King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder

"Enough with the adaptations of trite sayings"

King's Quest might just be the most well-known of all graphic adventure series, although like Shining Force it was one of those series that got better as it got longer and got a better feel for what its successful elements were. A decent example is to be found in Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder.

Daventry seems to be at peace for once, but upon returning from his morning walk King Graham finds his castle completely up and vanished. A talking owl named Cedric tells him that the wizard Mordack descended from the sky and performed the heinous deed, and helps Graham travel to the abode of his master, the wizard Crispinofer, to see what assitance he can provide. Crispin proves to be of little help, providing Graham only with a spell that allows him to talk to animals, a worn out magic wand and Cedric's accompaniment as the king searches for Mordack's hideout and a way to rescue his family from the evil wizard.

As usual the quest will take Graham to a variety of different places, like a desert where bandits hide their treasure, a forest controlled by an evil witch, islands ruled by harpies and mountains filled with unfriendly wolves and abominable snowmen. Triumphing over all these perils involves finding and making use of a variety of items that would have most of us scratching our heads in befuddlement if we had to take on an evil wizard with an assortment like honey, a sled and a custard pie.

Although I complained about a lack of intuitive puzzle-solving in King's Quest II, there isn't nearly so much of that in V. You might be confused by some items when you get them, but by and large their uses become obvious when the time is right. Thank you for learning from your previous efforts, Roberta. Some other players might object to this, but I also appreciate the lower frequency of fairy tale elements in King's Quest V than in its brethren elsewhere in the series.

The graphics and sound effects aren't anything spectacular for a game of that era, nor is the voice acting in the CD-rom version. I almost want to say that this game was the reason they hired real voice actors to do Quest for Glory Four. The way I remember it Roberta Williams herself voiced a few characters! But the end product is nonetheless rather charming and cleverly put together, though it can be unforgiving like any Sierra game. But still, my hat's off to them for this little opus.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/03/04, Updated 04/04/05