Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire

aka: HQ2, Hero's Quest 2: Trial By Fire, QFG2
Moby ID: 169
DOS Specs
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Description official description

Trial by Fire is the sequel to Hero's Quest: So You Want To Be A Hero. It takes place in the town Shapeir and the desert surrounding it, in a Middle East-like environment. It seems that the powerful elemental spirits have been troubling the Shapeir folk recently. Something, or someone, is behind those troubles. It is the hero's task to find out what is going on, get acquainted with the many inhabitants of Shapeir, and prove once more that he is worthy of his heroic title.

Like its predecessor, Trial by Fire is a hybrid game that incorporates elements from adventure and role-playing genres. It has a text-based interface, puzzles to solve, inventory items, characters to talk to, as well as pure RPG elements such as character growth system and battles. Player character can be either a fighter, a thief, or a wizard, and can also become a paladin during the course of the game if he follows a strict moral code.

Real-time combat is presented on separate screens and offers more options than the previous title. There are several types of high, mid-level, and low attacks, as well as parrying and dodging. The hero raises his combat proficiency and other skills by fighting enemies, training, and performing various actions that influence the corresponding parameters.

Spellings

  • 영웅의 길 II: 매서운 시련 - Korean spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 71% (based on 21 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 99 ratings with 7 reviews)

Best Quest for Glory game!

The Good
This is truly a great game, the best RPG and/or Adventure I have ever played. It is has the best combat system of all QFG games (why did they ever change it?), the best setting, the most epic feel, and aside from Dragon Fire, it has the smoothest animation (when played from the CD of a modern computer any way). The different character types get to do more different stuff than any of the other games. It has the best conclusion, the funniest secrets, and so many different things to do you can play it again and again!

The Bad
I didn't like the maze-ish layout of Shapier, and it was a major turn-off at first, but I soon got used to it. Also, when in Rasier, there are times when you have absolutely nothing to do for 10-12 minutes, even when the game speed is on the fastest. They should have had a gambling table or something. Also, the fighter doesn't get to solve very many problems, he just smashes them apart.

The Bottom Line
Quest for Glory II is a true classic, the best I've seen to the series or even the whole genre. Don't let the maze keep you from finishing it!

DOS · by Brian Bleakley (2) · 2001

Great sequel with a Middle Eastern feel to it

The Good
Quest for Glory II: Trail by Fire was released in 1990 and published by Sierra On-Line, and if you have played the first game, you would realize that the game takes place in the land of Shapeir where elementals are threatening the peaceful city, while the Emir of its sister city Raseir goes missing and the city fallen under tyranny.

In Shapeir, the Kattas have set up their own inn which houses a few pieces of entertainment, and your hero, whatever you decided to call him, is welcome to stay the night there for free. Not only can you watch the wife's owner dance, but you can also listen to the Poet which reads poems, mainly about the hero's journey ahead.

As with the original game, you select a class then you assign character stats to it. On the class section screen, the animations of your hero are just fantastic. The second game gives you the ability to import your hero from the first game, while retaining the same character stats. This is recommended, since unless the future QFG games, you only have a certain number of days to complete your quest; after that's, it's over. I was actually thrilled that I didn't have to fight monsters and instead focus on the more important things in the game.

A fourth class is also introduced, along with the three other classes. However, this class is not selectable when you start a new game, and you must earn this class throughout the game by doing honorable things such as not breaking into people's homes, giving money to beggars, and returning an item to its owner (hence, the new “Honor” stat). You won't get to see all the locations in the game, but you do get an alternate ending if you get a certain number of points.

A majority of the game is spent walking the streets of Shapeir. You will meet all kinds of characters, including the Kattas themselves. You can ask most characters about anything, and they are happy to give you information relating to the subject. Raseir, on the other hand, has some unpleasant ones like the guards who patrol the streets and the plaza; and the only thing worth looking at is the women who you meet at the end of the game. I remember going inside the house in one of them, then watching a bit of nudity as she changes clothes that you offer her.

QFG2 has a Middle Eastern setting to it, so the stalls are scattered around Shapeir rather than shops; and like in real life in some parts of the world, you can bargain for items in order to get a better deal. The graphics blend in with that theme, and they are also on par with the first game, very colorful. The streets are nicely laid out, as are the houses that thieves can break into. The desert – where you fight the majority of monsters - looks spectacular during the day; and at night, I like the way that the developers got creative with the stars.

When it comes to sound, the music also blends in with the theme; and while all the sound cards are good at sticking with the Middle Eastern music, the Roland MT-32 sounds much realistic. As far as I know, QFG2 is the only SCI0 game to support Sound Blaster; and if you select this sound card, you'll get authentic sound effects that are not possible with the Adlib.

The developers threw in some humor into the game. Like what happened in the last game, QFG2 will produce a humorous message if you right-click on items on the main menu. Likewise, in the Blue Parrot Inn – Raseir's inn - you get to watch an amusing scene where a mouse pulls the hero's pants down while he's sleeping. Having said that, I am looking forward to the humor the developers threw in Quest For Glory III: Wages of War.

There are multiple paths you can take depending on the class you have selected. An example of this is at the end of the game, where you have to gain entry into the Raseir palace. The fighter takes on the two guards standing outside its entrance; while Magic Users levitate up to the lookout point, then enter the palace that way. As far as I know, there is only one ending to the three classes, but it only varies slightly for the hidden Paladin class. Having said that, QFG2 deserves to be played more than once, just like every other QFG game. This gives you the opportunity to experiment with classes other than your last one. You may enjoy some of your hero's alternate actions as a result of picking a different class.

The Bad
Other reviewers said that they didn't like the maze of streets that you need to navigate through Shapeir, and I agree with them. Although you can buy a map in the game, a location only shows up if you have already traveled to it before (similar to the magic map in King's Quest III); and the map that comes boxed with the game doesn't reveal any locations other than the Katta's Tail Inn and the Saurus Lot. Therefore, the only way you can get to new locations is through guesswork.

In the first game, monsters immediately appear in the forest after about two or three screens. In QFG2, however, it takes over ten screens just to encounter a desert creature. By the time you defeated it, half your precious day is nearly over.

The Bottom Line
QFG2 has all the features that make the original game great, but introduces some new ones, namely character importation and a fourth class. The game has a Middle Eastern setting, and the graphics and sound blend in quite nicely. There are also alternate solutions to puzzles, based on the class you selected. With the exception of the QFG1 remake, this is the last Quest for Glory game where you going to see yourself typing commands in while putting your class to good use; and it will not be the same with the point-and-click interface.

DOS · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2014

The best of all the Quest for Glory series

The Good
Incredible graphics for its time, great story line, exciting battles, no obscure puzzle solving made this the best of its series. The game was also way longer than the way too short So You Want to Be a Hero and Wages of War, had a better setting (Arabia) and characters than the fourth game (which also got way too serious) and was just downright better than the fifth one. I never ever forgot Ad Advis, the sexy moneychanger, the Erasmus and Fenris references in WIZ, and the lovable Katta.

The Bad
When you got really good at throwing, throwing dirt at a brigand just about killed him instantly.

The Bottom Line
Computer role-playing at its finest.

DOS · by SebastianLi (52) · 2000

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Remake now available! Donatello (466) Aug 25, 2008

Trivia

Anagram

Raseir is an anagram for Sierra.

Bogart Fan

Obviously, somebody's a big Bogart fan. While in Raseir, references to 'Casablanca' and 'The Maltese Falcon' abound.

The Dead Parrot

The Dead Parrot Inn, complete with dead parrot, is in Raseir. A dead parrot was featured in a Monty Python skit known as "The Dead Parrot Sketch".

Guest cameos

King Arthur--from Cindy Marx's game, Conquests of Camelot--sometimes makes an appearance in the desert. He is dead and lying on the ground. If you walk near him, the body will fade as if it were an illusion. If you right-click on the body before it disappears, it will say something about how he should have visited a Camelot before going into the desert.

All of the Marx brothers make cameo appearances. Lori and Corey Cole (The creators of the QFG series) make cameo appearances as Katta. There is also the Persian Golfer, who makes occasional appearances in the desert as well.

Katta

The Katta are humanoid cats - but what kind of cats? All details confirm that they must have been based on lynxes - they have very short tails and (as a close-up on Shema and Shameen in the final scene shows) also other features typical for lynxes: ear tufts and cheek mane. Curiously, the Eurasian lynx rather doesn't appear in the Arabic lands on which Shapeir is based. This part of the world is rather home to the caracal, also known as "desert lynx" (though not directly related to lynxes) - however, caracals only have lynx-like ear tufts and not the other lynx-like features.

Name change

At the very end of Quest for Glory 2 it says that the next chapter in the series would be called "Shadows of Darkness". The third chapter, however, was called "Wages of War" and "Shadows of Darkness" was the title of the fourth game.

New class

Quest for Glory 2 was the first game to introduce the fourth character class of Paladin to the series.

New vs. imported characters

Quest for Glory 2: Trial By Fire was meant for newly made characters. If you import your 'perfect' character from Hero's Quest: So You Want To Be A Hero? one will notice how incredibly easy and virtually unchallengeable the game becomes. This is due to the fact that newly made characters start with lower stats than imported characters - provided that your imported character has full stats, of course.

Sierra SCI 0.5 Interpreter

QFG2 is the only Sierra game that used the Sierra SCI 0.5 interpreter.

SCI0 was the interpreter used for QFG1, LL2 and 3, and other EGA Sierra games, while SCI1 was used for the VGA point and click games.

The only obvious difference is that if you right-click on things, it is the same as typing "look thing". Another added bonus is the fact that you can use the MT-32 emulation of the SBAWE32 on it, which you couldn't on SCI0 games.

Awards

  • Enchanted Realms
    • July 1991 (Issue #7) – Distinctive Adventure Award

Information also contributed by Indra was here, Nowhere Girl, WONDERなパン, Eurythmic, Narushima, Ryan Prendiville, Swordmaster, OceansDaughter, and PsOmA

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Related Sites +

  • GameFAQs
    Various walkthroughs and guides for QFG2

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 169
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Eurythmic.

Amiga added by POMAH.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Indra was here, OceansDaughter, Jeanne, Shoddyan, Pseudo_Intellectual, lee jun ho, Narushima.

Game added July 18, 1999. Last modified January 20, 2024.