KING'S QUEST I: QUEST FOR THE CROWN
AGI REVIEW
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YEAR: 1987
SIZE: 15 MB
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+ The very first King’s Quest game.
+ Wonderful, exciting world to explore
+ Freedom to try anything you want to
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- Getting the timing right for the bird to pick you up is SO tricky
- Many dead-ends and deaths
- Character walking speed can be frustrating
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STORY
Poor old King Edward. He’s had a lot of heartache and deceit in his long life. The backstory is not shown in the game, but is explained in the game manual (which is available from the same place you bought the game).
First, a sorcerer tricked him into giving up one of the Kingdom’s powerful treasures - the Magic Mirror which can see the future - by preying on the royal couple’s desire for a child. Then a little gnome persuaded him to give up the Kingdom’s Magic Shield, which makes the bearer invincible, in return for curing his beloved Queen from the deadly plague. Finally, after spending many lonely years following his Queen’s death, he met, and fell for the beautiful Princess Dahlia… who turned out to be an evil witch who stole his Magic Chest, which was always filled with gold.
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Without the 3 treasures, Daventry fell into ruin. Many harvests were lost, enemies of the kingdom weakened it, and the people grew poor. King Edward was in despair! He knew his time was coming, and he feared what would happen to his beloved kingdom after his death. And without an heir, what hope is there for Daventry?
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That’s where YOU come in.
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You are Sir Graham of Daventry - King Edward’s most trusted knight. The King has summoned you to prove yourself worthy of the throne. He tells you of the 3 lost treasures - the Magic Mirror, the Magic Shield, and the Magic Chest - and asks you to find them, and return them to the castle. If you succeed, you will inherit the throne upon Edward’s death, and become King.
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But the Kingdom Of Daventry is a large place. And you must face many, many dangers.
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Will you succeed, and become Daventry’s savour? Or will the Kingdom fall to complete ruin?
　
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GAMEPLAY
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King’s Quest I: Quest For The Crown is the very first King’s Quest game - this is where it all began. This is where we fell in love with Daventry!
The game uses a simple text parser, which means, the player has to type in commands on their keyboard in order to control Sir Graham, and tell him what to do. A simple text input like this gives you the freedom to try anything you want. For example, if you want to ‘Kiss Alligator’, go ahead. How about ‘Lick Rock’, or ‘Throw Bowl’, or ‘Eat Clover’. You can try anything you like, although you may not always get a positive result. F3 on your keyboard repeats the last thing you typed, which is very handy if you weren’t quite in the correct position, and you have to re-try a command. You have to keep things simple though, as the text parser can’t understand complex sentences.
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On the other hand, a text parser can be frustrating by today’s standards, especially if you have to figure out the correct phrase to use. For example, ‘Play Fiddle’ may work, where ‘Use Violin’ didn’t. It’s all about experimentation and exploration.
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Sir Graham’s walking speed is quite strange. There are 3 options, which you can toggle between any time you wish, from the Game Menu: Normal, which is slightly slow but you soon get used to it. Fast, which means he zips around like a maniac and you can’t control him. Slow, which is mind-numbingly slow.
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I really recommend you Save your game progress often, using different Save slots. There are many dead ends, in that if you don’t pick up Item X, then you won’t be able to pass Scenario Y… and you won’t know that until much later in the game, when it’s too late to go back and get the needed item. Also, there is many dangers in Daventry, and one slip could mean your doom.
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The Game Menu is accessed by pressing Esc on your keyboard. The Menu is used to Save\Load\Restart\Quit your game, see your Inventory items, and more.
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One thing that’s worth noting though, is that, if you complete all possible actions, you end up with 159 points out of 158 possible points. I’d like to know how THAT happened, hehe.
　
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GRAPHICS
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Graphics are simple, but pleasant to look at, and the animation is smooth. I love the alligators at the start, swimming back and forth in the moat, chomping their mouths. And castle flags blowing in the wind is impressive, especially considering when the game was made. But the leprechauns dancing is just so adorable!
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Conversations are shown as text on plain background. Inventory items can be examined for further clues, and when you LOOK at an item, it appears as a small icon at bottom of screen, with a description sentence above it.
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As you explore Daventry, don’t be confused by the ‘wrap-around’ effect. If you set off in one direction, and continue in that direction, you’ll eventually end up back where you started.
　
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SOUND AND MUSIC
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The game begins by playing Greensleeves while opening credits show on screen. However, apart from that, there is almost no sound. Some simple beeps indicate an important scene. Some cute beeps are heard when Graham falls. I must admit to finding the giant’s snoring cute. And when you die, a short version of the Death March is played.
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