King's Quest III Remake is hee-ya

[NumbuhInfinity]

I've been waiting for the bug fixes and voice pack all summer, and now it's finally done. King's Quest III: To Heir is Human, the fan-remake. Of course I'm gonna download this baby, as I enjoyed the fan-remakings of the first two KQ games, although those two were made by different people.

www.infamous-adventures.com/

And just for the heck of it, here's where you can find the fan-remakes of the first two games:

www.agdinteractive.com/

[numbuheightbitstar]

Whoa... a fan-remake with voice-acting? How is it?

[NumbuhInfinity]

numbuheightbitstar said:

Whoa... a fan-remake with voice-acting? How is it?

I haven't downloaded the third game just yet (darn dial-up), but I did play and beat the first two games. If you haven't played the first two remakes, do so; they were dang good, IMO, especially the second game. They even got Graham's voice actor from the original V and VI (I've never played any of the original KQ games but those two).

[numbuheightbitstar]

Wow, awesome. Graham was one of Sierra's better VAs.

Allright kids, download and play these games NOW!

[NumbuhInfinity]

Okay, I just beat it. Time for me to say what I think of it.

First, the good stuff. Visuals nice, and just like all King's Quest games, most "Game Over" scenes have clever/smart-alecky messages. Sometimes I would die on purpose (when I know there's a deathtrap) just to see what they say. I also liked how I figured most things out for myself, however I got stuck a couple times and... well, had to go to a "Hints" walkthrough (doesn't actually tell you the solution, it just gives you hints) to get an idea. Even some regular messages (i.e. when you check something) are sometimes funny, usually when you attempt to do something stupid, like using the Eye icon (look) on someone who will kill you if you look at them. And the ending sequence was nice.

Now for the bad stuff. The voices were decent for some characters, though I think some dialouge should have a bit more emotion than what was presented (e.g. when one of the bad guys scolds then kills you for discovering some secrets). I think King's Quest II's remake had the best voice-acting of the three remakes I've played, although III is made by a different team so that may be it. There should have been an option to turn off the text when characters are speaking. I also found the game too short, but I may have been spoiled by King's Quest II Remake's length. And sometimes you won't know to do something unless you read a walkthrough, because you've never had a use for it for a long time.

Overall, it was enjoyable. But I think I preferred the first two remakes, particularly the second, probably because I felt the messages and such were more clever and I liked KQ2's voices more. Now I just got to beat the game with a full score (I hear there's an extra scene after the credits if you beat the game with a full score).

There's only one game left I haven't played and think should be remade: King's Quest IV.


EDIT: "And sometimes you won't know to do something unless you read a walkthrough, because you've never had a use for it for a long time." Should have read "won't know WHEN to use an item, because you haven't used it in a while."

[numbuheightbitstar]

numbuhinfinity said:

Okay, I just beat it.

Heh. I still haven't beaten the original King's Quest III. I need to get crackin'....

I think King's Quest II's remake had the best voice-acting of the three remakes I've played, although III is made by a different team so that may be it.

I know at least one team had an ex-Sierra voice actor actually doing the voices. Dunno which team it was, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was the guys who did KQ1 and II. Sierra's voice actors were good, except for that one time Gary Owens flubbed the "Betelgeuse" joke.

There should have been an option to turn off the text when characters are speaking. I also found the game too short, but I may have been spoiled by King's Quest II Remake's length.

Really? Again I haven't played the remakes, but I found KQII original to be much shorter than KQIII original.... then again, as I said I haven't beaten KQIII yet.

And sometimes you won't know to do something unless you read a walkthrough, because you've never had a use for it for a long time.

Never had a use for what? Walkthrus?

There's only one game left I haven't played and think should be remade: King's Quest IV.

At which point all the classic adventures will have been converted to Point'n'click...

Heck, actually, now they need to remake Space Quest II and III, Quest for Glory II, Laura Bow I....

EDIT: Great, now I'm feeling like having a PC Adventure Game Marathon... Hmmm... doesn't sound like such a bad idea, actually.

[NumbuhInfinity]

numbuheightbitstar said:

Never had a use for what? Walkthrus?

Oops, sorry. It was supposed to say, I never know when to use an ITEM unless I look at a walkthrough because I've never used the item throughout the entire game, even though there were several points where it LOOKED like it could have been used.

And if you're wondering why I said KQII Remake was long, it's because AGI Interactive added quite a bit of extra stuff, such as dialouge, cutscenes, puzzles, and all that good stuff while still keeping the main storyline. I don't know how it was liked originally, but I really enjoyed this one.

But man, can King's Quest get you stuck. I never beat King's Quest V for YEARS because, the time I first played it there were no GameFAQs, much less internet access, at the time. No matter how many different solutions I tried I kept being stuck even though I did everything I could in town, and found some items in the desert (while being killed by a bandit in a camp). I FINALLY became unstuck when a couple years ago, I read GameFAQs and learned that near the entrance to the temple, when the music changes and the bandits start coming, hide behind a rock and they'll ride up to the temple and open the door. (If you're still out in the open when they arrive, let's just say Graham will taste sand and it's Game Over.)

Thanks to that site, I finally started progressing through the game, and eventually beat it. It was really good, and so was King's Quest VI, of which I beat both endings of.

[numbuheightbitstar]

numbuhinfinity said:

I FINALLY became unstuck when a couple years ago, I read GameFAQs and learned that near the entrance to the temple, when the music changes and the bandits start coming, hide behind a rock and they'll ride up to the temple and open the door. (If you're still out in the open when they arrive, let's just say Graham will taste sand and it's Game Over.)

I remember that. My main problem was always that Graham wouldn't hide fast enough (until I messed with the speed slider). I knew you were supposed to, since I was so used to hiding behind stuff in other Sierra games (Space Quest 4).

Thanks to that site, I finally started progressing through the game, and eventually beat it. It was really good, and so was King's Quest VI, of which I beat both endings of.

Actually, I think KQ6 has three endings. You can vary the ending a bit depending on how you deal with the Vizier's genie.

[numbuheightbitstar]

Today I replayed the original KQ1, as well as Sierra's own remake. Now I'm preparing to play it for a third time through this VGA, point-n-click remake.

And I thought I'd bump this topic.

By the way, I read recently that Vivendi's King's Quest compilation actually outsold World of Warcraft this week. Thoughts?

[NumbuhInfinity]

numbuheightbitstar said:

Today I replayed the original KQ1, as well as Sierra's own remake. Now I'm preparing to play it for a third time through this VGA, point-n-click remake.

And I thought I'd bump this topic.

By the way, I read recently that Vivendi's King's Quest compilation actually outsold World of Warcraft this week. Thoughts?

Looks like King's Quest is more popular than I thought. I've never played WoW, actually, so I really can't compare the two.

[numbuheightbitstar]

I doubt you can compare adventure games to an MMORPG anyway. It's nice to know that people still appreciate the classics though.