KING'S QUEST V: ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GO YONDER
(Floppy)
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YEAR: 1990
SIZE: 8.47 MB
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+ Gorgeous graphics
+ Lovely, atmospheric music
+ First King’s Quest game to introduce the Point & Click interface
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- Many, MANY dead ends
- Horrendous maze at Mordack’s castle
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STORY
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It’s a beautiful day in Daventry. King Graham is enjoying a leisurely
stroll in the forest, taking in all the sights and sounds, and just
thinking how good life is.
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But his good mood doesn’t last for long.
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He arrives home, to find his castle… gone! Just… vanished! Into thin
air! With his family still inside! All that’s left, is an empty space where
the castle once stood. But how? How did this happen? Who would
want to kidnap his family? How can an entire castle just disappear like
that? Graham cant believe it… he stares in utter shock. WHERE IS HIS
FAMILY?
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Luckily, Graham is not alone. A talking owl comes to his aid. The owl
tells Graham his name is Cedric, and he saw what happened.
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Apparently, an evil wizard by the name of Mordack came to Daventry
and whisked the castle away (along with Graham’s family inside),
inside a mystical whirlwind. As to WHY Mordack did that… Cedric can’t
say, but maybe Cedric’s master could help. Cedric is from the land of
Serenia, and his master is a good wizard call Crispin. Naturally, King
Graham is desperate to save his family and get his castle back, so he
agrees to go with Cedric, back to Serenia.
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But as Graham and Cedric dig deeper to unravel the mystery…
Mordack’s true intentions become frightingly clear.
　
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GAMEPLAY
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King’s Quest V: Absence Makes The Heart Go Yonder continues the
adventures of Daventry’s royal family. Games were SIGNIFICANTLY
improved with the introduction of the Point & Click interface. Gone
was the text parser and typing in phrases, to be replaced with icons
that you can click on to interact with Graham’s world. What’s more,
those icons are safely tucked away at the top of the screen, so it
doesn’t get in the way of what’s happening on-screen. To access
them, just move your mouse cursor up there.
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The icons are: Walk, Look, Interact, and Talk. Actually, there are 2
walk icons. The first allows you to walk short distances, and then stop
as soon as you hit an obstacle (a wall, a tree, a person, a rock etc). The
second allows you to walk further distances, walk around obstacles,
and walk onto the next screen. Personally, I don’t see the advantage
to the first Walk icon, so I never used it. Your inventory is stored in a
handy bag, also accessible from the menu at top of the screen. You
could use the Eye icon to get a more detailed description of any of
your items. Your score is also shown in your inventory bag. The next
icon - a floppy disc - allowed you to Save or Restore your game
progress. The Stop sign allows you to start a new game, or quit. And
the Slider Bar allows you to adjust Speed, Volume and detail to your
preference. We take these things for granted today, but back it 1990,
it was all very new and exciting.
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The King’s Quest games are known for their dead ends, but Part V is the worst offender. You could be happily playing the game, and finally realise you’re in a no-win situation because you didn’t pick up that item 2 hours ago, and there’s no way to get back now to pick it up. The game even lets you give some items to the wrong person, hence you won’t have that item when you need it. And in one instance, you see a cat chasing a rat - if you don’t act quickly and save the rat… then that rat won’t be able to help you in the future. Now, more than ever, Saving frequently into different slots, is so important! It’s also rather easy to die in the game, and I found the death messages very amusing (heehee).
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As annoying as these dead ends are, King’s Quest V is technically one
of the most important games of the King’s Quest series - just as
important as King’s Quest I, back in the day. King’s Quest I introduced
us to MOVING PICTURES on our monitors, playing out actions as we
typed them… that was mind-blowing stuff! King’s Quest V gave us the
icon-based interface, allowing us to use icons instead of typing out
sentences.
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The game has references to Manannan, which was the antagonist
from King’s Quest III. That was some lovely continuity, and a lovely
throwback to previous KQ games.
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GRAPHICS
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Graphics are another improvement over the previous King’s Quest
games, showing that Sierra strived to make each game better than
the last. The graphics are simply gorgeous, making use of the 256
colour palette. The game begins with a 10-minute cartoon
(skippable), showing us Graham strolling through the woods, Mordack
spiriting the castle away, and Graham travelling to the land of Serenia
to rescue his kidnapped family - all with such stunning, hand-painted
backgrounds.
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Conversations are shown in nice text boxes, along with the bust of
whoever’s talking. Lips move as the characters talk, making them
seem more real. The Ant King and The Bee Queen are wonderfully
animated when they talk to you, waving their legs\arms around. If you
enter a building, the interior is shown as a nicely-framed overlay,
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Inventory items are shown as icons, so you can easily see what you’re
carrying. Clicking the Eye icon on an inventory item gives you more
details about it. The inventory box automatically expands as Graham
collects more things. Hiding your score in the Inventory box was rather
strange, I though, but there you go.
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Even NPCs are beautifully animated, and get on with their own lives
regardless of whether King Graham is there or not. For example, the
toymaker’s daughter playing with her doll, or the gnome’s son playing
with his marionette, or shop customers talking to each other. I found
Cedric rather sweet, in his monocle and waistcoat.
　
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SOUND AND MUSIC
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King’s Quest V is the first game in the series to boast a full sound-
track. And we are treated to some really beautiful music throughout
the game. Everything from spooky music, to sad heart-wrenching
music, to ‘Be Careful You Don’t Get Caught’ music, to daring music, to
everything in between. It’s a pure pleasure to listen to. Even as the
game starts up, we here the familiar Sierra fanfare we know and love
today.
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Sound effects are equally impressive. I simply love the ox mooing as it
is tied up outside the gypsy caravan. And the gypsy banging his
tambourine is a nice touch, as is the cat screeching (poor cat). The
satisfying ‘tinkle’ as Graham picks up a new item is always fun to
listen out for.
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