Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire

The Good
The hiatus between the previous Quest for Glory game and this final installment was the longest one for any Sierra adventure series. Lots of things happened during those turbulent five years: the entire genre has sustained devastating damage, falling from fame and giving place to first-person shooters and RPGs. However, besides a few nods to popular design elements of the time, Dragon Fire feels very much like a true Quest for Glory game in almost every aspect.

The core of the game is, like before, exploration of rich locations packed with detail and things to do. The puzzle-solving aspect is somewhat downplayed in favor of heavier role-playing elements, but that doesn't affect the familiar sensation of solving things with your wits and resorting to the sword only when absolutely necessary. Solutions to problems may not be as tricky as they sometimes were before, and you do fight much more in this game; however, you still need to think how exactly to deal with a situation instead of taking the more predictable routes of most "pure" RPGs. There are still text descriptions, experimentation, feedback to your actions, and that particular, volatile charm of thinking outside of the box and measuring your own skills against the logic of the game, which has always been a part of Sierra's great appeal.

Optional content is plentiful. There are many side quests to keep you occupied aside from the main quest you must follow. In a brilliant move, the game actually tells you what you didn't do just before it ends. Sierra used it in Larry 5 before, except that it didn't really matter there. I found out I missed quite a lot of interesting content in Dragon Fire. For example, there are three women you can marry (not all of them at the same time, of course), although my protagonist couldn't charm even one when I played the game. This adds a lot to the replay value, which is anyway quite high, since you can play the game with four different character classes.

Dragon Fire is undoubtedly more inclined towards role-playing than any of its predecessors. The game's manual even calls it an "action RPG" straight away, probably in an attempt to attract the nascent Diablo fandom. The role-playing in the game follows the same light skill-based system that was implemented in all earlier Quest for Glory titles, and brings nothing really new in this aspect, with the exception of the rather controversial decision to lower your skills if you don't practice them regularly. Personally, I liked this fairly realistic touch - after all, you don't expect to keep being in shape if you stop going to the gym. You also need to keep your character well-rested and not forget to feed him. I actually started envying the protagonist when I found out he could get some cheap gyros whenever he wanted to.

There is now a much larger choice of weapons and armor, and much more combat, which is also quite a bit more challenging than in any of the previous games. The combat system underwent the most noticeable change. There are no separate battle screens any more: combat takes place in the same area as exploration, which makes it much more fluent, realistic, and fulfilling. Often you will have to fight several enemies at the same time - something that never occurred in the series before. Certain places, such as, for example, the way through Hades, are so heavily populated by enemies that the gameplay there turns into a genuine dungeon hack with an almost Diablo-like intensity. You'll find yourself whacking skeletons and thinking when to use a healing potion or which sword might be the optimal choice against that particular kind of undead.

The series hasn't lost its sense of humor. Like before, there are plenty of lively and amusing characters scattered around the game - check out, for example, the innkeeper Ann or the merchant Wolfie, from whom I also borrowed the one-liner to this review - which, frankly, doesn't sound that funny when written and not spoken with the proper Indian accent. There is something majestic in the Greek atmosphere of the game, which I think fit the themes very well - although the longing Eastern European melancholy of the fourth game will always remain my favorite. The music, in particular, is excellent in this installment - and the visuals, while not perfect, do convey the sunny splendor and the proud spark of Ellada.

The Bad
The action RPG aspect may have alienated a few fans. Quest for Glory was never really about combat, but this last installment focuses on hostile encounters quite a bit more. It is particularly obvious during the final phase, which leads to a marginally disappointing, predictable battle instead of offering adventure-oriented challenge in the spirit of the previous titles.

The interactivity is slightly reduced. Mind you, it's nothing compared to what happened to King's Quest VII and the FMV adventures Sierra started releasing shortly afterwards; but I missed the variety of icons available in the earlier games. Also, the text feedback seems somehow less elaborate than before.

The voice acting is somewhat disappointing, particularly compared to the stellar performances in the preceding installment. And the visuals can be described as a mixed bag. The backgrounds are attractive, but there is something lifeless about the characters. I think close-ups of the characters' faces would have brought the game closer to the charming atmosphere of the hand-painted worlds of yore.

The Bottom Line
Dragon Fire is probably not the energetic, triumphant final chord that Love for Sail was for Larry; nor is it a controversial, boundary-pushing experiment like Mask of Eternity. Let us not forget, however, that as a whole, Quest for Glory has always had higher aspirations than those other series - and this lovely, engaging, brilliant game is a worthy closing statement.

The Good
There are so many things I liked about QG5. First I'll describe the layout of the game: the game is mostly in 3d and you can walk around just about every building in the game. It has a side view of the hero which I love (I hate games with first person or way above viewing). The game is most definitely user-friendly - easy to navigate. All you have to do is click the mouse on whatever you want to talk to, touch, or do whatever with. (This is different from the other QG games where you had to choose the option of your action by placing the mouse over the top of the screen). Also I love the battle syle of QG5. You can just click on your enemy and fight him/her/it without having to go into a certain battle screen. This makes it so more realistic! And now, onto the story of QG5: The King of Silmaria has been murdered and now a new king must be chosen. You must enter the rites of rulership and hopefully become the next king. Also, Silmaria is under the threat of the Dragon of Doom and so you must save Silmaria. The story isn't something new - I'll give you that, but the game totally makes up for it. As the game goes on everyone keeps getting murdered or poisoned! In fact, it's usually your job to save them. I love the fact that you don't die often (like every 2 secons) in this game. Many other games annoy the heck out of me because they keep making me die all the time! The last lovable thing about this game that I'll mention is the replay value. The game can be replayed many of times and you won't get sick of it. You can be a paladin, a wizzard, a fighter, or a thief. There are different options in the game for each of those classes, and you can marry different people! In my opinion, Dragon Fire should have been voted the best pc game of the year! It's my favorite game of all time, and will soon become yours to if you buy it now!

The Bad
Well, in order to marry a certain someone in the game, you need the QG5 patch which is available at the official QG site http://www.questforglory.com . The patch will also fix some of the other errors in the game that aren't a big deal at all (in fact you don't even notice them without the patch). I guess the only other thing I could say that disappointed me a teeny was how hard it was the first time I played. I couldn't figure out how to do Rite of Rulership 3 and so I was stuck for a very long time!!! The game is definitely worth the challenge!

The Bottom Line
If you like a good RPG adventure game that can be played over and over again, then buy this ASAP! Also, if Quest for glory 5 is going to be your first Quest For Glory game, I suggest buying the Collection series as well so that when people talk about how they last saw you in "Shapier" or "Mordavia" or etc, you'll know what they're talking about!

The Good
Dragon Fire (QFG5) is the final game in Sierra’s popular Quest For Glory series. The Coles originally decided to end the series after Shadows of Darkness, but changed their minds and released just one more due to popular demand. As far as QFG5 is concerned, the project was taken outside Sierra to a small company I haven't heard of that was also responsible for Police Quest: SWAT 2. For some reason, Corey is no longer co-designer, but is shafted to system software engineer.

Erasmus, the wizard from the first game, teleports the protagonist to Silmaria, a kingdom recently placed in turmoil. After the King has been assassinated, five contenders are sought to participate in the Rites of Rulership. Whoever wins all five Rites will become the new King of Silmaria. The Rites get difficult as each of the contestants progress, but you do some interesting stuff such as free fishing villages from Hesparian Mercenaries, venture into Hell to collect some River Styx, and make peace with the people of Atlantis. Your secondary objective is to find the assassin and make him pay.

As usual, you have to create your hero and give it a class of Thief, Wizard, or Fighter, or import one from the previous QFG game. There is a fourth class – the Paladin – which can only be imported from game two onwards. Whichever you choose, you have to give your hero a name and assign some stats. When you are done, it’s time to go out in the world.

The game’s HUD is located at the bottom of the screen, and starts out with your avatar. Click on this to access your character’s rap sheet. Next to this are two or three bars for health, stamina, and mana (Wizard only) and a blank area to store nine inventory items. When you store items here, they are assigned a number, which you see at the bottom-right. Pressing the number automatically selects it. Next to this area is the examine icon, and finally your backpack. The latter is split into three categories: Inventory, Spells, and Equipment, Within the inventory and spells sections, clicking on any item will display a picture of it and a description underneath. The game will play a silly sound effect as well. I like the one for the fruit; it has a smooth beat to it.

The game world is huge. There are plenty of people walking around, and stalls which you can buy essential items from. Talking to people brings up a dialog box where possible conversations are presented in a tree structure; asking about certain topics will more likely lead to one or more additional conversations on the same topic. What I found amusing is the way you can walk away from characters who are talking to you, if the conversation doesn’t open up a dialog box.

I am glad that the barter system is back, having disappeared from QFG4. (I didn’t see the point anyway; there was only one shop that you could buy items at.) Bartering is done by clicking the arrows until you see the amount you want to pay, or you can type it in yourself. Pholus, the weapon master, is generous when it comes to bartering. You can only barter two or three times before the seller makes their final offer.

You can leave Silmaria by going through the portcullis next to Gnome Ann’s Inn, causing the game to bring up a very colorful, Monkey Island-esque map. You can only walk around the main island of Marete where the highlight is the huge volcano in the center. Later on, you are free to access the other islands by balloon.

What’s a QFG game without a little bit of fighting? While walking around Marete, you will be likely stopped by a group of enemies, with the more common ones being the Roman invaders. How you fight them depends on your class. Wizards for example, can use any magic against them, while Fighters can use their fists or any weapons they brought from Pholus.

You also have the opportunity to marry one of four women - Elsa, Katrina, Erana, and Nawar – but who you can marry depends on what you are. Katrina, for instance, will turn down thieves and paladins. It also takes persistence and repeated actions. Cheaters are not welcome, either. I had high hopes of marrying Erana, but she soon found out that I was flirting with Nawar. I feel like playing the game a second time and trying again with her.

The hand-painted backgrounds look amazing, and the music is brilliant. My favorite is the German folk music that plays when you’re at Gnome Ann’s inn. The music that plays in the underwater scenes is relaxing. I like the way you can use the keyboard to perform the majority of actions, not just for selecting inventory/spells, but for necessary ones like walking and running. I love the other little touches in the game, including the Tarzan call the protagonist makes when he swings between platforms at Pegasus Pass, the way you hear him eat the meals Ann gives him, and the death messages in the form of poetry. The highlight in QFG5 is going through Hades and killing every undead creature with the Destroy Undead (Paladin only) spell.

During installation, you are given the opportunity to listen to music while files are being copied. In my opinion, this is well worth it considering that it takes a long time for the game to install completely. On my Pentium 90, it took about thirty minutes when I chose to do a full installation. The game comes on two CDs, and if you perform this type of install (which takes 1GB of hard-disk space), the program will ask you to swap disks once it reaches fifty percent.

The 74-page manual that comes with the game has a lot of more information than what I just covered and comes with screen-grabs here and there. You’ll also receive hints on all four classes. On Page 34, for instance, it mentions that the thief can walk up to someone and “blackjack” them. This manual is an interesting read if you have time. Also included is the Quick Reference card, which lists the keyboard shortcuts and gives players some tips.

The Bad
In other games that involve a murder plot, you have to wait until the very end of the game for him or her to be revealed. But in QFG5, the assassin is revealed right away, spoiling the game for anyone that enjoys suspense.

I don’t like the combat system at all. When you are about to engage in battle in the first four games, a sub-screen appears showing you and your opponent, along with several buttons that allow you to fight, parry, dodge, use magic against them, or retreat. There is no such thing here; you just have to keep clicking on your opponent to attack him. The problem with this is that I ran somewhere else by mistake. It is a lot worse when you want to use magic against your opponents. You have to make sure the spell you want to use is in the black area, press its number to activate it, then point and click over him. I just found this tedious.

My final gripe about this game is Elsa, and specifically, her involvement in the Rites of Rulership. Sierra should have restricted her to the Adventurers’ Guild where she can talk with Toros a bit more. In one of the endings, you can refuse to take the crown and pass it onto Elsa, who will become the next “King of Silmaria”. I found that odd; even Pholus agrees with me.

The Bottom Line
As the final entry in the Quest for Glory series, I really enjoyed this game. The hand-painted backgrounds are amazing, and the sound is excellent. The main storylines are interesting, and the inclusion of marriage spices things up a bit. Due to the alternate solutions, the game is worth playing more than once. What lets this game down is the spoiler within the game's introduction and the tedious combat system. If you want to try out this game, it can be purchased through GOG.com as a pack containing the first four QFG games. However, if you can find a physical copy of it somewhere, that's even better.