King's Quest VI: Final Rating

Written by TBD.

It's time to rate the best King's Quest game, based on most opinions I've read. Will I agree? Spoiler alert: Yes, I will.

Before I start I'll quickly mention that I attempted to play the Amiga version for comparison purposes but couldn't get it working. I did find a comprehensive list of the differences online and seeing as the Amiga version largely just skipped some puzzles I'm happy to give up without trying too hard to get it working. I did end up playing the game using both the original and CD enhanced graphics, with my final perfect ending playthrough happening with the old/lower quality character portraits.

So let's get to it. On with the PISSED rating...


Puzzles and Solvability

The puzzles in King’s Quest VI are pretty good and have sensible solutions.

I just gave a milk bottle I took from a milkweed bush to a baby's tear to make the other baby's tears cry harder so I can collect their tears and use them to cast a spell that requires salt water - like I said, perfectly sensible solutions!

King's Quest VI - WON! Thrice!

Written by TBD

When we last left Alexander, he was about to crash a wedding TWICE!

But before continuing the game, something has been bothering me about the events that preceded the start of the game.

The people of the Land of the Green Isles have told me that the old King and Queen had died of grief after Cassima went missing.

But when I met the royal couple's ghosts in the Land of the Dead they informed me that Alhazred had killed them with a dagger while they slept.

I thought long and hard about this contradiction, and I came to the only conclusion I could, that this is what must have happened...


Flashback... SEVEN MONTHS AGO...

Gruff: Captain Saladin. The King and Queen are dead – they have dagger-shaped wounds in their backs and there is blood all around the Royal Bedroom.

Saladin: Dagger-shaped wounds in their backs, eh. Hmmmm.

King's Quest VI – Upstairs Downstairs

Written by TBD.

Now that I've used both methods to enter the castle, let's see how I fared in each case. The castle's puzzles are also different on the two potential paths, so let's split them up and see where we end up.

Let's start with the Land of the Dead playthrough.


DOWNSTAIRS

When we left off after Alexander entered the castle by his magic painted door, he was perusing his options.

The first door to the right appears to be the dungeon I get thrown in whenever the guards capture me, so nothing special in there.

The second door is a similar dungeon, but this one contains a ghost. The ghost is a small boy crying for his mother. I assume it's Ali and give him the handkerchief his ghost mother gave me in the Land of the Dead. Before he joins her, I ask him if there's anything he can do to help me, as Alexander doesn't work for free.

So, a door behind Superman. Got it – thanks, kid.

King's Quest VI – Knight of the Leaving Dead

Written by TBD

When we left off last time, Alexander had just entered the castle using Beauty's serving maid clothes and had gotten himself captured by attempting to enter the most obvious door.

Now, I played on for a little while and became stuck due to a dead-end that required me to reload to before entering the castle. I did reload, and did some extra exploring, and ended up finding the other way to enter the castle that the Oracle, Laukku and Michael had told me existed.

So let’s ignore my fruitless efforts in the castle for now, and deal with me finding a more circuitous route to the castle.


ISLE OF THE CROWN

When I went back to town to swap my paintbrush for a nightingale (not having a nightingale was the dead-end I found in the castle) I saw a guy I hadn’t seen for quite a while.

You may look like a homeless Santa Claus with a paper boat for a hat, but I've missed you, man.

King's Quest VI - Fantastic Breasts and Where to Find Them

Written by TBD

When we left off last time, Alexander had just entered the Minotaur's Labyrinth and fallen down a pit, with the game giving me a clue that the Cliffs of Logic aren't the only place on this island where I'd need to refer to the manual.

I check out the manual's “The Catacombs” section for clues. The manual tells me that “The Ancient Ones built death traps into the catacombs and filled it with dead-end paths, maze-like corridors, and rooms where secret knowledge is needed to pass.” Sounds intriguing.

Reloading to before I enter the catacombs, I quickly go back to the Isle of the Crown to make sure I've got the tinderbox before properly exploring the underground catacombs. While there I try to give some of my other items to the pawnbroker.

But... what if I told you it was a special life-saving brick?

I can't actually remember where I got that brick – I could go through my save games but screw that, let's just say I somehow have a brick in my inventory.

King's Quest VI – The Cliffs of RTFM

Written by TBD

When we last left Alexander, he had just visited the edge of Chessboard Land, and was hanging out in the garden of pun-named flowers, being hugged to death by the clinging vines.

Reloading after being smothered by the clinging vines, I tried something I didn't try earlier for no reason other than I hadn't thought of it - I gave one of the baby's tears some milk. This just made the other babies cry harder (and louder.) I try to take the bottle back to share it around, but that doesn't work.

The baby has no teeth and no hands, this really shouldn't be that hard, Alexander.

I go back to the milk bottle brush so I can give each baby some milk, but Alexander won't take more than one bottle of milk at a time and after returning to the garden with a new bottle, the milk bottle I'd given the baby earlier had disappeared.

After drowning in the swamp trying to get to an anthropomorphic stick, I thought it was time to try a different island.

King's Quest VI - Isle of Punder

Written by TBD

When we last left Alexander, I had just found a ring I hadn't noticed earlier.

In the comments of that post, I was informed that the ring was mentioned either in the manual or a 'help' section of the game itself.

It wasn't in the manual, but it WAS in the 'About' section of the settings screen.

After clicking on that section, then the “Beginner Walk-Thru” section, and clicking past the spoiler warning, I get to the walkthrough (walk-thru??? spell it properly, game – you're not a burger restaurant) and the second step was the one I missed.

Yes, I may have noticed it – but I didn't.

When it takes me awhile to discover the second step in the beginner walk-thrOuGH - that doesn't bode well for my skills. Oh well.

I clicked through the rest of the walkthrough quickly but may have inadvertently spoiled myself to something else I missed. I wasn't reading it in detail, but thought (or thut, as the game would spell it) I saw something about moving an item on the beach. Hmmm.

King's Quest VI: The Cashless Society

Written by TBD.

When we last left Alexander, he'd slept through the opening credits and awakened on a beach in what we assume is the Land of the Green Isles.

Following my usual M.O., I start by clicking on things with my 'eye' icon. I notice that if I look at things that don't have descriptions I get a description of the area itself.

You are on a small beach. The beach is narrow due to the presence of the white cliffs. The river canyon opens here, and sunlight shines in from above. A rainbow crosses over the falls to the west, and a narrow path continues to the southeast.

I go north, and find a tree with a hole in it. There is nothing in the hole and talking to it gets no response. I make a mental note to remember this hole as I expect something will happen with it later.

Looks like I won't be needing any help from my old friends, coffee cup and d6, for this game.

I like that I can see what I'll find if I take one of the potential exits – there's a town to the left and a castle to the right. I decide to try the town first.

Game 98: King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (1992) - Introduction

Written by TBD

Who will win – the giant minotaur with the spiked bracers... or the dude wearing a scarf?

It's time for King's Quest VI. I played through 1990's King's Quest V a little over three years ago (we're a bit slow around here) and my most lasting memories are good graphics but nonsensical puzzles and lots of annoying dead-ends. I'm hoping for a better game this time around.

With King Graham perhaps ensuring Daventry's army is properly armed with custard pies in case the yetis invade, we'll be controlling his son, Prince Alexander, this time around. We last played as Alexander in King's Quest III: To Heir is Human.