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KING'S QUEST IV: THE PERILS OF ROSELLA

(SCI)

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YEAR:  1990              

 

SIZE:  19.6 MB

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PLATFORMS:  SCUMM, DOSBox

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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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