Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness (1326)

That's probably exactly the reason why it didn't absorb me. I felt something alien about it. Yet i could see the ultimate attempt of bringing all the good stuff together. Anyway, graphics was the first thing that didn't quite meet my expectations. Not that i insist on the exact sprite styling of the previous games, but... there was seemingly no spice to it, despite the evident thorough improvement since QFG4. By the way, same exact thing took place in Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail. I understand the creators' desire to make something entirely new and exotic, but i think that project failed to an extent. It just wasn't as creative and witty anymore, let alone the graphics which were enhanced, but exactly that ensured its fiasco. It simply wasn't a good idea of implementing this cartoonish interactive comic style engine, with the priority to match its own era with respective hardware capabilities. Bulky and bloated doesn't always mean good, which is the lesson we have to learn here. So it could at best be a collector's item, serving the tradition and finalizing the Larry series, but it's definitely not one of the best adventures. Speaking of which... i haven't finished it yet But i still have the saved games since the last time.. which was like 2 years ago.

I would coin this phenomenon in production as overunderachievement, where the fervent ambition and endeavor to make something profoundly genius mingles with the lack of imagination and creative crysis.

Thanks, but i'd rather not. I'm not entirely sure whether or not i still wanna give it a try But i'll keep it in mind.

Well, to be honest I think you didn't miss that much, because although it is an OKish game it doesn't quite live up to the other parts of the series and has a totally different playing style. Still, it does bring things to a somewhat satsfying end.

If you want to hear the long version of it just look up the review on this site (if you haven't already).

True, but i don't think it really adds anything to the morality and ethics, more like suggests you should be more careful and crafty when messing with authorities Oh well, i agree, it wouldn't affect everyone the same way, but it may surely strike someone as a bit deviant.

Well yes, i agree. Being a wizard is more fitting when it comes to Erana's secrets, magical trea and such. However, i would never dwell on it much. By the way, i must say that i never saw Erana herself, which is said to have appeared in QFG5. Believe it or not, i never really played it. Only tried it out a few times, but couldn't keep on it for too long. Which i kinda regret, and strangely, i still don't feel like playing it. I guess it was about time i'd lost any thrill for games... now it's only memories

Gladly. I would often go with my own customized hybrid of a thief and wizard, which, frankly to say, was a little bit of a cheat, for it was a truly unversal hero, who had both the fighting and magical abilities, plus special privileges as a thief. I would grow him to unlimited powers. I bet you did something similar too. Anyway, i used that for all 4 games i believe, but later i switched to wizard only, for fair play and also out of curiosity. As you know, each of the 3 types would go his own way and unfold unique storyline, which is why i decided i wanna see what's behind the curtain of alternative gameplay. Being a thief was always somewhat romantic i must admit, especially the ability to break into people's properties at night in the 1st part of the game.

By the way, i think this part requires parental guidance more than "obscene" Larry series, for it may inspire unwanted tendencies, driven by the fact that the whole subject of burglary is somewhat glorified. Yes, it definitely looks nice in the game, but i think it may seriously mess up one's value system. It's a very controversial episode in my opinion and requires strict revision. Not that i'd ban it, no. But i don't think it's appropriate for minors. It may look harmless, but it's certainly not.

Anyway, in conclusion i'd say that i'm probably more inclined to be in favor of the wizard hero. Fighter was always somewhat limited and heavy, i dare say, he was quite slower and less efficient than thief in combat, the latter isn't particularly a noble designation as i have already remarked, and wizard seems now to be quite a fair choice. I may have played a fighter in QFG4 just because i was curious what means to be a paladin. Turned out it was a way to become a magical fighter the official way so to speak. I was left unimpressed

Lucky you. I wish there were some workarounds for my problems, but as far as I can remember it was always those stupid runtime errors. Most prominently in the castle, that one door where you can listen to the conversation of the bad guys at night.

But don't get me wrong: I totally agree with you that this is one of the best Sierra titles.

Just for curiosities sake and because they play so much differently in this game: Which class did you like the most? If you want to you can vote both over the whole series and in this game in particular.

This was actually the game that introduced me to the frustating nature of bugs. As much as I wanted to love it, I only managed to finish the disk version of the game once (seemingly by sheer luck) without seeing all those crashes at the gipsy camp, the castle and most annoingly at the finale. It even made me skip the game a couple of times on my runs through the series. This was doubly devasting because it was the very first game I bought with my own money.

By now I learned that the CD version is somewhat more stable and with the excellent voice acting more entertaining to boot. So if you want to spare yourself the trouble of most of the bugs try to get your hands on the latter one.

As for the game itself: I really liked how they managed to turn you into a nobody again while still facing a horror worthy of hero of such skill. Also the horror was done just right, kindling your imagination without drowning you with cheap scares or overly vivid imagery.