Review of the game

http://www.incgamers.com/2014/07/quest-for-infamy-review

1 Graphics are a matter of taste so I'll give this one a pass, aside from saying that the game is intended to be funny, not serious.

2 If you like the voices from Heroine's Quest, I see no reason you'd not like these. They're similar in quality and performance, except I find QFI's main characters more consistently good.

3 S'perfectly consistent with itself. I like it. HQ is good here too.

4 In every QFG you can just mash buttons until you win. It's easy. As for the combat rules for QFI never being explained or documented, you are just plain wrong.

You make no sense.


EDIT: Also, it's not a competition. If you don't like it, you don't like it, but shaddap about Heroine's Quest already.

Hehe, you're quite the enthusiast, aren't you?

While I generally agree with you, that I find Heroine's Quest the better game it's mostly just because I like playing a hero (or, in this case, a heroine) and doing good deeds more than playing a villainous asshole - no matter how cool he might be.

The backgrounds in QFI are gorgeous and every screen of the forest is a completely unique picture.

And I don't think they were going for an authentic medieval experience here. Again, I do appreciate Heroine's Quest weaving an interesting tale around norse mythology and I even like that approach better than what QFI is doing but that doesn't mean QFI is less fun because of that.

I enjoy QFI immensely but, personally, I, too, like Heroine's Quest a little more.

One thing to note, Kamamura - those things you think are ananchronisms? They aren't.


Bt

You don't think an in-game reference to Reddit (in a medieval fanstasy setting) is an anachronism? ;)

Who says it's medieval?


Bt

Not quite. Did you talk to the 'adventurer' in the hotel? He gives you a general idea of how to combat the various types you meet.

As for the graphics, I thought they were excellent. The game looks very much like the old King's Quest games except for the portraits and they are very good. However I have to agree with you on the anachronisms. We're in a fantasy/medieval atmosphere and then, the most obvious example if you've played to that point, we're presented with drawings of the Killington family that look as if they're straight out of the Victorian era. Odd to say the least.

As for the voice work, nearly all of the voices are very well done, IMO.

I do find myself wandering around wondering what to do next...or when to do it. A little more linearity wouldn't bother me a bit.

I have to agree with this. Of particular note is the fact that every single screen is unique*. I ended up playing most of the game by just walking around (i.e. without quick-travelling), since it doesn't take long to find your way around when you can remember the scenery. Unlike in QFG1 where if I didn't draw a map myself I'd get confused about where I was! OK a number of people have mentioned this, but frankly it confuses me why this is even an issue here.

Firstly, the game doesn't take itself seriously - so as far as I'm concerned if a game's a bit "silly" then it can go for it. The QFG series did similar things - remember how in the first game your character had completed a "correspondence school" for adventuring?

Secondly, you've got magic going on. MAGIC. So you're saying magic can exist and be believable, but having things from multiple time-periods is an issue?

Thirdly, this obviously isn't a historical game (the added magic being one of many clues here). So how can something be an anachronism when it isn't specifically based on any historical period. Even the booklet that came with the game makes it pretty clear this is an alternate reality (different names for the moon for one thing, not to mention names of continents, cities).

Finally, even if one considers the fact that it's based on a divergent path that Earth took at some point, Blackthorne519's comment that it "may not be medieval" should suggest something. But don't listen to the other 518 Blackthornes - they're pre-releases and kinda buggy. :)

BTW I like what you've done with the backstory here (to you IQ guys). Lots of fantasies may have some "mysterious ancient event" that somehow trashed what once was, though this one has an interesting twist - a twist which, even if one ignores all the other points, means that one can talk about more modern things and they won't be anachronisms.

Anyway talk to people in the game world to get their take on the "world" and how it came to be. Also playing as the Rogue should make this much more obvious. ;) Actually I found the semi-forced linearity at the start to be somewhat jarring. Not game-killingly jarring, but it was a bit strange to be wandering around in the forest somewhere near the start only to be magically teleported to the town square so you can fight Gorth. Sure it's needed for the plot, but couldn't the town square event have happened every 2 or 3 nights, and the plot just not advance till you visit it yourself? That's how most story-progression events in the game work, so it's a bit weird that this was forced like that.

What I personally would have liked is more "news" etc. from people in town as events unfold. It seems that after a few days in, nothing interesting happens any more. It would have been cool to get more reactions to your actions/etc. further into the game. Also I was kind of expecting some recurring series of shows in the town square, even if it was the same one or two repeating/alternating - there's one and that seems to be it - although I am nit-picking a bit here, since there's a big chunk of game here!

Since I'm already rambling, I've got to give special mention to the fact that you stuck in some "Aussie" stuff - using people that sound like actual Australians (!), and without saying bullshit like "prawn on the barbie" or "Fair Shake of the sauce bottle"* or crap like that which no one actually says!


* OK unique except for the mazes. If there's one major criticism of this game, it's that mazes generally suck and this game has mazes. One I don't really count as a maze since the solution is readily available, but the mines... One thing's for sure: I am SO glad that this game did two things to allow maze-haters to do them quickly - that is, there's a map to find your way (inaccurate though it is, it does the job), and you can just run past all the combat encounters. If it weren't for those two things I would have gone nuts, since the mines are boring, and the combat just makes them even more tedious - and since there's questing to be done in there, I wouldn't be able to simply not do them!

**Actually our former Prime Minister did once say this, but no one had any idea what it meant or where he got it from. I suspect one of his speech writers was about to quit and thought it would be funny, or possibly for a bet.

Who reads booklets? I didn't and I doubt most people would. I buy an adventure game and I play it. They don't usually come with manuals or need one. So without knowing in advance that this was supposed to be an "alternate reality" as opposed to the sort of medieval fairy tale world you see in the King's Quest games, it's jarring to see Victorian and ancient Roman themes all mixed in with shades of Robin Hood, yanking you right out of the 'reality' you think you're in.

It wasn't that big a deal for me, nothing like a game killer, but it did make me wonder what the dev's were thinking. Now you've handed me their justification for this mashup, but how hard would it have been to keep it all more or less consistent, whatever world it's on?

As for the mazes, though, I'm with you on that. I loathe mazes. But that map! You're not just kidding it was inaccurate and if that's the best they can do, they should have left it out altogether unless they intentionally meant to drive players - this one anyway - around the bend. I finally turned the sound off so I didn't have to hear the narrator (absolutely the worst voice in the game) informing me over and over again I had just scared the crap out of something every time I cast a spell,

From the teaser after the credits, it looks as if Blackthorne & Co. is making another game and I hope they take the kind of constructive criticism they got from Richard Cobbett on Rock, Paper, Shotgun into account when they do. I liked QFI; I'm glad I backed it. AFAIC, they did a great job making the game. I just think they can do better and I'm reasonably sure they will. I'm ready for another one from Infamous Quests.

But leave out the painfully puerile, scatological humor, would you, guys?

Old-school gamers like me. Well it was there so I had to at least glance at it. I kind of like the way Sierra used to do their manuals - they'd make the docs seem like they belong in the game Universe. The QFI manual isn't up to that level, but it's nice they put in the extra effort - they even put in basic starting hints like Sierra used to do (which I almost accidentally read before playing!).

Even without the manual, there are a number of references in the game where they mention stuff about the Universe/world you're in.

Maybe I just didn't find it jarring because there's magic in it, and it's not based on any real place, and it's not taking itself seriously anyway, and so therefore I didn't have any preconceived ideas about what's "appropriate" or not.

And I guess they did it this way because they wanted to put all of that stuff into one game. Why not I say! To be honest, those timelines blend in well enough to be consistent - in the Victorian age castles etc. still existed, and if Rome hadn't been sacked by barbarians a lot of that stuff would have likely still been around.

I checked on their forum a while back and I think it is supposed to be inaccurate. It's accurate enough to get where you need to go, mostly. I found only one thing in the mines that wasn't on the map - it was by accident, and it's just some bracers. They're supposed to increase flame spells, but I found them when I was a Rogue - so imagine how thrilled I was to find them! Not that I'd bother looking for them again anyway since combat isn't exactly challenging in this game.

Oh I hear your pain there! The narrator swerves between "pretty decent" and "argh! Make it stop!". Actually even if he were consistently good, IMO the game needs an option to turn the narrator off and leave the other speech/sounds on - I'd rather just read the descriptions rather than have them read out anyway.

Also, what's with the information guy in Tyr? He actually says "sigh" instead of sighing!

Thankfully the guy who voiced Roehm did a fantastic job. Fits the character perfectly IMO.

Yeah but just the painfully puerile scatological humour. I've got nothing against standard puerile scatological humour - as long as it's funny!

Stone the crows, mate! The Colosseum is still there but nobody is walking around it in togas! :))

To repeat myself, I liked the game! I just take a small issue with large and glaring anachronisms. Sure, there were obvious out-of-place-and-time things in the games QFI emulates but they weren't carried to this extent. Remember the Batmobile racing out of Hagatha's cave? Now that was funny and totally unexpected but it was over in a second.
Yeah, right. I found the bracers, too...what the heck is a bracer?...as I was playing as a very lost sorcerer. The map is wrong even in the .pdf walkthrough which (correct me if I'm off track here) is supposed to be of actual help to people who get stuck. Play through the mines again by following the map's layout, such as it is, and see how close to the kraken or the necromancer you get.

And that brings up another gripe, the walkthrough. I played again as a brigand and just happened to think I might need the rock climbing equipment. It's just as well I did or I'd never have gotten what the gnoll was hoarding, at least if I went by the walkthrough's less than useful directions which would lead you to believe you can use the rope you used on the tree a second time to get there. No, you can't!

It was a nice idea to provide a walkthrough, I'll give them that, and from reading it through I can see how it would help if you were stuck on what to do after wandering around missing exits that take you to places you need to go, but if they are going to provide one, at least get it right! (To be fair, I think one of Blackthorne's minions did it. A few weeks on bread and water in Rayford's dungeon as a punishment sounds about right.)

I totally agree. He was great. With few exceptions, I thought the voice actors did exceptional work. I was tickled to see that Augustin Cordes had voiced Armand so I paid particular attention to him when I started over as a brigand and wondered how much, if at all, he had exaggerated his accent. :D Good job, AC!

Me neither, too. Did you find any? Seriously now, don't you think that was driven into the ground? Or the water barrel? Or the rug?

As for the words generally avoided in polite conversation, to paraphrase Roehm, "Is everyone in this game an asshole?" Or a bastard? Use words like that sparingly and they have some punch. Overuse them and they make me, anyway, want to mail the dev a dictionary of off-color synonyms if they're all that necessary.

I've enjoyed talking to you, Down Under. ;) So we disagree on some things. Who doesn't? All in all, it was a fun game and as I said, I'm ready for another from Infamous Quests.

Oh, totally forgot about the Togas - or Toga-like implements anyway! But hey, maybe they just like their tradition?

Bracers are those things you equip in your bracers slot - the one between your sword and armour. They're not necessary anyway since the combat is so damn easy.

Actually I'm not that impressed with the combat, but whenever I played the original QFG series I pretty much just mashed buttons to pass the combat (i.e. didn't use much strategy), so it's not a big concern. Although it would have been awesome if they had done something like the QFG2 remake for the combat! That was actually really well implemented.

On the walkthrough - yeah I downloaded that too, and I almost raged at my screen at how totally wrong it was. I then assumed it was written before the game was released or something. There are too many inaccuracies to go into as it would make another massive post, but just a few for the Rogue:
- they got many things wrong about Rayford's house
- they got the guard tower near Tyr around the wrong way, missed out about the aqueduct climbing, and listed it as the library of Tyr (and as a house you can break in to!)
- they completely missed the library - which as far as I know is the only building that only the Rogue can break in to, and which features a unique (albeit easy) puzzle, not to mention the biggest loot haul in the game!
- they missed the fact that the Rogue can actually still use the map in the final act (due to the tunnels)

I also think they missed the fact that the Rogue can take out targets outside of combat by using the throwing knives. Which is actually pretty cool as if it works (dependent on your weapon accuracy), it's an instant kill! As a rogue I had my attack ability past 100 (somehow), so instant-kill for everything!

And for the map - it appears to simply be a screenshot of the in-game map! As you said, if they're going to have a "walkthrough" - especially an "official" one - then there should be a proper map in there, listing ALL of the things that one can find EXACTLY where they are!

I thought the walkthrough would provide info on all the stuff I missed too. Like what the heck to type in in that "blank book" in the library. I hope it's not as dastardly a puzzle as the "password" required for the secret bar in the Space Quest 2 remake (made by these guys when they were IA) - though I do hope it will lead to something similarly interesting.

Squid,...did GOG stick that number behind your handle?...it looks as if MaG on Gameboomers isn't going to write a walkthrough for QFI, which is a shame because she writes the best, most accurate walkthroughs on the Internet. So why don't you?

Other than that Thing you download from Infamous Quests, there isn't another one to be found, at least the last time I looked, unless you want to chase your tail through YouTube trying to find answers. I gave up on that and just went back to trying alternate routes when I was trudging through the mines and scaring the crap out of things. Took what I knew was a wrong turn according to the map and whaddaya know, there was the kraken.

You seem to have played all three characters. So think about it. You can't possibly have anything better to do, right? :))

Actually I've played the Rogue and the Sorceror so far, but will likely take a break before doing the Brigand. Having a break will make the game seem a bit "fresher", in that I will likely forget lots of details, which will mean I don't rush/skip through stuff.

As for writing a walkthrough, I'm actually rather busy with lots of stuff happening outside of the gaming world right now - making this the worst possible time for me to make time to do anything (though I still play games and write crap on boards - gotta make time for the little things!). Apart from that, I'm actually incredibly lazy and a massive procrastinator, so even with nothing better to do by the time I got around to doing it someone else would have written one!

Most importantly, to make the walkthrough complete I'd have to actually map out the mines - which is something I really don't want to do. I basically just ran through them the second time through, hardly ever bothering to fight anything.

Also this game has made me curious about Heroine's Quest, so I thought I'd check that out for something similar but different. ;)

If I do anything, it'll probably be adding to a wiki on the game - that way others can more easily fill in the gaps. I think there's already a pseudo-official (or maybe even official?) wiki, though last time I looked it was barely started. I'd recommend you do the same since you've played through a few times yourself.