QUEST FOR GLORY II
TRIAL BY FIRE REVIEW
(AGD INTERACTIVE)
YEAR: 2011
SIZE: 71 MB
PLATFORMS: Windows, Mac
+ 3 different classes means 3 different ways to solve puzzles
+ Wonderful blend of Adventure & RPG elements
+ Gorgeous SVGA graphics
- Can take some time to build up your skills
- Overly-complicated combat system
- Earth Elemental can be problematic for non-Fighters
STORY
After freeing the town of Spielburg from a curse that lasted over a decade,
our hero and his friends, Shameen, Shema, and Abdulla, have moved to the
desert land of Shapier. Shameen & Shema quickly set up an inn, which they
decide to call Katta’s Tail Inn, and they give our hero a place to sleep, as well
as free meals.
Shapier is a city is bustling with activity, and our hero soon feels right at
home. However, he can’t relax for long. Trouble seems to follow our hero
around, and only a few days after arriving in Shapier, a Fire Elemental
descends upon the town, eager to burn Shapier to a crisp. The townspeople
are afraid! They’ve never seen anything like this before, and they look to our
hero for guidance. He’s the only one who can take on this Fire Elemental.
But before he can do that, he has to find out all he can about it, and find a
way to defeat it, making the town safe once again!
But that’s not the end of the matter! The Fire Elemental may be gone, but
Air, Earth, and Water Elementals soon follow. Our hero has to find a
weakness for each Elemental, and take them on one-by one, before Shapier
is destroyed completely. It’s hard work, being a hero!
But that’s STILL not the end of things. After all 4 Elementals have been
defeated, and Shapier is safe once again… our hero must travel to the
neighbouring town of Rasier, where he has received word that the Emir has
gone missing. Rasier is now being ruled by the Emir’s brother, who is
corrupt. As a result, Rasier is very run down, and ruled with fear and
violence. So our brave hero must prove himself once again, by restoring the
rightful Emir to power, and ending the corruption plaguing this land.
The fate of not one, but two cities, rests in the hands of our hero.
GAMEPLAY
This SVGA remake of Quest For Glory II: Trial By Fire has been lovingly
created by AGD Interactive, and can be downloaded free from their website.
They have revamped the game, adding some lovely little surprises here and
there. Quest For Glory II carries on the story from where the first game left
off. It’s a wonderful mix of adventure and some RPG elements. The story
takes places over 30 days, with the ultimate showdown taking place on Day
30.
Just like QFG I, you have to create your character at the start. You can
choose if you want to play as a Fighter, a Magic User, or a Thief. Each of the
3 types allows you to overcome puzzles in a different way. For example, to
get the griffin’s feather, the fighter would lift up a stone and take the
feather from underneath, while the thief would use his magic rope climb up
the cliff to the griffin, and the magic user would cast a spell. This gives so
much replay ability to the game, and will have you coming back to try the
other types you haven’t played yet, to solve the puzzles in different ways.
AGD’s remake is very customisable. After you create your character, a menu
pops up allowing you to choose how you want to play - Point & Click
(dialogue is displayed through a list of topics), Text Parser (where you type in
commands), or a combination of the two. This can be changed at any time,
via the Game Menu. You also get to choose if you want the ‘Classic Alleyway’
style (just like the original game) or the ‘Simplified Alleyway’ style (much easier to navigate through the alleys without getting lost).
One thing to note, that I really liked: the town of Rasier, is an anagram of
Sierra, who made the original Quest For Glory games.
Anyway, in this SVGA version, a Task Bar at top of the screen (just move your
mouse up there) is used to interact with the Hero’s world, giving us icons to
control Hero’s actions. The icons in the Task Bar are: Walk, Look, Pick Up,
Talk, which are all self-explanatory. The next icon in the Task Bar is a kind of
fancy square with string trailing from each corner. This takes you to the
Character Menu, and from here, you can control your Walk Mode (normal
Walk, Run, Sneak, Sleep), check your character Stats (shows your Stamina,
Health, Fighting Skills, Throwing Skills etc), or check the time of day (some
tasks are only able to be done at certain times of the day). Next Icon is the
Star Icon - this is greyed out, unless you are a Magic User. The Star Icon
gives you access to all your spells, and allows you to practice them. The Bag
icon represents your Inventory, and shows all the stuff you are carrying. You
can Look at each item in your Inventory, to see how much of that item you
have, how much it weighs, as well as checking how much weight you can
carry all together (this increases with time, as your stats improve). The Lever
Icon takes you to the Game Menu, and from here, you can Save, Restore,
Restart, or Quit. You can also adjust the Game Skill, Volume, and Game
Speed to suit your preference. The Task Bar may seem daunting at first, but
you’ll quickly get to grips with it.
Some improvements have been made since QFG I. You can still Ask About
things by clicking on a character. But now, you can also Tell About things,
and also Make Purchases, by clicking on yourself, and this is necessary to
complete some of the quests. Using the Map (which is useful for quickly
jumping to places you’ve already visited) is now a simple case of clicking the
Map on yourself. Game Skill is on a sliding scale from Easiest to Hardest,
and this affects how easy or hard it is to defeat enemies.
Movement is controlled by using the Cursor keys, or by clicking your mouse
where you want to move.
Like I said, it’s a wonderful mix of adventure with RPG elements. However, it
is more linear than the first game, and certain tasks must be done on certain
days. Because of this, it is possible to miss some events. It also means that
some days are crammed with tasks for you to complete, but other days are
fairly quiet, with not much to do.
Much as I love AGD’s version of the game, there are a few thing I DON’T love
about it. The Combat system, when playing as a Fighter has been over-
hauled. It’s much tougher to beat enemies now, and enemies also have their
own sneaky little tricks. I set the Game Skill down to Easiest, which means
that enemies didn’t throw knives at me, but I still found it really tough-
going. New combat moves have been added, such as Step Forward, Jump
Back, and several different sword attacks. Another thing I didn’t like, is that
your stats - no matter if you’re a Fighter, Thief, or Magic User - have to be
MUCH higher, before attempting certain tasks, which means lots and lots of
grinding away, trying to improve your skills - much more so than the original
version. I also found that the Earth Elemental can prove rather problematic
if you’re playing as a Magic User. When it’s time to take on the Earth
Elemental, you can launch long-range attacks (spells), but then the
Elemental gets too near to you, and the game takes you into ‘Combat Mode’. When this happens, you’re not able to access the Game Menus or Inventory.
Luckily, the game download includes a manual, which shows keyboard
shortcuts, which you have to rely on.
Despite the down-sides, AGD have done a wonderful job, and I highly
recommend it.
GRAPHICS
AGD Interactive has recreated the game, using gorgeous SVGA graphics, and
it adds so much warmth and depth to the game.
I love how the characters get on with their own lives, and stop to talk to you
when you approach them. The whole game has an Arabian feel to it, and
there are a lot of lovely touches. Character portraits pop up as they are
talking, and their mouth moves and eye blink as well. Rakeesh is my
favourite portrait - he looks so majestic! And the facial expressions Issur
pulls during arm-wrestling, is fantastic.
Your room at the inn is very luxurious, and your bed is huge! You can also
buy various things from the stall holders to decorate your room, if you like.
Day & Night cycles are just superb! As evening approaches, the town
gradually gets darker, and stall holders pack up for the night. In your room,
you can see stars through the window. Out in the desert, the night sky is full
of stars, and you can see different images in the stars. It’s just wonderful.
The hero himself wears black shoes with a curly tip, which I found adorable!
There is a lovely animation, when you play as the fighter - he’s chained to the
wall, and he’s desperately trying to break his chains before an assassin can
kill him.
One of the biggest improvements AGD have made, is the alleyways. In the
original, all the alleyways look the same, and it’s so hard to navigate. AGD
have gone to great lengths to make alleys look different from each other.
Doors are in different places, some houses have windows, some windows
have shutters, some houses have washing outside, some have rubble
nearby, some have trees and plants outside. It makes the alleyways so much
nicer to look at, as well as being easier to navigate.
Talking of the alleyways… I love how the ground rumbles and shakes when
the Earth Elemental is nearby.
SOUND AND MUSIC
All the music from the original Quest For Glory II is here, but AGD Interactive
has enhanced it, making it much richer. Each shop has it’s own theme - you
can enjoy jolly, daft music in the Magic Shop, spacey music in the
Astrologer’s home, flute music at supper time in the Inn, etc. Even Uhura
has her own special Tribal theme, when you’re practising combat with her.
Barking dogs are heard echoing through the alleyways, giving a sense of life
to the city. Monsters in the desert have their own sounds, and howls from
the Jackel Men are truly spine-chilling! In contrast, the ‘Gronk‘ from our
hero‘s saurus is simply adorable! The magic spells deserve special mention,
as each spell has a it’s own distinct sound. Just lovely!
Everything from a pleasant ‘Ding’ when you earn points, to water gushing in
the fountain, to the satisfying ‘click’ of the Guild Hall door, to fire cackling
realistically. It all helps to bring Quest For Glory II to life!
Give the game a try - you won’t be disappointed!