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Quest for Glory - Review |
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Perhaps the Greatest PC RPG Ever
By: Robust Stu
Review Breakdown |
Battle System |
8 |
Interface |
7 |
Music/Sound |
10 |
Originality |
4 |
Plot |
7 |
Replay Value |
5 |
Visuals |
10 |
Difficulty |
Easy |
Time to Complete |
5-8 hours
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Overall |
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Criteria
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This is the third in the spectacular series known as Quest For Glory.
For those of you too young to remember, the Quest For Glory series was an
early 90s PC RPG series by a renowned (at the time) company called Sierra.
This, the third game in the series, follows the exploits of the adventurer
(named by you) as he ventures to the African-themed land of Tarna. The
adventurer, at your choosing, can be either a Fighter, Magic User, or Thief
(or, if you import your character from an earlier game in the series, a
Paladin). In Tarna, he must help his friend Rakeesh the Liontaur prevent a
war between the Simbani and Leopardman tribes to the east. His adventure
brings him new friends and enemies, and takes him to darker places than he
ever could have imagined.
The real time battle system is similar to earlier games in the series, as
you can slash, dodge, parry, or (if you're a Magic User) cast spells. The
only problem, which is also found in earlier games in the series, is that
you really don't need to dodge or parry, as you can attack fast enough that
your opponents don't get a chance to attack you. Rather than immediately
being awarded money after a victory, you have to search your opponent. But
if you forget to search him before you leave, you lose your chance.
The interface is about as simple as you can get, everything is
icon-driven. You have icons for walking, examining, manipulating, talking,
and using whatever item you have selected (if any). The capacity of your
inventory is basically unlimited, but your max weight is. Basically, the
amount you can carry depends entirely on your strength. If you exceed your
limit, you move slower and your fighting ability is hindered. However,
there are chests in Tarna and the Simbani Village where you can store items
that are not immediately necessary. Skills are raised in a similar way to
the Saga series, the more you use a skill, the more powerful it gets.
Health, Magic, and Stamina can be restored by the usual overnight rest, but
can also be minimally restored by resting for a short time, such as 10, 30
or 60 minutes. One unique feature of this game is that you can camp out on
the world map at night, a la Breath of Fire 3. However, the danger in doing
this is that you can be attacked by a monster while you sleep, and be forced
to fight. Side quests in this game are essentially nonexistent, it's a
fairly linear game for all the classes.
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This calm scene holds more than meets the eye
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The music in this game is some of the best I've heard in any game ever.
From the frantic tension of the battle music, to the African-sounding tunes
of the savanna and the Jungle, the music is spectacular. All the sound
effects were very realistic, every sword slash, thrown rock, and cast spell
sounded as you would expect them to.
The visuals were very pretty. All the backgrounds were so detailed, you
could almost swear that they were photographs of real locations. When you
were in the jungle, it REALLY looked like you were in a jungle. All the
characters were very detailed also, and moved very fluidly. For how
powerful computers were at the time this game was made, the graphics of this
game were VERY impressive.
As good as this game was, it wasn't particularly original. The real-time
battles in this style of game (as far as I know) originated in the earlier
games of the series, and pretty much everything else was a staple of
previous Ultima and Might and Magic games.
The plot was very deep. For such a short game, you really got attached
to the characters and got into the story. The story was full of twists,
turns, and inside jokes that only diehard fans of the series would get.
Most of the story wasn't very predictable, which got you very interested
through the whole game.
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The Simbani Village is a friendly place |
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The replay value is low. Although there are three different classes you
can pick your character to be, each of which have some events unique to
them, there really isn't that much different between them to get you excited
about replaying the game over and over.
Another low point of this great game is that it doesn't take that long to
complete. All skills can be built up very quickly, so you're really looking
at only a 5 to 8 hour game here. Part of this is because the battles are so
easy.
Even though it has its faults (as almost every game does), this is
perhaps one of the best PC RPGs of all time (certainly the best in the
series). For a game of such short duration, it is extremely fun to play,
and I definitely recommend it to anybody who can get their hands on it.
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