CITAZIONE
Kings Quest 1-6
King's Quest is an adventure game series made by the American computer game company Sierra Entertainment (formerly Sierra On-Line). It is widely considered a classic title of the golden era of adventure games and was the series that primarily built the reputation of the company following the success of the first installment, the first "3D" adventure game. Roberta Williams, co-owner of Sierra, designed all the games in the King's Quest series. The game debuted on the IBM PCjr.
King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (1984)
King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne (1985)
King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human (1986)
King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (1988)
King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! (1990)
King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (1992)
The world of King's Quest is consistent, sophisticated, and immersive. It encompasses many different kingdoms and supernatural realms.
The main characters in the series are Sir (later King) Graham and members of his family: his wife Valanice and his twin son and daughter, Alexander and Rosella. The exception is KQ VIII, where the protagonist is Connor, a tanner in the Kingdom of Daventry who is unrelated to the royal family. Because of this and the emphasis on RPG and action elements in KQ VIII, many fans refuse to consider this game a true sequel and call it KQ:MOE (for Mask of Eternity, the game's subtitle).
Many famous fictional characters make appearances in the series, including Beauty and the Beast, Rumplestiltskin, Red Riding Hood and Count Dracula. They are featured most prominently in the earlier games, which focus on solving item-based puzzles in a fantasy setting. The later sequels have more elaborate storylines, more complicated puzzles, and more original and well-developed characters.
The primary way in which characters solve puzzles and advance through the game is by using items found earlier in the game and stored in their inventory. Even the most apparently useless item (a dead fish, a rotten tomato, or an old board) can have an unexpected and creative purpose in the right situation. King Graham's famous dictum, "Take anything that isn't nailed down," is generally a good rule of thumb. When a situation looks completely impassable, a good idea is often to leave it and come back later with new items. Other puzzles include the mapping of labyrinths, deserts, or other inhospitable places; solving riddles; and tasks involving the use of logic or lateral thinking skills. People who play King's Quest should expect their characters to die rather frequently (due to the difficulty of many of the puzzles and encountering situations for which the character is not yet ready) and should use the "Save Game" option accordingly. Some parts of the game can only be solved by saving and restoring a character many times. Another important strategy is to use all one's character's senses to gather all the information available: look, listen, smell, taste, or touch whenever possible!
The region in which the first game takes place has no boundaries. Sir Graham can travel north, south, east, or west, but no matter what direction he goes, he will eventually loop back to the same screen where he began. This is the easiest way of programming a closed gamespace. Such a situation can be explained within the storyline (retroactive continuity) by saying that the character is trapped in the region magically. King's Quest II, III, and IV held on to this design, albeit in a more limited manner. The looping takes place only when the character goes north or south. Geographical barriers such as the sea, mountains, or deserts serve as boundaries to the east and west. Beginning with KQ V, looping was eliminated and all game regions had boundaries in all four directions.
