Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire

Last updated
Quest for Glory II:
Trial by Fire
Quest for Glory 2 Box Cover.jpg
Developer(s) Sierra On-Line
Publisher(s) Sierra On-Line
Director(s) Bill Davis (creative)
Producer(s) Guruka Singh-Khalsa
Designer(s) Lori Ann Cole
Corey Cole
Programmer(s) Robert Fischbach
Artist(s) Kenn Nishiuye
Composer(s) Christopher Braymen
Mark Seibert
Series Quest for Glory
Platform(s) MS-DOS, Amiga
Release1990 [1]
Genre(s) Adventure/role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire is the second video game in Sierra On-Line's Quest for Glory series, and the sequel to Hero's Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero .

Contents

Gameplay

The game's interface is a text parser, which requires the player to input commands from a set (but unknown) list to have the character perform actions. [2]

The game follows the path of its predecessor, although there are distinctions in gameplay. Most of the game takes place in the fictional city, [3] and on a restricted time frame; [4] the entire plot is concluded in 30 days. [5] Many of the puzzles in the game do not appear or cannot be solved until certain days. This keeps gameplay on a tight, linear narrative. The game is also difficult to navigate, as it has an odd perspective and mapping system. [6] The problems with the navigation are compounded by the maze-like layout of the fictional city. This layout was employed as a primitive form of digital rights management: completing early quests was very difficult without the map in the manual provided with purchases of the video game. [4] [7] This difficulty is reduced once the player obtains a magical map which transports their character instantly to hotspots. [3]

The player has the opportunity to advance their character, explore side-quests, and have the character take up a career appropriate to its class and skill. For example, a magic-user can earn the title of "Wizard" with the sponsorship of the wizard Erasmus, if he can overcome a series of magical challenges and graduate from the Wizards' Institute of Technocery. A fighter may earn a membership in the Eternal Order of Fighters. [5] A thief may perform several thefts, including the running gag of stealing the Maltese Falcon. However, the player is not locked out of different side quests depending on class. If the character is a fighter with some magical ability (e.g. a magic user imported from Quest for Glory I playing as a fighter) this cross-training can be utilised to complete other quests. It is possible for the character to become a Wizard, complete every theft in the game, and join the Eternal Order of Fighters. [2]

The game contains plenty of pop culture references, such as the Cookie Monster, and easter eggs, such as being able to don X-ray glasses at a particular time in order to see a character nude.

This is also the first game of the series where the hero may be awarded the title of Paladin. To achieve this status, the hero must act honorably throughout the game and Rakeesh, the liontaur (lion-centaur) will present to you his Paladin sword, Soulforge. Since the title of the Paladin is given at the end of the game, the Paladin abilities and Soulforge are only usable with characters that are imported into Quest for Glory III: Wages of War and later games. [8]

The game features a real-time combat system. [9]

Plot

The story is inspired by various Middle Eastern myths and stories, including Arabian Nights. [10]

Quest for Glory II takes place in the city of Shapeir and its surrounds, a land which is host also to Katta, humanoid, cat-like creatures. [7] Directly following from the events of the first game, the newly proclaimed Hero of Spielburg travels by flying carpet with his friends Abdulla Doo, Shameen and Shema to the desert city of Shapeir. The city is threatened by magical elementals of fire, earth, wind, and water, [7] while the Emir Arus al-Din of Shapeir's sister city Raseir is missing and his city fallen under tyranny.

After defeating the four elementals that threaten Shapeir, the Hero travels to the city of Raseir, which is missing its emir. [5] There, he is imprisoned by Khaveen and under hypnosis helps the evil tyrannical wizard Ad Avis to resurrect the evil genie Iblis. In the final fight, the Hero attacks the palace and battles with Ad Avis, who falls to his presumed death begging for assistance from his Dark Master. As thanks for the Hero's success in liberating Raseir and restoring its lost splendor, the Sultan of Shapeir, Harun al-Rashid, rewards the Hero by adopting him as his son.

Development

According to Corey Cole, a developer and producer for the game, Quest for Glory II cost $450,000. [11] Trial by Fire was the last EGA game to be created by Sierra On-Line, and followed development processes intended for the graphically superior VGA games which followed, which made its development difficult. [9] [12]

The manual is illustrated by Marvel Comics artist Ernie Chan.

Characters and references

Quest for Glory II is the only game in the series without any influence of Erana in it. It does, however, feature a reference to Erana, as she is in one of the portraits of great mages in the Wizards' Institute of Technocery. If the Hero requests her sponsorship in his initiation as a wizard, he is told that Erana had not been answering the WIT's summons for many years now.

There are various Easter eggs throughout the game, such as the Starship Enterprise from the television series Star Trek appearing during the opening credits. The astrologer appears to have been based on Omar Khayyám.

As in the other games of the series, there are a large number of in-jokes and mythological references, especially, from ' The Arabian Nights. One of them is the name of the Sultan, Harun al-Rashid.

The game contains many references to classic films. The caravan scene is an homage to Lawrence of Arabia . Signor Ferrari and Ugarte, characters portrayed by Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in the movie Casablanca , appear in Raseir, as does the Maltese Falcon from the movie of the same name, which also featured Greenstreet and Lorre in other roles. Caricatures of the Marx Brothers also play important roles.

There are several references to other games or movies in magician Keapon Laffin's shop: a doll of princess Rosella (from the King's Quest series), a Cookie Monster doll, and an antwerp doll (a reference to the first game), among other things.

The final city in this game is Raseir, an anagram for Sierra, the company that produced the game, and the antagonist, Ad Avis, is named after Sierra's then-new creative director, Bill Davis. [12] Both names were chosen by the designers as parodies, as subtle references to a changing atmosphere within Sierra: Raseir is an Orwellian city, Ad Avis its totalitarian dictator. [13]

Reception

Although the game is generally well liked, its time management aspect had a mixed reception, with some critics feeling it arbitrary. [5]

UK magazine ACE gave the Amiga version a score of only 600 out of 1000, praising its size, but criticizing it for its average graphics, grating music, slowness and for the large amount of disk swapping needed while playing. [14] In 1991, Dragon gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. [15] Computer Gaming World stated that the game was more linear and less replayable than its predecessor, but had an excellent conclusion. [16] [17]

Both Michael Baker and Tyler Willis of RPGamer gave the game 4 out of 5 starts, praising the game's strong narrative, superb writing, and graphical design. [3] [8]

In 2011, Adventure Gamers named Quest for Glory II the 81st-best adventure game ever released. [18]

Legacy

QFG II is the only game in the series to not have originated or have been remade beyond the EGA graphics engine by Sierra On-Line. However, AGD Interactive released a VGA remake of the game using the Adventure Game Studio engine on August 24, 2008. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Quest for Glory</i> Video game series

Quest for Glory is a series of hybrid adventure/role-playing video games, which were designed by Corey and Lori Ann Cole. The series was created in the Sierra Creative Interpreter, a toolset developed at Sierra specifically to assist with adventure game development. The series combines humor, puzzle elements, themes and characters borrowed from various legends, puns, and memorable characters, creating a 5-part series in the Sierra stable.

Sierra Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams, and known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre including the first such game, Mystery House. The company is known for its graphical adventure game series King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry, and Quest for Glory.

<i>Quest for Glory III: Wages of War</i> 1992 video game

Quest for Glory III: Wages of War is a hybrid adventure/role-playing video game released in 1992 for MS-DOS. It is the third entry in the Quest for Glory video game series, and the sequel to Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire.

<i>Kings Quest</i> Video game series

King's Quest is a graphic adventure game series, released between 1980 and 2016 and created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installments, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation of Sierra. Roberta Williams, co-founder and former co-owner of Sierra, designed all of the King's Quest games until the series' reboot in 2015.

<i>Curse of the Azure Bonds</i> 1989 video game

Curse of the Azure Bonds is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1989. It is the second in a four-part series of Forgotten Realms Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box adventure computer games, continuing the events after the first part, Pool of Radiance.

<i>HeroQuest</i>

HeroQuest, sometimes written as Hero Quest, is an adventure board game created by Milton Bradley in conjunction with the British company Games Workshop. The game was loosely based around archetypes of fantasy role-playing games: the game itself was actually a game system, allowing the gamemaster to create dungeons of their own design using the provided game board, tiles, furnishings and figures. The game manual describes Morcar/Zargon as a former apprentice of Mentor, and the parchment text is read aloud from Mentor's perspective. Several expansions were released, each adding new tiles, traps, artifacts, and monsters to the core system.

<i>Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum</i> 1986 video game

Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum is an early role-playing video game, first in the popular and influential Might and Magic franchise. It was released in 1986 as New World Computing's debut, ported to numerous platforms and re-released continuously through the early 1990s.

The Paladin is a common character class in many role-playing tabletop games and video games. The template may have been introduced through the eponymous character class from Dungeons & Dragons. The broad concept behind the class is that of a "Holy Warrior", combining aspects of both Warrior and Cleric classes.

<i>Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress</i> 1982 video game

Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, released on August 24, 1982, for the Apple II, is the second role-playing video game in the Ultima series, and the second installment in Ultima's "Age of Darkness" trilogy.

<i>Ultima III: Exodus</i> 1983 video game

Ultima III: Exodus is the third game in the series of Ultima role-playing video games. Exodus is also the name of the game's principal antagonist. It is the final installment in the "Age of Darkness" trilogy. Released in 1983, it was the first Ultima game published by Origin Systems. Originally developed for the Apple II, Exodus was eventually ported to 13 other platforms, including a NES/Famicom remake.

<i>Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar</i> 1985 video game

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, first released in 1985 for the Apple II, is the fourth in the series of Ultima role-playing video games. It is the first in the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy, shifting the series from the hack and slash, dungeon crawl gameplay of its "Age of Darkness" predecessors towards an ethically-nuanced, story-driven approach. Ultima IV has a much larger game world than its predecessors, with an overworld map sixteen times the size of Ultima III and puzzle-filled dungeon rooms to explore. Ultima IV further advances the franchise with dialog improvements, new means of travel and exploration, and world interactivity.

<i>Wizards Crown</i> 1986 video game

Wizard's Crown is a 1986 top-down role-playing video game published by Strategic Simulations. It was released for the Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, IBM PC compatibles, Apple II, and Commodore 64. A sequel, The Eternal Dagger, was released in 1987.

<i>Kings Quest V</i> 1990 video game

King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! is a 1990 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line. Originally released in November 1990, it featured a significant improvement in graphics. It was also the first King's Quest installment to replace the typing user interface with a point-and-click user interface. The title is a spoof on the proverb "Absence makes the heart grow fonder".

The Coles Video game designers

The Coles is a colloquial term referring to Corey Cole and Lori Ann Cole, a husband and wife team who are both video game designers. While they are most well known working together designing the Quest for Glory series, both are notable separately for designing games and game engines independently of each other.

<i>Gateway to the Savage Frontier</i> 1991 video game

Gateway to the Savage Frontier (1991) is a Gold BoxDungeons and Dragons computer game developed by Beyond Software and published by SSI for the Commodore 64, PC and Amiga personal computers.

<i>Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire</i> 1998 video game

Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire is the fifth and final game in the Quest for Glory computer game series by Sierra FX, a former "sub brand" of Sierra On-Line. Unlike the first four games, Dragon Fire is primarily an action role-playing game with some elements of graphical adventure.

<i>Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness</i> 1993 video game

Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness is an adventure game/role-playing video game hybrid. It is the fourth installment of the Quest for Glory computer game series by Sierra On-Line. It was the first and only game of the series to drop the numerals from the title.

<i>Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero</i> 1989 video game

Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero is a 1989 adventure game/role-playing game hybrid, designed by Lori Ann Cole and published by Sierra On-Line for MS-DOS. It is the first game in the Quest for Glory series, and has been credited for being a genre-defining game, as it tried to mix graphical adventure gaming with role-playing-like elements such as statistic building that would actually affect the ability to accomplish certain parts of the game. The game has a satirical and silly tone. Ports for the Amiga, Atari ST, and NEC PC-9801 were released in the early 1990s. A VGA remake, titled Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero, was released in 1992 for DOS and later in 1994 for Mac OS.

<i>Wizard and the Princess</i> 1980 video game

Wizard and the Princess is a graphic adventure game written for the Apple II and published in 1980 by On-Line Systems. It was the second title released in the Hi-Res Adventures series after Mystery House. While Mystery House used monochrome drawings, Wizard and the Princess added color. Ports for the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64 were released in 1982 and 1984 respectively. The 1982 self-booting version for IBM PC compatibles was renamed Adventure in Serenia.

Scorpia is the pseudonym of a video game journalist who was active from the early 1980s through the late 1990s. She wrote for Computer Gaming World, performing reviews on role-playing video games and adventure games. Scorpia was known for harsh criticism of video games she disliked. She was fired after CGW was sold to Ziff-Davis in 1999 and subsequently retired from games journalism. Her pseudonym is based on a character she created in a role-playing game.

References

  1. ↑ "Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire - PC". IGN. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 Wysocki, Matthew (2013). Ctrl-Alt-Play: Essays on Control in Video Gaming. McFarland. ISBN   9781476600413 . Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Baker, Michael. "Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire - Retroview" . Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 Stevens, Ryan (10 May 2012). "Razzle Dazzle Root Beer: Quest for Glory Lives!" . Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Barton, Matt (2008). Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games. CRC Press. ISBN   9781439865248 . Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  6. 1 2 Kaizer, Rowan. "The glory of Quest For Glory" . Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 Andreadis, Kosta (2 November 2014). "Revisiting Quest for Glory I & II" . Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  8. 1 2 Willis, Tyler. "Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire - Staff Review" . Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  9. 1 2 Norris, Jim (20 July 2012). "Step Into Newfound Adventure With Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire" . Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  10. ↑ Barton, Matt (2014). Games vs. Hardware. The History of PC video games: The 80's. CRC Press. ISBN   9781439865248 . Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "RPG Codex Interview: Corey Cole on Quest for Glory and Hero-U (Now on Kickstarter!)". 19 October 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  12. 1 2 Böke, Ingmar (9 November 2012). "Corey Cole: Recruiting for Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption interview" . Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  13. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Matt Barton (November 25, 2012). "Lori and Corey Cole on the Quest for Glory Series". Armchair Arcade's Matt Chat. YouTube . Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  14. ↑ Jenkins, Chris (July 1991). "Trial by Fire". ACE . p. 80.
  15. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (October 1991). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (174): 57–64.
  16. ↑ Scorpia (October 1991). "C*R*P*G*S / Computer Role-Playing Game Survey". Computer Gaming World. p. 16. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  17. ↑ Scorpia (October 1993). "Scorpia's Magic Scroll Of Games". Computer Gaming World. pp. 34–50. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  18. ↑ AG Staff (December 30, 2011). "Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games". Adventure Gamers . Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.