As has become a bit of a habit of mine, I’ve once again found myself playing the remake of a game I never played the original-make of. The latest installment in this collection is The Odd Gentlemen’s King’s Quest, an episodic collection telling stories from throughout the life of Graham, the series’ lead character.
Strictly speaking it’s NOT a remake of any particular game in the King’s Quest series – it is billed instead as a re-imagining, with each chapter taking place between the series’ previous installments which are considered canonical with this new title. Ironically, it is one of the few ‘episodic’ games that truly IS episodic, as each chapter will be a self-contained tale rather than a single narrative that occasionally pauses for a few months.
In this first chapter, we see Graham on his way to the kingdom of Daventry in his quest to become a knight. King Edward is holding trials to name the newest knight of his kingdom, with the additional rumour that a she has no true heir, this knight may one day rule Daventry itself. With little to his name other than a hat he refuses to lose track of, Graham sets out as the underdog of this competition to win a place at King Edward’s side.
Presented in this installment as an adventure game, King’s Quest sees you roaming around Daventry to solve various puzzles and trials in your quest, with the added bonus of a framing devices that sees an older, KING Graham (played by none other than the delightful Christopher Lloyd!) providing ongoing narration and commentary. The whole game is presented with a light-hearted tone, with Lloyd regularly cracking terrible puns about the game’s events to his granddaughter, to whom he is telling these stories.
Every time you take a wrong turn or accidentally get Graham killed, his older self will crack some joke or say something to the effect of, “Hang on, no, I didn’t die then. Oops.”. It’s a great way to explain away the trial-and-error nature of this style of game. It’s also not shy to poke fun at its own genre; early on you are given a hatchet to add to your inventory arsenal which Lloyd explicitly states, “.. Which I did NOT go around using on everything I saw!” Of course, you can do exactly that, with his granddaughter excitedly suggesting it as a solution and him vehemently denying it. When the hatchet does fulfil its puzzle-based purpose, he gruffly states that he left it behind, “because I WOULD NOT be needing it again!”
It’s these kinds of in-crowd nods and humour that really sell the game, especially to a series newcomer such as myself. The story is branching and comprehensive, allowing for any combination of choices you make. With the game’s choice-driven puzzles (offering the trio of pathways as Compassion, Bravery and Wisdom), this first episode’s total script reportedly clocked in at 640 pages long – almost two-thirds of the total scripting of the rest of the series to date! As such, it’s no wonder the game is being presented as episodic rather than a single title.
Visually, the game sports a warm and diverse palette, embracing a rich, almost painted style. The quality of animation is likewise top-notch with every character employing unique flourishes and mannerisms to really distinguish them from one another. As the lead character, Graham of course benefits best from this treatment, with plenty of unique animations as you make your way through the story. His weirdly angular, jaunty walk was a favourite of mine in particular. It didn’t get him from A to B any faster, but it certainly made it look like he had a sense of purpose.
While some of the latter puzzles didn’t make immediate sense, the game doesn’t make the kind of humongous leaps of logic of adventures games of the past. While you might not be given explicit hints of what to do next, it’s simply a case of retracing your steps and taking note of areas or tasks you couldn’t get to before. While I did refer to a guide at one or two points, this was more my own fault for not paying enough attention than any fault of the game’s design.
The episodic nature of this new King’s Quest is something that has me pretty excited. With the knowledge that the story isn’t totally ongoing, I have no idea if my choices will directly feed into the next chapter, whether the story will pick up from the cues set here, or if it will leap forward far enough that I’ll be experiencing a totally different Daventry and Graham. While more linear games may suffer from not having a “Next Time on…” teaser, here it actually has me MORE excited. I’ve got no idea what comes next – both for this re-imagined title OR the series itself – and I love it. Newcomers should definitely give this adventure a shot, and I’d be interested to hear what series fans think too.
King’s Quest “Chapter One: A Knight to Remember” was reviewed using a digital copy on PS4, as purchased by the reviewer.
Review: King’s Quest “Chapter One: A Knight to Remember”
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