Review

King’s Quest: Chapter 4: Snow Place Like Home

The Odd Gentlemen have proven themselves worthy of carrying the King’s Quest torch. At this point in the game (pun intended) all they’d have to do is work their way to wrapping up the narrative they’ve created. Unfortunately, the quality of each episode seems to vary in such a way that it feels like the developer is making it up as they go. Don’t get me wrong – I believe a lot of planning went into the story of Graham and his granddaughter. With that, I’m deeply invested…

This episode, called “Snow Place Like Home”, opens with a young Graham being awoken by his wife Valanice. It was his turn to sooth their twin babies, Alexander and Rosella, who at that very moment were screaming their lungs out. Meanwhile, a tall figure cloaked in green is shown making his way to the castle. His intentions aren’t obvious at this time. That said, his sudden appearance proves to be an omen. A comical scene between Graham’s knights is interrupted when this figure forcefully enters the castle. The knights try their best to stop him, only to be dispatched with the snap of his fingers. As he makes his way to the royal bed chamber, Graham and Valanice scramble to secure their kids. They aren’t quick enough however. Using his magic to pin the parents to their bed posts, the stranger reveals that he’s Manny. Apparently he was jealous that Graham won the Knight Tournament year’s prior and sought revenge. His plan: steal Graham’s son and raise him as his own. Then seize the thrown vicariously through the prince once he’s of proper age.

If you’ve played the original series of games, you’d know that the setup is similar King’s Quest III. Everything from Manny’s new appearance (somehow he’s traded his small stumpy body for a leaner, taller physique) and the reveal of his full name, Manannan, are in line with the previous title. Of course, The Odd Gentlemen have added their own spin to the story. After 18 years away from his family, Prince Alexander was able to escape his abductor and somehow find his way home. His father, mother, and sister all welcome him with open arms. And while they were happy to have him back, Alex’s time away from them had taken its toll. For one, he isn’t a fan of puzzles like the rest of his family.

To celebrate the return of his son, Graham takes his family on a vacation to famous resort. To their surprise, the place has been turned into an ice palace adorned with frozen adventurers, forever trapped in awkward poses. This strange makeover is brought about by its new residents: an ice queen and her friend/adviser the Sphinx. And because a sphinx is all about the riddles, he has placed puzzles all around the palace in hopes of tricking anyone who stumbles onto them. Not realizing what danger they were in, the gang decides to explore their surroundings.

From a story stand point, this episode has some strong points. Though there is an overarching plot dealing with the manipulations of Manny, the main focus is the relationship between Graham and his son. After getting themselves caught by the Sphinx, it falls on these two men to find out what happened to Valanice and Rosella. Things don’t go well given their time apart though. Again, Alex isn’t a fan of puzzles and would rather use magic to “cheat” his way through the maze the Sphinx has set before them. Graham on the other hand, deplores magic as it reminds him of the night Manny took his son. Tempers flare as their two ideologies clash.

The puzzles themselves reflect this tension between the two characters in a clever way. Nearly all of the puzzles utilize lines on the floor that needs to be followed to a door leading out of a room. Stepping away from the line before making it to the door will reengages a trap, freezing the person that steps across the threshold. The catch is that the lined paths are often obstructed – floor tiles are flipped, blocks need to be placed, ect. – requiring Graham and his son to work together to fix them before an escape is possible. The constant use of lines, I feel, is a metaphor for their broken relationship. Graham has an emotional desire for his son to follow in his footsteps, but this is also something that Alex has to do physically before they can leave a room. On the other hand, Alex isn’t like Graham and will often need to find his own way to assist in solving a puzzle; they’ll have to split up and attack a problem from multiple areas before fixing the line. It’s rather genius when you think about it.

The one issue I have is how little the game capitalizes off of this set up. “Snow Place Like Home” is filled with puzzles…like to the brim. And during most of them there is very little conversation between the characters. I mean, there are the major moments of bonding (cutscenes and whatnot) as well as the smaller bits of dialogue here and there. But a lot of the game was me completing puzzles with the same audio tracks playing over and over. I actually grew board as the sense of urgency was slowly sucked away from the tasks before me; I wasn’t concerned about their missing family members anymore because of how long it took to get through certain sections. Mileage may very given how fast you are at solving each puzzle of course. I just felt like there could have been more to what went down.

The moments in the present time were more eventful even though time with the older Graham was brief. The cat is out of the bag when it comes to how things are unfolding with his granddaughter. I won’t spoil it here but it’s certainly worth playing through the past events to see. There are two more episodes left…well, an episode and a prologue. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens to the more mature cast of characters. Hopefully, the last two segments will properly close out what has so far been a pretty decent experience!