King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow

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King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
Studio United StatesUnited States Sierra On-Line, Inc. Revolution Software (Amiga)
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Publisher Sierra On-Line, Inc.
Senior Developer Roberta Williams
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 September 30, 1992
platform IBM-PC ( DOS , Windows 3.x ), Macintosh ( Mac OS ), Amiga , Atari ST
Game engine Sierra Creative Interpreter (SCI)
genre Adventure
Subject Adventure / fantasy
Game mode Single player
control Keyboard, joystick
Age rating
USK released from 0

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is a Adventure - Computer game dating back to 1992 , that of Sierra Entertainment has been published.

This part of King's Quest is often considered the highlight of the King's Quest series because of its deep storyline, the introductory graphic in 3D and the professional voice (Hollywood actor Robby Benson voiced Prince Alexander, the main character of the game) . King's Quest VI was written with the Sierra Creative Interpreter (SCI) and was the last King's Quest game to be released on disk . A CD-ROM version of the game with more character voices, a slightly different introductory film and more detailed graphics has also been released.

The development of the Amiga version, published in 1994, was commissioned by Sierra from the British studio Revolution Software , which used its own game engine called Virtual Theater . In addition, the Amiga version differs in some points from the other versions in terms of content. An AGA version in 256 colors initially planned for the Amiga did not appear.

The virtual theater engine for the Amiga is not supported by ScummVM , the SCI engine, however, so that the PC version can also be played on many other operating systems (e.g. Windows 10 and macOS ).

action

The story begins with an introductory film in which Prince Alexander appears a picture of Princess Cassima in the magical mirror of the Kingdom of Daventry. She is locked in a tower room and calls for help. The prince immediately sets off to free his lover - whom he already knows from the fifth part, when both were in captivity by the evil wizard Mordack. But even before Alexander reaches the Land of the Green Isles, the ship gets caught in a storm and sinks. The player only takes control when Alexander wakes up from his unconsciousness on the beach of the Isle of the Crown (there is no trace of the other boatmen). As he goes to the castle, he learns that Princess Cassima is to marry the Grand Vizier Alhazred. In order to free Cassima from the clutches of the Grand Vizier, who with the help of his treacherous Djinn always tries to thwart the prince's intentions, Alexander has to travel through the strangest and most terrifying worlds that await him on the "Green Isles". Every island presents Alexander with new challenges. His path even leads the prince to the edge of the world into the realm of the dead, where he must free the souls of Cassima's dead parents by personally challenging death. Ultimately, the task is to break into the castle, find evidence of Alhazred's dark plans and stop him in order to free the princess and the land of the Green Isles.

places

King's Quest VI takes place in the following locations in the game:

Isle of the crown

The Isle of the Crown is the main island of the Land of the Green Isles. Here is the castle of the crown, which also gives the island its name. It is the seat of the country's royal family. There is also a village, a beach and a harbor. This is also where the adventure starts. The other islands can be visited after obtaining a magical map.

Isle of Miracles

The Island of Wonders has the shape of a large comma and is in the west of the Land of the Green Isles. The island got its name from the fact that nothing is normal on this island, but completely different. The island is ruled by two rival queens (chess pieces, a black / red and a white queen), who in turn are subject to the "crown".

Isle of the beast

This island is completely overgrown with dense forest. The only path is blocked by three magical traps. A cursed beast lives inside the island. As the game progresses, it becomes Alexander's job to break this curse.

Isle of the Sacred Mountain

Besides the island of the crown, this is the largest of all islands. It takes its name from the huge cliffs that are on top of it. Climbing is apparently impossible. On the cliffs in the interior of the island is the city of the "winged beings" (City of the Winged Ones), which is ruled by a lord and a lady who are also loyal to the crown. Their ancestors also built the catacombs, which are also located on the cliffs. However, these were taken some time ago by a Minotaur, who also demands a living sacrifice of his choice from the winged creatures every year. Furthermore, there is a high mountain on the cliffs, at the height of which there is a cave. A holy oracle lives in it. This recently announced to the Lord and Lady that a victorious hero would come who would climb the cliffs of logic and defeat the Minotaur. (This hero is without a doubt Alexander. As the game progresses, he must solve the puzzles of the cliffs and master the dangers of the catacombs in order to defeat the Minotaur and save his life.)

There is also another secret island, which will be unlocked in the course of the game. In addition, you have to travel to the Realm of the Death on the main route. If you choose the shorter route, you don't.

Meanings and allusions

Each of the five islands alludes to a different world of fairy tales or legends:

  • the Isle of the Crown on the fairy tales of the Arabian Nights . The Grand Vizier takes his name, Abdul Alhazred, from a character in the Cthulhu myth by HP Lovecraft .
  • the Isle of Miracles based on the story Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  • the Isle of the Beast based on the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast
  • the Isle of the Sacred Mountain in classical Greek and Roman sagas
  • and the Isle of the Mist based on ancient Celtic myths

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