Game 155: Quest For Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness (1993) - Introduction

Written by Andy Panthro

No number, just dripping with gothic design (and dripping with blood)

The Quest For Glory series has a special place in my heart, the blend of adventure gaming and RPG has always been a favourite of mine. I have fond memories of this particular entry, from the Lovecraftian elements and Slavic mythology, to the links back to prior entries in the series. Apologies for everyone waiting so patiently for me to get around to this, but I feel like, with Halloween just behind us, I really need to get the ball rolling on this! (or the pumpkin rolling perhaps?)

Missed Classic 139 - Toumei Ningen - Arawaru Arawaru (透明人間 あらわるあらわる): Introduction

Written by Morpheus Kitami

This appears to be a modified shot of a scene in this very entry, though the scientist girl seems much more concerned than she has reason to be.

Welcome back to the strange world of the development duo of Hirono Kenichi and Kanasugi Hajime, much like last time with Count Dracula, we'll be looking at another classic monster movie inspired title in The Invisible Man - Appear Appear. Yes, that is the title, and at first glance everything is going to be very weird. At first, we have a different developer compared to Dracula, Red-Zone vs Fairy Tale. It's the same publisher, but since the opening screen says Fairy Tale Red-Zone, I suspect the difference is minute.

Side note, this is not the first time that there was a Japanese title based off The Invisible Man. First, there was a Japanese tokusatsu film called The Invisible Man Appears. Which is Toumei Ningen Arawaru. Which I suspect is why there's two appears in the title. You appear more than once, that means it's better, right? Side points to the side note, I haven't seen that film, but the label tokusatu either means it has a focus on special effects or it's a Ultraman/Godzilla-type deal. Judging by the sequel titled The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly and its description, it's the former. That film, incidentally, was released before the original The Fly film, and even the short story that inspired it. Funnily enough, Vincent Price stars in both The Fly and one of the sequels to The Invisible Man, The Invisible Man Returns. None of this really matters, but it's probably the most informative this post is going to be.

To recap for those who have forgotten, Hirono and Kanasugi were both people who worked at Fairy Tale in the late '80s and early '90s, having made some five games together, including the incredibly cool-looking Count Dracula and Necronomicon. Which bookend our unwise journey through Japanese games of dubious quality, especially in the puzzle department. I am looking forward to this, even though it was only released on the PC-98.

Innocent Until Caught: Lovable Rogue, Error, Lovable Not Found (Request for Assistance)

 Written by Morpheus Kitami

The trains must run all the time, even when nobody is riding them, that, or they didn't want a random NPC here.

Last time, I thought I got defeated by an insurmountable glitch in which I could not enter a subway car. Being somewhat wise, I held off on calling it quits until you guys had a look. Lo and behold, Busca comes through and saves my bacon with a link to a post saying the exact cycles I need to fix the issue. I don't know if this is a DOSbox issue or if there really are only a handful of machines that this game could work on in real life. It would certainly explain why Innocent Until Caught is on the lesser known side.

Inside the subway car is an aerosol can and no way to determine where I'm at. In case you thought that inventory was getting crowded, don't worry, it's all of us. You, me, and Jack. He says it as soon as I pick up the can. Getting off is not that easy, it's not a rapid thing, but depending on how quick you are you may not get off.

I end up at...Regurgit? Regurgitate? Regurit-Tayte? I guess the Romans did name their exits vomitoriums, so it isn't...entirely inaccurate. Getting out proves to be tricky, because in the time since I last played, I've forgotten that you have to click on the hotspot with your walking icon. Adventure Game Studio really trips up my thinking...or maybe I'm being too nice to this game.

Malcolm’s Revenge - You Remain My Power, My Pleasure, My Pain

Written by Michael

So, let me start off this post with some behind the scenes info.  See, while it looks like it’s just been a week or two I last posted, it’s been over a month since I wrote the last post.  I was working ahead on my games while I had some free time, but my progress was thwarted by this game.

It seems I can’t stay motivated for this title.

Obviously, this will all be appropriate discussions in the final rating, whenever that comes, but this game so far lacks the charm of the previous two, at least to me.  It’s doing the bare minimum to appear related to the previous titles. 

Don’t worry, I’m not giving up.  If I wasn’t playing this for the blog, though, I’d probably bounce over to a video longplay or just follow a walkthrough to see my $50 investment pay off somehow.

Maybe it will get better in the next chapter or section?  Once I find my way off this island?

In the Kyrandia criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups: the royal family, who have a great distrust of jesters, and the accused, who have a great mistrust of authority figures.  These are their stories.

Negativity aside; shall we get back to this?  I was exploring the land, trying to figure out the next step, and at some point I was caught trespassing on Kyrandian soil by Constable Herman.  Yes, the same Herman that repaired a broken bridge in the first game, and then was turned into a zombie hell-bent on destroying Brandon.

He’s now Brandon’s law enforcer.

Innocent Until Caught - Lost?

Written by Morpheus Kitami

Not a popular destination, then.

We return to where we left off on Innocent Until Caught, freshly arrived on planet Tayte, looking for the nearest bar. First we have to get through airport security, and you can tell this is pre-9/11, because it goes over smoothly. With how aggressive the IRDS is, you'd expect space TSA to perform exploratory surgery, but it goes by so quickly that you might not notice it. Even talking to the guy is optional.

Nothing but class from our man Jack.

Dialog is simple, two portraits, and then dialog happens. The usual dialog tree, albeit one that seems to only happen once. Hopefully you don't miss any information! The guard asks Ladd how he's so clean, because nobody's that good. One of my options is to tell him about the IRDS audit, at which point, the guard proves his own point by pointing us towards a pawnbroker in the Badside. Which sounds like a good lead...assuming I'm not about to send Ladd right back to the same person he just escaped from.