At the end of King’s Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder, Princess Cassima has invited Prince Alexander to her home, the Land of the Green Isles. The only problem is that Alexander does not know where this mysterious land is located, and no one around him has even heard of it. Since Alexander has already fallen madly in love with the princess, he is determined to set sail to locate his true love’s whereabouts. When he hears Princess Cassima calling his name through a magic mirror, he suddenly sees a way to find this land by navigating using the stars. Unfortunately, when Alexander arrives at the Land of the Green Isles, he finds that the fair Cassima is in trouble!
King’s Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is the second game in this series to feature an icon based interface. You point and click with the mouse. Of course, an inventory is available in which you can put your belongings. You also get a magic map eventually that allows you to travel between different islands. The voice acting is excellent and professional, especially Robby Benson (voice of Beast in Beauty and The Beast) as Prince Alexander. There is optional text subtitling. It is only too bad that you cannot have the text subtitling option on at the same time as the voiceover option.
The King’s Quest series has always featured lots of creatures and artifacts from ancient myths and legends. This sequel is no exception. Among these are a minotaur, ghosts, an unicorn, and even the Lord of Death. Game management is done using the well known “Save and Restore” system, and you can delete your saved games directly within the game. Many of its puzzles have multiple solutions. Most of the puzzles are logical, but you may find yourself stuck sometimes due to a few dead-ends. Be sure to search every scene thoroughly before you enter the catacombs! As expected from Williams, the story in this game is very good and the script is well written.
Gameplay is more flexible than previous titles of the series in that nearly half of the game action can be optional and omitted without jeopardizing the ability to finish the game. There are two endings, a long one and a shorter one. If you complete the longer version, the game informs you where the alternative branch lies. Unfortunately, gameplay is also hampered by a few illogical puzzles and dead-ends. Solutions to several puzzles needed by Alexander require clues from certain cut scenes of which Alexander simply cannot be aware. For example, a lamp is shown to the player (but not Alexander) during a cut scene, and yet Alexander is expected to identify this lamp which he has never seen before in order to solve a puzzle later on in the game.
All in all, I find King’s Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow to be one of the best adventure games ever made and probably the best in the King’s Quest series. The beautiful intro, the lovely music, the spectacular voice acting, and the well written story all make this game an all-time classic.
For DOS/Windows (via DOSBox) [*Please review compatibility/platform sections]
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