King’s Quest Episode 1: A Knight to Remember lived up to the name and exceeded my expectations. The environments are bright, the writing is superb, the puzzles are sheer brilliance, the characters have so much personality, and the music is truly magical. I could go on, but for Episode 2: Rubble Without A Cause, it seems like all those wonderful aspects of the first episode were sapped away into something less magical. It does not have the spark that it once had.
Now as King Graham, the game takes an extremely dark turn as you and your friends from the Kingdom of Daventry are now locked up in prison by the goblins. You are stuck in the dark dreary caves, trying to find a way to free your friends from their prison, but there’s one element I was shocked by. Without spoiling the ending, there is a choice system that seemingly determines who lives and dies in the story. It’s incredibly dark, and with the light and humorous nature of the first episode in mind, it’s so depressing to see them go through this horrible situation. It contrasts horribly with the intent of the original episode, and I wish that they went in a similar direction with the story that made the first episode so great. It ends in a merry fashion, but the journey is dark in tone.
In addition, the puzzles aren’t as varied either. In Episode 1, The Odd Gentlemen were able to keep your mind active with conversation, event, and location based puzzles. However, in Episode 2, it is predominantly location based puzzles, and don’t get me wrong, they are still brilliant and are still satisfying to solve, but they weren’t as fun and varied as the first episode. One puzzle I loved in Episode 2 involves keeping a flower from dying. The a-ha moment during this puzzle gave me a wave of exhilaration.
The Odd Gentlemen, once again, brought back the personality of the original game’s graphical style. King Graham, while hungry, stumbles as he runs, the goblins are animated in a wacky way, and sections of the cave such as the garden look stunning in this unique art style. I do miss the colorful locations of the first episode, however.
The humor, in parts, is still there too. The goblins have a funny obsession that I will not spoil and the knights are still funny during the beginning, but the comedy between the main characters faded away with the choices mechanic. Once again, I wish they went in a different direction and did not include this unfitting mechanic. I can see where they were going with the story arc of Graham understanding his role as King, but it was too hamfisted into the narrative to the point of me wondering why he would recount this story to his granddaughter.
Despite the unfitting story, the voice acting is still top notch. Christopher Lloyd is back as the elderly King Graham and brings a wonderful performance, Josh Keaton perfectly portrays a stumbling but noble knight turned King, and the rest of the cast give a believably to the boisterous world of King’s Quest. The music, although more downplayed than the first episode, still sounds magical and fits the overall tone of the episode.
Overall, King’s Quest Episode 2: Rubble Without A Cause continues the excellent point-and-click style gameplay, the outstanding voice performances, and the magical feel from the art style, but the dreary and out-of-place narrative and mechanics dampen the experience that the first episode had. Please return to a more energetic, comedic, and colorful adventure for the third episode, The Odd Gentlemen! If you want to find out more about the first episode, you can check the review here.
A PS4 copy of King’s Quest Chapter 2: Rubble Without A Cause was provided by Sierra for the purpose of this review
King's Quest Chapter 2: Rubble Without a Cause
$9.99
Pros
- The puzzles are still fun.
- Stellar voice cast.
- Art style still looks great.
Cons
- Storyline is too dark in comparison to the joyful nature of the first episode.
- The colorful world is sorely missed.
- The choice mechanic makes the contrasting darker narrative stand out even more.
