Codename: Iceman / The Colonel's Bequest / Hero's Quest: So You Want To Be A Hero (aka Quest for Glory I) / Conquests Of Camelot: The Search For The Holy Grail
An End to the Quest: My Quest for Glory Series Ranking
Sometimes you just have to eventually concede a thing is not going to happen, at least anytime soon. For me, that’s Quest for Glory V. I’ve watched a playthrough now, so I know the thief route anyway, but I just cannot bring myself into actually playing it more than the small start I’ve had. However, now I have seen the end the whole series is on my mind again, so I figured I could at least bring some closure to my and Cinder Win’s run with an attempted ranking and my general thoughts.
Spoilers all over here.
Starting from last place and working up:
5. Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire
To be honest, I’ve been flip flopping on whether to put this in the fifth or fourth slot. More objectively I think it probably should go in the fourth slot, but as I actually played through rank 4 and got some enjoyment out of it, unlike my inability to play through this one I’m placing it here. With some regret. Maybe in the future they’ll flip! Nothing’s truly set in stone.
I think any single issue I have wouldn’t have been enough to keep me away, but there are just enough combined that kept me at bay.
The transition to 3D graphics. It’s not the worst certainly and if you look at it with the other games you can still see it as being Quest for Glory (unlike King’s Quest Mask of Eternity for instance), but it’s still early 3D with some muddiness. And that especially hurts after how nice III and IV look.
Relatedly the UI. I don’t like it. The layout of HP and stamina and the hot bar of items that brings something like Diablo to mind. I don’t like how small the text is during narration. I don’t like how small the portaits are and how disconnected they are from their text. Everything about the text and portraits feels disconnected like they’re all just floating around.
I hesitate to call out the combat here because quite frankly I’m not into the combat in any of the games, but in combination with point 2, it’s more standard ARPG, so it’s another ding against the QFG feel for me.
The main plot is a gathering of heroes to Silmaria to participate in rites of rulership as the former king was assassinated and there’s a danger of a dragon once sealed coming unsealed and bringing destruction. Perfectly serviceable plot, but the rites and the competition nature of them just isn’t to my personal taste. I hold it against the game only for my personal ranking, but not at all for the quality of the game.
A couple other specific complaints:
You can get married and there are options as to whom. I can take or leave that, but my main complaint is that nothing really comes of it. You propose, get your little reponse as she accepts and that’s it. There doesn’t seem to be anything that comes of it at the end. Depending on who you marry she may not even be there at the end. It kind of feels like it was an afterthought.
I can’t speak for the other classes, but the thief at least has some really finicky, and I’d say needlessy finicky at points, requirements for its quest chain. One example being having to show Elsa the thief sign but for some reason doing so when she’s visiting you in your inn room doesn’t count?? That level of ‘but why?’ finickiness.
The ending. Considering it’s the end of the series, it feels very quick and underwhelming. The deeds all the adventurers in the rites did get talked about in brief, then you’re offered kingship which you can accept or refuse. If you accept, there’s a brief cheer and done. For being the final end I’d expect a bit more Something. Some narration touching on how far you’ve come from setting out on your first adventure or how Silmaria will enjoy a new era of peace. Just something to wrap it up on a series level… QFG II had a way meatier ending and it was only the second game. It left a bit flat feeling for me.
That’s a lot of negative points. On to the positive.
It really is a culmination of past threads. You meet Elsa again. You find out what happened to Julanar—Salim really did go get her and finish freeing her from being a tree—and she’s here too. Erasmus is there having summoned you. Rakeesh is around. Events lead to a possibility of bringing either Erana or Katrina back. So, it’s fun to see a bunch of past characters and those threads of continuity.
It’s still recognizably Quest for Glory. That shouldn’t be something I keep coming back to, but after King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity really not feeling at all like a King’s Quest, I’m cheering on QFG V. And it still has its silliness and puns and some funny death messages in there.
Some of the items like pizza or a box of chocolates have their own little jingles when you’re focused on them in the inventory and I think that’s just cute. I love silly details like that.
There’s a gnome! She’s definitely not my favourite of the gnomes, but every game should have one, looking at you, QFG III. Just for series consistency, you know.
While various plot elements aren’t to my personal taste, I can still appreciate it overall on a more objective stance. Plus even beyond class variety, there are other points of variability to shake up one playthrough in comparison to another. Not all points I’d want to ever see happen—like Rakeesh can die—but I still appreciate the variety.
Ultimately, it’s a game that is a product of its era and doesn’t quite align with my personal tastes. But I think it’s still a perfectly fine entry, and it’s nice it was able to happen at all, and bring an actual end to the series, as that almost didn’t happen.
4. Quest For Glory III: Wages of War
If I were to use one word for this game it would be undercooked. It wasn’t originally planned and I can only assume that had its effects. Obviously, I can’t say, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were ideas cut for time and budget constraints. There were things that felt like they should have been more fleshed out and needed that fleshing out.
The danger of war between the Leopardmen and Simbani, but we really don’t get much of the Leopardmen overall.
There’s background information about the demons and related events that happen, but you don’t even know who or what your main villain really is until you’re fighting him at the end which leads to feeling like just a random guy.
The Lost City makes for a cool final area, but you barely see any of it! That could have made for a great ending chunk, but I felt hurried through what little there was of it.
The classes feel pretty unbalanced in what they’re given to do. Thieves and wizards feel shortchanged, especially thieves in my opinion.
The whole plot felt like it was missing something or the pacing was off, or both. Something never really quite gelled for me.
A couple of other general complaints:
The random encounters drove me nuts. Too many.
Minor complaint about the UI but I wish there were labels or tooltips of some kind on the spell icons.
The ending fight felt like a ‘here’s your villain!… and now say bye to your villain.’ just kind of anticlimactic.
Not a single gnome to be seen!!
However, this is in the number four slot after all; there are things I do like.
I think it’s a lovely looking game. I really like the artwork and portraits, and the occasional full art piece (a bafflingly posed Liontaur aside).
While the random encounters drove me up a wall, I didn’t mind the actual combat itself for what it is as much as I’ll take any of the series combat.
It’s a pretty graceful transition into point and click along with how it handles conversation options and topics.
More Rakeesh! Good to see him come home. Uhura too.
While I have my complaints about the ending area, it wasn’t without its cool bits too. The mirror battle was neat and a little freaky.
Manu is cute. He feels a bit thrown in for the sake of having another character for the end, but cute.
QFG III is a mixed bag that comes with its own particular brand of frustration because I can see the potential but it doesn’t live up to itself. That’s more frustrating to me in a way than a game just being bad. It’s not bad! But it could be so much better! I rank it at 4 instead of 5 because I still played through it, and for all the things that bother me, I still did get some enjoyment out of it. As I said for 5, these could flip in the future, but for now this where I’ve settled.
3. Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero
The start of the top 3 where things could also oscillate in the future. Heck, I could even see the order being affected by what class I play. For now it’s rank 3 because something has to be. I really enjoyed all three of the remaining games.
It’s one of those series beginnings that’s both exciting because it’s all new, but also a little comfy because it is the start and so the stakes aren’t as high. It’s a combination of feelings I can really appreciate.
There’s a great sense of exploration that leads to fun, if sometimes dangerous, discoveries like the fairies or meeps. Or the antwerp. Or Braugi or the dryad etc. It’s a good variety of things to find. There’s danger that makes getting back to town or Erana’s Peace a relief, especially early on because you’re just starting out, you’re a wimp, but it’s not stressfully aggravating danger.
The plot’s pretty simple, but has the nice wrinkle in the bandit chief turning out to be Elsa and Yorick looking out for her all that time.
If I had any negatives they would be:
Once again not a fan of the combat.
Wizard specific: I like Erasmus! I do not like his game!
Also wizard specific: Because of the need to buy spells it feels very easy to get yourself in a tight corner with money. I had a rough go of things at first due to that.
There isn’t a way to pass time in chunks if you’re waiting for a specific point.
That’s kind of it really.
While there may not be as many points that stick out to me as strongly as points in the next two entries, I don’t have any big complaints either. There are fun elements and characters to find and interact with. I can’t comment on fighters, but from wizard and thief, it seems like the classes are well-balanced for having class specific things to do. It’s very good at setting the stage for what to expect of the series in tone and humour, and puts characters in place that will appear later as well. Also it’s just fun sometimes to play with a text parser. A very solid series start and I do look forward to revisiting it at some point. Whether or not I’ll be able to resist playing a wizard again remains to be seen.
2. Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
I was slightly apprehensive going into it even, or because of, watching it first, due to the navigation mainly. Getting around Shapeir is a pain. I got lost very easily and I’m so glad you can use the map to move instantly to places you’ve already been. I would have been more nervous of the calendar/time limit, but it’s so generous that it didn’t end up being a stressor. I started with apprehension and ended up having a great time with it myself.
My main issues are the navigation as stated. Beyond being confusing and easy to get lost, the alleyways/streets are also really boring. Everything looks the same.
Relatedly, the desert is also boring. It’s huge but there’s not a lot of stuff in there. You’ve got Julanar, the oasis, and the beast cage, and I think that’s it? It feels like it’s mainly there to get lost and die in. It IS pretty at night though. Credit where credit’s due.
All in all, though, that didn’t hamper my enjoyment as much as I might have expected. There can be a hurry up and wait vibe depending on how quickly you resolve things, but it lent a chill vibe for me that I didn’t mind at all. And of course you’re not totally bereft of things to do outside the elementals. I liked the Wizard’s Institute of Technocery stuff—going through the wizards to pick one as your mentor has some entertaining results. I liked the Julanar quest (even if I wish we could have been the ones to finish things off). And there’s always time to practice skills. And time’s easier to pass with resting in intervals, and free resting at that! Getting to stay for free at the inn was lovely and having a welcoming place and food to always come back to was nice.
Of course I can’t let this go by without mentioning Keapon Laffin. Keep gnoming on you puntastic being you.
Or the totally-just-a-normal-saurus.
And of course, the final chunk. I admit it’s probably that alone that’s elevating this one above the first game. It stands out among the series endings between the atmosphere of Raseir, Ad Avis taking control of you and the accompanying narration, the scariness of the cave and the urgency at the end to stop him. Though I am glad I wasn’t playing a thief—the rope walking at the end looked like it would drive me completely batty.
Then it all culminates in an ending that actually feels like a game ending. Time was actually given to celebrate and wrap up some threads. The last scene with your hero and saurus in the desert ready to head out on another adventure is a nice wrap-up too.
Maybe on a future replay I and II will flip but for now I feel comfortable slotting II into rank 2.
1: Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness
And that brings us to rank 1, my favourite, which is of course Shadows of Darkness. It’s funny, I’m not particularly into horror or vampires or eldritch horrors, but there’s enough of a balance with other folklore and fantasy it works for me I guess. And it still retains the humour of the series.
My main issue with the game is I never really gelled with the combat and used the Strategy mode to simply guide the computer for me, but even then I never felt like I quite got it.
I also know it was infamous for bugginess but the GOG version must be more fixed? I never ran into any issues anyway, though it was definitely a background worry.
Otherwise, I don’t have much in the way of complaints.
I love how, maybe ironically, alive Mordavia feels. Give me NPCs who regularly change their dialogue as things progress and I’m a happy camper and they all have something going with them as well. I actually started feeling attached to Mordavia in a way I never really quite did with any of the other game locations, though Shapeir was coming close.
I like that it has the same kind of style of map exploration as the first game. It’s also pretty! And Autumn-y and I do like Autumn themeing. It also felt easier to navigate than QFG 1 thanks to being able to examine and get some narration pointers in directions.
Fun voice acting and I absolutely love John Rhys-Davies doing the narration.
As a wizard I felt like I had plenty to do, especially after III. The opening of the game was great for the mystery and spooky atmosphere, but I also loved having magic things to do. Repeatedly!
There was also some nice continued threads with Baba Yaga and Erana.
My favourite soundtrack in the series, as well.
It nailed a combination of elements that worked very well for me. I’m looking forward to a future replay as a paladin. I’m very curious about that route.
--
Quest for Glory as a whole
As of writing I’ve played QFG 1-4 and watched 5. I’ve played all of King’s Quest except Mask of Eternity. I’ve seen Space Quest 1-6. Of those Sierra series I think Quest for Glory is the most consistent in quality. I don’t feel its low points go as low as the other series’ low points. I don’t know if it’s my favourite of their series or not. It’s a toss-up between it and King’s Quest. I’m happy I’ve played most of it now. It’s not a series I’d known much about before experiencing it.
I finally uploaded this, after more than four years. In 2020, while teaching myself the keyboard, DAW, and musical transcription, I decided I would recreate one of my all-time favorite video game compositions: Erana's Peace (aka The Magic Meadow) by Mark Seibert, from Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero?
For those who're interested: We're gonna read some Lunar manga together on stream tomorrow, Feb 14th at 4pm (central US)! So heads up if you've put off reading them or just want to hear me read the dialog in a variety of silly voices!
Will start with Vane: The Story of the Inheritance and see where we end up from there. :3 Catch it at twitch.tv/pandorkful <3
If you're not interested in a manga read-along, then, umm... Ah, have some drawings people made me draw of their OWN FREE WILL, from past Sunday Art streams you might have missed!
