Review

Developed by:The Odd Gentlemen Published by:Sierra Entertainment Genre(s):
  • Adventure
  • Platform:
    Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/sg4bf3j1nznt/domains/unitedfrontgaming.com/html/wp-content/themes/UFG/single-review.php on line 37
    Cost:$39.99 (For Complete Series) ESRB Rating:TEEN Players:1 Release date:July 28, 2015 Reviewed on:PC Episode Release Date:October 25, 2016
    7.5

    King’s Quest: Chapter 5: The Good Knight

    We’ve finally made it to the end of Graham’s adventure. What started out as an imaginative retelling of a classic series has turn into something unique – a product of both Sierra and The Odd Gentlemen. And although this new King’s Quest has some rough patches here and there, it is certainly one of the better adventure titles released in recent memory.

    “The Good Knight” deals more with the current cast of character than that of the past. Graham’s health is fading fast due to an unnatural illness. Things have gotten so bad that it seems like he might be losing his mind; he’s seen talking to an empty rocking chair on multiple occasions. That said, he still believes he has one more adventure left. Until a sudden tumble seconds after getting out of his bed squashes that notion. All he has left are his stories. His legacy. As it turns out, that’s not necessarily a bad thing…

    What’s most interesting about this episode is how it handles the different aspects of Graham’s failing health. On the story side of things, we see him trying to explain to Gwendolyn (his granddaughter) how he forgot about certain puzzles when talking about his past adventures. Because of his bad memory, he can’t quite put things together and multiple stories start to mash into one. What we get is a Big Fish moment – the tall tales he’s been telling may or may not have been entirely true. This is of course a sad occurrence, evident by Gwendolyn’s response. She liked his stories the way they were. Not only that but the realization that he is farther gone than she expected was hard to take.

    On the gameplay side of things, we can visually see how his memories have been affected. When he dives into his last adventure, some odd things happen. Fires spring up in random places, objects in the world change from one passing to the next, and entire swaths of the world are whited out as  he’s completely forgotten them. All of it works well in service to the story, but not so much the puzzles though. Often times the answer to a puzzle, possibly manifesting in a needed item(s), won’t be revealed within the environment until you’ve passed that area. Sometimes multiple passes are needed. You can imagine how frustrating it would be to search a place from top to bottom, only to return (after searching everywhere else) and see the item you need laying in plain view. Though Graham’s fragmented memory is apparent at the start of this adventure, there’s no way to know how the scenery will change without going through every available area multiple times.

    There is one puzzle that really irked me. After acquiring an important item, I went about finding the appropriate place to utilize it. One area I went to was nearly all white, prompting a message from Graham stating that he’d forgotten that place for a reason. The game would then direct me to turn around. Only by walking slightly to the right upon entering this area, was I finally able to pass it, revealing a little spot that he did remember. It took me a…significant amount of time to find this little spot thanks to the vague handling of this puzzle. Things like this made this episode feel unfair. It didn’t help that these were the warm up puzzles either; there are some tricky brain teasers towards the end that provide their own level of frustrate-me-to-no-end-ness.

    Back to the story side of things, I like how the game reveals what happens to Graham. Because of his health, he asks Gwen to finish his story. Putting two and two together, she is able to figure out what he was suffering from as well as add a nice flourish to the plot. The torch had been passed. It was a clever way of helping the characters (and the player) move on. There are other tidbits dealing with mortality and acceptance of one’s fate. I won’t spoil what happens. Just note that things end pretty well.

    There’s one more episode left. Called the Epilogue, I’m guessing we’ll get to see how Gwendolyn has grown over the course of the game. Will she have her own adventure here in the present or will we flash to an older Gwen, already seasoned at puzzle solving? Only time will tell. Again, here’s hoping that The Odd Gentlemen will properly close out the story…and maybe set up another one.

    Update: The Epilogue wasn’t a full episode – it just helps to close the story. So, there’s no coming review. 

    Gameplay:

    6

    Some of the puzzles border on unfair this time around.

    Graphics:

    10

    Great as usual.

    Sound:

    10

    Great voice acting all around!

    Replay Value:

    4

    Though the story was decent, I honestly don’t see myself going back to this episode.

    Final Score:

    7.5

    © United Front Gaming. All rights reserved. Site design by: 801red