King's Quest III: A Fair and Balanced Retrospective

[@amcclory77]

I played these King's Quest games as they were released, and King's Quest 3 was my favorite. That wizard truly confounded my 9-year-old self, and I devoted months to pondering how to elude him. I thought I could escape on the pirate ship but he followed me! He immediately recognized my tainted cat cookie for the trap that it was. If I left but a single clue as to my meddling--a moved book or an unlocked cabinet--he'd vaporize me. I still recall the eureka moment in my bed when I thought about hiding the cat cookie in the porridge. The joy and relief of exploring the countryside without the wizard hunting me was unmatched by anything that came before or after in this series. I didn’t even mind the tedious spell preparation as I now had all the time in the world. I also enjoyed the first half mystery of not knowing how Gwydion connects to the Daventry installments.

[@stevetb7777]

This mirrors my exact experience... magical!

[@ultimateninjaboi]

The description of "cute birthmark," always fucked me up.

[@metalmario991]

I did some testing and learned a few things about the Wizard. (Using the Wiz Status debug to figure some stuff out) 1) If you do the chore he gives you at the start of the game, he will show up when the clock hits three minutes (provided you haven't pissed him) to see if you've done it. If not, he punishes you. 2) If you did your chore and didn't piss of the wizard by doing any illegal activites, the wizard will always appear at 0:05:00 and go away. Restoring a few times indicates that you are always given 25 minutes in this situation. Whether he goes on a journey or sleeps. 3) I did an illegal activity (trying to head down the mountain) while the clock was at 0:04:19. He sends me back to the house and still leaves at 0:05:00 and goes for 25 minutes. 4) I did a restore and at about the same time, pissed off the Wizard by being in a room he didn't like and he made me do a chore (feeding the chickens.) When I finished and went back in the house, the Wizard Status instead said that he would change after 5 minutes (In point 3, the wiz status still showed his time change at being at 0:05:00). Sure enough, he did not leave at 0:05:00. He ended up leaving at 0:09:04 instead. He was still stated to be gone for 25 minutes. I restored a few times just to be sure. 5) Decided to restart and not do the chore. The Wizard arrived at 0:03:00 and punished me by making me hang on the ceiling in the kitchen for a whole minute. Unlike with the Point 4, him leaving was not delayed. He left at 0:05:00 and was gone for 25 minutes. So as far as my testing can see, the wizard is consistently gone for 25 minutes. The only thing you can influence is delaying his leave by forcing him to give you a chore. After the wizard gives you a chore, the game always gives you 3 minutes to do it before the wizard checks on you. As for some other stuff, I wasn't able to find much interesting on mechanics other than you can look inside the bandits treehouse while outside to see if they are active or not. Apparently, TCRF says that the odds of them being active was raised in a later version. Also, for spell casting, I recommend saving right before the final step that leads into incantation. Saves time if you screw up. I found that in the King's Quest Companion, it does state that they launched a search campaign for Alexander that lasted years, but never found anything and he was eventually presumed dead. You don't get credit really for info that isn't in the game, but I felt it would be fun to share. I still kinda like KQ3 despite it's faults, I really like getting efficient at the wizard sections. I've actually been able to get rid of him after the first cycle and being able to do it as fast as possible is something I loved doing. I also like the idea of having to sneak out, do some stuff under a time limit, and get back to base and use those stuff to defeat guy, even if it wasn't executed the best. The stuff after you leave Llewdor is rather weak, admittedly and you don't really do much. Regardless, I found the game to be a bit charming in a way. Despite being born a while after the Sierra peak, I still enjoy some of their games and found KQ3 fun...for the MOST part. I enjoyed it more than KQ1 or 2, or some of the other AGI games. This was a good video, I mean you aren't wrong about some of the issues you had. It was nice to hear, even if I don't share some of the same views and you presented it in a funny way. I can't wait to see your thoughts on the rest, particularly 6.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Holy crap, you did a lot of work! Very impressive! I sometimes have a crack team of nerds on my Discord go into the code of these games to look up specifics (like, "how often and where does the eagle appear?"), but we didn't do any extensive tests on the wizard since the debug screen told me everything I needed to know for the video.

[@megamike15]

i really feel kq 3 is where the " sierra hates you." meme started. so many of it's design choices are just sadistic.

[@s.m.2523]

Eh, King Quest 1 and 2 were sut as random and sadistic in many ways, I think QK3 is where people started realising because... well it actualy had enough of a story (or at leas t amain character you cna vaguely give a crap about) that you gave enough of a shit to want to actualy finish the game. :p

[@generalgk]

@@s.m.25231 and 2 weren’t even half as cruel as 3 was

[@MrDanTheManWhat]

My dad bought Kings Quest 1 for my sister and I. Then we played Kings Quest 3 only one time. Then my dad said: "That game doesn't work anymore." Now I see why that game 'broke'

[@katiehal16]

There was a 'wizard status' option?!?!

[@spacequesthistorian]

This is now my favorite comment of all time.

[@andreworders7305]

13:06 “no reason at all”? What about the cat kicking?

[@alexander_mejia]

I’m 100% captivated by these videos good job sir.

[@spacequesthistorian]

That's very high praise - thank you, sir!

[@TomSFox]

Not as much as Graham is.

[@imveryangryitsnotbutter]

I can't believe you image-searched "pirate sex slave" for this.

[@spacequesthistorian]

I think it was "sexy male pirate," actually. :)

[@imveryangryitsnotbutter]

@@spacequesthistorian Like I said, I was unable to believe it.

[@kiko335]

I absolutely loved the King's Quest games as a kid (and I still do today), so these videos should make me mad...but you make so many hilarious points xD keep up the good work! Lol.

[@spacequesthistorian]

I'm so glad you can see the humor in these. They do come from a place of love for the genre and its tropes.

[@AP-eq6fv]

Same here. 3 was my least favorite (until 7, anyway), but there's something about them that I still love to this day. I miss those days, maddening as they were.

[@FunnyGinMan]

Can I just say that I absolutely love this new format of videos? Your commentary is spot on hilarious. Having played pretty much all of these games when they came out, it's a huge nostalgia hit that I quite enjoy. Great job so far. Looking forward to more.

[@chadamsler7287]

KQ3 was the first Sierra adventure I ever played. It was a complete pain in the Ass, and frustrating. but I still enjoyed 35 years ago. Fantastic video as is usual. Can't wait for KQ4 video which is my favorite of the series.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Who knows? Maybe I'll fall head over heels in love with KQ4. :)

[@JStryker47]

I'm part of a group that's working on a 3D remake of KQ4. Or rather, I'm the new head of that group, since the tragic passing of my predecessor; who did a great deal of the artwork before then. Progress has naturally been sluggish without her, but work is still being done on it.

[@albundy7794]

@@JStryker47 Any updates?

[@JStryker47]

@@albundy7794 I'd like to say we're close to completion, but there's still a number of animations to do, as well as bugs to fix. Fortunately though, we currently just have one character model left to finish, and it's about halfway done. So we're at least almost done in that regard.

[@albundy7794]

​@@JStryker47 Awesome and thanks for the reply! Despite SQH's (many) issues with the game, KQ4 is easily my second favorite after 6 so I'm really looking forward to this. Good luck and can't wait to see it!

[@meatrace]

King’s Quest III: 17 Years a Slave

[@DeaDGoD_XIV]

This is my favourite old school adventure game, but I thoroughly enjoyed your complete destruction of every facet of this game

[@spacequesthistorian]

I'm so glad fans of the games can see the humor in these videos. I have had a couple of nasty comments from people who think I'm being 100% serious and hate every single aspect of these games. My "destruction" does come from a place of love for the genre.

[@SheaHarris]

Mine too, largely due to it being the first one I ever played. As a kid this was pure magic.

[@Kiya369]

Absolutely agree with John Rogers here. The king's quest are part of my favorite games, yet I enjoy these review videos. This is brilliant

[@Buzzou]

The sheer and utter contempt you have for the King's Quest series is a marvel to behold :D

[@robpagliuca4516]

I’ll never forget the nerve-racking experience of trying to make a cat cookie in the basement laboratory. Besides Nazi Gandalf, you had to worry about the order and accuracy of each spell component. The music was awesome. One of my first intense gaming experiences. Awesome!

[@spacequesthistorian]

"Nazi Gandalf" 🤣🤣🤣

[@Proatgtag]

Not sure if this has been noted before, but despite its flaws, the Odd Gentlemen’s KQ game actually addresses some of the narrative dissonance of the end of this story in chapter 4 of their game. Alexander in specific has a lot of problems attempting to integrate with his family, and it leads to some considerable tension between him and Graham. As far as the original game, I think Roberta was just basing everything upon classic fairy tales, where characters like Cinderella who has no problem whatsoever transitioning from abused peasant to princess. I’m really enjoying these videos and looking forward to the rest!!

[@Proatgtag]

I agree that the game is incredibly painful, and it is my least favorite in the series.

[@MattMcIrvin]

Yeah, the King's Quest games take place in a fairy-tale world and the dark and horrifying and morally questionable aspects of these games are all basically a toned-down version of Grimm's Fairy Tales stuff. The first game also has something of the "murder hobo" quality of early RPGs like D&D where the ethics of what you do to get items of loot isn't really an issue.

[@fragglet]

Thing is, all the things you say are true and they're actually why KQ3 is my favourite in the series. It's a game where you're facing constant danger - trying to avoid being caught by Manannan, trying to cast spells without them backfiring, trying to sneak around the pirate ship without being caught. Somehow it makes it so much more satisfying when you really *do* defeat Manannan because you've gone from being completely powerless to a sorcerer who's as powerful as he is, turning his own spells against him. I don't expect everyone else to agree with me, but at least consider this: King's Quest 2 was very much just "another King's Quest 1". There wasn't anything particularly original about it; it was just another world with the same kind of puzzles - more of the same. They probably could have done the same again with King's Quest 3, but they didn't - they instead did something bold and original, turned the entire format on its head and really challenged the player. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it.

[@MattMastracci]

I enjoy these videos an incredible amount. I can't remember how I stumbled across your channel but you have the perfect style to deal with 80s adventure games and all the wonderful bullsh*t.

[@spacequesthistorian]

That's very kind of you, thank you!

[@KagemaruHitokiri]

Y'know I've heard people talk about Sierra adventure games having a "screw yourself over and not even know it" puzzle design philosophy. And I see bits and pieces of that from Space Quest, sure, there are a couple puzzles per game that basically say "if you aren't an obsessive compulsive kleptomaniac, you aren't going to have the piece that solves this." But this series on King's Quest is starting to show me what people really meant. This game in particular is the dictionary definition of "player-hostile"

[@AlbertBoris]

Probably my favourite of this series. It's got enough of that old-school EGA vibe (and in my opinion, the best visuals of any AGI game), while also having the more original plot of the latter entries. Although the AGDI remake remains my favourite of all time in this series!

[@spacequesthistorian]

It was definitely the prettiest of the first three games -- the art is pretty damn gorgeous, to be honest -- but very, very unfriendly, gameplay-wise.

[@MechaDot1]

Haven't played this series in years since early 90's and many things have changed so I fully understand your view of it. Spell creation especially was frustrating part. By accident, learned a nice glitch related to it. It works in the Amiga version at least. Instead of typing the words on the text box, just press enter until you reach the end and it disappears. Spell is created successfully anyway. Made repeat runs searching for missing points much more enjoyable.

[@andreworders7305]

“Ratsass” is the command to bring up the console?

[@spacequesthistorian]

Yes. I am not joking. sierrahelp.com/Cheats/KQ3Cheat.html

[@psychbabble8960]

Once again, loving the energy of these videos.

[@austinscottful]

Love this series! Can relate as I played the crap out of SQ and only ever played the ultra hyped kings quest 5 as a kid. Great to get your hilarious take on the KQ series.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Thanks! It's actually fun to finally play these games and understand all the cryptic in-jokes my fellow adventure nerds have been making all these years.

[@JW86SH]

Did Annette ever reach out!? Is she okay?

[@spacequesthistorian]

She didn't, so let's just assume she is.

[@Юрьич-ч7ф]

26:55 Ah, you love us, you spoil us. (Actually it's kinda possible to tune yourself to ONE of the themes.)

[@Pezmage1]

Great video! I loved your text parser commentary too, funny stuff!

[@richardperspective]

(heads to the KQ Wiki) "In his 'review', Trails Plibbert accused the creators of being full of hate, to whit, Satan. This accusation of Satanism in the games industry is part of a long trend of-"

[@spacequesthistorian]

I'm sure the KQ Wiki is going to love this one. At least they can't run from the accusation of incest vibes and yeti sex when it's literally IN THE GAME TEXT.

[@DavidXNewton]

@@spacequesthistorian In my play through I noticed the specification of “brotherly kiss” when you kiss Rosella and was suspicious of it being so specific, but Jesus Christ I never found that “look rosella” text!

[@jesternario]

After hearing your comment about Rosella and valleygirl speak, I immediately thought about KQ7 and how without playing the game yet, you had her PEGGED!

[@spacequesthistorian]

Heh. Well, at least we can hope that, after getting together with that twat factory Edgar, she'll be the one doing the pegging.

[@YTWanderer]

27:00-27:22 Perfection

[@spacequesthistorian]

I did that by accident on the livestream and it was so funny I had to put it in the video. 😅

[@countersurprise]

These series are awesome. It’s like cinemasins meets SQH review!

[@Thrakus]

Was it an old build of the game where you get hung up on the cloth line? I have never seen it again and 2 people in a let's play were saying the same. Did we all just think this did happen are is it real? Do any of you remember the cloth line?

[@spacequesthistorian]

The punishment is random. The wizard can sentence you to any number of cruel punishments, one of which is being hung by the clothesline.

[@donchomp7042]

The quality of the script is getting better and better. I laugh during the whole video

[@spacequesthistorian]

Happy to hear it made you laugh. Then I've done my job. :)

[@neoqwerty]

That ending cacophony sounds like every first time my high school music class tried practicing a song together. (yes, every song started that bad and only got slightly less drunk.

[@andreworders7305]

How do you get out of the infinite drowning animation?

[@spacequesthistorian]

You don't. It's not supposed to happen so the game gets utterly confused and won't let you continue past the mountain.

[@while.coyote]

this was the best of the whole series.

[@deanthegreat]

Loving the funny reviews! I was hoping you'd mention "jiggle physics" as others called it when Rosella is rescued

[@spacequesthistorian]

Honestly, I forgot. They took it out of later versions, too, so it should have been mentioned. I just forgot about it when I was writing the script.

[@epicpotatofiend]

I vicariously had a minor panic attack when I saw your kid with some haphazardly-strewn Space Quest boxes.

[@spacequesthistorian]

That's one of his favorite past-times. Pick a game box off the shelf, put it on the floor. Then pick out another box and put that on the floor. He doesn't do anything with them other than pick them up and look at them, then put them down and look at another one. :)

[@richardmahn7589]

So hilarious! I played this game when it first came out when I was 12 and loved it, but wow, never thought of these crazy details. Also, I bet if someone was really Alexander, and showed up at ruined Daventry, I'd just take the next ship out and find a better land to go to.

[@Lofote]

Where can I get the music playing at around 07:00? That sounds great.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Thanks! It's just something I threw together for my KQ2 video and reused in this one. You can get it here: spacequesthistorian.bandcamp.com/track/wandering-around

[@Lofote]

@@spacequesthistorian Nice, thanks :)

[@The8bitbeard]

I'm looking forward to your retrospective of KQVI. Super high point in the series. I do have a soft spot for III because it was one of the first pieces of electronic entertainment I ever experienced. I didn't so much play it as I watched my mom play it, but it still left an impression.

[@tahustvedt]

Every other Sierra game: "There's no jumping in this game." KQIII: "Jump, you moron!"

[@Kyrgizion]

Ahh memories. I was 8 or so, and my dad had a printed-out walkthrough from a friend with internet (bbs) access. Unfortunately, there was a typo in one of the spells, so I was stuck almost forever...

[@PinoyMukbangPro]

My first KQ game.. I thought I was not good enough to finish the game.. but I guess it was just too brutal..

[@goldenrootsnet]

I loved KQ3! It was tense, constantly hoping Mannanan wouldn't show up. And turning him into a cat felt like a real victory. It was a different time where games were few and you took your time to play the game and solve the puzzles, talk to your friends and exchange ideas about possible solutions. I had no problem with the eagle feather, because while exploring and looking for a solution, I visited the screens many times over. When the eagle dropped the feather it felt like present. I think it's different now, where we want to solve puzzles as quickly as possible and are chasing the solutions and we need the quick gratification. I probably wouldn't like it today though.

[@jasonblalock4429]

Yeah, I have fond memories of this as a kid, but I wouldn't want to actually replay it. That said, there've been a couple SCI engine point-and-click remakes over the years, so at least those would be slightly less bullshit than the original version.

[@spacequesthistorian]

I grew up playing games like these, so I know how people used to play adventure games. I'm just saying having that eagle only show up 25% of the time *in addition* to a 50/50 chance of a feather drop *while you're on the clock* may have been a tad too much RNG for one scenario.

[@OldDeadMan]

As an avid Space Quest fan since before the days of the Virtual Broomcloset, I've often wondered if I missed out by not playing the King's Quest series... Your reviews have convinced me I missed nothing. 😁

[@thejuicyroma]

This series of videos is comedy gold, particularly for those of us who played these games growing up and have never considered them from an adult's perspective... absolutely hilarious! 😂

[@spacequesthistorian]

"Adult" may not be the word you were looking for, but thank you! :)

[@ThePorpoisepower]

OMG Rosella has a jiggle algorithm.

[@spacequesthistorian]

You noticed that! Yes, she does... in the earliest version of the game. In the Apple IIGS version, she doesn't - which means they redrew her sprite to be less jiggly sometime down the line.

[@dragonfurry69]

I just noticed that and was about to say something! I'm glad I'm not the only one with... perceptive eyes.

[@TysonJensen]

The spider / eagle thing is completely optional. Which means you don't have to get the eagle feather, you don't have to figure out that the eagle is supposed to defeat the spider or anything. You can just show up having no idea who you are supposed to be and it's all fine. You save the random princess that you have no connection to (since you didn't do the spider thing) and get adopted or whatever.

[@stevetb7777]

LOL, I got that drowning animation bug on the PC DOS version as well. Too funny.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Oh, really? I tried to reproduce it but couldn't.

[@stevetb7777]

@@spacequesthistorian Yep! It may not have been triggered in the exact same way. I don't remember how we did it. It's been awhile, LOL. I'll have to ask my brother if he remembers how. It was hilarious, and we also could not progress beyond that same point.

[@MiguelBaptista1981]

"I don't know what mindset she was in when she came up with this story, but it can't have been a healthy one". I beg to differ. It's about beating the odds, overcoming evil, and rising up to the challenge. And it relates to many people in this world. Just look around. It's not a world made of goodness all around, alot of bad people out there, and people in terrible circumstances. Unlike most nihilistic grotesque, and morally relative games of our modern times, this story had honor, courage, and good values.

[@spacequesthistorian]

The game manual is four pages of babysnatching and enslavement, and then you go back to your home which has fallen absolutely apart and everyone is depressed beyond belief. Oh, and a dragon is torching girls left and right. This is not a happy story. I don't know where you get honor, courage, or especially good values from. But maybe I'm just reading these games wrong. I'm not a big fan of honor, courage, or good values myself. ;)

[@jasonblalock4429]

That's right! It's the thrill of the fight, rising up to the challenge of your rival! ;-)

[@MiguelBaptista1981]

​@@spacequesthistorian Well, then if you're not a "fan" of honor, courage , and good values, you cannot possibly recognize them. And yes, overcoming grief, bad situations in life, and defeating bad circumstances (and the actions of people with bad and evil intentions) is what this game, and all the other stories in KQ are about. Life has alot of terrible, and much worse situations than this, "dragons" or "wizards" aren't real, but real evil people do exist, and they do these attrocities to their own children, students, "loved" ones etc, for example. You should probably read more about real life, then probably you will not only recognize these problems are real, and more common than you think, and dealing with them demands everything you're not a fan of. Cheers.

[@PhantomFellows]

First off, yet another amazing video, thank you! Second, could Annette be writer for the ‘story’ (exposition) in the manual and not the writer of the games? If she’s not in the game credits maybe she just wrote the lure in the manuals?

[@spacequesthistorian]

That's a popular theory, yes. In that case, though, I think the credit is a little misleading. "Story by" insinuates that she came up with the story, not that she just wrote it in the manual. But hey, there is a perfectly good chance I'm wrong. :)

[@PhantomFellows]

@@spacequesthistorian I agree and if it’s the case it’s... it’s conveniently misleading... which is just what the writer of the manual would do, make us think she wrote the game by using “story by” in a super vague manner! Lol idk obviously, kinda thinking bc there’s no game credits and bc she wrote other manuals, she wrote the lure/story in the manual and put Story By (Herself) because technically that’s not wrong. Clever girl.

[@spacequesthistorian]

The thought had crossed my mind, too 😏 Annette just sitting there going, "I'll put my name on the title page. No one will ever know!" and then she cackles and turns someone from QA into a frog.

[@toddfraser3353]

I have found Kings Quest III to be much like Space Quest II, in the fact that the games began to introduce story elements, that have become plot points in future games. Mannanons downfall became influencing plot elements in KQ 5 and 6. Much like how Volhal was an issue SQ4.

[@thebl4ckd0g]

until I learned about the fact Mannanan had like a timer when he'd leave and come back - and having spell items in my inventory instead of under my bed when he's back - was the most frustrating thing about the game - even more frustrating than walking down the cliffs from his magician's tower.

[@eddieking6723]

My first kings quest game was 5. I ashtrays thought I had played all the kings quest games but these videos have proven me wrong!

[@beavinator]

You totally missed the even more obscure and random (and optional) "puzzle" where if you stand around the mice long enough you might happen to overhear another obscure clue about where to dig up the pirates' buried treasure.

[@spacequesthistorian]

I actually did see that clue, but in my Apple IIGS playthrough. Why these conversations are random I have no idea. What Alex wants with the treasure is a mystery to me, too, since Dad has the chest with unlimited wealth in it.

[@beavinator]

@@spacequesthistorian To be fair Alex didn't know that at the time. Also maybe the thing stopped working. The mirror did. And clearly the shield which is supposed to "make your armies invincible" didn't work against the dragon...

[@dragondude9637]

You can put them to sleep too with a spell, but only when they docked, otherwise the ship will sail aimlessly.

[@muzboz]

I love KQ3. :) My favourite! I loved searching for the items, in the time brackets that Manannan was away. But I was just the right age, at the right time. Years later, Thief: The Dark Project was my favourite.

[@andrewmoluf4299]

Can't you make the magic essence and then just get the eagle feather later? I don't think it's involved in the preparation, only when you use it to transform

[@tommogaz]

my favourite kq game. the story was so removed from the previous 2, and that gave it a sense of mystery. the risk in casting spells made it feel more meaningful. when you discovered the oracle cave the world suddenly makes sense and opens up. i was 6.

[@mythyctaco]

I made it through 1 and 2 with only one hint each and had a great time. And then I played 3...

[@tahustvedt]

I played this back then. Was able to figure out all the spells and all on my own as a kid. :) You learn to try everything with everything for hours. The spells are listed in the book in the cellar if I remember correctly.

[@spacequesthistorian]

I played this as a kid, too, but we didn't figure out squat. 😅 In our defense, we were around 9 or 10 and didn't speak English very well. But also we had somehow found out about the Alt+D debug and just spent most of our time teleporting to various locations out of order.

[@chiaracoetzee]

The one thing I like about KQ3 is that it's the one game where just blatant save scumming will not easy mode the game. Because of the timer you need multiple saves and you always have to make hard decisions about when to head back or continue. It's an interesting subversion of their rescue mechanism.

[@spacequesthistorian]

That's true. There are some interesting ideas in these games that I, of course, gloss over entirely for the sake of comedy. 😅

[@chiaracoetzee]

@@spacequesthistorian No worries, nothing wrong with a good entertaining rant review :D

[@ZagnutBar]

The time mechanic was used years earlier in 1983 in the much better adventure game "The Coveted Mirror" by penguin software. Like Alexander, you're a prisoner who has a time limit to escape and explore the castle and town. But here's the big difference: The mechanic uses an hourglass which is always on screen, and you can see how much time you have left before you get zapped back to prison. KQ3 lacks this vital element which makes the game so much more frustrating. Plus, this was during Sierra's "Hi-Res Adventures" era, pre King's Quest. Penguin's graphics were SO much more professionally drawn than Sierra. They contained spot animations which was rare at the time. And it also included random events, but they would repeat which minimized "dead man walking" scenarios. These factors somehow contributed to a really delightful game, unlike KQ3. Really, take a good look at The Coveted Mirror and see for yourself how many of its ideas were taken by KQ3.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Interesting - I hadn't heard of that. Thank you!

[@ZagnutBar]

@spacequesthistorian I'd be very curious to see a Let's Play of The Coveted Mirror alongside Sierra's own 1983 release, The Dark Crystal. Than you will get a good sense of how far apart they were from Sierra's more innovative contemporaries. I never understood why Sierra's legacy has stood the test of time. There were many other developers doing better, more innovative work. Sierra's games always felt unprofessional to me (and I played all of them as a kid, starting with Mystery House). Yes, being able to "walk around in the picture" was innovative. But does it make a more interesting story or better game? Absolutely not. Just like how Mystery House took a perfectly good text-based medium (which told you there was a butterknife in the sink, so you typed "get butterknife") and turned it into a visual guessing game where it specifically didn't tell you what that crudely drawn thing in the sink was. "Get knife" -you can't do that. "Get spatula" -you can't do that "get thing in sink" -you can't do that. Just one of the many ways that Sierra's innovation of graphics actually made the medium worse for the player. When Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert published his essay on the problem with adventure game design, pointing a finger squarely at Sierra, it felt like a vindication for all the years of pain and frustration. It's a big reason why the Secret of Monkey Island was so groundbreaking; it was an apology of sorts for all of Sierra's sins. "I see you, I hear you, and I care. Try this game, you'll feel better." But my point in all this is that Sierra had nobody to blame but themselves for their poor game design. There were contemporaries doing their work far better, but yet Sierra gets all the glory.

[@spacequesthistorian]

@ZagnutBar I have a pretty sizeable backlog of stuff I want to do, so a Let's Play of either games is not in my immediate future - sorry. As for Sierra's legacy compared to its predecessors and contemporaries, that feels like a discussion best left to actual historians. I may be the "Space Quest Historian," but that's as far as my expertise stretches.

[@andreworders7305]

So does the real-time clock not matter any more after you cat the Wizard, or are there things introduced to replace them?

[@spacequesthistorian]

You're right. The clock doesn't matter once you've felined the wizard.

[@xRocketzFighterx]

I checked that Annette Childs was credited in KQ3 original and the AGD remake. Bit of an oversight that she wasn't credited in the previous games unfortunately. I didn't replay any of these versions and just went to youtube videos cus I'm not into paranoid for getting glock'd by a grumpy old bastard for making a small mistake or cocking up the spell enchantments. I'm okay with brutal difficulty but not while under presure with some douchey RNG.

[@zimriel]

>"Half a mile tops" between the coastal town and the desert Ever been to Chile, mate? Maybe Perth? Even San Diego isn't far-enough from some desert. The only thing that bugged me as a kid was that the coast was on the left and the desert on the right. Maybe the orientation was south up, north down. Or the tradewinds are messed up, like Somalia's.

[@G00berella]

I like how your King's Quest trashing series videos are uncovering tidbits and interesting and bizarre facts that other "pro" KQ videos don't.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Haha... I trash with love. I am genuinely interested in finally seeing what this series is all about.

[@craigbrotherton8679]

After seeing this game get a brutal beatdown, it's very cathartic watching polygon586's 18 minute speedrun, where half the nonsense can be skipped over (e.g. turning into an eagle on the pirate ship and flying past the yeti)

[@wolfgangamadeuskeen]

Do Leisure Suit Larry!

[@spacequesthistorian]

Tempting.

[@andreworders7305]

12:51 the narrator laughs at it? What the heck?

[@rpcruz]

When it says Anette wrote the story in the manual I am guessing that's just it. She wrote the manual story, not the story of the game itself. That's why she does not appear in the game credits, only the manual.

[@spacequesthistorian]

That's probably it. Roberta said so herself in a Q&A on Facebook a while back. Still, you'd think Anette would have given herself "manual written by" credit instead of "story by," which is just confusing.

[@cleverlyblonde]

@@spacequesthistorian I mean I know Roberta was in some Sierra adult games but still the look at Rosella had me dying. And I'm a mom too.

[@aratneerg1375]

I kicked the cat waaaay too much out of frustration! The first time the wizard appeared and wanted to be fed and i was so happy but no... he still killed me. Totally agree with u on this.

[@anthonywalker-browning4432]

is the song playing during your "concerned for Annett Child" from the game soundtrack? It sounds familiar but I can't name it

[@spacequesthistorian]

It's not from the game - it's from the Charlie Brown Christmas movie. The tv show Arrested Development used the tune whenever a character felt sad, and I love Arrested Development, so this is my nod to that show.

[@anthonywalker-browning4432]

@@spacequesthistorian I'm sorry not the piano piece the one immediately after where you talk about how dark and depressing shit is, it sounds like either a synth or an oboe. it's the song at 2:52 onward

[@spacequesthistorian]

@@anthonywalker-browning4432 Oh - that was a tune done by James Mulvale based on the main theme of the game. You can find it here: m.soundcloud.com/jamesmulvale/kq3-intro

[@andreworders7305]

How did anyone originally figure out some of these?

[@spacequesthistorian]

Lots and lots of patience. And no internet.

[@Strideo1]

Crazily enough there are speedrunners who beat this game without ever killing Manannan because you have 8 seconds on any given screen before Manannan appears to kill you.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Speedrunners are magical people. My mate @oneshorteye did a whole video about the history of KQ3 speedrunning, and it is a testament to human endurance: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6W1Y4iCpLqJh5I

[@spacequesthistorian]

Also, tagging other creators using KZbin's mobile app remains as delightfully broken as ever. Sorry, mr. Eye.

[@marvinkmooneyoz]

Actually playing the game in a time before KZbin playthroughs, was ridiculous, Sierra should have thought through what they were doing a bit better. But if you watch someone beat it, wait a week so you sort of forget a few things, then play it, its a worthy game. The starting scenario, the opening song, the shot of the Wizards house with the land and sea below, it's got a real mood to it. Its funny comparing the art of this to the first 2 KQ games. Not sure if there is a change to the graphics technical capabilities, but they make much better use of the limited capabiltiies, big pixels and few color choices. KQ1+2 look like a whole earlier era, really, those are just a backdrop for some puzzles, 3 really looks good though.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Absolutely not going to disagree - the art in this game is stunning for its time.

[@dmphax]

My absolute favourite game from my youth. Genius level for it's time.

[@pauls6416]

I love this evil bastard. He’s everything I want in somebody who plays Sierra games.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Oh, stop, I'm blushing. ☺️

[@donwald3436]

Well you can make the cookie first then ignore the timer forever more.

[@SaxcatGamingCorner]

So...devil's advocate here. The bird isn't a puzzle. The feather just falls when he flies by. If you read the spell books first, you know you need it. I never had to wait long for it to fall...if you did, that sucks! Second...the spider...Sierra games tended to make you exhaust everything you have to complete a puzzle in this era. I tried each of my spells and then the eagle worked. As a kid I was like...ok. but it didn't take that long with trial and error. I will say the story is very limited, but the players guide is story based and Roberta had them fill out the games that way...a lot of the remakes are based on ideas from those stories. You know as well as I do how little fit on those disks! I know as a kid I would have around eighteen minutes to search while the wizard was gone. I would normally search around...then load and try again...this kept me from wasting time and helped beat him before I ran out of food (didn't know you could keep getting porridge at that time) When this game came out it was hated...not because of the puzzles...but because of the lead character. That is, until people started getting through the game. Then it changed. I certainly don't have it at #1, but it is a well designed, if not super hard game. Still a fun retrospective!

[@spacequesthistorian]

Your mileage may vary, of course! I totally get why people love and respect this series so much. It is a cornerstone of the adventure game genre and a trailblazer in so many ways. Doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun at its expense, though. :)

[@SaxcatGamingCorner]

@@spacequesthistorian Of course! I loved the video. Just playing the advocate. I can't wait to see you tear apart VII

[@Quazgaa]

this was our first quest game. at the time it was amazing and seemed like this vast open ended world where anything was possible. as a little kid it seemed like it took several lifetimes to beat the game. its funny how few screens there actually are in the game looking back on it now. i remember the spells were hard because i had a hard time reading the cursive in the manual. anyway your take is hilarious! obviously you were raised by a naughty wizard 😂

[@willonizuka80]

27:00 Best ending theme ever.

[@Thrakus]

This is KQ3 meaning they have the mirror, Meaning the mirror told them of this but he was like no tell me when you got a girl in a tower then I might care.

[@spacequesthistorian]

That mirror is so full of shit. You'd think it would at least have warned Graham that someone was about to teleport into the castle and steal his kid!

[@Strideo1]

Well who's gonna stop Manannan from going about his child kidnapping business? He can teleport and literately disintegrate people by pointing at them.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Which, if you ask me, is why they need stricter vetting rules at wizard schools.

[@Strideo1]

@@spacequesthistorian It's an institutional problem, really. I hear all the wizard schools are rife with corruption and nepotism.

[@Warr3nBuff3t]

That was a fucking cool video, Can you do police quest next?, And then maybe leasuresuit larry?

[@spacequesthistorian]

That's very tempting. Let's see if I even get to do the whole King's Quest series, then I'll figure out what to do after that.

[@lcmiracle]

Anette is great, every dnd campaign ought to start this way

[@andreworders7305]

Why can you even fall off ledges in an adventure game? Shouldn’t there be invisible walls?

[@spacequesthistorian]

That's a modern-day convenience. Old adventure games didn't coddle you. Quite the opposite in fact. They were like a mama bird kicking their child out of the nest, going, "Fly, asshole, or meet ground!"

[@geordiedynes2088]

Maybe Annette was in charge of printing the manuals, and decided to print her name in there... Got away with it the first time, but Part 3 got her in trouble

[@LuckyLuigi]

I had a good laugh at this...in my memory the King Quest games were hard but not insanely hard, but were of course. Time heals all wounds I guess :)

[@tharfagreinir]

Hahaha that damned cat! They really did go out of their way to make this one frustrating. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this one as a kid in spite of the frustrations as it did have some really original and interesting mechanics and getting to make and cast spells was a really cool addition to the genre. Whereas the second game was really just more of the same, the third installment really did go into a whole new direction and for that it will always be memorable to me.

[@spacequesthistorian]

What i honestly admire this series for is its willingness to try something new and daring. Some of it works better than other, of course, but it's admirable how they just throw themselves into something and see if it sticks. KQ3 with its timer, KQ4 with its day/night thing...

[@AlexMathiesen]

I can't wait until you get to Kings Quest 5

[@Geno2733]

18:49 the game takes a dump on ITSELF. Also, makes you wonder HOW the nasty old wizard got this kid.. Graham needs to stay in the damn dungeon.

[@marywallace3620]

I'm not gonna lie, King's Quest 3 is my least favorite game. It's almost like a horror game, where in the beginning when you have no clue as to what to do, you are tiptoeing around Mannan who can easily kill you, as you're exploring all of Llewdor, figuring out what all of the items you find and the spells you made do. But ironically, the Redux version of this game happens to be one of my favorite remakes of a king's quest game. Sadly I never beat this game (save for the vga remake lol). So yeah, this game is my least favorite despite it having my most favorite protagonist and villain of any King's Quest game.

[@spacequesthistorian]

I will be giving the remakes a look at some point. Yes, there are actually two fan-made VGA remakes!

[@obzcure]

Wait... did you use an image of the Christchurch Wizard?

[@spacequesthistorian]

I did!

[@obzcure]

@@spacequesthistorian haha its always shocking to see him on anything outside local TV here

[@spacequesthistorian]

He shows up if you Google Image search for "crazy wizard." 😂 I did read up a bit about him before using his picture, though, and came to the conclusion that he'd probably think it was funny.

[@micahbush5397]

To be fair, if a wizard from across the sea teleports into your baby's nursery in the middle of the night and steals your child, leaving no evidence behind of who did it, there's not much of a trail to follow for any investigation. It's not so much bad parenting as it is that you can't prepare of every possible scenario.

[@spacequesthistorian]

Except you have a magic mirror that could easily have warned you about this.

[@micahbush5397]

@@spacequesthistorian Unless the wizard is the one who clouded the mirror in the first place. (Or your theory about the mirror trying to destroy Graham's family is true.)

[@phjesung]

RNGesus! 😆 I realise that my friend and I, at 9 years old (or ANY age, really!) - had absolutely NO chance! 🤦🏻‍♂️ Sierra REALLY needed some competition in this genre!!

[@DanielWesleyKCK]

I can't help but laugh at these videos because in hindsight it's true. Still, at the time, it's what we had and we loved it. We played it, we beat it, and we danced in celebration at the end.

[@itsdanielpaul]

DEAD at playing both soundtracks at the same time 😂😂😂

[@geordiedynes2088]

Shout out to my Tandy 1000, that I played all of these games on. Anyone remember Gold Rush?? It was another game, just like these... Equally as frustrating and hilarious