King's Quest V: Your Retrospective Review

[Anakin Skywalker]

I did a similar series of threads at another forum, and I always start with KQV (as it's my favorite) and then work backwards and finally forwards. Looking back at KQV, how did you feel about it then, and how do you feel about KQ5 now, both in terms of KQ, adventure games, and games in general? Where does KQ5 stand on your list of favorite KQ's?

[exo]

Well, this promises to be a polarized discussion as I have already seen those who disliked kq5 be very vocal about it in other threads. So I fear this is going to tread that same old ground.

I'll start by saying I played KQ5 after KQ6, although I played KQ4 before both of them. I later went back and played 1-3.

KQ5 didn't sit very well with me comparatively after playing 6... I didn't enjoy exploring the world nearly as much as the islands. The voice acting detracted from the experience quite a bit for me, and that damned owl is still the most annoying character in any KQ game for me.

I remember feeling like more of the puzzles in KQ5 were trial and error in comparison to other games. Due to the zoomed out nature of the village, it leads to a bit of a ridiculous pixel hunt to find that barrel, but that is minor.

I can definitely see how it would be amazing compared to KQ4 if I had played it directly afterwards. I really enjoyed KQ4, and I liked the fact that the land was a central hub with exploration taking you to genesta's island, or the queens castle, or the mountain pass. But you generally ended up going back to the main land... which lent itself a sense of familiarity... and not just passing through. KQ6 had this as well, as you often revisited the royal island to make deals with the pawn owner or see the nightengale.

Overall however, from a story perspective and totally ignoring technical or gameplay issues, I didn't find the KQ5 storyline to be all that intriguing. Rosella by herself trying to save her father's life was a dramatic departure from KQ1 & KQ2's standard quest fare. While KQ3 broke the mold first, it wasn't until the end of the game that we even see where KQ3 fits into the overall mythos... so maybe that is why i wasn't as drawn in by it originally.

For some reason I really enjoyed the characters in part 6. Going to Hell and seeing lucifer chained to his throne with his wings growing into the walls and then figuring out how to beat him was a defining gameplay moment for me back then. KQ5 was full of squeaky voiced ant kings, owls, leprachauns, and other annoying fare, imho.

My ranking of the games is distorted by the order in which I played them, I think. But I would say:
1. KQ6
2. KQ4
3. KQ7
4. KQ5
5. KQ2 - felt like an expansion to part 1, more of the same, still fun though
6. KQ1 - (great game, but doesn't stand up to its later sequels)
7. KQ3 - (mainly because I played for days looking for an eagle feather... damn thing just wouldn't show up. And so I decided I despised games that made a crucial item appear randomly)

I've never been able to get far into KQ8, so I can't rank it. And while KQ7 is initially a game I wasn't real fond of, it grew on me over time. I debated heavily on if I liked KQ7 or KQ5 better before deciding that cedric would doom KQ5 to the 4th place spot =)

[der_ketzer]

I played this game last year for the first time. It was the second KQ I played after the remake of the first one. And I adore it. Everything in it is just so memorable. I love Cedric and the wolves and I link the "poisonous Snake"-Youtube video everywhere it might fit.
I have to admit, that I saw the whole game done by Paw first (got the KQ-collection on Steam in the 2009 X-mas sale afterwards). So I knew some of the meaner puzzles already (cheese, lambchop) and where to draw a map & be extra careful (desert, castle)

I have played them all by now and have to say KQ5 is still the best of the bunch. Great riddles wonderful graphics, I love the voice acting for being so *bad* but quoteable.

Rating:

1. KQ5
2. KQ
3. KQ 4
4. KQ 7
5. KQ 2
6. KQ 6
7. KQ 3

[Blackthorne519]

I've been discussing King's Quest on the internet for well over 10 years, and talking about it with friends and people on BBS's (Yeah, 2400 baud modems!) for over 20 years. I think I really have had every conversation about King's Quest 5 that I ever want to. You haunt forums about Sierra games and King's Quest games, you just start to see the same old conversations.

Yeah, King's Quest 5 is awesome; it's my favorite one, but getting pedantic over it just seems to be useless. They're never going to release another official King's Quest game that was as wonderous as 5 was when it was released - I like the old-school charm (as some would say) and a new game with 3D graphics will just feel like a bland retread to me. I would actually pay for a new KQ game done in the old style, but hey - I already do that kind of thing.

I guess I just get sick of seeing the same old topics. I've been slogging it out in the trenches for a long time. This thread is kind of redundant.


Bt

[Chyron8472]

I'm finding JonTron's review of King's Quest V to be hilarious.

[Lambonius]

Originally Posted by Chyron8472

I'm finding JonTron's review of King's Quest V to be hilarious.

Haha...amazing. And bonus points for bringing up Hugo's House of Horrors.

Also, my review of KQ5 is that it's the one point-and-click King's Quest that, despite its flaws, really captures the essence of what I feel the King's Quest series (at least the first four games) is about. Exploration of a large (feeling) and diverse land filled with unexpected twists and dangers, mind-bending (but mostly logical) puzzles, and interesting (if badly voiced) characters.

And its art and soundtrack are unmatched within the series. KQ6's soundtrack does come close though, but its visuals suffer a bit from an overuse of painted-over photographs of actors.

[MtnPeak]

Originally Posted by Blackthorne519

I think I really have had every conversation about King's Quest 5 that I ever want to. You haunt forums about Sierra games and King's Quest games, you just start to see the same old conversations.

...
I guess I just get sick of seeing the same old topics. I've been slogging it out in the trenches for a long time. This thread is kind of redundant.

Bt

Sorry to hear about your KQ forum weary self. If such conversations are that burdensome for you, why participate? You are like an unnecessary wet blanket on the discussion. Fortunately, you are not the only one reading these forums; there are many others who very much enjoy discussing the Kings Quest series.

Anyway, KQ5 will always be special to me. It has a dorky, innocent quality that I love. (At times the KQ6 narrator gets a little too poetic and la-di-da.) Also, KQ5's art backgrounds are the best out of any Sierra game, IMO. They seem a lot more striking, intricate, richly colored, and often with more of a fantasy/magical world feel than those in KQ6. As beautiful as they are, the KQ6 backgrounds are sometimes a bit bland. KQ5 also feels like more of an epic adventure than KQ6 does. Going through desert and snow before setting sail to a scary, mysterious island feels a lot more epic than pulling out a map and hearing the same sound effect every few minutes, which gets old.

[BagginsKQ]

Sits back and wishes I had a bag of popcorn...

[Lambonius]

Alexander feels a strange pulling sensation...

[Chyron8472]

That's an old piece of magical white snake I had left over from last year.

[Jennifer]

I've cleaned out the abusive language from this thread. Please keep the conversation civil from here on out. Thanks.

[Blackthorne519]

Yeah, yeah. One little insult, and you get moderated! I tell you: THIS IS NOT THE INTERNET OF MY YOUTH!

The point stands, though, MtnPeak - I had written that response over a year ago. And I'd written a similar one a year before that. It's been many years of the same thread. It gets tiresome - and for a while, there was one poster, who I do like and consider to be a good guy, who kept starting threads like this.

I'm STILL weary of this, yes.


Bt

[Vainamoinen]

Originally Posted by Blackthorne519

Yeah, yeah. One little insult, and you get moderated! I tell you: THIS IS NOT THE INTERNET OF MY YOUTH!

Yup, insults are always off limits. Who would have thought.

It's a privilege to have a forum without a fucking swear filter. In other words, this IS the internet of your youth! And we'd like to preserve that privilege by drawing a sharp line between "swear" and "insult".

But that just FYI. Carry on.

[MusicallyInspired]

This forum is being censored now? I think we're all big boys and girls here and can handle it if apologies are swapped (which I believe they were). I don't think censorship here is warranted. But whatever, I'm no mod. This place has certainly changed, though.

[Blackthorne519]

Eh, it's okay. I did refer to our beloved doppelganger, MtnPeak, by an offensive pet name. I'm fiery sometimes.


Bt

[BagginsKQ]

It's a privilege to have a forum without a f%*^#@g swear filter.

The irony springs to mind that your post includes a word, that was far more offensive than that Blackthorne said.

Blackthorne's 'insult' was actually juvenile, and hilarious (you gotta realize ol Blackbeard's generally not serious about anything).

But there are 'degrees' of 'offensiveness'!

Note: I've self filtered just in case someone comes along and decides that such words shouldn't be included in the future!

[Vainamoinen]

Obviously, I was raised by a naughty wizard.

[MtnPeak]

What did I miss? I always get here too late and miss the good stuff.

About KQ5, here is a funny KQ5 game review (by a video editing team called The Excalibur Bros) that I enjoyed:

http://youtu.be/2r406-vHo_E

And here is an entertaining, abbreviated play-through of the game by the same people who did that review:

http://youtu.be/uGmqYg4JP08

http://youtu.be/ycLAkwmwF-o

Many of you hardcore KQ fans have probably already seen these, but, if you haven't seen anything by TheExcaliburBros before, their stuff is definitely worth a look!

[Jennifer]

So, I finally finished King's Quest V. I started it off and on for years, but never got too far because I was turned off by Cedric's voice actor. I've finally decided to finish it though, and I'm glad I did.

I was ultimately able to tune out Cedric's annoyingness (mostly because he thankfully wasn't in the game much), and came to actually enjoy the game quite a bit. I liked the story, the music, and I thought the voices other than Cedric worked well (even if some of them were better than others). I also didn't mind the puzzles (even the notorious Yeti puzzle - I don't know why that one gets so much flack, the solution is a really old trope so it'd be pretty obvious even if the solution wasn't already spoiled for me through countless articles I've read over the years).

[Lambonius]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

(even the notorious Yeti puzzle - I don't know why that one gets so much flack, the solution is a really old trope so it'd be pretty obvious

You're absolutely right. It's really one of the more obvious puzzle solutions in the game, frankly. I think the real problem for most people stems from the fact that there are MANY ways to lose the pie before you get to that point in the game, the worst of which is the "feed the eagle" bit, which has just happened not too long before the yeti scene.