KING'S QUEST IV: THE PERILS OF ROSELLA
(SCI)
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YEAR: 1990
SIZE: 19.6 MB
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+ Emotional, heart-wrenching story
+ Lovely graphics
+ Day time and night time settings
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- Very easy to die
- Dead ends
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STORY
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Rosella’s joy at being rescued from the dragon, finding her brother,
and returning home (as shown in King’s Quest III) are short lived.
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Her father, King Graham, has had a heart attack, and is now hovering
on the brink of death. It seems that nothing can be done to save him,
and that Daventry will lose their beloved king.
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As the family gather round the dying Graham’s bedside, Rosella,
overcome with grief, runs from the room, and sits alone in the Throne
Room. How can this be happening? How can she be losing her father?
It’s unbearable!
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However, all hope is not lost. As poor Rosella weeps, the Magic Mirror
comes to life, and the good fairy queen Genesta speaks to her. Queen
Genesta is from the land of Tamir. There, a magical fruit grows, which
can save Graham’s life. If Rosella wishes, Genesta can transport her to
Tamir to find the magical fruit, but Rosella must decide NOW. Without
hesitation, Rosella agrees. She would do anything to help her father.
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However, upon arrival in Tamir, Rosella finds things are not quite as
simple as she thought. The good fairy queen Genesta greets her at
the beach. But Genesta’s magic talisman has been stolen by the evil
Lolette, and without the talisman, Genesta is weak, and will die
within 24 hours. Furthermore, Genesta is too weak to send Rosella
home, without her talisman. So Rosella must explore Tamir,
searching for the magic fruit to save her father, as well as trying to
get Genesta’s talisman back.
　
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GAMEPLAY
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King’s Quest IV: The Perils Of Rosella is the 4th game in the King’s
Quest series. The game takes place immediately following the end
of King’s Quest III, with King Graham throwing his adventures hat to
his children. The whole game takes place within a 24-hour time
period, giving it a sense of urgency, as you know the consequences of
not finding the magic fruit in time. The game also takes advantage
of day time and night time settings, with some puzzles only able to
be solved in the day time, and some puzzles are only able to be solved
at night time.
The game uses a text parser, which means, the player types in
commands on their keyboard in order to control Rosella, and tell her
what to do. A text input like this gives you the freedom to try any-
thing you want. For example, you might want to ‘Dance With Spooky
Tree’ (although I wouldn’t recommend it, lol), or ‘Throw Diamonds In
Water’, or even ‘’Kill Dwarf’. It’s up to you. You can try anything you
like, although you may not always like the result. F3 on your keyboard
repeats the last thing you typed, which is very handy if you weren’t
quite in the correct position. You have to keep things simple
though, as the text parser can’t understand complex sentences.
Rosella’s walking speed can be adjusted by pressing '+' to speed up
and '-' to slow down, according to the player's preference.
I really recommend you Save your game progress often, using
different Save slots. It’s all to easy to die in this game. Anything from
falling down stairs (and there are lots and lots of stairs to be found),
from getting eaten by the shark, to getting sucked into the swamp, to
getting pummelled by the ogre, and more. It’s all about exploration
and experimentation.
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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GRAPHICS
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A full intro is shown, like a mini-film, so we see King Graham have
his shocking heart attack, and Princess Rosella travelling to the land
of Tamir.
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Graphics are much improved over the AGI version, with much more
detail and colour being shown. The facial expressions Graham pulls in
the intro are detailed and heart-wrenching. You can really feel the
emotional pain of his family, as they helplessly watch him suffer.
The animation is also very smooth, and a pleasure to look at. I love
how Rosella kneels to look under the bridge, and the way her
ponytails sway as she moves, and the way the 7 dwarves come into
the house one at a time, or Cupid playing in the pool. Even fire in the
fireplace, or torches on the wall flicker as though really moving.
I simply loved the 7 Dwarves House, and the way it was built into the
tree - so adorable. And the inside of a whale is definitely one of the
more unusual locations to find yourself in.
Text is shown in a pop-up box, as you type. 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 the name of the item above
it. You can also see a list of your inventory as text, by pressing Tab.
As you explore Tamir, don’t be confused by the ‘scrolling’ technique.
If you set off North or South, you’ll eventually end up back where you
started.
　
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SOUND AND MUSIC
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Sound volume can be adjusted via the in-game menu. Music is lovely
to listen to, with much more depth. Gorgeous music plays during
the opening credits and the intro scene of King‘s Quest IV. Music
can also be heard when Rosella is cleaningup the dwarves house,
the minstrel‘s little ditty and Pan‘s flute playing, the lullaby in
the baby’s bedroom at midnight, and various other key
moments throughout the game. The ‘Jaw’s theme can be heard
when the shark is nearby, when you are swimming to\from
Genesta’s island. But I was most impressed by the organ music
Rosella played - simply beautiful. There are also some lovely sound
effects used, such as the ‘WWWHHHHHHheeeeeee’ as Rosella falls
from a height, or the creak of doors being opened, or the fanfare as
Rosella acquires a new item.
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