Modern Game Weekly - King's Quest Chapter 4 Snow Place Like Home

Welcome to Modern Game Weekly, this series will be focussed on more recent releases and is based around the 0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games series, with information on what the game is, the gameplay, story, critical reception and availability of the game. The story section will not be the entire games story, just a small section to give you an idea of the plot, spoilers will be kept to a minimum where possible.

The games chosen for this series are at random from my own ratings database, the database currently contains the majority of console releases from 2016 to February 2018 with releases up to March of 2015 added as well, with each game rated and ranked. Each game has their own rating broken down into five different sections.

The first is the numbered ratings, this uses a scale of 0 to 100 with a total of 10 of these ratings. One of the things that a part of this rating are critic review scores, these scores come from all console platforms the game is released on.

So for example Okami HD, which was recently released on PS4 and Xbox One, as well as previously being released on the PS3, all three of these releases factor in on the games overall rating. As a result shoddy ports of a game will seriously hurt the games overall score.

The reviews section takes a total of 12 reviews for the game if that number are available, both the six best review scores as well as the six lowest scoring reviews for the game, this covers reviews for console releases only. Information here will not be full reviews but snippets that stand out from the reviews.

The Availability section works exactly the same with a look at how available the game is assuming they are not digital only releases, with retailers Gamedude, eStarland and Amazon.com, while Retrogames may feature as older games are added to my database, the site currently only covers games up to the Xbox 360 and PS3 era.

King's Quest Chapter 4 Snow Place Like Home is the fourth entry in the episodic reboot of the King’s Quest franchise. This new reboot of the franchise first appeared in July of 2015 with the first of the five chapter series releasing on Windows, X360, XONE, PS3 and Playstation 4. 

The fourth chapters that we will be covering here released on those same platforms over a year later on the 27^th of September 2016. This episodic release of the King’s Quest was developed by The Odd Gentlemen and published by Sierra Entertainment.

  

The King’s Quest franchise dates all the way back to 1984 and the original King’s Quest which was developed by Sierra and released on Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, DOS, Macintosh, PC Booter, SEGA Master System. The franchise has been re-imagined multiple times over the years, this latest attempt released 32 years after the original King’s Quest.

Notable people who worked on the game, Ben Stanton who composted the music for the game, previously worked as an animator of 2009 released Saw and 2010s APB All Points Bulletin. He also worked on Halo 4 in 2012 working as a Gameplay Animator.

Unlike the classic King’s Quest games this latest interpretation is not a point and click adventure game, while it is still an adventure game you have full control over the lead character named Graham, as he ventures around the game world.

As commented by the games Creative Director Matt Korba, the game follows a very simple one button control scheme, as a result there are not complicated interfaces or controls, throughout the game players interact with different objects in the environment, talk to people, pick things up, and shoot your bow as well as other things, this is all done with the action button.

 

The action icon will appear at the bottom right of the screen alongside your satchel icon, for example at the very early stages of the game the player comes across a well, the player can interact by looking down the well.

Pressing the action button say the X button (Controls can be changed to your own liking) an icon will appear with and eyeball and the selected button shown above it to look down the well. When your character can pick up an item or interact with an object in the game world the icon that appears will be a hand icon,

 

If using a controller to play the game the left analogue will be the default for moving the character around the game world, the left analogue stick is also used to decide which direction you head when platforming. The previously mentioned inventory which appears as a satchel in the bottom right of the screen can be accessed.

In the case of the PS4 version by pressing the Square button, this will bring up your inventory of items stored in your cape pockets. When close by a person or object you can bring up your inventory and try and use an item on the person or object, once your bag is open the action button is used to select the desired item.

 

When you open the inventory it appears as a magic mirror, at the bottom of the screen is a bar with the various items in your possession. Above the mirror will show your what object or person you will be interacting with. Items unlike many games of this type do not combine with each other.

This fourth chapter of this game is quite puzzle heavy focussed, with many of these puzzles in the form of block moving puzzles to complete the pattern that is on the blocks surface. The fourth chapter also contains riddle puzzles, arrow puzzles, matching puzzles one example of the latter is you have to match the two connected door handles from a wall covered in door handles.

This section will be just a general view of the story in order to avoid spoilers for the game. In King’s Quest, King Graham shares his previous adventures with his curious granddaughter, Gwendolyn. It is through these tales that Gwendolyn learns about the life that her grandfather has led.

Along with new stories this new King’s Quest series re-imagines certain events, elements and back stories from the previous games. some of the back stories involving Graham from the previous Sierra games also differs in this new series. For example in the older material Graham grew up in Daventry, but this new series has him being an outsider that recently moved to this land.

The main story of this five part episodic retelling of the King’s Quest story has Graham coming to the kingdom to take part in a Knight Tournament to become a Knight of Daventry as well as the winner also in the running to become the next King of Daventry.

This episodic King’s Quest takes place through Graham’s life from his first arriving in the Kingdom of Daventry up to the fifth episode which takes place late in Graham’s life. This fourth chapter of this episodic series is a reimagining of elements of King’s Quest III To Heir is Human

Starting with the Zero2Zed rating for the game, King's Quest Chapter 4 Snow Place Like Home starts off with a good score of 81.5 and a decent one of 74.5. sadly these are really the only peaks for the game with the remainder around the above average range of scores, with the game receiving four 65 ratings and a few 70 ratings thrown in as well

Critic reviews play a major part in this scoring system and King's Quest Chapter 4 Snow Place Like Home as commented above really did not set the world on fire with the exception of a couple of critic reviews reaching a good mark the majority were in that middle area. As a result the games overall rating suffered with it sitting at an average rating of just 68.6, which also sees this fourth episode fall out of the top 500 in the Zero2Zed ratings.

Grading wise the games did not suffer any major dips which are common especially in the second half grades. King's Quest Chapter 4 Snow Place Like Home dropped only to a C- grade once with the majority of the gams grades falling into the C grading range. The two exceptions were the B- and B grades the game received, overall the fourth chapter averages out at a C grade, not bad but could have been so much better.

Moving on to the critic reviews we find the fourth chapter of King's Quest received a few good review scores one in particular. Largely thought he game rated around the above average scoring range with a couple falling into the average range. Critically the game did not rate below a 50 which only one critic rated it at this.

On to the first critic review which comes from Vandal for the Playstation 4 version of the game, this publication awarded the game an impressive 88, the reviewer loved this episode, calling it a sensible evolution, being more mature and raising the difficulty. Concluding the reviewer said, it you haven’t played this series yet, it’s time to start.

COGconnected were next up with a solid 79 review score for Chapter 4 this review is also from the Playstation 4 version of the game. The reviewer finding that despite the flaws Chapter 4 is a fantastic addition to the series, with the fourth chapters bringing more of the same magical wonder you should come to expect from King’s Quest.

They continued by saying, The Odd Gentlemen have truly hit their stride this time, only time will tell what will happen to Graham and his family, both in the past and present, stay tuned for the final chapter it’sure to be a doozy.

The next review for the game is the first review for the Xbox One version of the game, this review comes from ZTGD, with the reviewer scoring the game at a solid 75 overall. The reviewer commenting that they enjoyed their time with episode 4, the reviewer finding that chapter 4 offers another switch in gameplay style, with this chapter focussing more on puzzle elements and process of elimination aspects.

Somewhat to the chapters detriment, with the reviewer finding the number of puzzles on offer to be a few too many, with the chapter feeling more like a puzzle challenge game versus a story orientated experience. Concluding the reviewer found that one episode never feels like another, which has pro’s and con’s depending on who you ask. The reviewer also found that story elements also seem a bit disjointed as a result.

Next up is the 70 rated review for the Playstation version of the game from Everyeye.it. The reviewer finding that Snow Place Like Home presents an unusual structure for the series. The results however are convincing and somehow bold, it would be nice in the modern gaming landscape, more space for talented guys like The Odd Gentlemen, and less enthusiasm for linear and unoriginal adventures.

GameCrate are next up with their 70 rated review of the Xbox One version of the game, the reviewer saying if you enjoy the story of King’s Quest then you’ll love Snow Place Like Home. They continued though by saying, if you prefer traditional adventure game puzzles, you won’t find those here.

We Got This Covered gave a 70 review score to the Playstation 4 version of chapter 4. the reviewer finding that Snow Place Like Home packs some of the best storytelling in the series so far. Even with this the reviewer found that a bizarre and repetitive structure for the majority of its length holds it back from greatness.

PSX Sense are next up, this Dutch publication rated King's Quest Chapter 4 Snow Place Like Home at an above average 65. The reviewer found the game to be funny and thoroughly enjoyable. The review however also found this fourth chapter to be linear and predictable. Overall the reviewer found this to be the weakest episode so far.

Game Informer also rated this chapter at an above average 65 for the Playstation version, the reviewer finding it tough to evaluate without seeing the story as a whole, since effective storytelling relies on narrative peaks and valleys. The reviewer doesn’t expect every chunk of a multipart tale to knock my socks off.

The reviewer however found that the abrupt shift in density and quality of puzzles is tough to ignore. They concluded by saying, I’m hopeful that the series is able to conclude on a high point, and that this was just an unfortunate misfire.

PlayStation LifeStyle are next up, here we see a sizeable drop in review score with the Playstation Lifestyle reviewer giving the game a 55 rated review. The reviewer calling the game the weak link in the King’s Quest chain, with weak environments, terrible puzzles and a lack of any real immersion in the narrative choices as chapter four gives players the cold shoulder.

The final review which comes from Hardcore Gamer for the Playstation 4 version of the game, the review gave the game an average as you can get 50. The reviewer finding that the puzzle design misses the cleverness that made the previous chapters so much fun and rendering the penultimate chapter an extreme disappointment as a game.

This is the part of Modern Game Weekly where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk for older generation titles and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

This is where we would normally head over to Gamedude, Retrogames, eStarland and Amazon. This being an episode of an episodic release we don’t find the game available. As a result we will be looking for the game via the Playstation Store, The Xbox store and Steam.

 

Starting with the Playstation Store, this is for the UK version of the store, we find the game listed at £7.99, switching to the US version of the store we find the game listed at $9.99, which converts to a slightly lower UK price of £7.22. so if you are in the UK, create a US account to get the game 77 pence cheaper.

 

Next we head to the Xbox Store where we find the game listed at $9.99, this is the US version of the Xbox Store, this price applies to both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of the game. in the UK both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions are priced at £7.99. like the Playstation version the price conversion from the US price to the UK price works out cheaper than the actual UK price of the game.

Lastly we head to Steam, where we find two listings for the game the first is the chapter on its own, this will cost you £6.99, which converts to $9.67 if you are in the US. The second purchase option for the 4^th chapter is as a part of the Classic Sierra Bundle for £132.09, this converts to $182.80 in the US, this bundle is currently on offer with a 20% discount on it’s usual price of £165.17.

Written by

P J Gibbon