The Many Joys of my QFG2 Remake Thief Playthrough

[Alatar]

I'd never done a full playthrough of the series as a thief before. The actual heist moments in the games (that have them) seem significant, but the rest of the time, I wished I had spells or a flaming sword. So I finally bit the bullet, and when I worked my way through the QFG2 remake, I was so overjoyed that I had to share some moments of jubilation.

The Streets
I've never been excited by the streets of Shapeir. I just feel like I'm in an unending brown tunnel. I find them dismal and weird and a chore. I knew that they'd been updated with some decor in the remake, but as a thief, I needed to do a LOT of wandering around to train my stealth skill, and I could fully comprehend just how much thought and care had gone into them. I liked that the team created neighborhoods of differing economic statuses, and I started to recognize where I was, based on the various trash piles.

The Dialog
I was pretty certain there'd been a few changes but in particular a moment that stands out is when Rakeesh said he recognized a certain darkness within me, signaling he was aware of my after hours job. I'm fairly certain there were many more changes. I felt like I could tell other characters much more than I had in the original (about the Emir's identity when I discovered it, for example.

The Decor
I'm a sucker for all the room decor, and since I was a thief and rolling in cash that wasn't going to carry over, I was happy to spruce up the room. It also had the strange effect of making me feel less guilty about walking by all the Katta merchants without buying anything. Of course I need a carpet.

The Dodge Flip
I love the special moves created for all the classes, but it was a joy to backflip through the air and stab whatever brigand was having a FAFO day. The way that throwing daggers had become easier in battle (I swear it's not that easy in the original) was also a delight.

The Heist
Playing as a thief in QFG2, you get two jobs pretty early on in Shapeir, and it just felt like there needed to be more (especially given how uncomplicated the Blackbird heist is). So, I loved getting just one more job at the end to justify all the skills I'd raised. The mechanic of having to figure out what to do with the money pouch felt like a very Quest for Glory puzzle solution.

The Quality of Life Leveling Upgrades
I don't know why I need 200 climbing by the end of the game, but I feel like I do. It was so much easier to click the tree in the oasis repeatedly instead of making it work with the magic rope.

The Comeuppance
It did bother me that the thief never knows what happens with Khaveen. That little scene at the end felt very, very right to me and made me happy. It also added some nice tension to the finale.

Anyhoo, I'm certain there were more, but I just wanted to highlight a few of the joys of my time in Shapeir as a master thief. Kudos to the design team. I know things won't be great for my thief again until QFG5, so I appreciate all that was done for this installment.

[Wulfenstulk]

I wander through here every so often and saw your newish post! You highlighted a lot of the things I really like about this remake. Glad to see people out there still enjoying it!