King's Quest: A Fair and Balanced Retrospective

[@spacequesthistorian]

If you enjoyed this video, you might also enjoy the soundtrack. I reorchestrated two of the tunes from the Apple IIGS version (originally composed by Al Lowe specifically for the platform). Listen and download here: spacequesthistorian.bandcamp.com/album/kings-quest-a-fair-and-balanced-ep

[@mikefang9995]

9:32 So, funny thing here, if you give them the empty bowl first, and then say the magic word (fill) to show them that it's a magic bowl that can make food, you'll be praised for not just giving them their "last" meal, but for solving their starvation worries entirely.

[@MattMcIrvin]

I spent many hours in the late 1980s hanging out with my friend Alan while he played through these Sierra On-Line games, and your channel is reawakening brain cells I didn't know I still had. Your play-through of the copagandtastic Police Quest games was hilarious.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Thank you very much! I really do love these old games. It is fun to give them a little roasting, though. 😏

[@amytant]

Genius video. I love LPs, but this is hilarious as well. Great job, Troels!

[@spacequesthistorian]

😁 Thank you!

[@WaterTheBoy]

16:29 Doesn't help that it's 4am when I'm watching this and that guy looks almost exactly like me.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Hahaha! It was just stock footage, I swear.

[@jennyvlogs7160]

You can use the shield to protect you from the giant or the invisibility ring. The giant will fall asleep and you can take the chest. YOu don't have to kill him.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Someone actually told me this not long after I did my video. I did know there were non-violent solutions to some of the puzzles but I wasn't going to let that stand between me and a good Mortal Kombat joke. 😅

[@jennyvlogs7160]

@@spacequesthistorian you get more pionts for the non violent solutions.

[@jennyvlogs7160]

I love your King's Quest videos. I was a kid when I played them so, I just accepted them without thinking about it. The perspective of some one who didn't grow up on these is interesting and you are funny!

[@spacequesthistorian]

Thank you very much! 😁

[@jennyvlogs7160]

@@spacequesthistorian "Prince Alexander, Hormonal teenage pervert" 😂😂😂😂. I binge watxhed all your King's quest videos and laughed my ass off.

[@spacequesthistorian]

@@jennyvlogs7160 I'm very happy to hear that. Thanks again! 😁

[@danieluchwal3515]

Came here for SQ stayed to watch it all including the series I couldn't get into . Finished all of SQ multiple times but just couldn't get into KQ

[@spacequesthistorian]

Happy to have you here! Sorry I haven't been making any new content lately. I will be getting back to it, I promise.

[@danieluchwal3515]

@@spacequesthistorian you take your time better to be good quality like all your work had been then rushed , just replayed sq1-5 this last week due to your videos and installed KQ but still looking at them wondering if I really want to

[@spacequesthistorian]

@@danieluchwal3515 I'm happy to hear I inspired you to play the Space Quest games again! The King's Quest games are interesting in their own right, and my videos on them surely highlights the bad things more than the good (that's just my sense of humor), but hey... a couple of afternoons with a walkthrough for each game and you can cross 'em off your bucket list.

[@richardmahn7589]

If you didn't get the Rumplestiltskin puzzle, you at least get a key that does the same thing...gets you to the clouds. Just you'll never see the cool beanstalk nor get the full points. Maybe they wanted people to come back 20 years when there were BBSs or the Internet and play again....wise planning! haha. I don't know how I got it, but I remember a classmate in elementary school knowing it and I got the answer from him. He should have asked payment, lol.

[@Proatgtag]

The manual that was packaged with the PC Booter version, which was also released in 1984, was written by Roberta and goes into more detail concerning what happened to the Kingdom of Daventry and the disasters that it faced. You are not wrong, though, in thinking that several of those disasters came about from poor choices of King Edward.

[@Danieru-San]

King Edward being a piss-poor king but being forgiven because he's nice to people. I feel almost like Roberta was saying something with this character.

[@phjesung]

Hahaha, love all the text that’s typed in - but never mentioned in the voiceover! 😆

[@spacequesthistorian]

Isn't this just how everyone plays parser games? 😜

[@hamishfox]

Man, there was something so personal about this era of gaming. Maybe it's just because I was a little kid, but I really felt like I was getting a glimpse into someone's mind. These days the world seems so flooded with quick content I find it hard to get that parasocial relationship buzz like I used to.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Hopefully, when I finally get around to making my own games, you will feel some of that buzz again. Or get terribly bored. It's a 50/50 shot, honestly.

[@the-nina-beans88]

4:05 I would love to see what Valanice , Alexander and Rosella would look like in that cartoony style

[@waterbottle4782]

This was the very first computer game I played on a Tandy 1000. Still remember all the puzzles to this day.

[@Sigxy]

I've got to admit, the humour and voice lines of this review did remind me a lot of the old "Spoony Experiment" reviews!

[@spacequesthistorian]

Spoony was and still is a great inspiration for me so that might be why. 😅

[@MasterZebulin]

Ah, goddamnit I miss that guy.

[@spacequesthistorian]

He's still around! He's been doing some playthroughs with the Conversations with Curtis guys: kzbin.info

[@MasterZebulin]

@@spacequesthistorian Hurray, he's alive! 🥳

[@Sigxy]

@@MasterZebulinI'm not sure we'll ever see Spoony the way he used to be, but seeing him on CWC where you can see he's just relaxing and having fun, is really great.

[@Insane-Howl-Cowl]

This takes me back to those early days of PC Gaming. Dark times indeed, but it was a step up from the black and green colored games we had before.

[@goldenrootsnet]

There were BBS at the time of the old Sierra games where walkthroughs could be found. Pirated copies as well...

[@juantamad6576]

I love how to presented this. My childhood game.

[@arcanetrivia]

LOL well, I guess you thoroughly discovered how this game is basically a whole bunch of fairytale tropes and characters just mashed together without anything really explaining how or why that is. KQ2 as you've since discovered is pretty much the same. I think the series gets a bit better after that, but this underpinning of "classic fairy tales in a blender" is always there even through KQ7. (KQ8 of course all bets are off.) I think the treasures randomly lying around might be a remnant of older text adventures, where treasure-collecting for its own sake for perfect points was often a core part of the gameplay, although the treasures can also be used as "wrong" solutions to get past certain obstacles for fewer points (for example, the rat that you give the cheese to will also accept a treasure).

[@DosGamerMan]

Oh, Glad I re-updated tiers. This just appeared in my feed!

[@spacequesthistorian]

Yeah, I was wondering why I wasn't getting any comments on this...until Summer pointed out I had inadvertently fucked the Patreon tiers up.

[@jasonblalock4429]

Despite its quirks, I actually think KQ1 is still one of the best-designed games Sierra put out. It was a pinnacle of player-friendliness, compared to other adventures at the time, particularly the way it has so many alternative solutions to puzzles. (Which, funfact, is because IBM paid for the game and kept telling them to make the design more accessible...)

[@spacequesthistorian]

Yeah, the back story about how IBM fronted the money for the PCJr version with a clause in the contract stating explicitly that they didn't want exclusivity rights, only to have the machine tank and let Sierra quickly turn out a port for their competitors' OS, is super interesting. I didn't want to bog down the preamble too much, though, so I kinda skipped that. The Sierra books by Ken Williams and Shawn Mills cover that story pretty expertly.

[@jasonblalock4429]

@@spacequesthistorian Yeah, King's Quest was supposed to be one of the killer apps that drove PC Jr sales but, instead, it ended up basically being the only good thing to come out of that mess. (Unless you count the Tandy 1000, anyway.) I actually played that original grey box release of KQ1 on a Jr back in the day, so this video was really nostalgic.

[@marcousvazquez2587]

Oh shit I never thought I’d see the day

[@dantheman8103]

This video was great dude. Really loved it, hard to make a review of that game seem fresh after all this time. But you pulled it off.

[@meatrace]

You've been doing such awesome work this year, between your work on this channel and the Space Quest vinyl releases, I'd feel like a complete dickwad to not help you out in your hour of need. So, count me in!

[@spacequesthistorian]

Thanks so much! Really appreciate it!

[@xRocketzFighterx]

For a second I thought you had good old Josh Mandell joining in as a guest helping you out with explaining some parts of the game or while he's tied up just have him say a few lines then cut back to you just for a cheeky joke of just interupting him. Or maybe get PushingUpRoses or Danny as a guest. I'm glad you did this video and glad to be on your patreon to. Sorry I kept on badgering you for KQ or leisure suit larry videos but I always find a relaxing enjoyment watching or listening to people play these old games and talk about them.

[@punkkid21]

Er blown away over hvor godt det her er, Troels!

[@spacequesthistorian]

Haha - tak 😊

[@AlbertBoris]

The King's Quest is one of my favourite of Sierra..., well the first three at least. The first one hasn't aged too well, but I still find it to be a joy to go back to it. My favourite of the three "major" versions is probably the AGDI VGA remake, seeing as it holds up the best to this day. Second place would be the original on the AGI, seeing as it's just a really good classic. I never really liked the SCI remake all that much..., it felt sharper and less fluid than the original, which I didn't like

[@spacequesthistorian]

I'm very curious about the SCI remake. And also how AGDI would go about making any sort of sense out of the story. :) (I do appreciate the non-linear approach to game design in this one, though!)

[@TheWellHungPony]

That manual art looks like Fracture Fairy Tales.

[@williamwright9079]

Fuckin guess my name!!!!!!!!!!! next!

[@williamwright9079]

Make sure the dwarf dont knock your ass a off the stairs! Again!!

[@AdventureGameGeek]

Thought this was just gonna be you "ducking" on King's Quest but I thoroughly enjoyed this, so much that I raised my Patreon pledge in support! Also learned some things about the PC Jr version that I didn't before, like @10:35 the troll explodes?! And @15:08 Graham (I mean Grahame!) looks like he's swimming out of the clouds! Oh and tbh you're kinda responsible for killing the woodcutter and his wife cause you didn't show them how to fill the bowl themselves ;)

[@spacequesthistorian]

Thank you so much, man! It means a lot coming from a bona fide KQ enthusiast like yourself. Also, fuck that woodcutter. He's surrounded by fertile soil and food just growing out of the ground -- and a house made of candy right next door. He's just LAZY.

[@AdventureGameGeek]

@@spacequesthistorian Actually you have a point there, he couldn't even be bothered to cover up the holes in the floor!

[@spacequesthistorian]

Haha 😁 Yeah, I mean, come on... he's used to working with wood. This should be the simplest of tasks! Oh, also, the troll exploding only happens at that one bridge. The other two bridges, the goat just "vanishes" the troll.

[@redshirtveteran5688]

@@spacequesthistorian There's a house of candy, but really, is that all that nutritional?

[@SKutas64]

does anyone knows how much (in USD) the King's Quest cost in 1984 when released (like the retail price)? google just return budget and other BS. thanks

[@Feasco]

space quest historian taking to task the social iniquities of pseudo mystical feudal society

[@thebfiles7563]

Time to change the channel name to the King's Quest Historian

[@spacequesthistorian]

Yeeeeaah, let's just wait and see... 😅

[@redshirtveteran5688]

@@spacequesthistorian Historian's Quest for Patreons!

[@Vohaul214]

such a weird era for video games. I'd love to see your impression on Manhunter New York, lol

[@spacequesthistorian]

I have dabbled a little in Manhunter (and I own boxed copies of both games), but I never finished any of them. They're definitely unique!

[@Corehaven22]

3:05 Knight on the cover of the box. Description: " Take on the challenge! Find the magic treasure. Put on your armour.....in the days when knights were bold and brave " Whoever made this obviously had only seen the title and that is all.

[@albertadoommaker50]

I love KQ, but King Edward was a nonchalant loser. Graham was pretty useless... his kids got kidnapped and then frigged off to chase after a princess. He also managed to let a Wizard make his castle small.

[@robotickilldozer]

Sounds to me like he had his priorities in order.

[@Proatgtag]

If you want answers to some of your questions (what’s the point of the random treasures, why did the dragon have the mirror, etc), let me know! I’d love to answer what I can. A lot of it is explained in the manual that I mentioned.

[@synchronos1]

The King's Quest world isn't a globe. If it loops around in both directions, it's a toroid. Hopefully there's a 3D (in the modern-day meaning of the word) remake some day that takes this into account. :)

[@DavidXNewton]

That ending was hysterical :) I was sure I’d played the first King’s Quest but I don’t remember the king dancing and suddenly dying at all - maybe I’m remembering playing the remake? Phenomenally awful as some of the puzzles are, I did really like that there were multiple routes through the game and you got more points for clever solutions than just running in and jabbing the dragon with a sword, for example. I would have loved it if they had kept that for more games, although I imagine it would be very tough to think through.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Yeah, that cartoon dance really threw me as well! The games get more linear the more complex the tech and graphics get... but I'm told (haven't gotten there yet myself) that KQ6 has a lot of optional content. They might not be alternate puzzle solutions like you describe, which I also really like, but it's... well, nice. 😅

[@uzil24]

This is a brilliant review. Laughed all the way.

[@pjgathergood6987]

Me - 0:05 "....Nah, I'm not sure this is for me". 0:30 "Okayy, go on.....". 0:59 (Clicking subscribe! Subscribe!) Excellent video, already now one of my favourite channel. I'm an old-school Sierra games fan (and SQ in particular) but I gotta admit the first 'King's Quest' game was pretty bloody stupid! I mean, from a technical standpoint and whatnot it's astounding with it being 'the first', but the gameplay upon analysis is crazy. Walk around a nonsensical world where strange random things happen 'just because', solve a quest(s) to get items whose necessities aren't even readily explained, do some random stuff, literally guess at the solution to stuff... and meet a twisted old gnome with a brain-killingly stupid "what's my name" puzzle who probably has to live out his existence in a computer game because if he lived anywhere else he knows full well he would get the living sh*t kicked out of him! ...And yet I still played it. And loved it, for reasons I can't even quite explain to myself. The KQ series, whilst iconic, was never Sierra's finest (a certain 'Space Quest' took that title) and it's ideas and "world rules" were all over the place, especially in the early releases, and yet like a "I'll clean up any day soon now" crack addict it's one that did (ahem... and does) always have me returning to to it again and again. Who's laughing now... Oh yeah, you, Roberta Williams.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Thank you so much for that comment! I really appreciate you giving the video a chance to win you over. 😊

[@michaelcounsell9935]

This is the first version I ever played. But in CGA.. That's about it then played SQ1 end of story..

[@spacequesthistorian]

The CGA emulation in DOSBox looks like a drug trip gone bad, and that's BEFORE you get anywhere near the enchanted dimension. I have nothing but sympathy.

[@simonguitar9028]

The CGI remake did make an attempt to fill in a story to make sense, although admittingly didn't excel in plugging the plot holes, I guess due to a poor story premise to work off from the original. In short, King Edward rescued a princess who he sets out to marry, but finds out on the wedding night that she is the Witch when she steals Edward's shit, and puts the 3 items in perilous parts of the Kingdom. I certainly enjoy the nostalgia, being old enough that I played King's Quest back in the day. It hasn't aged well at all, and the story does deserve some light hearted jabs for not being thought through, but credit should be given for being a catalyst for better adventure games to come. If you haven't played King's Quest 6, it is, IMO, the best of the lot by far. Just a side note, you can get the treasure from the giant without being a murderous bastard, and can obtain it by non-lethal means...and yeah, climbing that beanstalk is annoying as fuck! Save often!

[@spacequesthistorian]

If the giant didn't want me to shoot him in the face, why keep a slingshot in a tree trunk just next to his favorite walking spot? :) I'm strangely looking forward to playing the rest of the games, actually. Thanks!

[@redshirtveteran5688]

Maybe the same witch cast a spell over the kingdom to make it loop around like it does?

[@Robbie_T290]

Loved this play through, looking forward to the next one! 🤖👉🏻👉🏻

[@Geno2733]

I expected this to righteously suck, but... It didn't. THIS was awesome. It definitely raises a lot of questions about why daventry is in the state it was in. Also, you didn't Teabag the Giant...

[@spacequesthistorian]

I should have teabagged the giant. God damn it. Missed opportunity. 😅

[@TheTogoRojo]

Late start on this. Beautiful series. I'll spread it around.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Thank you!

[@tharfagreinir]

You can actually kill the dragon if you want to. There are quite a few puzzles that have more than one solution in this game.

[@rbandboy]

The same can be said about the giant - if you wait long enough hidden, the giant will fall asleep.

[@spacequesthistorian]

I looked at a walkthrough and it said that if you kill the dragon, the big boulder to the left won't move. I'm not sure what that did, exactly, come to think of it... since I left the way I came in... huh. Anyway, at least it's one less life on Grahame's conscience!

[@arcanetrivia]

@@spacequesthistorian It's true that if you kill the dragon you can't push the boulder yourself, but you can get out the way you came in by going up the rope.

[@steve_jackson9933]

kings quest was brutal. There was zero internet. the rumplestiltskin easter egg was WRONG. you had to make your own map. A lot was done by trial and error and luck. It was still a heck of a lot of fun, at that time.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Remember when we were kids and dad used to say, "When I was a kid, I just had a stick on a wheel and I played with that for hours," and we'd shake our heads and think how boring that must be? Kids these days do the same thing if you try to tell them about the first King's Quest.

[@zerobatsu]

How much for you to review leisure suit Larry games😉 (I’m just discovering this channel )

[@spacequesthistorian]

I'll get there eventually. 😁

[@JonDGAF]

This video is hilarious, great work!

[@dragonfurry69]

How much to get you to play the Trogdor flash game before flash dies in a few days?

[@spacequesthistorian]

How much have you got?

[@dragonfurry69]

@@spacequesthistorian $50 USD, and you can use a walk-through. Oh, and I meant Peasant's Quest, not Trogdor.

[@spacequesthistorian]

@@dragonfurry69 Sure. How long until Flash dies, again?

[@dragonfurry69]

@@spacequesthistorian I think officially support ends January 1st. Some browsers might support until the 11th, though

[@dvader518]

So basically all the KQ games except the newer one.

[@cyberdalekyeti]

I'm looking forward to your reaction to the clock timer in King's Quest 3 and hope you played the kings quest redux also ?

[@spacequesthistorian]

In time, I'll probably play all the remakes and reimaginings and stuff - but right now I'm just focusing on getting through the "main series." 😋

[@the_pixel_ninja]

Rad idea...love this! If the U.S. Government can get their heads out of there a$$es and pass a stimulus... i'ma gonna join your Patreon.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Thank you! Yeah, all you have to do is get rich first, then they'll stimuli the hell out of you.

[@the_pixel_ninja]

@@spacequesthistorian so f'ing true. Looking forward to this series, great idea. Come everyone join SQH Patreon!

[@jesternario]

As a fan of sci-fi and westerns, you can keep that psycho locked up for all I care >:)

[@EmeraldLavigne]

Hey, the Cascadia flag! Does this mean King's Quest takes place in the post apocalyptic future Pacific Northwest, post American balkanization? I mean, we're headed that way anyway...

[@beavinator]

To be fair, most of the questions you posed are answered in the SCI remake, in the manual and the game text. Also you're not supposed to kill the giant. :-)

[@spacequesthistorian]

I read the whole manual and saw no explanations that satisfied me. There may be some hiding in the in-game text that I didn't find, but I did make sure to look around at everything like a good boy and didn't come across any big revelations there, either. I'm sure you're right that the SCI remake offers a bit more clarity, though, since that actually had a writer working on it.

[@beavinator]

@@spacequesthistorian Sorry, I spoke ambiguously. I meant the manual that was included with the SCI remake. Unlike the original manual, it contains a full, beautifully illustrated backstory.

[@spacequesthistorian]

@@beavinator I am very curious about the SCI remake... Hmm... 😏

[@thegentlemandude]

can you make an updated version of adventure game editor! am new to it and there is nobody on youtube who does so plas make a new version of it

[@spacequesthistorian]

wat?

[@everythingpony]

I missed you

[@deafviolinist]

is a path down which madness lies I want Kyrandia!!!! 👸

[@Mycon]

You should play Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender. It's a MicroProse game from 1992, something between Sierra and Lucasarts style. PS: I own a copy.

[@spacequesthistorian]

I have played it and it's awful. I do plan on making a video about it sometime and explain just how vile it is.

[@Mycon]

@@spacequesthistorian well I liked it, maybe you're just not very good at adventure games. Have you considered trying out 'Putt-Putt joins the parade'?

[@spacequesthistorian]

I may not be very good at adventure games, but I know steaming garbage when I see it. And Rex Nebular is a crass, tone-deaf chunk of garbage that wants to be Leisure Suit Larry meets Space Quest but fails to recognize what made each of those series great.

[@Mycon]

@@spacequesthistorian What about 'Codename: ICEMAN', I never got past the beginning with the copy protection CPR. Would certainly watch you play that.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Also steaming garbage, but for very different reasons. 😅 I never got much further than the beach part, either. This one is definitely on my to-do list, but I may go nuts while playing it.

[@MagusMarquillin]

OK, be honest SQH: if you couldn't save your game, surely you didn't do a blind play of King's Quest. I suspect you had a hint book or a walkthrough fairly handy? Even still, this is a pretty easy game to die accidentally in, and we saw it a few times in your recording, I don't think you could climb the beanstalk with all the game restarts that would require - luckily there's a much easier way up. But still, I'm sure you didn't just figure that out by yourself, without a save function. However you did this, props for challenging your die hard "Sierra fan who will _never_ play, or even know the details of Sierra's Flagship series" reputation. Maybe you'll even like some of it - maybe you'll even admit it :P. All the same, I enjoyed your irreverent deconstruction of the bare bones epic fantasy the rest of us grew up adoring. And it's cool you were determined to play the OG IBM PCjr, with it's lovely screen redraw on every transition, even if you *CAN'T SAVE YOUR BLOODY SIERRA GAME!* Sheesh, that's dedication. I'd go with the Apple IIgs for the best experience myself - get that extra sound fidelity.

[@spacequesthistorian]

I did work out how to save my game :) (and you actually can see me saving and reloading at various bits throughout the video...) And yes, I did follow a walkthrough. But I also made a point of looking around each scene carefully, like a normal adventure game player would, just so I could at least pick up what little scenery description and morsels of hints there were around. I didn't play much of the Apple IIGS version, but I did reorchestrate bits of its soundtrack for this video: spacequesthistorian.bandcamp.com/album/kings-quest-a-fair-and-balanced-ep

[@swempytimes]

1:20 Nice

[@spacequesthistorian]

Yup. Patreon is nice.

[@TomSFox]

Should I even dare to ask about the 2015 game?

[@spacequesthistorian]

Stretch goals. 😁

[@TomSFox]

​@@spacequesthistorian Incidentally, I checked whether you had the game on Steam last night and happened to notice that you started playing _No Man’s Sky_ . Would you be interested in my friend code?

[@spacequesthistorian]

@@TomSFox That's very nice of you, but I don't think I'll be playing much No Man's Sky in the foreseeable future. :)

[@TomSFox]

@@spacequesthistorian Why not?

[@spacequesthistorian]

@@TomSFox A bit busy with King's Quest these days. 😅

[@donwald3436]

You took the turned to stone Sir Graham hostage?Who cares?

[@spacequesthistorian]

Luckily a few people did care, and it got me through a pretty rough time, back when these videos were made.

[@ErdrickHero]

SMS KQ1 looks better than KQ5 on NES

[@wadewolf4341]

These videos are awesome very AVGNish. It’s great for someone to tell it how it is. It’s fucking bullshit. Get over it and have a good day!

[@earthsteward70]

man this looks shit even compared to the 1985 tandy 1000 release

[@spacequesthistorian]

It's... the same game.

[@earthsteward70]

@@spacequesthistorian just goes to show that even in 1984 patching your shit can result in a radically different experience! I mean my god, the boot loader versions of the game take several seconds to load a single background.