended up the way it did.
In the book Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy, Roberta is described
as a very shy, timid type, who was often afraid to put herself out there.
She had an adoration for fantasy, and as a child would dream of grand adventures, like
getting kidnapped by pirates, or being whisked to a far off land.
She states that she never really liked herself, and to cope with that, she’d often dream
of being someone else.
Her younger brother suffered from epilepsy, and she would tell him whimsical stories to
delight him; it sounded like she took great pleasure in storytelling, but because she
was so passive, her drive petered out soon after marrying Ken.
The stress of adulthood, commitment, and becoming pregnant almost immediately after their ceremony
halted her creativity.
According to her, it got to the point where she was so unassertive that relied on Ken
to provide a living because she, quote, “could hardly make a phone call.”
That all changed when Ken brought home a terminal, connected it to an IBM mainframe, and booted
up a new game.
Despite her husband’s fascination with computers, Roberta never liked them and found them intimidating,
but with some coaxing, Ken got her to sit at the terminal and try Adventure, a text
based game written by Don Woods.
To say she was captivated would be an understatement.
Roberta fell in love with the complexity of the game and would spend months drawing up
maps and coming up with new methods to complete the game’s more difficult puzzles.
She didn’t find it frustrating, moreso inspiring; instead of saying something like, “How many
more things can I try to beat this damn puzzle?!”, SHE would say, “How many more things can
I try to beat this puzzle?”
Roberta Williams: “I really got into it, I just loved the idea of an interactive story
and just had to play this game.
I was really drawn into it, and had to finish it.
She wanted to see everything a game had to offer, exhausting every option to get to the
solutions, and when she finished it, she yearned for more titles like it.
Her early games, Mystery House and Wizard and the Princess, were definitely inspired
by her love of difficult puzzle games, and I feel that love is even more apparent in
King’s Quest.
Some people think that because the game is SO punishing, it must be because it was designed
poorly or haphazardly, when in reality, everything was implemented by choice so Roberta could
share her excitement of those wildly infuriating text based games, like Adventure, Zork, and
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
She was fond of challenge, and she made damn sure to put that aspect into her games; the
storytelling drought had ended, and she put her knowledge of high fantasy into King’s
Quest with a variety of magic, fairy tales, and mythical creatures.
Let us follow Sir Graham on his journey to become king.
What kind of adventures await us?
Geezus fuck.
One cannot deny the intensity, maybe even utter bullshit, of some of these puzzles.
You can make wrong decisions, you can do things out of order that prevent you from winning,
you can die by messing up your footing while climbing - it’s not merciful.
And yet, when I booted this game up, knowing that I would likely mess up even after playing
it all my life, I was hit with this intense feeling, this desire, to explore this world
thoroughly.
I wanted to read every text box, every description, and yes, I even wanted to see how many absurd
ways I could die.
The game looks outdated by today’s standards, but I could still feel the atmosphere and
whimsical setting that Roberta was going for.
Even the descriptions are written eloquently, sometimes even poetically, to match the tone
of the fairy tales that inspired it.
I mean, sure; the proportions are a little off.
Pretty sure this clay bowl could second as a toboggan, and there aren’t many characters
to interact with save this woodcutter and his wife, but I still felt something exciting.
I still felt like I was on a grand adventure.
While we’re in this little shack, let me show you exactly how easy it is to die.
. I think the woodcutter is hiding a portal to hell in this house or something, I fell
FAR.
He and his wife didn’t even seem to notice.
“Honey did you hear something stirring in our hell chasm?”
“Nope, just the screams of the tortured, everything’s fine.”
I should also mention the now infamous Rumplestilskin puzzle, which definitely drives home Roberta’s
intentions.
During your journey you come across a wiley character living in a tent by the river - he
says if you can guess his name in three tries, he will reward you.
If you are familiar with fairy tale lore, you could probably guess that this is based
on Rumpelstiltskin, where a woman has three days to guess his name.
However, the answer is NOT Rumpelstiltskin, oh no.
That would be too easy.
If you found the witches candy house prior to this, you’ll have found a note that says
“Sometimes it’s wise to think backwards.”
Okay, cool.
I’ll type it backwards and...no.
That’s not what the game wants me to do either.
It wants you to use the backwards alphabet, so it becomes this.
And the letters in Rumpelstiltskin become these, and as you can see in my playthrough
I spelled his name wrong but I am assuming it’s just spelled like this in the game
on purpose.
In the novelization, it’s also spelled this way, instead of this way.
I know a lot of people are going to respond with “But HOW would you ever guess that”,
and I’m going to be honest - I think with the hint of being close with the first guess
would have led me to consider the backwards alphabet.
There just aren’t that many options, and I think when I was younger I did eventually
get there, which was exactly what Roberta wanted, she wanted me to think of every conceivable
way, and to be honest this one, though notorious, is not as bad as it seems.
I do recall using the backwards alphabet as a secret code with my friends, so perhaps
that is part of how I got there.
It does seem like a middle finger to the player, but I don’t think it’s totally impossible
to get to this conclusion, there’s kind of a method to the madness.
That isn’t to say you can’t make some horrible mistakes that seem like the right
answer.
For example, this fire breathing dragon seems dangerous, and hey, you found a dagger buried
under a rock earlier so maybe you just need to kill it.
NO, LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!
Oh god, humanity...the bloodshed… how could you do this?
You are a bad person and you should feel bad!
Anyway no, all you have to do is throw some water at him, it’ll put out the flames,
and he’ll become so embarrassed that he’ll run away to sulk.
As an aside, I always thought this Dragon ran away to Ooga Booga land in King’s Quest
7, you know, the one who lost its spark and we have to find some fire to bring it back.
So Graham messed up this Dragon in the past, then as Rosella, Graham’s daughter, we fix
him again.
And it only took 16 years!
This is now official King’s Quest canon.
Also, is it just me or is this Dragon very tiny?
Rainbow Randolph: It’s small but FIERCE.”
So yes, the game does try to guide you to take the high roads - Graham has always been
portrayed as having morals and not wanting to resort to violence to solve a problem.
Instead of killing the Dragon, you embarrass it.
Instead of killing the Giant with a sling and rock, you tire him out by making him chase
you.
Instead of killing the witch you...oh.
Actually you kill the witch.
But in our defense, she IS actively murdering people and cooking them in a stew.
The Dragon and Giant were just kinda minding their own business but that Witch was a serial
killer.
It’s not said in this introduction, but since the game’s fourth release a backstory
was added to the lore, involving this witch.
Her name is Dahlia, who previously disguised herself as a princess in an attempt to woo
King Edward.
On their wedding night she revealed herself as an evil witch, stole the three treasures
from him, and hid them throughout the land.
This is different from the original King’s Quest, which states that the King had simply
heard there were three magical items somewhere in Daventry, and he just wants them, making
him look like a selfish asshole.
I like the addition of the witch because otherwise, it just seems like you’re stealing from
people for no reason.
I pretty much ruined this Leprechaun kingdom by taking back the shield, so I was pleased
to hear they’re some of Dahlia’s pawns.
On top of finding those treasures, the king wants Dahlia destroyed, which is why you can
push her into the oven and get points for it, versus LOSING points for killing other
characters.
And if you are interested in even more of the lore, the King’s Quest companion has
an entire novelization.
In fact, if you read this before playing any of the games you might have a better idea
of what to do, it really spells everything out for ya.
Also the maps are SO COOL.
My favorite puzzle involves this very good goat, who makes very good noises.
(weird digitized goat noises) The solution to this is partially intuitive and partially
accidental - I found a carrot and decided to offer it to the goat.
That seemed like a logical decision.
He liked it so much, he became my friend and wouldn’t leave my side.
Cute!
So I ended up taking him with me, just me and my goat having a grand adventure, until
I came across a bridge guarded by a troll.
To my surprise, the goat butts him off the bridge, allowing me to continue my exploration
and opening up new locations on the map.
This is awesome, but the best part of this puzzle is the text box that says “It is
a known FACT that GOATS HATE TROLLS.”
A KNOWN FACT.
Well I had no idea.
So if you are playing D&D and you’re in the middle of being attacked by a bunch of
nasty trolls, just go find a goat.
Known fact.
Hi everyone, Roses from the Editing room here and I just want to say that I had somehow
forgotten that this is a very obvious reference to the Three Billy Goats Gruff fairy tale,
and I have no idea how I forgot that.
I was IN a Billy Goats Gruff play in Kindergarten.
I still figured this out somewhat accidentally because I found the goat before the troll,
but still.
FAIRY TALE FAIL.
I do love this goat though.
He’s a good boy.
This all being said, even though I understand the intentions of Roberta Williams, and personally
enjoy this game now as much as I did when I first played it, I understand why it’s
not connecting with people in the present.
I think people who find this game too frustrating typically still acknowledge the game’s place
in history and what it meant to computer users, because at the time, this was a fun and exciting
game that did challenge fantasy fans and fulfill people’s desires for replayability.
But players grow up, the gaming industry evolves, our tastes change, and even I don’t think
I’d desire another series in the vein of Sierra logic.
I like how things matured - Sierra shined for a long time, then LucasArts came in and
challenged that unforgiving puzzle design; they evolved how we play adventure games even
further with well thought out puzzles and different UIs, and in modern times we get
such a diverse selection of indie adventure games with difficulty levels that vary.
I adore a lot of the newer indie adventure games that were released in the last 10 years
or so, and we got to this point because developers DID want to try new things, and make games
that a new generation of people can enjoy.
But Sierra games, particularly the King’s Quest series, will always have a place in
my heart.
It was my introduction to gaming, it sparked my love for the fantasy genre, and it became
one of my favorite talking points on this channel.
The entire series, sans Mask of Eternity because we do not speak of such things here, has gotten
me through some really tough times; it distracted me from a hard childhood, helped me with grieving
the death of my father, and helped when I was just simply lonely and looking for an
escape.
This game is like an old, familiar friend.
Not like one of those weird Facebook friendships, like an acquaintance you remember from High
School and you added them because you were curious about how they turned out and if you’re
more successful than them and shit, and then you kinda remember why you weren’t friends
with them in the first place so you like… eeeeeh.
Unfriend.
Definitely, definitely not that kind of friend.
King’s Quest is reliable and comforting and sometimes it pisses you off, but you love
it anyway.
Like my parrot!
King’s Quest is like my parrot.
Now that I have taken this analogy way too far, I will conclude this video by repeating
some of the wisest words ever spoken: Remember, Save Early, and Save Often.
Hey everyone, thank you so much for watching my video on King’s Quest, I hope you enjoyed
this visit back into adventure gaming.
If you want to see more of what my channel has to offer, I have such sights to show you,
but first I would like to shove Patreon in your face for the umpteenth time.
No joke, it has helped me sustain my channel, up my quality, and survive just as a person.
If you wanna support my videos, please give it some consideration, and if not, a like
and a share is also appreciated.
If you can’t decide on whether subbing to my channel is a good idea or not, then why
not give these videos a watch to help that?
On the left we have a Murder, She Wrote review, which is from one of my more popular series,
and on the right I have a review of one of the Nancy Drew Adventure games.
Thanks again and as always, I’ll see you in the next one.