Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
King's Quest 1
133 Plays26 days ago
Oh FINE we'll talk about one of the biggest deal adventure game franchises of all time. And yes, we're going to play the rest of them too (well, maybe not the last one).
Quest Quest podcast is Ben Vigeant and Jess Morrissette.
Editing by Ben Vigeant
Show art by Kevin "WilcoWeb" Wallace
Watch us on Twitch!
Ben: https://www.twitch.tv/ps_garak
Jess: https://www.twitch.tv/decafjedi
Give us a review, they help people find this show! Unless you hated it, in which case, don't.
Recommended
Transcript
Podcast Opening Attempt
00:00:20
Speaker
It's quest quest. I was trying, I was trying something new, you know, because I open it the same way every time. How'd it feel? I think you could hear me bailing on it at the end. Yeah, I can tell that yeah you were graining it already. Yeah. Yeah. Like the the start, there was a, there was some excitement there at the start.
00:00:42
Speaker
And then, and then I like, and here's the thing, this is what's really important to know. And I say this, uh, uh, to, to all of you out there in the, the radio land is that, you know, the way things happen is by, by, uh, coming in with confidence and and staying with confidence because you, you gotta, you gotta stick to it. And I think I would have been able to to fool everyone if I did it with full confidence.
Vocal Comparisons
00:01:08
Speaker
Yeah, they can see your face. They can see the flop sweat that somehow formed in that like three second period. It took you to say yeah it's quest quest See, that's pretty good. yeah You dug you have you have a certain baritone timber, which I don't have the I like i I have I have something in there. But I think you have you have a deeper there's something there's a deeper baritone in there that I think that you can pull to. Yeah, it's a cheat. It's a cheat. Yeah, it makes Yeah, it makes me sound very serious.
00:01:47
Speaker
Yeah, that's and that's why you're a professor. It's all that gravitas that I bring to the table. um I was gonna try to do like kind of a ah like a defying gravitas joke. Oh, you think anyone's ever people must have done that. I wouldn't be surprised that was in one of the like the Broadway Follies shows where they do all the parodies of the musicals. But ah I can talk right now and you're a huge fan. Yeah. Has. ah Has Weird Al ever done a parody of a musical song? Okay. Okay. He did a Hamilton Polka, which was like all the greatest hits of Hamilton set to a polka beat. I know this beyond that.
00:02:41
Speaker
I'm honestly not sure. And that one, that he didn't like weird. Allot. He just polka. Yeah. He just polka. Yeah. It was normal. Al doing a polka. No, it was still a little weird. true still you you know i was still learning Yeah. Yeah.
Weird Al Parody Exploration
00:02:56
Speaker
That's the sound effects. Wacky sound effects. I did. I, uh, with my friends recently over, over discord, I had a really fun night where, uh,
00:03:07
Speaker
we would watch the original music video of something and then the weird L parody of it. We just did that for like three hours. ah And I got to tell you, that's a great way to spend spend an evening. It sounds amazing. The original music video I this is a this is a suggestion I'm giving you Jess and giving to all of our listeners. It's just a delightful evening on YouTube but is ah ah looking up all of your Because what's also fun about it is that some of them ah are like, you know, straight parodies of the music video as well, both the song and the music video, but some of them just go in a completely different direction.
00:03:52
Speaker
And some of them also I had seen the owl like the weird owl parody, but I hadn't seen the original. Like, ah whatever I forget the name of it, ah whatever the parody of that ah I lost on jeopardy is a parody. of Yes, my life's in jeopardy. My life's in jeopardy. ah Like most of that music video ah is is not parodied except for the very end, which I was always confused about the end of the lost on jeopardy.
00:04:22
Speaker
Uh, uh, thing. And now, and now I say to you Jess and I say to all the the listeners now, uh, go out and watch my, uh, my life in jeopardy, the music video. And then, uh, I lost on jeopardy, which is one of my favorite, um, you know, music videos. That's a good, that's a good one.
Hypothetical Weird Al Prank Show
00:04:38
Speaker
I mean, I think my favorite is maybe Beverly hillbillies and the money for nothing parody there. Cause there it's one where it's absolutely like, I am recreating the video and it's so well done.
00:04:52
Speaker
The, uh, you know what, like, I mean, and this is, this feels kind of a basic one to say, but the, uh, smells like teen, uh, uh, spirit, uh, smell like the, and then, um, like the weird Al parody one gets the job done is so good. And it's so like watching and those two together. Uh, uh, watching the the Nirvana original and then the weird L one.
00:05:20
Speaker
Uh, are so funny. Uh, yeah. So anyway, that's a good way. Welcome to the quest. Welcome to yank yank the weird out podcast.
00:05:33
Speaker
Yeah. Welcome to yank yank. Uh, the weird Al crank yankers podcast. Uh, we covered two topics here. Weird Al and the comedy central puppet prank call show crank yank. You see, I thought we, that meant that we were just, we only prank call weird Al.
00:05:50
Speaker
like you're calling me again, huh? What do you got this time? Yeah. it and um
Introduction and Game Interests
00:05:58
Speaker
All right. Welcome to quest quest, the adventure game podcast. I'm Ben also PS underscore Garak on Twitch and you are Jess decaf Jedi on Twitch and everywhere else.
00:06:08
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. um And I suggest I have a question for you. What have you been playing this week?
The Adventures of Willie Beamish
00:06:15
Speaker
Oh, man, I have been playing for the first time ever. Again, I'm cheating. I'm going to talk about an adventure game. Yeah. I've been playing the adventures of Willie Bemis.
00:06:26
Speaker
hey the dynamics classic. The adventures of Willy Bing mission. Let me say it's got to be the best dynamics adventure not counting Space Quest five, right? I think there's a chance of that. I haven't played all the other ones, but the other ones don't seem that good. I guess I just have to play part of China. There's heart of China, which I don't know if that is. It seems like it seems like a game that. Yeah. Rise of the Dragon is like, you know, yeah. Hey, have you seen Blade Runner? What if it was worse? Right. I've played that one.
00:06:57
Speaker
And there isn't there at least one erotic one, which is probably the best. ah Deja vu or something? Or no, it's not Deja vu. It's something I got. Willie Beamish is probably the crown jewel though, right? I mean, it's as flawed of of an adventure as that may be. I mean, I will say. You're a lot on Willie Beamish listening to you talk about it, like on the stream and on um and on our Discord. You're a lot you're a lot more pro ah Willie, or as some call it, Wally ah Beamish.
00:07:26
Speaker
That was the original name in Japan ah was while he's being Michelle. Yeah, yeah, they changed it. And and now like some people hold on to Willie, like some people hold on to Dr. Robotnik. Yeah, Willie Willie panic was the was the original. And he did. Anyway, so how are you enjoying Willie B? I mean, I'm like an hour and a half into it. You know, it's fine. I mean, I think if you know that like Willie's family is going to be awful and just materialistic and mean and like all the horrible scenes at the beginning of Home Alone and all that sort of stuff. It's like, okay, maybe I can imagine this is satire, even though I'm not entirely sure the extent to which that was the intention.
00:08:12
Speaker
It's it's very cooked in, like, it is absolutely a product of the like early 90s, like it. And that's one of the problems I have with Willie beam ish is that it doesn't feel at all original knows that it is like all everything that is inspired by yeah Like, early Simpsons. Yeah, lazy early Simpsons. Every sitcom trope imaginable. It has too many things going on. Like, nobody should be allowed to have a ghost grandpa, a champion jumping frog.
00:08:50
Speaker
and like a major video game tournament that they're participating in. And just all these other, like Willie needs to skateboard. He needs to just trim one back. Like, I don't know. It's too much. but I mean, it's fine so far. I mean, it's not a great game, but I mean, it looks pretty good. did Some of the voice acting is nice. Did you look at ah the manual?
00:09:17
Speaker
No, I have it. You should look the manual for Willie Beamish is a style of like a ah because I remember I had a ah a box copy of Willie Beamish that I couldn't play because this is the Mac version. Like I just picked it up in a bargain bin because I just wanted the box. ah Yeah, and it the manual for it was this like his his school ah notebook. And so it was like written in pen and it had all these doodles in it. And it looked it looked very cool.
Game Manuals Nostalgia
00:09:54
Speaker
ah It, it was a very solid, like on theme in character manual. Oh, nice. It also came with like a menu for the pizza joint rat and some stickers and some stuff like that in some of the early releases. I probably had a lot of Phillies for a Sierra dynamics game. Yeah. Like it just looked like the, the, the, the main, the manual is what I remember. And I, I think it belongs in the Pantheon alongside like
00:10:25
Speaker
the, the pharmacology manual that they did for Freddy Farkas and, uh, like the, the guide to the green aisles and Kings quest six, uh, like among the, uh, point and click adventures, because, you know, if we can't even become, that would take forever. But, uh, yeah, I mean, that's where the click adventure. Yeah. Like interesting manuals.
00:10:49
Speaker
note to Ben listeners, please tune out for the next 10 seconds or so.
Listener Engagement
00:10:54
Speaker
We should do an episode on Phillies and other annuals. Cool manuals. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah listeners one Come back now. Welcome back. Yeah. Um, uh, that reminds me we were emailed a good idea for an episode. Um, uh, people email us though.
VR Gaming and Trombone Champ
00:11:13
Speaker
People can email us at quest quest podcast at gmail dot.com. Now,
00:11:19
Speaker
I've been playing ah lately. i i you know I am finally hip to the hot memes of two years ago because I have finally played trombone champ. ah But I will say that I mixed it up. I got the recent trombone champ, which is in VR, where you mime out playing a trombone. your meal so boly Like pushing it out in
00:11:56
Speaker
And, uh, did you ever play trombone champ when that, that, that came out and I'll, I'll describe what trombone champ is for, you know, once again, like you say this and at first I think you're just trolling me by making up a game, but here it is on steam. If this is a troll, you've really done your done your work. You got it. All right. Well, can I just grab it? Like just looking at the screenshots. Yeah. It looks like,
Cosplay and Themed Gaming
00:12:20
Speaker
uh,
00:12:22
Speaker
Miiverse character like a Nintendo Wii avatar. Yep. Yeah. Playing a trombone against some vapor wave backgrounds. Kind of. Okay. i but that So it is. Yeah. the the The main thing is that it is. ah Yeah. It is doing like it is a trombone ah music like rhythm game.
00:12:47
Speaker
Uh, and the joke of it is number one, that it's a trombone and that's funny. Number two is that it's entirely public domain music. Okay. So it's like Ave Maria and stars and stripes forever. And you know, like various, like, you know, Yankee doodle and, and, uh, a bunch of like, oh, Canada's in there and some other stuff.
00:13:14
Speaker
and also like the trombone sound they they got for it is pretty funny sounding like it's like a real like bri um like it has a good funny and like it's a hard game so it's like you are fucking up the trombone part of a very recognizable tune Uh, and like then the idea that all these me first people are watching you in an auditorium and booing or cheering you a trombone soloist. Uh, it is Jess, I think you should play, you should probably play the, the, uh,
00:13:55
Speaker
Uh, uh, the, the original, the non-VR version people went nuts fruit. Like it was. Like for like two weekends of a month where it came out, it was a very hot, like meme game. Like everybody streamed it for like one weekend and people went nuts. They're like, this is such a funny joke. And then they got over it. But if you haven't played it and have no knowledge of it, then like pick it up so you can enjoy the joke.
00:14:24
Speaker
of trombone champ, which is also like a fun game. I had ah my my friend Robin over and that was their first VR experience was playing trombone champ VR. And they also had no knowledge of the game. Like I was just like, Oh, do you want to play trombone champ in VR? And they're like, uh, sure. And, uh, I put the headset on them, which they, as I said, they've never played in VR before and they were just scream laughing. Oh, wow, entire time. They were just cracking up. I love a good rhythm game. I'm terrible at them. yeah Same same same same same. yeah I mean, this sounds fantastic. Also been like I'm wondering, you know, how much would people have to like donate
00:15:11
Speaker
for you to do a stream of the VR version while wearing a red Star Trek, the next generation uniform. Can we get some sort of- I mean, I have a lower decks red uniform. It's not gonna quite be the same as like the full Riker. Yeah, well, that's all I got. I have a yellow Strange New Worlds command. Oh man. And I have a lower decks. I do not have a next gen red yet.
00:15:40
Speaker
This is, this is your excuse to to go for now's the time. Yeah. Yeah. Ben, I don't want to say this. Let me tell you what you should actually get. Here's your next Star Trek uniform. I think you would look dashing in a DS nine medical science uniform. Uh, is this ah like that red one? I'm thinking the gray with like the teal shoulder. Yeah. Till collar and shoulders.
00:16:10
Speaker
This isn't one Bashir Dax season one. deep space man yeah Okay, so season one. Okay, I thought you were saying like the the gray or purplish ah like a shoulder less than you have the teal collar. No, I'm thinking like the full on, you know, reverse TNG deep space man. Yeah. All right. Well, I'll take a look and see if if I can find ah a good it's Because I know like I I I've now met like somebody that's a ah hardcore extremely good at cosplay guy.
00:16:50
Speaker
I know a couple of them, but I like met another one recently and like he, you know, uh, he didn't say it, but I know that he, you know, he looks down, but the, the, the fact is that it's extremely easy now online to find costumes to anything, which is why I've gone as Star Trek characters for, for two Halloween's in a row. And, uh, yeah, maybe I'll go for the, the, uh, Bashir medical.
00:17:15
Speaker
Uh, one, that would be fun. You know, what would be ah a, uh, a fun specific DS nine uniform is Bashir's, uh, tennis, uh, outfit like a white. ah Yes. Yes. I immediately knew what you're talking about. Yeah. All right. Well, all right. Well, all right. and Enough
King's Quest Series Discussion
00:17:34
Speaker
of that. Let's, let's get to the fucking podcast. There you go. That's what I came here for.
00:17:42
Speaker
So this week, I'm very excited. We are going to be talking about a milestone game. We're going to be talking about, as you probably know already from the title, King's Quest One. That's right. We're talking King's Quest One. And Ben, I want to kick off this discussion of King's Quest One with a question for you. Yeah. Is this the most important adventure game ever made. So there's one thing I want to add, which is that this is the the first in a series, we're going to play not not not next week, we're playing King's quest, too. But we are now going to this is, and we'll probably do this for quest for glory as well. But
00:18:28
Speaker
We're going to, we are going to now play all of the King's quests up to seven and, uh, uh, discuss them over this. This will be part of a ongoing full series thing. And why not start with something that might be the most, uh, uh, uh, adventure game of all time. Okay. That's hard because it's like, uh, I mean,
00:18:56
Speaker
because there are a couple different ways that you can go with this. ah One is, is you can say, no, the most important adventure game of all time is adventure.
00:19:10
Speaker
Okay, I think that's a valid answer. i you know Also known as Colossal Cave. ah back ah Some background for adventure slash Colossal Cave, if you're unfamiliar. That was a game that was ah played on mainframes in what, like the 70s? Yeah. And it was, if if you haven't played ah like the recent remake,
00:19:33
Speaker
ah it It is a game where you explore a large cave and you have to get certain treasures and then bring them up to like a ah treasure room and.
00:19:47
Speaker
ah that like that's what the game is. Zork shares a lot of its DNA. Well, Zork does. So does this. That's right. We're even treasures. This is like my my note on King's quest one when I was playing it for for this stream is if it came out today, and it would be called a adventure like Oh, tell me more. Because it is like it uses because yeah. All right. So to return to it. All right. So your, your question is, is this the most important adventure game of all time? I don't know if I could you give a qualified yes or no, but I can't say good contender. I mean, Zork is arguably yeah a strong contender. What else is on the list? Like what else can you make a case for the Island?
00:20:40
Speaker
Yeah, or as maniac mansion, the better pick there the monkey island. and i mean like monkey island better I would absolutely say monkey island both in terms of the quality of its design and then also these like a monkey island is always brought up like maniac mansion is important.
00:20:55
Speaker
And it's interesting and it has a very interesting design, but more games are trying to be monkey Island than they are trying to be maniac mansion every now and again. There's a game that tries to be maniac mansion, but all the time.
00:21:11
Speaker
There are games that are trying to be Monkey Island far more influential in that sense. But yeah, this is I've been curious, but I've barely been trying to think through this question myself. You know, ah and of course, Kings Quest One. um I bet most of our listeners are familiar. We're talking about the classic Sierra adventure game designed by Roberta Williams originally released alongside the IBM PC Junior in 1984. Ben, it was the like the the killer app.
00:21:40
Speaker
It was, it was designed from the ground up to show off the graphics capabilities, the sound sound capabilities. You know, this was a game that was meant to be like the killer app or the PC engineer. Interesting because, and this isn't an original thought. I'm either cribbing this from Steven Levy and hackers or Jimmy Mayer, I'm the digital antiquarian. and But it is kind of an interesting thing that this comes out of funding from IBM, which is, you know, not at all a company that would be considered, ah you know, one that would be interested in bright and fanciful fantasy adventure, like fantasy video games.
00:22:25
Speaker
Yeah, they call them big blue, not big 16 colors. That's right. ah And, um, uh, you know, the, yeah, this was made and it's, it's being stuck to the PC junior almost killed Sierra, uh, which was already in, in trouble.
00:22:45
Speaker
And again, I'm referring to like the those two previous authors to ah like to really as my historical source on that. But ah because the PC Junior was a flop, but fortunately, a whole bunch of ah companies, including Radio Shack.
00:23:03
Speaker
with the Tandy, which is what you had. Yes. um They cloned that ding dang thing. Yeah, like, we're just like, all right, well, we're just going to clone it because it's yeah. And, and then all of a sudden, ah you know, then there was an audience for it. Yeah, that tremendous you had a cocoa.
00:23:22
Speaker
Uh, no, no, no. No, Ben, not a Coco. Uh, Tandy 1000 EX. Wow. A much, much more powerful system. My neighbor had a Coco. I played a lot of Dungeons of Dagorath on that one, but, uh, a Dagorath?
00:23:39
Speaker
ah Does a does anyone know how Mr. Daggurath pronounces his name? But I believe it was from IBM. So to return back to the adventure like thing is that I say it's adventure like ah like colossal cave like because it is you have a big wide open area and you have to get a bunch of treasures and then the game is over and you can get the treasures in any order.
00:24:08
Speaker
and also like their treasures that you have to get and then like but also there's just stuff in king's quest one that you can get that is just like and you found some gold yes it's a very point like the points really mattered it's the opposite of um whose line is it anyway? In this game, I mean, a big part of it is how did I max out my score by finding not only the three treasures of Daventry that Sir Graham has been sent in search of, but also all the other stuff littered around the kingdom Kings quest to maintains a lot of this too. Yeah, they're still just treasure honey. But you're right in the sense that beyond that, I mean,
00:24:47
Speaker
The narrative is basically Kings dying. Go get my stuff. You got my stuff. Hooray. Well, well, I have actually been now a little bit of audio ah for i prepared of what Graham has to get ah via the voice acting from one of the remakes of this game. This is the AGD.
00:25:11
Speaker
ah remake of King's Quest I that was done in 256 and it has voice ah and you can download this online. Here a magical shield that protects the bearer from all mortal harm. The third and last is an enchanted chest that is forever filled with gold.
00:25:37
Speaker
I was actually very amused by the, uh, like the, the voice acting in it. And I almost had like a voice clip for that was like five minutes long. And then it's very good because I was just like, this, that would be way too much. Um, but you're hearing you in the description of each of those treasures. I really think that Graham underutilized them throughout his time. The mirror gets so I was, I was about to say that in,
00:26:05
Speaker
uh in two and three and four and six uh the the mirror mis hi is is part of the plot we never hear about the other stuff Yeah. And those others seem super important. First of all, Graham is unkillable with the shield. I would carry the shield everywhere. Why does he ever not carry the shield? Yeah. And, you know, all the money in the world. Very easy to kill Graham.
00:26:37
Speaker
ah That's, that's the big problem. I mean, how much easier would Kings quest five have been? Have you strapped his shield to his back? Well, fortunately, you know, five is the is one that I didn't list is having the mirror because you spend no time in the castle. Well, it's been a castle stolen truck. Yeah, it's been fine time stolen.
00:27:02
Speaker
Uh, but anyway, yeah. Uh, uh, I think IBM also asked them to make it a little like kind of non-linear in its design. I believe that was an ask for it because you've played, uh, the high res, uh, adventures, which were what Sierra, like Sierra's adventures before this. What were yeah those like? What did those have in common with Kings quest one?
00:27:28
Speaker
What do they have in common with Kings Quest I? I mean, if you look at a game, probably the most obvious, you know, predecessor to this is the Wizard and the Princess or Adventures in c Serenia. um You know, there, what you have in common with it, I mean, it is a graphic adventure. You're seeing, ah you know, you're seeing images of the locations you're standing in on screen.
00:27:49
Speaker
So those are for for background, the high res adventures ah by Sierra before King's Quest were ah ah text adventures with pictures. but Right mystery being the first of those wizarding the princess being a little bit more advanced with a little bit fancier graphics. What's that?
00:28:10
Speaker
Time warp is one of them. Time zone, I believe. Time zone, time zone. Yeah, time zone. But yeah, the, you know, Wizard and the Princess has that fairy tale vibe that we know of from King's Quest. The big difference is you are looking at a static image, which is more or less first person. You don't have an ego or a character on screen that you're moving around.
00:28:33
Speaker
You are seeing a scene that then is being described to you in text on screen. When you move to a new location, it simply just flips to the new image of that location instead. The novelty of King's Quest is this idea that you are steering a little man radio around.
00:28:50
Speaker
Yeah, it's 3D animated. You can walk behind trees. You can walk in front of trees. You can walk beside trees all four sides of a tree. You can walk. I I guess I was also curious where the high res adventures. Do you recall where did they ah like? Were they more like these Kings quest one as you said earlier, it's kind of Storylight get this stuff and then the games over you go back to the castle and then you become the king.
00:29:20
Speaker
Um, uh, uh, in like, do the high res adventures, do those have like more plot or are they also non-linear? Are they kind of similar to colossal cave or are they a little more linear? Like, kind of like later King's Quest game.
00:29:36
Speaker
As I remember, like Wizard and the Princess, especially, it was very linear. You shot through that game in kind of one way. I think it aspired to be more narrative, but the limitations of how much text they could put on the screen at a time, you know, every description, two or three lines at the two or three lines. Yeah, at most. So there wasn't a whole lot of room to develop stuff. You didn't encounter many NPCs like the the other characters that you didn't counter tended to be You know, monsters or, so you know, a snake that you have to figure out a way to get around, you know, I think it aspired to be more narrative in a way, but ultimately just didn't have the technology. And probably I think also, I mean, Roberta Williams is a designer who.
00:30:21
Speaker
grows by leaps and bounds between like mystery house and I mean I suppose you could argue Mask of Eternity was the last game as she worked on for Sierra, but probably more realistically Kings Quest 7. I mean she she really ups her game consistently through that. I think she simply got better at telling stories, at designing adventure games, at coming up with compelling hooks for these things in the first place.
00:30:47
Speaker
Yeah. And, um, I guess, uh, yeah, like, so what I, <unk> I'm still stuck on your original question. Is it the most important? Because like I answered that with like saying it's like, well, it's like, it's a very interesting piece. I w this is what I was thinking a lot of when I was replaying it for this podcast was that it's actually, it feels very,
00:31:14
Speaker
Uh, much a transition, like, uh, like a really major pivot point transition where this is the game that like, so this is the first, as you said, there's an ego, there's an avatar that you directly control on the screen. And that becomes what adventure games are after that.
00:31:37
Speaker
like, and you have occasional for a still into first person yeah perspectives. But by and large, this is a genre where your character is now represented on screen and you move them around as you explore and interact with the world. And ah then like, and so the the design, like the the game is very similar to as I said, a game so this is 84. So it's a game probably like 10 years older than it or or you know, maybe a little less than that. But the ah the actual like game of it
00:32:19
Speaker
Uh, like, so, and it has a text input, has ah a text parser, but like the, uh, how it looks and how you interact with it, that you push up and Graham moves up.
00:32:32
Speaker
you push down and grand moves down, etc. Like that's all brand new. And also like the graphics, which I still think look good. Um, ah like, you know, the the graphics look great and looks better than anything else at that time. yeah And they're still iconic today. Yeah. And it defines a visual style that would persist through all of Sierra's AGI games. I mean, they vary.
00:32:58
Speaker
you know, not too much from this original template. Now, part of that is, you know, you have a lot of repeat artists along the way, right? I mean, very much. I mean, what you see in Kings Quest one, isn't that different from what you end up seeing later on in, we just see Larry space quest, like their way of representing a three dimensional world in two dimensions and 16 colors, it really sets a template that becomes very much the house style. Yeah. And it's so fun, like to think about how there are eight more of the or not eight more, there are seven more. This is the first so there are seven up to Mask of Eternity.
00:33:38
Speaker
And like this first game, and I mean, and this is true of so many other ah like video game franchises that persisted through like major paradigm shifts, you know, like you think about Mario one, and then I don't know, Mario Odyssey.
00:33:54
Speaker
um i is is that like they ah it is still like the the bedrock of all King's Quest games up to that point until or after that point except for a Mask of Eternity which is a very different thing. Yeah yeah it it tries to integrate ah RPG mechanics and combat. And I mean, for I understand, there's a I haven't played Mask of Eternity. I understand that there's something of a Kings quest game to be enjoyed there. But it is its own thing. No question about it. Um, but so yeah, I mean, I think I it's it's a it's a game I i still very much
00:34:45
Speaker
I enjoy it and I enjoy it for and I think I've talked about this in ah in earlier ones, what I like about is is that I, when I played it as a little kid, I never beat it as a little kid because I was playing it tiny, tiny. And I just liked walking King Graham around this space.
00:35:09
Speaker
Um, but something I really liked about it is that you just have all of these, and this is something that you would see across, uh, Sierra games until, uh, like about its middle period of, it's just like a lot of wilderness, just spaces that you wander around. I think you stop getting those maybe after long though.
00:35:33
Speaker
pra Yeah, I think that might be a good cutoff for that. And I imagine part of that is the cost of producing the art assets had increased so much by the time you get to 256 colors, the higher resolutions, everything else, you can't just afford to have endless screens of this is just a screen with an interesting tree on it. Well, and I think that also that like design Yeah, moved beyond that where where people like probably someone there was was saying like, Hey, what's the purpose of this scene? Does this is the scene necessary? um Which I mean, kind of ties into what you were saying.
00:36:16
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, but yeah, I mean, I think that there's a, there's probably the budgetary element, but also just the bigger question of like, what are these scenes doing? And I could see how you'd look at it and be like, well, they're doing nothing. They're just clogging up our game. Whereas I think I come down the side that you start out with, which is no, there's something to be said for this, you know, exploration element. I mean, again, I know we've talked about this before. We sound like a broken record, but quest for glory one does this beautifully, you know,
00:36:45
Speaker
every screen doesn't have to be a screen where there's the solution to a puzzle on it yeah because it makes it feel like a real place. I mean, it feels like a place. yeah Yeah, I could go to all the rooms in my house and not all of them have puzzles for me to solve. that That's strange. Every room in my house has one puzzle. Well, that's because you live in like a mist type house. I know I live in the seventh guest house.
00:37:10
Speaker
Yeah, so yeah, I mean, you you walk into a room, there's a chessboard there, and you got to figure stuff out. I mean, that's pretty, that's pretty typical every day. Yeah, I mean, that's, that was your mistake. I mean, maybe another way to think about this. I mean, does, if we're imagining just Kings Quest one, the original version, I mean, I guess there are a few different ways to talk about the original version. There's like the PC booter, and then the one that updates to a computer.
00:37:40
Speaker
PC
00:37:44
Speaker
there's the There's that, and then there's the one that
00:38:23
Speaker
I know there are some like hardcore fans out there who are going to be mad if I say this, but I think we can treat that the same as like just. the straight up more familiar version that like pops up on GOG or Steam nowadays. Yeah, no, there's there's differences. But ah yeah, they are minor. Yes. I, of course, you know, you and I having played it on, you know, the original hardware was designed for we have memories of ah the way that it used to draw in. We talked about this on the AGI episode, where, ah because they couldn't
00:38:59
Speaker
get space on the disks for these individual scenes, what each scene had was instructions ah for the computer on how to draw it. And so you would watch the scene get drawn by the computer slowly. And then each ah piece would fill in with color. And now it's magical. Yeah, I now I bet I would be deeply ah impatient with it. But at the time,
00:39:27
Speaker
And maybe people were impatient with it then. But at the time, I remember thinking like, this is so cool looking. Oh, yeah. Yeah, no, it was fantastic. It never occurred to me that was like a technical necessity. Yeah, it seemed like a style choice. That's right. Yeah, he was like, I was a kid, I would be like, Oh, they did this as a aesthetic choice. I was I was just like, I like that it does that.
00:39:52
Speaker
Yeah, it was cool that they decided to do that was what I thought. Yeah. I mean, does it doesn't hold up. I mean, as you sit down to play this game here in the year 2025. yeah Is King's Quest one still a ah good game? I think it's fine. You know, I think it's pretty good. Yeah, like I don't think it's bad. right I don't think it's bad. I think the um the only knock against King's Quest one at the time. i and The original would be ah this horrible puzzle in it.
00:40:27
Speaker
most of the puzzles in it are fine yeah they're fine they kind of operate on a ah like a kind of this ah kind of internally consistent fantasy logic which is kind of irritating but like in general it's it's fine and pretty pretty solvable except for one which is for one ah there's this island where there's this little mischievous a little little gnome or dwarf ah working on a ah spinner that turns hater or strata gold and he says what's my name and of course ah ah we all know that's rumpled stiltskin but
00:41:14
Speaker
and And everybody that's listening to this podcast knows this, but I will continue to explain. and ah You find completely unrelated a sheet of paper in the witch's house. There's a witch. ah You find a ah sheet of paper that says sometimes it helps to think of things backwards. So you read that and you go, oh,
00:41:35
Speaker
i Well, there's this, this, this, like, so if you decide to, for whatever reason, put those two things together, even though there's nothing that implies, there's nothing that implies the witch never says, Ah, by by my grand friend.
00:41:54
Speaker
the little gnome on the island. Yeah. And in all fairness, King Graham has murdered her before she has a chance to say anything like that. Yeah. um He could eavesdrop on her a little bit. Um, yeah. And so but no, he doesn't he doesn't ah like so you you read this note that says sometimes it helps to think of things backwards and you go aha. Okay, well then I i You, because you say the no rumble still skinny goes, he, he, he, no, uh, you have two more chances because you only have three guesses. And then, uh, uh, so then you type Rumpelstiltskin backwards and he goes, he, he, he, no, that's not my last name or that's not my name. And then you think, Oh, I must've type out it. And so then you get out a sheet of paper and you very carefully, and then you make sure that you type it correctly.
00:42:45
Speaker
You're like, Oh, I must I must have just typed his name backwards. ah Wrong. And then so you put it in a third time wrong and then the and then he goes ha ha ha no and you don't have any more guesses so you can't get the thing I give you which I forget what does he I just played this what does from oh gosh does he give you the key to the Lamb of the clouds area or Oh, he gives you the the um he gives you the the ah her the seeds seeds. Yeah, that that take you up the beanstalk to the giant world. Thank you. um But ah but no, in the original, this is a case of the like a puzzle writer, like a puzzle designer getting like, yeah kind of out thinking themselves. It's
00:43:36
Speaker
How what is it, Jess? I mean, it's a mess. It's I mean, just the fact that there's no like canonical spelling of Rumpelstiltskin to begin with makes this a horrible puzzle. Like, I mean, it's not even necessarily the the version of thinking backwards. It's asking for isn't the only spelling of Rumpelstiltskin one might come up with that is supported. So even there, you're like, okay, if I can figure out which version of Rumpelstiltskin spelling they're going for, and then realize I have to apply reverse alphabet cipher. you have to Yes, it is a reverse alphabet cipher. So it is not spelling Rumpelstiltskin backwards. It is a cipher.
00:44:21
Speaker
that you, it's like, so instead of a equal, like it's like Z equals a, like i it's, yeah, it's a mess. It's a complete mess. And I mean, two games credit. It's not necessary.
00:44:35
Speaker
But it is, I mean, I think legitimately on the all time worst adventure game puzzles. How do you get up there instead? You get a key to the door. Yeah. Doesn't he give you a key if you can't guess correctly?
00:44:52
Speaker
i always think that's Let's see here. i'm I'm now, this is bad because, uh, yeah. Um, if you didn't get some, uh, the name's name, he leaves you. ah A gold key anyway and then you can go in through the bottom of the big staircase and then there's you have to do this complicated.
00:45:12
Speaker
which you have to do anyway. You have to do anyway on the way down. So, I mean, it could be worse. Stair quest style complicated stair. By the way, if you take the beanstalk, that's also tricky. Yes, neither one is a good option. So yeah, I mean, this could be much, if this were the only way to get to that upper area, I mean, this if that was the only way to get the the treasure chest,
00:45:40
Speaker
Nobody would have ever finished this game without hints or a call to the Sierra hint line or a hint book or whatever. This would be unbeatable. Like nobody's ever going to accidentally solve that puzzle, are they? I i mean, are there people who are good enough at adventure games to be like, aha, I get what they mean here. Someone must have figured it out. Someone must have. i It is, it is like even Yeah, it's, it's a bullshit puzzle. Uh, it absolutely is. I mean, there's no, I don't think there's any legitimate defense of it, but it's a small part of the game and it's optional. So yeah, that, yeah, that, that helps it. Uh, but otherwise, like you said, I mean, most of the, the puzzles are very, I mean, they remind me a bit like, yeah, I'm thinking of the troll that guards the bridge, um, where the puzzle is, well,
00:46:37
Speaker
Trolls hate goats and goats love carrots. And the game even says it's like, uh, goats, a troll's worst enemy or something. Right. So, I mean, it's very like mixed up mother goose. It's like, okay, I know, like, the story of the Billy goats Gruff and I know trolls guard bridges and I can cap it one and one and one together and get this loot. A lot of the puzzles are very straightforward like that. But again, by the standards of what Sierra had done so some of its previous games, this was pretty sophisticated. It wasn't maybe comparable to what info calm was doing a lot of their games at the time where they were
00:47:18
Speaker
much more, ah you know, elaborate and sophisticated puzzles. But this is a step forward. Definitely and one thing to iterate on. but By the time you get to King's Quest three, you're getting some pretty neat puzzles four, five, six, you know, i built even further on on top of this. So no, and that says, yeah, I think that even with sort of one egregiously bad puzzle, puzzles otherwise are pretty fine in this game. Yeah, it's it's a ah logic that makes sense like to a kid. like Absolutely. show that like i you know As a kid, like there was just stuff if I was able to figure out. It's it's funny, Daventry is so depopulated.
00:47:59
Speaker
like There's just two guards. Uh, in, in the two guards are only there in the SCI version and then the AGD remake. I don't think the guards are there in the ah original. I don't believe so. Uh, the King. Um, then you have a woodcutter, his dying life.
00:48:18
Speaker
a fairy godmother, a rumpled stiltskin, a troll, a giant, a underground city of leprechauns, and enchanter ah an enchanter, a like a dwarf that steals stuff.
00:48:39
Speaker
Um, is that it? I think, I think we may have just, and know way said the and Oh, in the way. and i say the witch Yeah. Yeah. And by the end of the game, a few of those are dead. So you can't lose to them. or Well, you, you can without, you don't have to kill the witch, right? I'm going to kill a witch if I know I'm dealing with a witch. I mean, that's just like protocol. And, uh, Ben, I'm part of a long tradition of, uh,
00:49:09
Speaker
of warriors known as witchers. And and yeah, that's, ah that's, ah that's part of my two swords with a silver sword and was yeah, iron sword. Of course. Yeah. The great thing about launching into this is how much I know about the witcher series. Okay. Pass the name of it. So like, ask me any other questions you might have.
00:49:32
Speaker
ah And see, I've played the Witcher games and i'm I'm just not a Witcher head. I've tried them all. Let's stop all of them. Sorry, everyone. But what else did you, I know you had ah some discussion points on this. What what else ah ah ah struck you when you were playing it this time?
00:49:53
Speaker
I mean, for the original, just like straight up AGI King's Quest, that's a lot of what I wanted to talk about there. I mean, I can say, you know, personally, I played King's Quest II first, but King's Quest I and King's Quest II, I feel like are cut from so much the same cloth. You know, these are games that for me were hugely just formative. And of course, you know, eventually gone to inspire uh me and my pals to make stair quest uh you know decades later but you know i'm curious this is a game that's also gotten its share of remakes along the way yeah um and you and i've played uh a bunch of them
00:50:33
Speaker
I think we've played about every version of this. Maybe now. All right. So list them off. List them. Okay. So I mean, in addition to like all the different AGI ah versions, you have the original version for IBM PC jr. With that crazy cover, which shows like a guy in a full suit of armor, right? Like swinging a sword that has nothing to do with the game. Yep. And then the later, which is not the version that we had. We have the gray box with the cursive.
00:50:57
Speaker
Okay, gotcha. And then later on, you get your DOS and Amiga and Atari and Apple GS, whatever. But really the the first attempt um to remake this one comes in 1989 on the Sega Master System. This is such a wild remake.
00:51:17
Speaker
It is. It is and i believe he talks about a little bit on our like console adventures episode. It does look great. They take the graphics and like really turned into like, you know, console sprite style graphics, you get the I mean, the best character in this game, hands down is the banana wizard. wizard Yeah, I mean, the enchanter now is like wearing a yellow yeah robe. I mean, he kind of looks like the like the peanut butter jelly time.
00:51:46
Speaker
character isn't that isn't that like a banana am I imagine I do not recall oh I know yeah he does kind of look like the the yeah jelly banana yeah but I mean this is a fantastic version though I mean it manages to get most of how does it do the parser I do the boxer. You have like your A and B buttons or whatever they were on the original controller um that open up a menu that is context sensitive. It will give you a list of verbs that change depending on where you're standing and what scene and a list of nearby nouns. And you just like form little basic sentences. It's almost like a like legend games.
00:52:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, exactly. So you aren't like dragging a cursor around the screen so much as you are steering Graham with the D pad, and then just like assembling simple verb noun commands out of this little menu, which is pretty intuitive. It actually works surprisingly well. They get all of the game in there. And it looks great. It's a it's a really charming version. I think it's one that gets overlooked a lot like by people. But I just visually, I think it's really striking. and just such a It looks nothing like a Sierra game, even though it is still King's Quest. And I think that's what I love most about it. you know it's ah it It doesn't feel like anything that Sierra ever released themselves.
00:53:15
Speaker
And then in what, 1990, I believe. Yes. There's an STI zero version and that's what you played this week as well, right? Yes. And that one, uh, is, uh, it's 16 color graphics, but it's the upgraded, uh, SCI zero engine. So it's the same engine that you saw in Kings quest for, um, it adds a sound card support and has a beautiful soundtrack.
00:53:43
Speaker
It has higher resolution, 16 color graphics. um One of the things I think really strikes me most about the SCI remake version of this, what I like most about it, you know, I think we've, we've both spoken before that we're both ah big Josh Mandel fans here at QuestQuest. And Josh Mandel contributes um some new text, quite a bit of new dialogue for this game.
00:54:08
Speaker
And hey, I think it's great because he's a good rider. There's some good bits and there's some, ah some funny gags and just a lot more. just Yeah. Like there, there, there, there's a, a lighter, there's a light touch of humor in it that, uh, feels very.
00:54:26
Speaker
I mean, obviously, it feels very like Josh Mandela, like you can tell you can tell that he he was involved with it. Right? Absolutely. I mean, yeah, the the sort of stuff that he would bring to the table later on and Freddy Farkas and space quest six. I mean, this is like a trial run for him, which I understand a sentence Sierra did a lot of, you know, giving junior designers chances to do, you know, little pieces of work like this to prepare them for bigger jobs down the road. But you know, the original Kings quest, you know, I hate to say it's underwritten, but it's certainly sparse. ah It's also it's like they probably didn't have a ton of room, right? Especially he's very workman like original original, as said, like on the PC jr. The the text description would not be in like a dialog box, but instead would be in like with the text parser squished in at the bottom. So there wasn't a ton of room for a lot of description stuff.
00:55:25
Speaker
Right. Yeah. You description that you had to parse through with several returns is going to be difficult for the player to enjoy there. So this adds a lot of text. And I think that that is as much I mean, I think it's a fine looking game graphically. I love SCI zero games. It's a little dithered. It's one of the SCI zero games. It really leans on the dithering quite a bit. I don't know if I love the look of it, ah but soundtrack is beautiful. And the writing really sparkles. I think in some ways, you know,
00:55:55
Speaker
Um, I don't know if it's the definitive version of Kings quest one, but as far as writing goes, um, I think it's the one that shines most brightly in that regard. Uh, and then in, uh, what year did this, did it come out? It brings me 2001, 2001. Good Lord.
00:56:17
Speaker
Yes. Um, this game is now 24 years old. Good Lord. Uh, yeah. So then there's that remake, uh, which, uh, they, which is a remake of the SCI zero, uh, version, uh, like it very clearly is modeled on that version and not the original original. And that's what I played this week.
00:56:45
Speaker
And it's funny because also I remember it was such a exciting moment when it came out. Like for me, like that, the AGI remake, because I was just like, wow, someone could do this in like AGS with the adventure game studio.
00:57:06
Speaker
uh, you know, which we talked a lot about last week with the Blackwell ah episode. Um, but like, it was just really exciting to see that someone could do that. Oh, absolutely. And the version out now, like they, they kept kind of tinkering with it over, over some years. Uh, the version out now, and this isn't how it launched has voice acting, um, including full narration voice acting, which is actually pretty good, which I was, I was quite surprised by for like, you know, an amateur, uh, production. I thought like, uh, the, the narration was quite good, but what's really funny is talk about Josh. They get him back to play the voice of Graham and Kings quest five. And he returns here for Kings quest one. And what's so funny to me is it's like they get Josh back for it. But the thing is, is that like Graham has, but I mean, you know, whatever, right? Like it, because it's cute, it's for fans. So it doesn't matter. Like Graham has only like three lines of dialogue. As you said earlier, there's not that many characters, but I noticed something, uh, when I played, uh, this, this remake through with the voices on this time, which I had never noticed before.
00:58:27
Speaker
ah Which was, so you think about Josh Mandel doing the voice of King Graham in in King's Quest Five. Jess, what would you say is maybe one of the most iconic ah King Graham deliveries in in King's Quest Five? You were not prepared for this, so so maybe, but what' what's what's one of the more memorable ah line deliveries or or things that ah comes out of Graham?
00:58:55
Speaker
ah ah Right, right, right. I have this here.
00:59:04
Speaker
I'm so glad we were on the same page. yeah yeah that's amazing i So I noticed this thing, which was ah you could tell this was made by real fans, because they got Josh to do another scream.
00:59:17
Speaker
Oh, um ah but first off, I when I was capturing this, I didn't think enough to turn off the music. So you hear a little bit of the music by here. So once again, for reference, here is the iconic and this is known by, you know, King's Quest. If you're a fan of King's Quest, you you remember this scream.
00:59:41
Speaker
So ah in ah ah King's quest one, Graham can fall out of the clouds where the giant lives. And so this is what ah happens when this happens.
01:00:00
Speaker
Now there's a couple key differences. One of which is that you can really tell ah that Josh was just using the mic that came with his computer. Remember, this is a game that came for free and Josh was doing them a favor. It's one of those little beige stick mics that had like the little base on it. Yeah, I know that Mike very well. We have that one too.
01:00:21
Speaker
Uh, and so like, you know, I'm not, I'm not picking, you know, not picking on AGD or Josh for, for not having, uh, a nice Mike, uh, in 2001 or whenever he recorded it. But I do have to think that when they were like recorded, it's like, uh, uh, uh, Josh, uh, you know, if you if you can, if you can fall, like,
01:00:49
Speaker
You know it doesn't, like obviously the original, like the KQ5 original is is canonical. Now I've forgotten what that one sounds like. Oh yeah, me too.
01:01:15
Speaker
I love it. And so I you know, I felt like I had to bring that out, especially for for for fans listening, because I'm sure some people, ah you know, they might not know that there's another a pretty good Josh scream out there. So not as good as the original, but it is a nice little treat for the fans.
01:01:36
Speaker
And speaking like you're listening to to the venture game podcast, discuss a game that you are intimately familiar with. ah So, you know, that I'm able to present you with something that you don't know. That's a treat. That's right. that's I mean, that's that's the quest quest promise in an hour and 10 minutes. We will tell you one thing you don't already know. And there it is. Yeah. ah You know, I'm really fascinated. I haven't played AGD's King's Quest remake. And then of course, by the time you get to their remakes at King's Quest 2 and King's Quest 3, they're really like building and expanding on those games. King's Quest 1 is basically a straight up remake. It is completely straight. i Like I'm sure...
01:02:23
Speaker
You know, I wouldn't be surprised if there's like, you know, some tiny little things or like a tiny little touch, but it feels very super faithful. Their, their King's quest to is a totally is like.
01:02:39
Speaker
Adding new puzzles and yeah and what will I think we'll discuss as we discuss all of the King's Quest games and in the coming you know duration is ah that um like you you see King's Quest like kind of ah more from like this adventure like from this caves like to a more linear like with each installment because like two is still kind of nonlinear but kind of not it has more linearity and then three is the same way then four I would say is maybe the only like it's still
01:03:20
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I know it's still more, more linear. And then by the time you get to five and six and seven, like they're, they, they become more of these story driven versus.
01:03:33
Speaker
ah like you're on an island and wandering around game. Two feels like they made a King's Quest sequel like that it came out around their the AGD two that is ah feels like a King's Quest game that would be around five or six.
01:03:53
Speaker
like it is much more plot driven and stuff like that. And I think it's like I played it on the the the stream some years ago. I think it's pretty good. um it It is a little ah like there's there's some stuff I don't love about it. But I think it's really interesting and clever. And then with ah with their three, ah they kind of like it's a ah hybrid. It it isn't Like two is a completely different game. yeah Three is the same game and they change some stuff, is my understanding. Right, yeah, I think that that tracks with with what I recall as well. But no, I mean, these are clearly labors of love. And yeah, they're they're ones that I've seen played and haven't gotten around to playing myself and and want to tackle eventually. It's yeah, I think it has a ah a similar problem.
01:04:51
Speaker
that a lot of the, the VGA remakes of like space quest one and like Larry one had, which is that when, and then I think this is what they, they try to solve with their Kings quest to remake is that when you remake, uh, like those very, like, especially those early, but pretty much any of the, the GI games is like, uh,
01:05:20
Speaker
but you play it in a 256 color point and click ah look. There are certain expectations the player I think will have of a full VGA point and click with a mouse adventure game.
01:05:40
Speaker
that those games don't have. And so it it feels kind of out of place. You know what I'm saying? Yes, like absolutely. Yeah. Like it's the same feeling I got with Space Quest 1 and VGA. there's not There's a lot of meat on the AGI bone, but not a lot of meat on the SEI VGA bone, you know?
01:06:00
Speaker
Right yeah I mean I think that yeah if anything it calls it to attention sort of the simplicity of those early games when you like sort of juxtapose it against the the enhanced graphics. Yeah you just kind of have You just have a different expectation. Yeah. I mean, the beauty of some of those early AGI games is their simplicity. Yeah, they did that for people who love them. I mean, for people who probably coming to them for the first time, maybe today, she's like, Oh, these things are these are baby games for babies.
01:06:33
Speaker
But I think for those of us who grew up playing them and love them, it's that simplicity that's part of the appeal. You know, if I want a much more sophisticated game, you all skip ahead to to Gabriel not one or something like that. But when I pick up an AGI games, not because I'm wanting sophisticated storytelling, I'm wanting that that simplicity. Just do you think that King's Quest one is the most important adventure game?
01:06:58
Speaker
Ooh, that's a great question. because you know I didn't flip it on you. and that's right You didn't flip it on me. I was like, wait a minute. I don't know what Jess thinks. I only know what I think. I think it is. I would say. You think it is. I would say I'm going to come down with a pretty firm yes, just in the sense that I don't know that adventure ever broke through to a large enough audience to be quite as impactful maybe as King's Quest 1 would later be. And I feel like while games like maybe Zork are you know hugely popular and hugely influential,
01:07:42
Speaker
Ultimately, that's kind of a ah branch that yeah text adventures, interactive fiction like continues on to the modern day, doesn't become the template for what most commercial adventure games are going to be. I feel like King's Quest sets up a standard that everything else is, you know, sort of a ah King's quest them up after that, it feels like. yeah And that sense to me, it feels like the most important adventure game of all time. After after King's quest, something changed.
01:08:17
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. Expectations. Space was never quite the same. I mean, info-com continued to release games and release some marvelous games after that. Yeah. But for there was still a couple of good ones, like, yeah, that's right. Maybe their biggest, you know, but I don't know that anyone in the industry at that point looked at and said, the future is in text adventures. yeah I think after Kings quest one,
01:08:41
Speaker
The future is in graphic adventures. And I think that for me, I mean, again, yeah, maniac mansion, uh, secret of monkey Island. I'm sure there's stuff that comes after those two that would be okay. Can tears. I can't think of any off the top of my head though. You know, I don't know what, what game after secret of monkey Island would be in the discussion. Yeah. Do you have to get to like a mist or something like that? Yeah. my I mean, mist, obviously that's a major contender. I mean, that's especially if you're talking about sales.
01:09:10
Speaker
Like, Oh, yes, it is by like, Miss has to be the best selling adventure game of all time, right? If you're an accountant, missed is definitely the most important adventure game of all time. But miss kind of leads off into its own genre. It does like like a kind of But, um, I mean, yeah, I, I, I think your, your points are, are, are well taken on that. And I think before we, we wrap this, did you want to talk a little bit about how it it ties in with, uh, like the odd gentleman King's quest one. I really love gentleman King's quest.
01:09:47
Speaker
Yeah, the 2015 Odd Gentlemen, ah King's Quest, ah episodic series. This is one that I played a few years ago that that I really enjoyed. Like a lot of episodic games, it kind of bounced around in terms of quality from episode to episode. But in terms of getting the vibes of King's Quest and Man, in terms of getting Christopher Lloyd in there to voice old Graham, what a what a performance it is. ah I mean, yeah, to instructs great. But have you? heard Christopher Lloyd in in the 2015 Kings quest? he's He's out of this world. So they they remake, like kind of a story of Kings quest one? Is that right?
01:10:30
Speaker
They have little bits of it. You see ah like a lot of the, you know, the three treasures are around the, you know, King Edward dying and and looking for successors there. The main element in beyond some references and Easter eggs and bits like that. um It retells a version of Graham's encounter with the dragon. That's like the, that's the big set piece in the first episode of this is Graham's encounter with the dragon where in the original game he claims the magic mirror.
01:11:04
Speaker
Um, it retails that with, with a lot of embellishment, a lot of different angles and stuff, but it's incredibly charming. This is one that, uh, yeah, it's far from a ah remake of, of King's quest one, but it borrows elements. This is one that would tell everybody, if you haven't played it yet and you love King's quest, it is worth jumping into. even If you display that first episode to, to get a feel for this reimagined version of, uh,
01:11:31
Speaker
of King Graham's first adventure. It's worth taking a look at, I think. It's one I enjoyed quite a bit. Cool. Yeah, no. I never played those. I watched you stream that, ah ah but I never played those.
01:11:46
Speaker
They are interesting. Like, uh, yeah, it's, um, it, it, and it is interesting that they, it does, uh, does it have you go down the well in the, it does have you go down the well, you go down the well. Yeah. So yeah. And then you have some cool little environmental puzzles. You have some,
01:12:08
Speaker
Actually tap scenes it's good stuff. I think that it it really captures a lot of those vibes ah without. ah You know, with, without necessarily just giving you what you already know. And I will say, uh, not to, uh, to reference the famous King's quest for ad. Uh, but you will believe a computer game can make you cry if you play. live Well, I remember it made you cry that I do remember. i mean Ben, you see me cried a lot of video games at this point. that's true Yeah. I mean, I cried like every third game I play. So I'm just a sensitive guy.
01:12:46
Speaker
I'm not going to change that about myself just because you bully me. All right. Well, uh, anything else, anything else about cakes, quest one, before we close the book, and never discuss Kings quest one ever, or ever again. I'm sure it will never come up again, especially when down the road, we have an episode about Kings quest two. We will in no way reference Kings quest one, but No, but it's a classic. Roberta Williams deserves her flowers. She deserves her place in the history of video games and adventure games specifically. um it's ah It's a game I love. Warts and all. ah You know, Rumpelstiltskin, Warts and all.
01:13:27
Speaker
All right. Well, uh, that has been quest quest, the adventure game podcast, please. You can send us an email, the quest quest podcast at gmail dot.com. Also, please rate and review us. That helps other people find this podcast. I know you're tired of hearing that from podcasters, but it's true. And, uh, uh, you can watch us both on Twitch. I am PS underscore Garrett G A R a K and Jess is g-calf Jedi and you'll be able to join us next week when we start early that's right early ah putting together our March Madness a bracket of inventory items in all adventure games join us then