KING'S QUEST II: ROMANCING THE THRONE
REVIEW
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YEAR: 1987
SIZE: 14.8 MB
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+ Wonderful, exciting world to explore
+ Freedom to try anything you want to
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- Many dead-ends and deaths
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STORY
After retrieving the 3 lost treasures of Daventry, Sir Graham inherited
the throne. He is now KING Graham of Daventry. And the kingdom is
thriving under his rule. He is beloved by all his people, and his is a fair
and just king.
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But one thing bothers Graham - he is lonely. He wants a wife, and
he wants to produce an heir to the throne. The problem is that no-
one in Daventry has captured his heart. He’s searched high and low,
but he hasn’t found that special someone. So in desperation, he
looks to the Magic Mirror, who can show the future - and the mirror
shows him a vision. In the mirror, he sees a beautiful maiden, who
is being held captive in a tower in the land of Kolyma. In that
instant, Graham knows what he must do. He must don his
adventures cap once again, go adventuring, and rescue this fair
maiden.
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But he soon finds out that things are not that simple. Upon arriving
in Kolyma, he discovers that 3 mystical doors stand between him
and the tower that holds his fair maiden. But Graham is a
determined young man, and he quickly sets about trying to find
keys to the doors… and the keys to rescuing his soul mate.
　
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GAMEPLAY
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King’s Quest II: Romancing The Throne, is the follow-on from
King’s Quest I.
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As before, the game uses a text parser to type in commands that
tell Graham what to do. But there are some improvements this
time around. The text parson can understand more words, so you
can tell Graham to ‘Give Item X To Player Y’, and the computer will
recognise the item AND the person. Commands you type in are
shown at bottom of the screen, so it doesn’t clutter up the screen.
Using a text parser like this gives you the freedom to try anything
you want. For example you could ‘Kiss Wolf’, if the urge took you,
or ‘Dance With Witch’, or ‘Hit Monk With Mallet’, or you could even
try to ‘Give Sugar Cube To Dracula’. Of course, you may not always
like the results, hehe. But it’s fun to experiment, and see what
results you get.
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Pressing F3 on your keyboard is a shortcut to retyping your last
commend, which is handy, if you weren’t quite close enough the
first time.
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Graham’s walking speed has improved since the first game, although still not perfect. Preset speeds are used - Normal, Slow, Fast, Fastest. In King’s Quest I, the fastest speed made Graham zip about like a maniac and you just couldn‘t control him, while the other speeds were too slow. But here, I found the fastest speed to be perfectly adequate.
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, you won’t release you need it until ages later, and by then, it may be too late to go back and get it. It’s also very easy to die - falling down stairs, falling into chasms, getting caught by the wolf or the witch, drowning etc.
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The Game Menu is accessed by pressing Esc on your keyboard (or
clicking your mouse at top of the screen, if you are playing through
SCUMM). The Menu is used to Save\Load\Restart\Quit your game,
see your Inventory items, and more.
　
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GRAPHICS
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King’s Quest II boasts a proper intro, showing Graham on his throne,
looking into the Magic Mirror, and seeing the beautiful Valanice for
the first time. And the animation of him swapping is royal crown for
his old adventurer’s hat is just lovely.
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Graphics are simple and somewhat blocky, but pleasant to look at.
Animation is very smooth, with nothing looking out of place. I love
the waves crashing against the beach. And Hagatha looks very
creepy, with her green skin, hunched over walk. The mermaid is
also very impressive, as she sunbathes on the rock. And I love
how Neptune’s hair waves around in the sea.
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As I mentioned above, commands you type in are shown on black
background at bottom of the screen, so it doesn’t get in the way
of what is going on in Kolyma.
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Conversations are shown as text on a plain white background.
Inventory items can be examined for further clues by LOOKing at
them - the item appears as a small icon with a descriptive sentence
above it. You can also see a text list of your items by pressing TAB
on your keyboard.
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The game was revolutionary, in that you could walk in front of things, as well as behind things. Something we take for granted today, was mind-blowing back then.
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As you explore Daventry, don’t be confused by the ‘scrolling’
technique. 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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Greensleeves is played on the title screen and through the intro.
There are a few music clips scattered around the game, for
example, when you’re in Dracula’s castle, or the Death March
playing when you are killed. There’s also some nice sound effects,
like waves crashing against the beach, and the Monastery bell
ringing, and sweet little chirps from the nightingale.
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