THE SILVER LINING: EPISODE 4
TIS IN MY MEMORY LOCKED AND YOU
YOURSELF SHALL KEEP THE KEY OF IT
REVIEW
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YEAR: 2011
SIZE: 1.67 GB (includes all 4 episodes currently available)
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PLATFORM: Windows
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DEVELOPER: Phoenix Online Publishing
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+ A true labour of love
+ Fantastic graphics & music
+ Wonderful voice acting
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- Characters’ mouths move oddly
- Hard and tedious Pandora’s Box puzzle that is not skippable
- Hard action sequence that is not skippable
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STORY
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Watch the ‘Previously On’, and the Intro cutscenes. We see Rosella (or
at least, Rosella’s essence, since she’s still lying in a coma) lured into a
spooky cave by the terrifying Shadrack. We also see Cassima give a
speech to her people, re-assuring them that they WILL defeat the evil
that has plagued their land.
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Afterwards, King Graham must continue his quest, as he searches for
the final ingredients he needs for the spell that will save his children.
He must find: The Richest Fruit In The Land, An Evening Glory, and An
Ebony Rose. Yet as he searches for those things, his heart is breaking
for his wife’s recent ordeal. What could cause Valanice to act so out
of character? What of her druid heritage? The guilt that he wasn’t
able to keep his family safe is almost overwhelming! Will this
nightmare ever end?
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And as if poor Graham didn’t have enough to deal with, things keep
getting stranger and stranger in The Land Of The Green Isles. Water is
running backwards. The Red & White Queens chess game that
finished yesterday, is now being played. Sing Sing’s hatchlings are
now eggs.
Then as Graham learns more about the Black Cloak Society and the
Silver Cloak Society, he is shocked beyond belief to learn that
Shadrack is back. And that he’s searching for Pandora’s Box. Could
that be the source of all this evil and destruction? Has Pandora’s Box
been opened?
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TECHNICAL NOTES
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If you are not able to save your game, it may be a Permissions problem.
Make sure you are playing as Administrator.
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After you have found the final ingredient, and begin walking back
towards the castle, the game crashes. At this point, you are only one
cutscene away from the end of the episode. I highly recommend you
look for the final cutscene on YouTube, because it is very emotional,
and ends the episode nicely.
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GAMEPLAY
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The Silver Lining is a fan made game, and a true labour of love from
the developers, Phoenix Online Publishing. This is Episode 4 of a 5-
episode story. Phoenix Online have done a fantastic job of tying this
story in with the official King’s Quest games.
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The game uses the Point & Click interface, and you can interact with
Graham’s world by using the menu at top of the screen. The menu is
neatly tucked away, until you move your mouse up there. Icons allow
Graham to Walk (double-click to run), Look, Pick Up\Use, or Talk to
another character. A bag in the top right section holds all your
inventory items, and you can manipulate your items (get a better look
at them, open your bag of coins, combine items, etc) by clicking on
them in the display panel. You can also check what ingredients you
need by clicking the scroll on yourself.
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The Coat Of Arms in the top centre gives you access to the game
menu. From here, you can Save\Restore\Go Back To Game\Quit. The
game itself is very customisable, and you can set things entirely to
your own preference via the Options Menu. You can select how much
detail you want, and even take out specific special effects. You can
choose whether you want to hear the Narrator’s voice or not, and you
can choose if you want to have subtitles or not. Many commercial
games don’t give you as many options as this!
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However, Phoenix Online have made the same mistake here, as they
did in the last episode. Towards end of the game, there is a very tricky,
very tedious arcade puzzle - the Pandora‘s Box puzzle. You must
recreate all 12 Zodiac signs by using sign-parts from 4 rotating circles.
Sounds simple enough, you might think. However, you only get 2 or 3
attempts for each Zodiac symbol, and if you make too many mistakes,
you must start working on that symbol again. Manual Saving is not
allowed (checkpoints are created at certain intervals, if you’ve made
enough progress), and the puzzle is not skippable. You get to choose
Normal or Easy difficulty level, but even on Easy, I found it much too
hard, with no option to skip it. This is followed by an equally hard
action sequence on a boat. Again, Manual Saving is not allowed, and
it’s not skippable. This is supposed to be an adventure game, not an
action game, so I was disappointed at this.
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GRAPHICS
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Graphics are very impressive! So much detail has been lovingly
crammed in. When you are on any of the isles, you see Hassan’s boat
bob up & down realistically. In Ali’s shop, the fireplace flickers and
cackles as though alive, and you can almost feel the heat from the
flames. I love how Ali himself, pushes his specs back up on his nose
every so often. Characters blink as you would expect. I love how
ingredients appear and disappear on the scroll, and then get crossed
out when you find them.
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It’s just a gorgeous game to look at, and it’s wonderful to re-visit The
Land Of The Green Isles (from KQ6). In this episode, we finally get to
visit Isle Of The Beast, and we meet Beauty & Beast. Beast has such a
wonderful garden maze, and I love the puzzles built around it. Flags
on Beast’s castle blow gently in the breeze. I hope we see more of his
castle in the next episode. I also love the fluttering wings on Graham’s
Winged Shoes. The termites are hilarious - when Graham gives them
a block of wood, they have a field day making it into Roger Wilco, and a
few other characters. The sawdust that surrounded each ‘creation’ is
really effective.
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Having said that, I do have a small gripe about characters talking -
when they talk, their mouth moves… awkwardly. But that’s just one
small detail in an otherwise fantastic game!
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When talking to other characters, a list of topics is shown at the
bottom, and you can choose what to talk about. Inventory items are
shown as pictures, so it’s easy to see what you’re carrying. Inventory
items automatically rotate, giving you a better look at them.
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SOUND AND MUSIC
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Beautiful, atmospheric music is heard throughout the game, and
changes depending on what location you’re in. Sometimes the music
is peaceful and relaxing, sometimes it’s full of tension and drama, and
other times, it‘s sad and mournful. It always seems perfect for
whatever scene you’re in.
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All the characters are fully voiced, which helps to bring the game to
life, and everyone sounds just right. I really love Beast’s voice, as well
as Stick-In The Mud’s voice. And Shadrack has a VERY sinister voice
that sends chills down my spine!
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Sound effects are equally impressive. A ‘Ding Dong’ beep is heard
when Graham picks up an item. Birds tweet noisily in the background
when you’re on Beast’s island. The sign on Hassan’s hut squeaks.
Waves lap against the edge of the dock. There is so much to love!
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