Quest For Glory

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Quest for Glory
Boxart for Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire
Developer(s)	Corey, Lori Ann Cole
Publisher(s)	Sierra
Platform(s)	MS-DOS, Windows
Release date	1989 to 1998
Genre(s)	Role-Playing/Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	First Four ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults), Fifth ESRB: T (Teen)

Quest for Glory is a series of hybrid role-playing/adventure computer games designed by Corey and Lori Ann Cole. The series combined humor, puzzle elements, themes and characters borrowed from various legends, puns, and memorable characters, creating one of the better-remembered series in the Sierra stable.

Although the series was originally titled Hero's Quest, Sierra failed to trademark the name. Consequently, the electronic adaptation of the HeroQuest board game forced Sierra to change the series's title to Quest for Glory. This decision caused all future games in the series and new copies of Hero's Quest I to switch over to the new name.

Series

The series consisted of five games, each of which followed directly upon the events of the last. New games frequently referred to previous entries in the series, often in the form of cameos from recurring characters. The objective of the series is to transform the player character from an average Joe to a Hero by completing non-linear quests.

Hybrids by their gameplay but also by their themes, the games feature serious stories leavened by humor throughout. There are real dangers to face, and true heroic feats to perform, but silly details and overtones creep in when the drama of adventuring doesn't force them out. Cheap wordplay is particularly frequent, to the point that the second game's ending refers to itself as the hero's "latest set of adventures and miserable puns." The games also have some memorable easter eggs, including a number of subtle or not-so-subtle allusions to other Sierra games (such as Dr. Cranium, an allusion to The Castle of Dr. Brain, in the fourth game). Perhaps the most notable easter egg appeared in the EGA version of Quest for Glory. The player could type "pick nose"; if his lock-picking skill was high enough, the game would respond "Success! You now have an open nose". If the skill was too low, the player would insert the lock pick too far, killing himself. This was duplicated to some degree in the VGA version by clicking the lockpick icon on the player.

Each game drew its inspiration from a different culture and mythology (in order, Germanic/fairy tale; Middle Eastern/Arabian Nights; Egyptian/African; Slavic folklore/Eastern European folklore; and finally Greco-Mediterranean) with the hero facing increasingly powerful opponents with help from characters who become increasingly familiar from game to game.

Each game varied somewhat from the tradition it is derived from; for example, Baba Yaga, a character borrowed from Slavic folklore, first appeared in the first game, as did a Jotun from Scandinavian folklore (named Brauggi in the game). The second game introduced several African-themed characters who reappeared in the third game, and characters from every game and genre in the series reappeared in the fourth and fifth games. In addition to deviating from the player's expectations of the culture represented in each game, the series also included a number of intentional anachronisms, such as the pizza-loving, Dr. Frankenstein-like mad scientists in the fourth and fifth games.

There was some criticism concerning the games as time-consuming. For example, while adding to realism, in order to build a certain skill or reach a certain point of time, the player has to repeat for countless times some certain action (such as 'climb tree', 'get rock'-'throw rock'), or walk aimlessly until the time passes. However, the game has nonetheless acquired cult status among computer game veterans, and was revolutionary and thus far unrivalled in its character import system, which allowed you to import your individual character, including the skills and wealth he had acquired, from one game to the next.

The Games

• Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero (1989; VGA remake released in 1991)
• Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire (1990)
• Quest for Glory III: Wages of War (1992)
• Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness (1994)
• Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire (1998)

Collections

• Quest for Glory Anthology (1996) a package that includes the first four games, including the fully patched CD version of QFG IV; game copy protection codes (a feature of Quest for Glory 4) are included in the manual and on CD, while game saves are included in the save folder of the CD and the VGA version of Quest for Glory 1.
• Quest for Glory Collection Series (1997) re-release of QFG Anthology with a Dragon Fire demo and sample soundtrack.

The World

The fantasy world in which the action takes place is known as Glorianna, and is somewhat a mirror of our own world.

According to Lori Cole, Glorianna's time did not advance at the same pace in all places, so many anachronisms are explained (some places are medieval, others are still at the Bronze Age, some others are almost victorian, and some have pseudo-modern elements). The world is populated both by traditional creatures of myth and legend (gnomes, fairies, genies, demons) and specifically by humanoids with animal features, such as the Katta (humanoid cat-people) and the Liontaurs (centaur like people with leonine heads and hindquarters).

The Characters

Along with the Hero, several memorable characters appear and re-appear throughout the series including Rakeesh Sah Tarna, Abdullah Doo, Elsa von Spielburg, the evil Ad Avis and many others.

Original Concept

Originally, the series was supposed to be a tetralogy, consisting of 4 games, with the following themes and cyles: the 4 cardinal directions, the 4 classical elements, the 4 seasons and 4 different mythologies.

This is what the creators originally had in mind:

However, when they got to write Shadows of Darkness they thought it would be too difficult for the hero at that stage to go from Shapeir straight to Mordavia and defeat the Dark One. So they decided to insert a new game, Wages of War, which was not in their original canon, and caused a renumbering of the series. Evidence for this can be found in the end of Trial by Fire where it says the next game would be Shadows of Darkness and featured a fanged vampyric moon - hinting at the next game's theme.

They talked about it in the Fall 1992 issue of Sierra's InterAction magazine, and an online chat room:

The original third chapter was to be Shadows of Darkness, set in Transylvania - the East - and in the Fall, using Air as the central element...
Wages of War is the bridge. You start with people you know to help you along in the beginning. But when push comes to shove, you're the one who's on his own, who has to solve the ultimate mystery. As you go along, just when you think you're all alone, your allies have come back to you, but you have to face the final challenge by yourself.

– Lori Cole, Fall 1992 issue of Sierra's Interaction magazine

Blackwine: My question is about the world of Gloriana in general. I knew each game was suppose to correspond to a place on a compass (like North, South, East, West) and a season. For example, Spielburg was North, and the season was Spring. Shapeir-South, Summer. Where was Tarna located? Mordavia was Fall, and Silmaria will be winter, but where are they located?
Lori C: Tarna broke the rules. It was in Fricana, which is Africa. We added Wages of War to the series because the game called for it. So we broke our own metaphor.

– Lori Cole, Chat Room