Qt3 Classic Game Club #40: QUEST FOR GLORY - Series

Games
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Quest for Glory is a series that stands apart. Part Adventure game, in the same vein as King’s Quest or Space Quest, but also part RPG, with combat and stats, the Quest for Glory series was a pivotal game, with a weird and wonderful Story Line, a dry sense of humor (that could kill you if you ignored the narrator), and wonderful manuals that explained some stuff.

For the sake of this forum, I’m not limiting myself or anyone else to any individual Quest for Glory Game, but invite people to play through all 4 games (and possible Quest for Glory 5, if you really want). Whether you want to get stuck in the beginning with “Quest for Glory: So You Want to be a Hero” or jump in near the end with “Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness” , it truly is up to you. Heck, you might even plan “Quest of Glory V” Dragon Fire" but I wouldn’t recommend it.

The game takes the ideas of King’s Quest, with it’s pop culture reference, puns and narrator, and marries it to a fun combat system, and class system that not only impacts how you fight, but also how you solve the many puzzles. The 3 classic classes are Thief, Magic User and Fighter although you are free to add magic to your thief or the ability to parry to your mage when you start a game. If you do well in the QfG series, you might end up being the Hero that the world needs. If you do poorly, you might end up dead, or worse, and Accountant (actually, I not sure it’s possible to become an accountant, but the manual assures me that it’s an option if you play as a thief). After you beat one of the games in the series, you can carry over your character to the next one without any trouble!

You can get the complete series for $9.99 on GOG, although you can find a stunning remake of> Quest for Glory 2 here.

So, join me rescuing damsel (some of which are actually in distress) fighting monsters, solving riddles, and cracking wise with Quest for Glory. Can you save the the Barony of Spielburg from Baba Yaga, or the land of Shapeir from evil, or any of the other varied places across the world? Will you be the Hero?

I will be starting over with the classic “Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire” having beating QfG 1 several years prior (and losing my saved game!). Hopefully you’ll join me!

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A very enjoyable long read on the first game and its background here. http://www.filfre.net/2016/09/so-you-want-to-be-a-hero/ (In fact, if you’re of a certain age, the whole site is great reading for filling in the dots and backstory from the games magazines you may have obsessively read when young.)

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I was going to select this one :)

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First RPG I ever finished. Great choice.

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Just purchased these after reading the Digital Antiquarian article on the franchise! Pretty sure back in the day I finished QFG1 and QFG… 4? The gothic one. Excited to try them again.

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I played them all at release (the VGA remake for #1) , and made an effort to play through all 5 games in order a couple years ago, but ran out of steam halfway through Trial by Fire due to actual life stuff. The middle section isn’t bad, but it’s kind of aimless, so you have to have some dedication to follow through until the plot really kicks in, with the stress of Princess-makering your stats and relationships until then.

I replayed 4 a couple years ago out of sequence, and lord is that game’s setting so good.

I really wanted to see the Erana through line through from beginning to end in one go, and still hope to replay it all eventually.

I still have the paper map from QFG2 somewhere, and really want to frame it someday.

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Now, I’m curious if anyone else will be playing the QFG2 Remake?

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I did play the remake during my play through attempt.

The original QFG2 is pretty rough, from both a graphics and a general UI niceties perspective. At this point, I don’t think there’s any reason to play the original instead of the remake. There’s a couple minor additions here and there, but nothing stood out to me as objectionable.

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Played through the first one (EGA style) at least once with each class.

I’ll probably jump right to the remake of 2, and hope they removed the tedious city navigation.

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I guess my goal is to take a thief through QFG2 and come out as a paladin, and take my paladin though QFG3.

Does a paladin thief get a shield?

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Playing through QFG1 (vga) as a thief. I played this a lot when I was younger, and remembered quite a bit. I think it has a lot of similarities to Martian Dreams, both being hybrid adventure RPGs. And I think I prefer the hybrid version to either pure breed. With the RPG elements, the world becomes a little more open, systematic, less puzzle-driven. But the adventure elements mean that there is a story with some fixed progression and some actual brainwork to do, not just crashing stats together.

This is fun! I’m not sure if I want to go back to the old-school graphics and interface of QFG2 (which I never really played). But I’ll at least give it a try. Is QFG2 compatible with the newer VGA QFG1? Anyone know?

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Try the QFG 2 remake. I know it’s compatible with QFG 1 (I was able to transfer a game into it) and it’s free and legal.

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Oh, that’s the fan remake? Hm, yeah, I’ll check it out!

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The Amiga Hero’s Quest I–the original name before trademark lawyers got involved–was such a thing of visual and aural beauty for the day. It was one of my favorite games. I still remember the joy that playing it brought me.

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Been busy moving, and travelling the first part of next week. I’ll try to see if I can get around to playing some QFG1 VGA next week. I never actually beat it way back, had some trouble with the bandit fortress.

I had played a lot of adventure games before I got QFG, but I still remember being amazed by the combination of RPG and adventure game.

I think I still have the 3.5" discs somewhere.

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I just got through the bandit fortress and–even the agonizing bugs aside–it’s a very, very, very bad sequence inside an otherwise quite accommodating and pleasant gameplay experience. There’s a maze, which is never good. There’s a timed trial-and-error sequence (fighting some guys who inexplicably look like the Three Stooges–I mean, with the kind of humor QVG has, that’s not necessarily an unacceptable pop culture reference, but there’s no setup and no payoff for these guys being Moe, Larry, and Curly.).

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That was the one. I wonder if it just ran too fast. Wasn’t there a bug that the game ran faster on faster computers?

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So, since I’m currently unable to play (birth of my second child has made gaming a little difficult), I was curious how people were doing, and whether people are electing to go through the game as a single class, or they mix and match classes as they go along, grabbing skills outside of the usually box.

When I first played the game, I selected the thief, but I also made sure to grab magic because I like the idea of throwing around fire and the like, and I think it opens up a lot more possibilities then any other individual skill. I’m curious though, if anyone puts a few points in Parry as a mage or Thief, or if people select stealth as a mage or thief.

Anyway, if anyone would like to do a write up of their experiences, I would appreciate it.

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I’ve been travelling and busy with some other stuff, but started a Magic User with climbing as well. Only walked around town so far.

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I played as a thief in QFG1. If I had remembered how the classes worked (buying Magic/Parry), I might have tried to cross classes, but I didn’t.