[AndreaDraco83]

I finished The Colonel Bequest and I'm hugely disappointed. When Roberta Williams tried her hand with mystery/thriller/horror adventure she totally missed the point, in my opinion: thus, Laura Bow 1 and Phantasmagoria hold the same flaw.

When she wrote light-hearted fairy tales she managed to find a witty writing and an engrossing atmosphere - and those are the thing that totally lacked from her mystery game. I found the plot of The Colonel Bequest shallow and the character flat and uninspired - I'll put a spoiler not to ruin the game:

Spoiler:

The murderer is quite obvious since the third act, when you see Lillian playing in the old play-house. Plus, her motivation is stereotypical as was her portrait: regressive and sociopath, she lacked a real personality. Like every other characters: an old professor of mine once said that a character who can be described with only one or two adjective is a bad character - here we have: the snob Gertrude, the gambler and womanizer Rudolph, the shallow and spoiled Gloria, the grumpy colonel, the licentious French maid, and so on...

Now, good solid plot and believable, complex, fascinating character are the main ingredient of any mystery game (see The Last Express for example, or even Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, even if this isn't strictly a detective game): The Colonel Bequest failed, in this regard. It managed to be funny, although short and with scarce interaction, but it hasn't any real depth.

Have you guys played The Dagger of Amon Ra? It's worth a trying or it's another waste of time?

Thanks

[Kazmajik]

As a completist, you may as well play the next Laura Bow game, though from your opinion of the first game (which I thought was great fun, myself) you'll probably like the next game only somewhat more. The actual solving of the crime is a bit more involved, and most of the characters are less cliched. The ending has a lot in common with Phantasmagoria, though.

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by Kazmajik

The actual solving of the crime is a bit more involved, and most of the characters are less cliched. The ending has a lot in common with Phantasmagoria, though.

This is actually what I'm searching for: character no clichéd. And non predictable plot. I'm going to begin The Dagger of Amon Ra just now

[Lunatik]

Personally, The Colonel's Bequest is one of the best AGs I've played in my life. I played it when it originally came out and I thought the atmosphere was totally engrossing and spooky. And getting to play as a female character was quite new and innovative at that point (well, except for Princess Rosella in King's Quest IV, which came out the year before). And there's something about that awesomely unique theatre play presentation that really grabbed me. Even the screens were designed as sets, where there was rarely any roof to the interior scenes. Frankly, I LOVE that game!

On the other hand, I found Tha Dagger of Amon Ra to be a complete and boring waste of time. I really had the feeling that the whole "museum at night" theme was no match for the previous "bayou island" theme of the original. Plus, in that game, Laura becomes a professional journalist, and as such, she felt much less vulnerable and interesting to me. In The Colonel's Bequest, where she's a student reluctantly accepting an invitation for a weekend at the Colonel's estate, I truly related to her and the various actions she could perform. Finally, The Dagger of Amon Ra was designed by Bruce Balfour, which, as a fan of anything Roberta Williams, was a disappointment.

Just my two cents.

[AndreaDraco83]

I am too a Roberta Williams fan: I loved every installment (well, maybe not KQ7 - but that's another story) of King's Quest series. Also, don't mistake me, I had surely a lot of fun playing both Phantasmagoria and The Colonel's Bequest: I was simply pointing out that, in my opinion, her dark-themed/adult-oriented games lack the depth and the detail that could make masterpieces.

I too was fond of the theatrical setting of the game, which I think added a certain roaring '20ies atmosphere; not to speak of the New Orleans/bayou contest, which I'm crazy about, but the streamlined story and un-involving plot, along with stereotypical characters, really prevented me to fully plunge in to it, to identify myself with the characters and so on.

[Aubstopper]

if you play dagger of amon ra, make sure that you don't forget to:

Spoiler:

trade the baseball for the magnifying glass

I didn't know that you had to do this and i was so freakin stuck. I looked at a walkthrough and i had to play through like most of the game before that point at the museum.

The problem with a lot of these games is that there is a potential where you could be stuck in dead ends...and also there is always the possibility to die, so save early and often..

As for the story, I liked both...personally, i liked the first one better because of the nostalgia and because it's a little more open-ended becasue of the typing engine...the second one i like too because the story was a little more involved...but just like the first one, the characters were based on over exaggerated stereotypes.

[AndreaDraco83]

I'm recovering my old copy of Amon Ra from a friend of mine. As soon as I begin to play, I'll let you know!

By the way, thanks for the advise!

[rtrooney]

Am curious what "slow down" media you are using to play these games. DosBox? Never was able to get it to work.

[Collector]

Originally Posted by rtrooney

Am curious what "slow down" media you are using to play these games. DosBox? Never was able to get it to work.

If you give me a little bit of time I might write a DOSBox installer for LB2 to add to my set of Sierra game DOSBox installers.

[Sik]

I don't like The Colonel's Bequest. The Dagger of Amon Ra is one of my favorite Sierra games, but I have a lot of "favorite Sierra games" so that doesn't say much. Might have something to do with when I played it, too. I played The Dagger of Amon Ra right after it was released while attempting The Colonel's Bequest about ten years later in between other games, so it never managed to pull me in.

Anyway, I loved the setting in the dagger of amon ra. The puzzles are fitting for a murder mystery. I liked the characters, though the way they warp around and go about their business as usual no matter what happens around them bothered me. Especially in the second playthrough several years later when I had more experience with adventure games. The story is good as well, so overall I'd say it's a great little game, but has a lot of flaws that I'm probably more willing to overlook for nostalgic reasons. Crashes, Dead ends that require going back several chapters, and the aforementioned poorly scripted characters being most serious.

One thing I would want to know about if playing the game for the first time is: Keep a notebook handy while playing. The game doesn't take notes for you, and there's too much to remember. All the characters have secrets, and when you find a hint or a clue about someone being involved in something, write it down. You'll need to piece it together later.

[AndreaDraco83]

I bought Laura Bow 2 right after its release, but at the time I was busy with King's Quest 6 and only years after I recovered this game from the shelves and realized that I was missing the first one, so I went and bought that too and I was so disappointed I never played them, until the last few days

Just seen the introduction movie for The Dagger of Amon Ra: nice atmosphere, nice background music and average graphics. The spirit of the age is well captured, or at least it seems so.

[nogwart]

This thread reminded me that I too bought Amon Ra when it was first released, played only a very little while, then quit. It has been uninstalled and collecting dust for a very long time now. I honestly don't even remember what made me quit, but now you've got me interested in it again. I hope you'll continue to post in this thread as you progress in the game to give your impressions because I'd like to hear them to help me decide whether to give this game another try sooooo many years later.

Good luck!

[AndreaDraco83]

I'll give you immediately an impression, and a bad one: the game can't be run with both subtitles and voices; you have to choose between the two, which, in my opinion, is a real flaw.

[jcornwall]

I really liked the Colonel's Bequest. I played it when I was quite young so perhaps I missed the flaws in its plot, but I remember the atmosphere being fantastic. Walking around the old gardens has stuck in my mind to this day.

Really wanted to play the sequel but I had an Amiga at the time and it was only available on the PC. Perhaps I should dig up a PC copy and have a go now.

[Ninja Dodo]

I played Dagger of Amon Ra with my dad when it came out. It was the first time I'd played a point & click adventure. I was so used to platform games that based on the cover art I was expecting you'd be jumping over mummies or somesuch.

I was pleasantly surprised.

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by jcornwall

I really liked the Colonel's Bequest. I played it when I was quite young so perhaps I missed the flaws in its plot, but I remember the atmosphere being fantastic.

The atmosphere, and the added charm of the nice graphics, was of the few highlight of the game: I particularly liked the swamp, the closeted garden and the attic, where also the rudimentary music was fitting and a little chilling.

Concerning atmosphere, the very beginning of LB2 is surely right and proper: it fits the Roaring Twenties with nice visuals (the exterior of The Trib) and some very amusing swing music.

[Collector]

I have written a new installer for the CD version of LB2. You will need your original CD to install the game, but it will setup LB2 to run completely from the harddrive in DOSBox. You will then be able to start the game from a Windows shortcut on the desktop or Start Menu. It will work with the standalone CD version of the game, the 1999 2nd KQ collection (disc 3) and possibly the Roberta Williams Anthology (disc 4).

The Dagger of Amon Ra (Laura Bow 2) for DOSBox

If anyone that has the RW Anthology tries this installer, please let me know if it works for this version of the game.

[SamandMax]

I don't think The Colonel's Bequest is really trying to be a complex mystery or create some truly deep characters, it's just kind of a fun homage to the classic Ten Little Indians kind of storytelling where a group of people in a secluded location are knocked off one by one.

The mystery in Dagger of Amon Ra is far more intricate and the characters are much more developed although still caricatures. It's simply a much better made game so I think even if someone didn't like the first game they'd probably be won over with this one.

[rtrooney]

Originally Posted by Collector

I have written a new installer for the CD version of LB2.

Your work is much appreciated. I will most certainly give it a try.

[mart]

Originally Posted by Collector

If anyone that has the RW Anthology tries this installer, please let me know if it works for this version of the game.

Works fine with RWA, thanks!