First Time Ever Playing This Game

[OhMan]

Hey I just finished this game full puzzle points, I've never played any King's Quest games before, so I thought I'd offer my, perhaps, unique perspective.

The only parts where I got stuck up and had to use walkthroughs where finding the acorns and that hole that needed filling up with a message bottle. That was really due to the graphics, I thought the acorns where flowers and I thought the hole in the rock was just another rock. I guess if they stood out a bit more...?

The evil wizard is supposed to offer you multiple chores around the house but I only ever got asked one chore: FOOOD. So, as a result, I had to steal lots of porridge.

It felt a bit anti-climatic after the dragon's death there was this long winding trail back where I met this evil wizard (who appeared again in end credits). I admit that evil wizard was actually a lot more menacing than Mannann, who just reminded me of a grumpy old man. I'm guessing the other guy will be the villain in the next game?

Also another thing I thoroughly did not like was the falling down cliffs, particularly those stairs in the spell-room. The monotonous 'cover-up' when the evil wizard came back got a bit old as well, though I guess this is partly my fault because I didn't find that message in the bottle until I had everything else (which meant getting the cookie and defeating the wizard was the LAST thing I did before going with the pirates).

I have played your remake of QFQ Trial By Fire and I absolutely LOVED the EE where you go through the Seran Gate and you wind up in that waterfall. That was hilarious!

I also liked that there was two ways of eliminating Medusa. I used the mirror on her straight up when I saw her, and then I restored and walked up to her just to check out the death animation. To my surprise there was some riddles and I got to save her instead!

As far as unsolved mysteries go I think I picked up a rotting fish near the docks that I never used the entire game. What does that do? Also I saw a mermaid in the south ocean that I never saw again. Also I saw a sleeping fisherman on the docks who (apparently) had no purpose? There was a mountain goat and an owl just before the Yeti encounter but neither of them could be talked to, which was weird because I definitely had earplugs then, unless the pirates took them out. There was a cave near the dragon that had a broken wooden-plank pathway. I saw planks near the stone staircase but it wouldn't let me pick them up. Not sure what that cave did. I saw a dripping rum container in the tavern marked D.B. I am guessing that is Dragon's Breath from QFG1. I couldn't use my cup on there or my bowl, so I'm not sure how to drink it. Is there a list for all those achievements at the end of the game anywhere? I got like... 6.

Voice acting of Alexander I thought was quite uhh, not what I would expect for a hero? Like very soft-spoken and almost weakling-sounding? At first I was a bit put off by it but by the end of the game his politeness and chivalry was grew on me. I was also especially struck when he broke into song while playing the lute.

All in all great game it was pretty fun and I think I might go check out your other King's Quests now!

[TriniMage]

Is there a list for all those achievements at the end of the game anywhere? I got like... 6.

Awards and Criteria - Find it here
Incompatible Awards - Find it here

[spacecadet]

There was a mountain goat and an owl just before the Yeti encounter but neither of them could be talked to, which was weird because I definitely had earplugs then, unless the pirates took them out.

The owl was an EE reference to a later game in the original series by Sierra, and something of a legend in KQ lore. I got a real kick out of trying to use the dagger on him and getting a generic message used for Manannan/Yeti, using the same soundbyte and the same deadpan tone! Hilarious.

The mountain goat was just too far away and too timid, I think, seeing as it bolts like that the moment you enter the screen. I don't think the pirates removed the magical earplugs, because you could still understand the rats in the hold of the ship after you got your stuff taken away more than once. Anyway, the pirates probably didn't think to search Alex's ears when they were frisking him for his stuff, because even Manannan didn't notice the earplugs and there was no need (or indeed way) to remove them when he was home. Maybe Alex himself forgot they were in his ears for the rest of the game.

Voice acting of Alexander I thought was quite uhh, not what I would expect for a hero? Like very soft-spoken and almost weakling-sounding? At first I was a bit put off by it but by the end of the game his politeness and chivalry was grew on me. I was also especially struck when he broke into song while playing the lute.

The VA for Alex was based off Robby Benson's performance as the voice of Alex in Sierra's KQ6. Here in "Redux", the actor's delivery felt wooden at times, it's true, but most of the time I really liked it (and I'm not just saying that because he posted here a couple weeks ago ). As others here have said, when psychologically profiling Alex, it's very appropriate for him to sound subdued, meek and self-effacing, as he'd have learned his whole life to cower and attempt to "disappear" from under his master's baleful glare. Benson's take on Alex's voice later in life, after he'd been a prince for a couple years, gave the character a more composed and determined air (and it helped that the writing for KQ6 was excellent too!), but here in Redux, if it were realistic, it would have been expected that slave Gwydion/Alex would be a lot more socially inept than he actually is, not just halting in speech but timid and fearful of people as well, considering the prejudice he would have had if he'd bought into the wizard's constant badmouthing of the Llewdorians and the rest of the world, which he apparently didn't.

This makes me think of Redux's version of Rosella when contrasted to her presentation in other KQ games. Here she sounded really composed and mature and serene, even disaffected, which rang a bit false, seeing as she'd just been saved from mortal peril, then had to slog through more gruesome sights of her charred homeland on the way home. Whereas in KQ4 (where, granted, the writing rather lacked nuance) she sounded more naive and sheltered, as she did in KQ7 as well. Am I misremembering reading somewhere here that Redux based Rosella on her KQ5/6 version? But her role in both of those games was next to nothing, just a single line or so. Or maybe that was said regarding her character portrait, that did look similar to the one in the KQ6 CDROM version, with the braids and the head tilt.

[OhMan]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I am currently playing through KQ1 now, hopefully I'll have a better grasp on the storyline. You're right though because Alexander was an oppressed slave basically the voice acting makes sense.