GK3, QFG5- failures

[supershaft777]

these games do no justice to their predecessors. they seem like the last sierra games that were forced out.
GK3 had a bad interface and ridiculous puzzles (tape CAT HAIR on your face so itll look like a mustach???? come on. stealing mosly's badge was a lot more fun)
QFG5 had puke graphics and was just very lame, completely lacked the charm & style of the previous games.

[gortmertl0]

QFG5 had puke graphics and was just very lame, completely lacked the charm & style of the previous games.

I disagree.  I think that some elements of QFG5 do have a 'rushed' or 'let's put this thing out' feel, but the graphics were great (for their time, remember) and the 3-D modelling feel was definitely a hallmark of 1995-1998 as everyone began moving away from 2-D 'drawings' -- and some games did this better than others.  First person shooters, for one, pioneered it -- I believe it was Quake.

Music was awesome (especially the underwater theme -- definitely one of my favorites -- just let that 2 minute piece loop and loop and loop...  VERY relaxing) and I really liked the Quicktime Intro 'movie', made from King Justinian's perspective.

Played through as a paladin, fighter and magician.  Still haven't played through as a thief, though.

All loose ends were tied up nicely (although some were a little contrived), and the references to the previous adventures in Glorianna were nice as well.  They stayed true to the rules previously set in the prior games.

Playing as a magician, I liked that they put in the Thermonuclear spell, referenced in the Famous Adventurers' handbook for QFG3, as a spell that you can get (F.A. himself gives it to you after your get the Hippocrene water).  But, to paraphrase Daffy Duck after he drinks flammable liquids and blows himself up to show off his one lone talent, you can only use it once...

I also liked the whole "Don't cast Trigger on your magical staff or else it'll explode, taking you with it!" that Kreesha teaches you from QFG3.  In QFG5, when you go up against the powerful Centaur Magicians on the island of Sifnos, simple cast "Trigger" on their staffs and they blow up real good!  Very, very easy way to defeat them!!!


Anyways, sorry you didn't think much of QFG5.  I can see where some might have that impression, but I am glad that we weren't left wondering what happened to Hero at the end of QFG4 -- where did he go?  What was Silmaria like?  What adventure(s) was he needed for there?  What would QFG5 have been like?

There's too many games, movies, books and stories out there like that -- where we are left wanting more, but it never happens.  Like it or not, at least there is a sense of completion to the QFG series...


Gary

[supershaft777]

you dont have me convinced buddy, qfg5 was a big disappointment for the reasons:
-'gnome ann's jokes are bad and thats the worst inn in the game, give me a hot egyptian chick over a weird gnome any day. qfg3 had a lot more ambience and style.
-the FIGHTS. need i say more? qfg fighting was never about being difficult but at least the other fights had cool music and just went smoother. the monsters were far cooler.
-the new interface simply doesnt work. if i had my way adventure games would forever have the classic vga interface, its timeless and really works the best. 'smart' cursors make the game too easy)
-WHERE is salims bong??? you cant get high in qfg5 how dare they?? (jk)
-it doesnt have the intangibles. the game lacks polish and you can tell it was rushed. (and it flopped)
now if someone has a lot of time they could do a retro remake of qfg5... in vga style! the games core and story are cool but could have been better executed.

[gortmertl0]

-'gnome ann's jokes are bad and thats the worst inn in the game, give me a hot egyptian chick over a weird gnome any day. qfg3 had a lot more ambience and style.

Yep, I agree there.  Not a real fan of puns myself, nor of the Gnomes in the games (Keapon Lafffin, Punny Bones, and Ann Agrama)...

As far as looks go for the QFG inkeepers (and I can't believe I'm even typing THIS  :roll: ), Jamil Janna was DEFINITELY better than the anthropomorphic Kattas, Yuri and Bella Markarov, or gnome Ann...  Her name means "Beautiful Paradise" in Arabic.  Too bad Jamil's husband Kirbir was overly protective of her innocent(?) flirtations with Hero...

-the FIGHTS. need i say more? qfg fighting was never about being difficult but at least the other fights had cool music and just went smoother. the monsters were far cooler.

You're not the first person to complain about Sierra's [misguided?] leap into 3D modelling for its adventure games.  A buddy of mine from college absolutely detested KQ8 because of it, and he played them all since he played the original KQ on 5-1/4" floppies on his 8086!

Still, I wondered about QFG4's "Street Fighter"-esque battle system.

I liked some aspects of QFG5's battle system, like the varied ways to defeat enemies (more like a true RPG, with other weapons like swords, axes, bow-and-arrows, etc.), and not being locked into a single battle screen, but being able to run around while hacking-and-slashing.

-the new interface simply doesnt work. if i had my way adventure games would forever have the classic vga interface, its timeless and really works the best. 'smart' cursors make the game too easy)

Again, point taken.  I liked the classic VGA interface as well.  But that would be like Microsoft creating DOS 16.7 and not trying to innovate.

I always felt that the best games Sierra made that seemed to fit their icon adventures were the remade versions of their old parser games from the early 1990s.  It just seemed to work the best.  Then, they started making games designed specifically for the mouse-cursor and except for SQ4 (truly an original) and KQ5, the Sierra games kind of lost something for me...  It was like they took a different mind-set in the design (icon vs parser), and something wasn't ever the same.

You might be right; maybe it was the inevitable "move the smart-cursor around the entire screen to get an idea of what to do next" mindset of game design that adventure games unavoidably turned into during the 1990s.

But sticking with parser text as an interface was a little grating as well...  Remember LSL2?  "Put THE hairspray in THE bag" / "Put THE soap in THE bikini" -- Aaargh!  The finicky determiners were a pain!  So much easier to click the soap and drop it on another inventory item!

-WHERE is salims bong??? you cant get high in qfg5 how dare they?? (jk)

Well, you couldn't get high too many times in QFG3 or you'd end-game.     Beside, Salim's going to be a Dad now -- maybe's he's trying to straighten up and fly right... You know, lose his hippie ways and become a useful, productive member of Silmarian society!  Be a good example to his future child!

-it doesnt have the intangibles. the game lacks polish and you can tell it was rushed. (and it flopped)

As were some other games released at the same time -- most notably, Return To Krondor.  RTK had a good city plot, but once you went out into the country, it lost direction BIG time.  Another rushed job with some notable merits -- especially its great music.

now if someone has a lot of time they could do a retro remake of qfg5... in vga style! the games core and story are cool but could have been better executed.

As I said, sorry you didn't think much of the final product, but there are some merits burried deep down (like the music)...


Great topic, by the way.  Can't get enough QFG for me!

Gary

[Boogeyman]

If you ask me, QFG5 was a success. KQ8 was the failure as it was not at all like the others in the series. RtK was kind of in between, but nowhere near as good as BaK.

I'll admit though, that QFG4 had a MUCH better soundtrack than QFG5.

[discobobdude]

firstly i'd have to say QFG5 is one of my favourites of the series. It was nice because when i received it at the tender age of 11 it wasn't insanely difficult like some of the others. personally i liked the interface and fighting systems. yes it was different, yes it wasn't as difficult but it made it so you could enjoy the story more in some aspects. you didn't die a million times before you could even start the story. that was nice. i loved the music, the graphics were pretty cool at the time, and i thought the story was very interesting. yes, its not the same as the earlier QFG and i do like the point and click interface of the other QFG's but lets remember, sometimes you have to take risks. i felt the interface wasn't that big of a change and still kept the QFG feeling and isn't that all that matters. Look at KQ8. It was more like a QFG game than kings quest. there was hardly any quest involved. i have to say i hated that game. but i dont think that QFG was so different that it was awful. if only that multiplayer was in it.

as for GK3, I have to say it is one of the best games i've ever played. . INCREDIBLE story line, once agian a neat new interface. yes the puzzles were hard (but thats what walkthroughs are for) and i played it at the time when i could actually get into the intellectuality of the game. yes i miss the point and click sierra games, and would love to see them again. i loved that 256 colour style. but gabriel knight suits the style they picked. its more of an adult style game, not a family game so they can make it more advanced. and like i said i dont think i have ever been so absorbed in a game or learnt as much as i did from a game. i learnt tones about hte holy grail, so much infact that i did a report on it BECAUSE of GK3. the score is beutiful too. honestly i dont think you could say that these games are bad.

Honestly, my top 5 favourite sierra adventures have to be (in no order)
1. KQVI
2. LBII
3. GKIII (i will admit i haven't played 1 yet)
4. Freddy Pharkus
5. QFG V

they all were just jenuine fun. unique, and sunning. but hey. hats just my 2 cents.

[supershaft777]

im not knockin on the story of gk3... i dig history-based murder plots. i recently tried to play it again just cuz what i heard but i still cant stand it.... cant stand the interface... game is just too slow, walking around in that ugly 3d french town blah... gk1 had much smoother gameplay and its the only one in the series that i think is a truly good game.

[Blanka]

GK3's engine was also incredibly slow on some machines. It was way, way too jaggedy in parts as anyone thats stared at some of the textures for long enough will notice. I still loved the game though although I don't think it beats GK2 for atmosphere or even music.

I did stuff all the GK3 music on the iPod though.