[Gonzosports]

I've never played them, but I have the collection and I'll play straight through (I am however, using a walk through for the first one, see thread: Puzzles, I Hate), but I'm curious which I should be excited to play.

[Fantasysci5]

I've only played two of the Kings Quest games, but I really loved the 5th game. It was the first game I played of the series, and I just loved the story. The 1st one was good, too, but I didn't like it as much. I've heard a lot of people like the 6th one.

[Aubstopper]

Here's my ranking:
1. King's Quest 6: One of my favorite games of all time. It was creative/imaginative, had GREAT voice actors, the puzzles were very nicely integrated into the game, and above all, the story was compelling and interesting.
2. King's Quest 4: The troll cave part was awful (especially crossing the chasm) as was the part with climbing the stupid whale's tongue to tickle its uvula with a feather (which when i first played it, i didn't have before getting swallowed by it), but outside of that there was just something magical about this game. I loved how there was essentially a different fairy tale in every screen...part of it i suppose is nostalgia :-)
3. King's Quest 1 remake: Speaking of nostalgia...this was actually the first adventure game i ever played...i played it on a school computer when i was 6 years old in '92...my second adventure game ever played was KQ 6 in '93.
4. King's Quest 5: I really enjoyed the voice acting and the story of this games, but its numerous bugs (including the fact that i've never been able to play it completely to the end without crashing) takes it down from no 2 to no 4.
5. King's Quest 7: I actually liked this one somewhat, but i didn't like how you can skip from chapter to chapter nor did i like how easily you could die. Loved the visit to the town though with Archduke Fifi le Yip-Yap III
6. King's Quest 2: Awful game...carbon copy of the original king's quest, but it happened to be a little better...liked the remake though :-)
7. King's Quest 1 original: ehhh...remake way better...never liked it even as a kid...it's like roberta williams WANTED you to die with every step you made.
8. King's Quest 3: I hated this game with a passion, because of the whole 'timing' thing...i also could never make my way down the mountain...never got very far in it.
9. King's Quest 8 (never played 8, but basing it on popular opinion)...fighting sequences in a series that in the past was exclusively adventure. enough said.

[Trumgottist]

I've only played 7, but liked it! (Started on what seems to be most people's favourite - no 6 - but never got into it. Do intend to give it another try one day, though. It's sitting on my shelf of unplayed games.)

I guess that statement reveals me to not be a huge Sierra-fan. I really like Torin's Passage and GK2, though.

[BerserkerTails]

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is by far the best. No other King's Quest game comes close. That being said, there still are some excellent games in the series. Here's my breakdown:

KQ6: The best of the best. Co-written by Jane Jensen, and it SHOWS. My favourite adventure game of all time.

KQ4: The first five games use the same structure of placing the main character in a non-linear world with many puzzles to solve independently of each other. KQ4 is by far the best of these due to the sheer inventiveness of some of the puzzles and situations, plus a well-written plot (for its time). It does show its age though, with many sequences that can be frustrating (The troll cave, for example), and many dead ends.

KQ3: After the mega-hits of KQ1 & 2, Roberta Williams was very brave to do something radically different, plot-wise, with KQ3. It still feels at odds with the series, in a very good way. Even more frustrating timed puzzles/dead-ends in this one (Especially in the first section of the game).

KQ5: The mega-blockbuster. This game was EVERYWHERE when it first came out. A great introduction to the SIERRA point-n-click interface, but the plot is a little weak, and there's just too many mazes (3!!!) for its own good. Still, 256 colours kicked ass back in the day, and it was nice to play as King Graham again.

KQ1: The original. The big selling point was that it was a full graphical, "3D" adventure game. You can see this many times in the game, such as the "Push Rock" puzzle, where pushing the rock from the wrong part of the screen kills you. Still, its interesting historically, and some sequences are still quite enjoyable.

KQ7: Disney's King's Quest. Again, Roberta Williams tries to radically change King's Quest. Coming after KQ6, which was very dark and intelligent, KQ7 feels too kiddie. Rosella's character change from adventurous and intelligent to a whiny, dumb valley-girl is excruciatingly bad. There are some neat sections, but most of the game is a bore.

KQ2: The copy-cat. Basically a remake of the first game in a new setting. The plot is weak, the locations are drab, and the puzzles are just stupid. The ultimate worst in the series. Thankfully there's an amazing VGA remake on the web as a free download.

I never played Mask of Eternity, though I would guess it probably comes right before or right after KQ 1 on my list.

[Dea ex Machina]

A note: Some of the early games, I haven't played through in their original form, but I HAVE played the VGA remakes by AGD and Infamous Adventures. So it'd be those I'm ranking. From best to worst...

King's Quest 6. Hands down. Fantastic voice acting (It had freaking Robby "Disney's Beast" Benson as the lead). I think it was the longest and largest of the games, with so many locations, so much to see and do and get involved in. Lovely music, the nightingale theme always sticks with me (though Girl in the Tower was kinda cheesy and makes me giggle). And to my mind it was the most... SATISFYING of the games. See, KQ6 has four endings. (Four WINNING endings. If we counted the death scenes, we'd be here all week.) If you manage to get the 'best' ending, then you've managed to help just about every single character you've met throughout the entire game. And you also get a kickass cutscene. Finishing that game with the max score was such a high, such an ACCOMPLISHMENT. This also happened to be the first KQ I played and finished, and you never forget your first love, y'know?

King's Quest 2: Romancing the Stones ( AGD remake) This was the closest I've come to reliving the feel of King's Quest 6. The scope, the humour, the romance. Also, this remake is the game that made me really fall in love with King Graham, who was always just sorta there before. When I was a kid, Graham was Alexander's Dad. But the remakes let me get to know Graham as a person and a hero in his own right. Graham's a very different guy from his son. Prince Alex is... pretty, and elegant, and inclined to magic. Graham's more... he seems like a blue-collar king, if that's not an oxymoron. A working king. Although KQ6 is still my favourite game, I think Graham is now my favourite hero, and it's largely because of this fan-game.

KQ1 ( AGD remake) It's short on plot and story, and short, period. I can get though this game in few hours now that I know how it's done. But the puzzles are fun. Some of the deaths are really funny (eaten by moat monsters is my favourite). And I really like the... the moral core of this game. You CAN off your enemies with violence if you so choose. But the game rewards you for taking the high road and finding ways to deal with foes non-fatally wherever possible, using wits instead of weapons. That's nice. I miss seeing that. This is a fun way to while away an afternoon.

KQ5. Some really nice moments in this one, like the weeping willow. And as I said, I now love Graham. But some particularly evil dead-ends (rat, argh) and completely nonsensical puzzle solutions (cheese? really?) mar this game. Also, Cedric. I tried to get rid of that damned owl. I tried to leave him for dead. The game wouldn't let me.

KQ3 ( Infamous Adventures remake) Meh. The timed elements left me cold. Not because I ever ran out of time (I relied pretty heavily on walkthroughs, and it doesn't take long if you know what to do), but because I was sometimes worried I might, and more often because I had too much time. Stupid boat ride. I got so BORED waiting until we got to a point where I could do stuff again. Some nice

Spoiler:

father-son bonding

at the end though, and the remake had fun with easter eggs and tying it in to the later games.

KQ7. Been so long since I've played it that I can barely remember what it was like, which may tell you something. Loved it as a kid, though. Although I gotta say, I didn't exactly respect Rosella much. She seemed a tad self involved. I liked Valanice a bit more, but I kinda wished she wasn't so darn weepy. The fact that there was no penalty for death (insta rez to the moment before you made the fatal error) meant I spent a lot of time wandering them off cliffs or into open graves when I got annoyed with them. And there was one puzzle I HATED. Not because it was hard, but because it was... wrong. Not to give too much away, but at one point, a rather unsavoury character wants you to do something illegal for him. And... you do it. You just do it. There's no alternate solution offered, and you never atone directly to the folks you wronged, or undo what you did, and mister unsavoury never gets any kind of comeuppance. That... didn't sit well, when I was a kid. Still doesn't. Pretty to look at, though. I liked the Halloween world.

KQ4. ZOMG.

Spoiler:

TROLL CAVE.

Argh. I despise any puzzle where the solution is "take a step to the right. If you do not die, save game. If you do die, restore to previous save and try again. Repeat." Argh.

KQ8. Never played it. From what I heard, wouldn't particularly want to.

*****************

SPECIAL MENTION: The Silver Lining Demo. Can't really rank it due to it only being a tiny slice of a larger game that isn't out yet, but dayumn I am looking forward to this. And there was this one moment, this one glorious moment...

Spoiler:

Graham (in crown and robes): I can't go out looking like this.

My Sister: What does he mean...

Me: SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

My Sister: Ow.

Me: Sorry. HAT!

Sister: Huh? ...OH!

Me: He needs his hat!

Sister: His adventuring hat! The first puzzle is to find his hat!

Me: Quest for The Hat!

Me and Sis: SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

[AndreaDraco83]

King's Quest VI: one of the best adventures ever made! Deep and touching, and also undeniably funny and entertaining, KQ6 was written by Jane Jensen , and her touch is evident throughout the game. The characters are awesome and fully fleshed out; the pacing striking and the finale simply amazing; the voice acting is one of the best I've ever heard and Robbie Benson's performance was particularly jaw-dropping;Alexander is a wonderful lead and the love story heartfelt and enthralling. The segment set in the Realms of the Dead is dark and eerie and, most importantly, very adult and profound, something really unprecedented in a King's Quest VI. Finally, the game has the most rich, clever and fascinating manual ever, The Guide to the Land of the Green Isles, once again written by Jensen.

King's Quest III: the most unforgiving game ever, but a huge step forward from the first two games and a compelling fairy tale full of swashbuckling adventures! Plus, I loved Manannan and his cat The real-time first segment is still a bold experiment.

King's Quest IV: awesome game with a good story, a vast setting and the night-day cycle was a top-notch addition. Likable characters and some really good (even scary) moments. The whale-tongue was dreadful though.

King's Quest I: a little, naive game that I found pleasing even today, because the little story is so endearing nowadays

King's Quest V: It's true that the story is somewhat silly, but the graphics were gorgeous, The Girl in the Tower was a beautiful song and the last portion of the game is really compelling

King's Quest II: nothing new if you have played the first one, and the bridge puzzle was really unforgiving but the end is very satisfying.

King's Quest VII: I never really liked it... Too Disney-like for my taste; plus, some really bad writing and some repetitive segment (the last two chapters, with the rainbow world).

[CrimsonBlue]

1. King's Quest VI

...er, that's about all I've played for longer than 30 minutes (but less than 2 hours). I have a lot of catching up to do, when it comes to Sierra titles.

[Gonzosports]

I've had to stop reading my own thread - too much info on what to expect!



I'm getting closer to actually playing the first, i had planned on just walkthroughing it because I know it's mostly a puzzle/show off the PC Jr game and I didn't think it'd be worth the time, but wanted to see if before I hit KQ3, which I'm really excited about because of the format of the story.

And, I didn't know that Jensen had worked on KQ VI, which is cool. Or maybe not. I've never played any of the GK games. But will do so soon.

[youfightlikeadairyfarmer]

Wow, I'm seriously unable to do this

5, 6, and 7 are all great games, I think I love them all equally. And hate certain parts in 5 and 6 with the fire of 1000 suns.
The rest have text parsers, so I never played them.

[autowil]

Originally Posted by youfightlikeadairyfarmer

Wow, I'm seriously unable to do this

5, 6, and 7 are all great games, I think I love them all equally. And hate certain parts in 5 and 6 with the fire of 1000 suns.
The rest have text parsers, so I never played them.

There is the remake of KQ1, KQ2 from AGI and KQ3 from Infamous Adverture.. Try it and you will love it.. I waiting for KQ4 VGA.. It sure be awesome!!

Ok About the Rating...

KQ6: My first KQ series ever.. Love the Isle of Green Isle!! Love the teleporting of the map, the character and such!! Wanted to go ther for Holiday if there such place.. HAHA!!

KQ5: Love King quest 5.. Although i have stuck without the walkthrough for the witch puzzle and the dessert, never know is great..

KQ2: The remake of KQ2 is amazing than the original!! You guys got to try it!!

KQ3: After playing remake.. Is good!! Nice graphics and nice attempt of Infamous Adventure..

KQ7: Think will rank below KQ3 remake as the story feel like Disney, Not much improve as in KQ6..

KQ4: Sorry to rank it here.. I dun like typing game.. And the shark and the cave part is too tough.. Hope the remake change my mind

KQ8: Never play and saw my brother playing it.. Totally hate it.. No King quest feel.. To me is like Diablo/Laura Croft game.. No adventure element!!

[GrahamCrackers]

Wow....... this is a tall order. But I'm gonna give it a go:

I grew up with Sierra; I first started playing after KQ1 came out which is cool because I've got memories of anticipation for each sequel that came out.

1. King's Quest 4 When this game first came out our family computer, a Tandy 1000, didn't have enough memory for the SCI version so we had to use the trade-in coupon for the AGI version. Waiting for the replacement disks was the longest 4-6 weeks of my life. The game was completely epic. The music was amazing. The storyline was incredibly strong.

2. King's Quest 2 This was pretty awesome too. Dracula's castle was really creepy. My biggest frustration with the game was not knowing how to get the mermaid to show up and how come there was a snake instead of a unicorn. They were there on the back of the box! My brother got this one for Christmas the winter after we got KQ1.

3. King's Quest 5 I had a hard time adjusting to the icon parser. I was so used to typing. This game was the most difficult of the series to me. The graphics were incredibly beautiful, even though we got the 16 color EGA version (at the time Sierra would release no fewer than 5 different versions of a game depending on disc type [3 1/2, 5 1/4 or CD-ROM] and video card).

4. King's Quest 6 My first ever VGA game. Around this time we upgraded to a screaming 386 or 486 with 33 mhz. We purchased the floppy version first but had the CD version within a year when we got a CDROM. The opening cartoon was incredible. The voices and the story were as well. I echo the sentiments that this was a very dark game.

5. King's Quest 1 This was purchased with our very first family computer. I remember I would go to the store and ask the salespeople for hints. This was not conquered for a very long time. Until an uncle came over to visit I never realized you could use the number pad to move. I always thought it was just the arrow keys. So, needless to say I could never climb the staircase to the clouds. A great game even if it was in hercules amber monochrome.

6. King's Quest 3 I remember we picked up one of the Ultima games when this first came out and returned the Ultima game because it wouldn't install (back then you could return opened software). We exchanged it for KQ3 which had just came out. I spent weeks trying to figure out why it was King's Quest if you were playing this Gwydion character. Mananan was truly terrifying but became less so when his schedule was figured out.

7. Mask of Eternity This game is a guilty pleasure for me. It goes against everything the KQniverse stands for with the killing, but I enjoy third person RPG games. The puzzles were really easy and the story was weak, but it was cathartic none the less.

8. King's Quest 7 The only game that I really did not like. Incredibly awkward to play with the controls. I tried to play it again when the collection came out but got frustrated because of the firecracker crash.

[cwapitm]

I haven't played all of them, but I will say 6 and 7 were my favorites.

[inm8#2]

6 is the best by far.

1 is special because it was the first one, among many other valid reasons.

5 and 7 are both very enjoyable point-and-click games.

4 has a very nice story and good gameplay.

2 and 3 are fun but were outdone by successors.

[Wimli]

Like many others here I'd say King's Quest VI is definitely the best of the bunch. Apart from that I also enjoyed King's Quest IV and King's Quest VII. I played through most of part V, but somehow never got to the end scene, don't remember exactly why though (must have been one of those lovely dead ends ). Never got very far in the first three games, so couldn't really comment on those. I don't know whether King's Quest: Mask of Eternity really belongs here. There were bits of that game that I liked, it's an okish action adventure, but I never really considered it as part of the King's Quest series, more like a spin off.

[thejobloshow]

From what I remember, King's Quest 6 left the most positive impression and is an excellent title on its own. King's Quest 7 is playable and King's Quest 5 is VERY HARD. King's Quest 1 is something special too - I think it was the first game on the IBM PCjr.