Summary
I want to be a hero!
The Good
When I think how many games tried to merge the two greatest genres - adventure and RPG - into a whole, and how most of them failed miserably, the outstanding achievement of the "Quest For Glory" series amazes me even more. It seems so simple, yet none other thought of this. "Quest For Glory" is probably the most unique series of computer games ever, it combines the best elements of a classical 3rd person perspective adventure with very solid RPG elements, and it offers the player the ultimate pleasure of exploring and experiencing a pulsating, living world, where everything keeps changing all the time and where your wit has to be as strong as your sword (unlike in "Monkey Island", your sword does matter here!).
"Quest For Glory" games are, like no other, extremely flexible and try to satisfy all our needs. The player can customize those games according to his personal preferences, so that an adventurer will be able to finish a "Quest For Glory" game with minimum combat, and an action-oriented player can, in certain cases, neglect some of the puzzles and apply strength for all the solutions.
The open-ended gameplay of those games is absolutely fantastic. You can forget about your quest, "go out" of the game and spend days over days practicing your climbing abilities or improving your weapon use skills. It can easily become a fight simulation, where you train your skills and then rest, it can also become an addictive item-collecting "Diablo"-like game, where you kill monsters, rob them and enjoy seeing your possessions grow from fight to fight. You can turn those games into pure adventures, talking to people and getting important information from them, helping them out and engaging yourself for side-quests. The world of "Quest For Glory" games is so realistic, that you feel a real pity leaving it after having completed a game.
In most of the cases, there are many solutions available to achieve the same ending. Not only there are three classes of characters (four in later games, where a Paladin is added to a Fighter, a Magic User and a Thief), but within the same class there are tons of gameplay possibilities. You can easily become a cross between a Fighter and a Magic User, for example. A fantastic feature is the fact that you can save and import your character from game to game. If you wish, you don't have to say "good-bye" to your hero after having completed the first game. You can proceed with him throughout all the sequels.
"Quest For Glory" games are filled with humor and irony. Already the setting are a lot to laugh about. each game has a different setting. All of them are phantasy worlds, but, strangely enough, they strongly remind us of real countries and cultures. The first game is "German", the second "Arab", the third "North African", the fourth "Russian", and the fifth (which is not included in this anthology) is "Greek". The designers maintained not only the simple cultural attributes of each one of those settings (for example, the the warm Russian clothes in the fourth game or Sheema's "belly-dances" in the second), but also very finely and ironically pointed out some typical national characteristics. For instance, the "Russians" of the fourth game are sentimental, "heavy" and rude, the "Arabs" of the second constantly bargain and try to sell you even things you don't need at all, and so on. The names and the local "dialects" are sometimes ridiculously funny, like Heinrich Pferdefedern (which means "horse's feathers" in German) in the first game, Abdulla Doo (an old family name, like he says himself) in the second or pseudo-African "mzuri" and "haware" in the third.
While the settings prepare the general light, humorous approach of the games, the jokes, gags and puns seem endless. The game laughs mildly, but constantly at your "heroic" deeds and maintains a healthy, humorous vision of the reality without making a jerk out of the hero, like it was the case in "Leisure Suit Larry". No, the hero is really a caring, kind and brave person, but he's anything but a sturdy boring RPG hero with a dark soul. He enjoys tasty meals ("You hope heroes don't have belly aches"), is not indifferent to feminine beauty and isn't always satisfied with the hard job ("Mumble, mumble... overworked... mumble, mumble.... underpaid.... mumble, mumble.... no control over my life").
There are so many of "easter eggs" and silly jokes spread all over the games, that you'll find yourself replaying them just in order to find more of those. Remember the sign in the middle of the sand desert which read "Keep off grass"?
The games are full of NPCs, and most of them are very memorable. The wizard Erasmus with his stupid jokes, the beautiful sorceress Aziza, the noble paladin warrior Rakeesh, the beautiful and mysterious Katrina and many others. Despite the series' general light-minded approach, you'll encounter some very serious and even tragic stories. One of the most touching ones is the story of the enchanted girl Julanar in the second game. It can really bring you to tears!
The monsters are great. Each game has a completely different set of them, and each one of them is different: some are strong, but stupid, others aren't very powerful, yet sly. In the night you'll meet completely different monsters, so the variety is guaranteed.
Last but not the least, all four games of this anthology are technical masterpieces. The VGA remake of the first pieces are one of the most beautiful examples of the early 256 color graphics. Even the graphically less impressive second game, which still uses 16 color EGA graphics and "type-till-you-bleed" interface, manages to adequately represent the magical atmosphere of the Orient. The soundtracks are outstanding, from the martial main tune to sensitive, beautiful melodies such as "Erana's Resting Place" in the first game.
The Bad
This anthology, then the "Greek" "Dragon's Fire" - that was all. I'd like so much to see a sequel to those magnificent series! we've had Germany, Middle East, North Africa, Russia and Greece - why not to make a "Chinese" or a "Latin-American" "Quest For Glory", for example? Can you imagine - the wizard Yuan Qi Ming or the innkeeper Alejandro E. Couto? ;))
The Bottom Line
We miss lots of things in our lives, but please, don't miss "Quest For Glory"!
