KING'S QUEST 2: ROMANCING THE STONES
AGD INTERACTIVE
REVIEW
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YEAR: 2002
SIZE: 308 MB
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+ Beautiful VGA artwork
+ Fully voiced
+ Extended story & puzzles
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- Easy to die
- Possum's voice can be slightly grating
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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 he is bored. Bored with the day-to-day drudgery of admin duties
and paperwork. He misses his days of adventuring. And he is lonely!
He longs for a wife to be by his side. 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.
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Until that fateful day, when his advisor tells him to look to the Magic
Mirror. Graham does so, and in the Mirror, he sees the most beautiful
maiden he has ever set eyes on! She captured his heart, and he knew,
from that moment on, his life would never be the same again. It truly
was love at first sight.
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The maiden 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 as he arrives in Kolyma, he soon discovers things are not that
simple. The mystical ‘Door Of Destiny’ stands between him and the
tower that holds his fair maiden. And to open the door, Graham must
find the 3 Gems of Life - Gem Of Birth, Gem Of Growth, Gem Of Death.
But Graham will not be discouraged! He risks life and limb to find
these Gems, and to get to the tower and rescue his soul mate.
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GAMEPLAY
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King’s Quest II: Romancing The Stones is a remake of the classic Sierra
hit, Romancing The Throne. AGD (the developers) have poured their
heart into this version, and giving it away for free, making it a true
labour of love. They have kept the original story, but have delved
deeper, adding an extended intro, more characters, more story, and
more twists and turns. And the results are amazing. I particularly like
the Sharkee Realm and the Pumpkin storyline that have been added.
And the book titles in the Count’s library make me chuckle.
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While Sierra’s original game used a text parser in which you typed in
commands, AGD had added a point & click interface, which matches
the later King’s Quest games.
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You interact with Graham’s world via a menu bar at top of the screen -
simply move your mouse up there to see it. Icons along the bar allow
you to Walk, Look, Pick Up\Interact, and Talk. The next box will show
the last Inventory Item used (so it will be empty as you begin the
game). The bag icon holds all your inventory items - just click on it to
see what you are carrying. The Scroll Bar is the Game Menu, and from
here, you can Save, Restore, Restart, or Quit the game. You can also
adjust the Volume and Game Speed, to suit your preference. Another
nice feature AGD have added, is the ability to play the game with
Voice & Text, Voice only, or Text only.
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Being a King’s Quest game, there are many ways to die - anything
from falling from a height, to getting eaten by a baddie, to falling on
spikes, and more. So I really recommend you Save your game progress
often, using different Save slots. Having said that, it’s also fun to view
the death sequences, as you often get amusing comments (just as
long as you’ve Saved your game first).
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GRAPHICS
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This AGD remake uses VGA graphics, and is simply gorgeous! Every-
thing has so much detail! The backgrounds are stunning! I love
how you get to see Kolyma in the daytime, but also at night time when
it’s dark - it looks so creepy at night. And I love the evil Enchanter,
especially the way the tip of his hat curls round. And who could fail to
love the vampire family? Hagatha, with all her warts, is equally
impressive.
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AGD have added an amazing intro, which I recommend you watch. It
was a nice touch seeing King Graham look into his Magic Mirror, and
then seeing him arrive by ship in the land of Kolyma.
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When characters talk, a mini-portrait is shown, along with a nicely-
framed text box. Also, characters heads are shown as they talk, and
the lip-syncing is spot on! Inventory items are shown as icons, so you
can easily see at a glance what you are carrying. Arrows on the
inventory box let you scroll up & down, so you can see everything you
are carrying. You can also Look or Interact with your items, and it is
sometimes necessary to combing inventory items together to solve a
puzzle.
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As you continue exploring Kolyma, you’ll find more and more things to
love about the game.
　
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SOUND AND MUSIC
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Fantastic music is played on the intro screen, that really makes you
want to get out there and start adventuring! There are a few music
clips in the game, including ‘No Place Like Home, in Grandma’s house,
and some very creepy music when you’re in the swamp, and some
peaceful music when you‘re in Kolyma town.
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There’s also some wonderful sound effects to be heard. Everything
from birds chirping in the background, to cute sneezes coming from
the haystack, to the rumbling of the Sharkee Treasury door being
opened, to waves lapping on the sandy beach, , to the church bell
ringing at night, and so much more.
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The game is fully voiced, and it brings a lot of life into the game. It’s
such a pleasure to hear everyone talk. I especially like Mama Pumpkin,
King Neptune, the Count, and Hagatha. The Narrator also had a lovely
deep voice, which really makes you sit up and listen! The only
exception, in my opinion, was Possum. I found her too squeaky and
whiny. But you might think differently?
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Give it a go, and see what you think. If you enjoyed the original KQ2,
you’re bound to love this version.
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