What did people think of the storyline for KQ4?

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FatherGhostface
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What did people think of the storyline for KQ4?

#1 Post by FatherGhostface » Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:23 pm

I thought it's perfectly fantastic if I do say so myself! I recently started playing the KQ games again out of nostalgia (this happens maybe every 2 years or so, lol) and I always finding myself loving and adoring KQ4. A beautiful princess is whisked away to a far away land in search of a magical fruit that can save her ailing fathers life. I love the nods to the Wizard of Oz, with the Wicked Witch/Glinda theme they had going with Lolotte and Genesta. I love how independent Rosella is and how she wasn't obsessed with finding a Prince Charming and could in fact care less about marriage or anything like (something that was more so established in KQ7). I actually was kind of surprised that this game isn't highly revered by feminists. It has a strong independent female lead who saves the day. Maybe it's because the KQ games aren't as iconic and well known in pop culture perhaps? Who knows. I just wanted to gush about KQ4, that's all. KQ6 is kind of considered the 'golden egg' of the KQ series (with good reason) but I think some of the earlier KQ games deserve plenty of praise too. :)

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Re: What did people think of the storyline for KQ4?

#2 Post by adeyke » Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:17 am

I do like the game. It's easily in the top two games (looking only at Sierra originals) for me, alongside KQ6. And I do appreciate that it has a female protagonist, something that happens far too rarely.

That's not enough to get "reverence", though. Like all early Sierra games, the character doesn't actually get much depth or development. It's true that, princesses are often inclined to just marry the first prince they meet, so her refusal to do so is noteworthy, but that's also an extremely low bar. Also, she did have to think about it a lot about the decision and the reason why she refuses is that she has to go save her father (the whole reason for her quest), not because she's actually opposed to the idea.

Also, it's unfortunate that the one game in which you have to do housework to proceed happens to involve a female protagonist. And, of course, there's the "You are NOT a thievish/violent girl, Rosella!"

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Re: What did people think of the storyline for KQ4?

#3 Post by FatherGhostface » Wed Mar 05, 2014 2:13 am

adeyke wrote:I do like the game. It's easily in the top two games (looking only at Sierra originals) for me, alongside KQ6. And I do appreciate that it has a female protagonist, something that happens far too rarely.

That's not enough to get "reverence", though. Like all early Sierra games, the character doesn't actually get much depth or development. It's true that, princesses are often inclined to just marry the first prince they meet, so her refusal to do so is noteworthy, but that's also an extremely low bar. Also, she did have to think about it a lot about the decision and the reason why she refuses is that she has to go save her father (the whole reason for her quest), not because she's actually opposed to the idea.

Also, it's unfortunate that the one game in which you have to do housework to proceed happens to involve a female protagonist. And, of course, there's the "You are NOT a thievish/violent girl, Rosella!"
Well that's not entirely true since before that there was KQ3 where Gwydion/Alexander had to do housework before anything else could proceed...unless I missed your point entirely. IDK. Lol.

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Re: What did people think of the storyline for KQ4?

#4 Post by adeyke » Wed Mar 05, 2014 2:44 pm

Fair enough. But I still think there's a distinction between "do the Wizard's chores because you're his slave and he'll kill you if you don't" and "find a messy house and spontaneously decide to clean it up".

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Re: What did people think of the storyline for KQ4?

#5 Post by Collector » Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:16 am

adeyke wrote:And I do appreciate that it has a female protagonist, something that happens far too rarely.
I realize that this is a perception that many have, but it is not nearly that rare. KQIV and KQVII, Lost in Time, Phantasmagoria, Fascination, Pepper's Adventures in Time, The Colonel's Bequest and The Dagger of Amon Ra, The longest Journey, Dreamfall and Dreamfall Chapters, Syberia I and II, Gray Matter, Paradise, Keepsake, Mysterious Island I and II, Still Life I and II, Cognition, J.U.L.I.A., all of the many Nancy Drew games, the Women's Murder Club games, all of the Tomb Raider games, American McGee's Alice I and II, Mata Hari, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Portal, Beyond Atlantis II, Culpa Innata, The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate. This does not not include all of the games that let you play both genders like LSL5 and GK2 and the Mixed-up series or the many arcade games, like Jill of the Jungle, Ms PacMan or the more recent Diner Dash. Then there are many more children's games.

I could go on to make a list several times as large if I put some effort into it, but I think this more than illustrates my point. In fact, if you consider the gender neutral games like the first person games that the sex is never revealed, you almost wonder if male protagonists make up that much, if any, of the majority.

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Re: What did people think of the storyline for KQ4?

#6 Post by adeyke » Thu Mar 06, 2014 2:05 am

There have been a ridiculously large number of video games total. Even if women are severely underrepresented by percentage, you'd still be able to list a large number of games. The list you gave would be compatible with there being less than 1% female characters. I don't think it's actually anywhere near that bad, but your individual examples won't be able to show that there is actually equal representation. Actual statistics or a thorough categorization of some representative sample would be more useful.

Also, different genres have it worse than others. It's possible that those seen as "casual" have enough representation while big mainstream games don't.

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