Quest for Glory

Originally known as Hero's Quest until a forced name change, Quest for Glory is one of Sierra's many "Quest" adventure games, but this time with a twist. Quest for Glory wasn't just a normal graphical adventure game, but was also a computer role-playing-game, and is one of the greatest examples of blending the two genres.

The game used the graphical style and interface that I was already familiar with, having played many Sierra adventure game classics before this one. Each location consisted of a (mostly) static background, with your character able to move around and interact with any items, monsters, or people present. These were known as "screens", because of how self-contained they were. Moving towards the edge of a screen would transport you to the adjoining screen. The second game in the series makes light of this, with directions being given to the character in numbers of "skareens".

Your first choice: Choose your character

Your first choice in the game is to choose a character class, and with this essentially choose how you will play the game. The fighter is the most direct character, generally solving problems with brute force and swordsmanship. The magic user, as his name implies, uses magic to solve his problems. The third, and for now final class, is the Thief, master of stealth and cunning. The majority of puzzles in the game have multiple solutions, and it is your choice of class and skills which decide how you will solve them.

Panthro the Thief: Starting stats

Quest for Glory was released in 1989, although I can't quite remember when I first played it. Over the years I've returned to play it again (the first four games are some of my most played games of all time), and I must know it like the back of my hand. The challenge for me this time was to go for a maximum playthrough. This would involve getting 100 points in all statistics, skills and spells. No easy task, through normal play you might only expect to have a handful of skills at 100 and most puzzles don't require high points in particular skills.

Why 100? Well, the cap for the game is set at 100, and is increased every game (QFG2 has a cap of 200 and so on). It's really one of only a few challenges available, and far more interesting than going for a perfect score. To accomplish this, I'm limited to only one of the three available character classes: The Thief. The other classes aren't able to select all of the skills upon initial character creation. This does give one immediate downside however, I'll be missing the Zap spell. This spell, which "charges" your weapon allowing your hits to cause more damage, is only available to magic users. It's a small price to pay though, and so the adventures of Panthro begin!