King's Quest Fan Project
Dates: 1998: King's Quest 8 released; 1999: King's Quest 9 cancelled; 2000: TSL project started; 2002: TSL crew assgined; 2005 Vivendi C&D Letter after trailer shown, Fan License issued following month; 2006: TSL Demo; 2008 Vivendi combines with Activision, Activision C&D Letter; 2010: Activision allows production (with standard protection stipulations), Ep. 1-4 released; 2012: Decision to remake game in Unity engine alongside Ep 5, lack of funds; 2014: Sierra Entertainment established; 2015: The Old Gentlemen's version released.
Status: March 4, 2015 There was a post stating the condition of this project. I remember playing the demo. I remember downloading the 4 episodes when they came out. The game was still on my old backup hard drive. I had hoped the fifth episode would have been out by now. Sad it still hasn't come out.
Plug: About the same time watching The Silver Lining project take place, I stumbled across another fan project for Chrono Trigger. Also developed in 3D, the remade version named Chrono Resurrection was being developed. The website still exists alongside a supported Chrono Symphonics remix soundtrack. The project received a C&D from Square Enix, quickly ending the project in 2004.
The Silver Lining (King's Quest 9)
Episode 1 (1 hour) The first episode serves as an introduction to the game. It is relatively easy and sets up the rest of the episodes.
Episode 2
(3 hours) This episode really shows off how they managed to remake
King's Quest 6 in 3D. You get to see expanded areas of the Green Isles,
visit more characters from other King's Quests games, and hear more wild
cracks from the narration.
Episode 3 (6 hours) I had issues
with this episode. A couple of the puzzles were way more frustrating
than I anticipated. You must really pay attention to what you are
carrying and what you need to progress. Although the items still
followed logic, it stretched your imagination. Unlike finding only
specific items in episode 2, you needed to also manipulate and combine
certain items.
Episode 4 (6 hours) A man once said in search
of an item, "Knowing King's Quest, I probably need to find a cloth
plant." There were a couple of areas where it was difficult to know
where to go next. Compared to episode 3, the items were a lot easier to
figure out. What surprised me is the difficulty of the action puzzles at
the end. They take some serious concentration.
Review: For what it is, I like the game. They remade the best one, King's Quest 6, in 3D! They expanded the zones and included a lot of characters from the King's Quest universe. The soundtrack is insanely well-done. I did have a lot of technical glitches, bugs, and crashes. The game doesn't have any dead-ends but still has the death sequence charm (with retry) like King's Quest 7. Action sequences and extended dialogue adds another level to the game. Despite some bad recordings of minor characters, the voice acting is way better than that in King's Quest 5. Some might find it odd to hear a female narrator, especially when it comes to some 4th wall breaking, but I think she was rather charming by the end.
Honestly, I really wanted to see the fifth episode. Each episode depends on each other and the giant climax of episode 4 leaves me wanting to see how it all ends. I also kind of wished the story would have unfolded another way. The series follows up from the first three remade games with the general retelling (that ties all the King's Quest games) of a secret black cloak society. The cliche "Everything is connected. You are chosen. Save the world." does get tiresome. I also wished they would have remade scenes from other King's Quest series (and not just 6). All-in-all, not bad.
6-12-2016