King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones

End me adoration, before I leave your eyes!

World in the mirror mirror, Water of amnesia comes!

Played the second game in the series and this was also by AGD Interactive, and like last time you can get the game for free on their website. If the first game was a 1:1 remake of the original this was almost an actual new game with King's Quest character retelling the second game. Basically the second game wasn't more than the first game, but with new puzzles and a little more pointed out story, find the girl in the tower and rescue her so she will be your queen. Fairy tale wife-finding 101. This is told to you at the beginning making it a bit easier to know the objective. In the original, if you didn't realize that you should enter the castle and talk to King Edward, you didn't get the story. Talking about story, i checked up on some of the story elements and to my surprise some other people felt that the changes they made to the very miniscule story in game changed the tone of the original creators all too much. At first I was kinda struck with how stupid that was, things just happened in the game and had very limited logic behind it, but then I noticed it sound like me and the lord of the ring movies, so maybe I shouldn't see too much into it. The changes they made was creating an overarching villain and tying in the other KQ games with this one more than the names Graham and Valanice. In  my opinions doing a rather good job.

So King Graham is feeling lonely, wants someone special in his life and the magic mirror he got last time shows him this strange land, Kolyima, and a portal to a strange world with a quartz tower which is inhabited by one of the fairest maidens. So at once he heads of telling his first minister to keep the peace. Meaniwhile the Shadow Cloak society, led by the mysterious Father, conspires to destroy him. Arrive just a day later you set off to find three gems of Nature to open this stone gate that will take you to your love. The journey will take to the depths of the ocean, above the clouds and into the fangs of death itself as true love will triumph. This game also show a much more stronger Graham who actually puts up a fight, even bringing the royal sword with him and with it he will fight were-wolfs and chase of evil wizards. Probably more action-oriented than many would have liked, but to me it felt more coherent that the older games allowed you to kill the monster in your way, and therefore allow it here, plus he is much more younger than in his appearance in the fifth game so it makes a bit more sense. he was a knight after all before ascending the throne. Although they put up some notice that he dislike violence while slaying a couple were-wolves.

Like the other the graphics are vastly improved, many puzzles have been recreated or streamlined, going for a more railroading approach since the story has to make more sense here. Musically I can't remember if they just translated it over from the original, but the music is rather nice and I can't help but like the cheesy love ballad they put in reminiscing of KQ 6.