Knights And Merchants Mission 7

[Tea Rochlitz]

AKnight to Remember is a 5-10 hour game (on a single playthrough, but with three main paths to choose on replays) with a prologue, and a largely stand-alone core game. But choices made will influence the rest of the "King's Quest: Game Series"/"King's Quest: The Complete Collection".

The story introduces Gwendolyn by Graham telling a story about the time he found the magic mirror in the Ancient Well. Gwendolyn is challenged to a fencing match by her cousin Gart. Gart attempts to convince her she is a loser, and that he is worthy to succeed as the next King of Daventry. Graham then tells the story of when he was a squire and the knight's tournament he attended in order to join the ranks of the Knights of Daventry.

The prologue begins with Graham entering a thicket and heading to a scary Forest Well. It is a linear sequence which has a twenty-something King Graham returning to the Forest Well (from a previous adventure) on a quest from King Edward to find his stolen Magic Mirror, while trying to avoid the Legendary Beast, a dragon living there. He discovers the cave filled with beds and other strange traps. He finds a bookcase with spellbooks and selfhelp guides on how to capture and control dragons. Finally using a feeding mechanism, he is able to distract the dragon, and take the mirror. After a perilous escape, he return to castle to present the Mirror to the king.

The main story returns to a time earlier, when Graham was a teenager, traveling to Daventry for the first time to take part in a Knight Tournament there, and recounts his first journey into the Forest Well, and encounter with the beast within, and the loss of a friend.

Graham begins on an overlook above Daventry, riding in on his steed Triumph, when he falls down the hill until he reaches the Back Road below. He follows a sign leading him a missing bridge, and the Parade of Hopeful Knights marching past beyond. He makes a detour down more of the backroads, until he find the Merchant of Miracles, who sends him to repair his wagon wheel. Graham cuts down a tree, finds his way into town, where he has the choice between three different items from each of the three closed shops, and a choice to tip one of the three shops a swell.

After helping the merchant, and after being cheated (either choosing to buy a fake initiation ticket, or having his coins stolen), he is brought to the Tournament Theatre, but finds that the bridge is out again. He tricks the royal guard to save him from drowning, and then distracts them with bees so he can join up with the other knight initiates. He tries to figure out a way to cross the river, but each knight ends up stealing his solutions, until only he and Manny are left on the side of the river. After figuring out a final solution, he makes it across the river, while Manny just walks across the river. On the other side Manny congratulates Graham, and convinces him to have a secret alliance. Graham finally makes it to the tournament, after explaining why he was late, he has to makeup the Chivalry Test in which he has to learn a bit about each initiate.

All knight hopefuls are then given an initiation quest to find the eye of a hideous beast. There are multiple solutions to this quest, but it cannot be from cute furry creatures. Graham meets Amaya Blackstone on his way back into the heart of Daventry, who gives him some of the history of the Kingdom, and invites him to meet her at her shop in the town. Graham meets all the town members including a compassionate baker, and wise Hobblepots who run a curiosity/magic/alchemy shop. He learns that someone is stealing the beds in the kingdom.

Depending on his actions at this point he might discover the Forest Well for the first time, a local landmark that everyone knows about, and is used as a kind of testing ground for knights hoping to rise up in the ranks of the Royal Guard to prove themselves to King Edward. He either loses a friend there, Achaka, and receives an eye from the Legendary Beast there, or escapes without one (but given extra eye by Manny). Or he might befriend the Bridge Troll Olfie, who helps him out, or use trickery to make a substitute eye to submit to the judging knights.

Following the initiation, the knights then must finish three trials; Duel of Strength, Duel of Speed, and the Championship Duel of Wits. Depending on where he went previous quest, he might be sent to find lost knight who has disappeared from the competition (if he hadn't discovered him in the previous quest). Regardless of when this takes place it leads him to the Forest Well (and results in the same situation, he learns how to shoot a bow, his friend dies, and Graham escapes with or without the beast's eye). In both cases Graham encounters Manny who convinces him to stay in the competition, and that he must do it for the memory of Achaka.

Graham defeats the various competing knights at each duel, in order to join the Knights of Daventry, and gain the chance to become King of Daventry as well. However getting to each deed requires him to help other citizens of Daventry, befriend the trolls, help the Merchant of Miracles again or let him get captured by goblins, discover other secrets of the land, find new mysteries. While doing this he learns that goblins are behind stealing the beds, but doesn't know why. He defeats Acorn in the Duel of Strength, with the help of the trolls and Manny, defeats the fast knight Whisper in the duel of speed, and finally has a battle of wits with Manny. Manny has been secretly manipulating the entire tournament behind the scenes, and has ulterior motives to become king. During the game he uses hypnosis potion on Graham, which forces Graham to make the moves Manny wants him to. The dark knight explains his reasons, and plans for ruling the kingdom. His story about Achaka changes from what he had said before (suggesting much of it might have been a lie), he seems to know a bit too much about the goblins as well. The rest of the Royal Guard do not trust him, and prevent him from winning the duel so that he cannot become king, and to give Graham extra chances. Finally Graham defeats the knight by either winning fairly or by cheating. But Manny attempts to kill Graham in revenge, forcing Graham to defend himself (with items offered by the town's citizens). He defends himself, and then force the evil knight to leave (but Manny threatens to take revenge).

In the present, Gwendolyn is listening these stories as she prepares for her own fencing tournament with her cousin Gart. The choices Graham made in his stories influences how she reacts and treats her cousin. She is either kind to him, sneaky, or quick to attack.

The first is how to defeat the dragon (bravely shooting it in the eye, intelligently distracting it with a bell, or free it out of compassion), the second is Graham deciding what he believes is the best way to defeat an opponent. Another choice is to decide who to take a substitute wheel from, and who to tip (or not tip anyone). This may lead to a store being locked up, and when Graham returns later, either being honest to the merchant inside, or the store remains locked for the rest of the game. He can choose to buy a ticket to the knight tournament (leading to another scene in the tournament later), or choose not to (the merchant then pickpockets him for a coin).

Graham can decide where and how he gets an eye based on three choices of bravery, wisdom and compassion. These will also influence how each of the town members see him. If he chooses the compassion or wisdom route, then he will be given an extra mission at the start of the main tournament to go find missing Achaka, and is given a picture for him to sign.

During a fight with Goblins, Graham can choose to kill them, disarm them, and either let them kidnap the Merchant of Miracles, or save the merchant. Graham has multiple ways of befriending Olfie the first bridge troll he encounters either lying to him, being truthful, or threatening him. Each results in the troll giving him a different nickname. Graham can choose between several paths to find a 'hideous eye' for the initiation quest. Graham can either mess up a picnic or save by how he handles a wasp nest. This leads to a character being stung, or having a pleasant experience. Graham can choose to give a sleeping leaf to the Hobblepots (to receive a hypnosis powder) or using it to put Pillare to sleep. He can forget to close the gate to the woods behind the town and let wolves into the village, or keep them closed every time he passes by them, and receive a special honor patch for keeping the town safe. He can dye the ingredients to a pie, to get a different reaction from the baker. During the duel of wits, Graham can choose to cheat or win fairly. Finally Graham has to choose between a knife, a custard pie (a nod to an event in King's Quest V), or bird bombs to defeat the villain of the story.

At various points in the game Gwendolyn will act out what she was told in the story, either bravely jumping into confrontations, showing kindness, or tricking others. The first involves her going into her bedroom and hearing a strange noise from the door to the balcony. Gart her cousin, busts the door open, and gives a big roar. Either Gwendolyn throw a pillow in his face knocking him to the ground, or she runs up and gives him a big hug, or she sneaks up behind him with a bell, and scares him from behind (causing him to fall to the ground from being startled). At another point Gwendolyn is practicing her fencing moves in her room with her stuffed bunny Mr. Springbottom, she either chooses not to attack the bunny, and gives it a cupcake, before dancing with it, or she swings her umbrella wildly, or she tries a 'distraction' at the bunny, in all cases she ends up swinging around and breaking a vase, just as her Grandmother Valanice shows up, and given a brief scolding. Finally, the choices impact how she acts at the fencing tournament itself, suchas throwing food at her cousin during the fight.

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