2. King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
Developer: Sierra Most commonly known as Sierra On-Line back in its heyday, Sierra was the undisputed king of point & click PC adventure games. Starting way back in the early days of PC gaming and continuing well into the 1990's, Sierra On-Line produced some of the finest and most beloved PC games and franchises of all time. Despite the majority of their games following the point & click formula that they made famous, the variety of content found within these games was staggering. From the raunchy humor of Leisure Suit Larry, to the odd yet successful incorporation of RPG elements into the genre that was Quest For Glory, to the gritty realism of Police Quest, there was something for everybody under the Sierra umbrella. However, the series that arguably personifies everything that was great about Sierra On-Line was also one of its first: the wonderful King's Quest series, written and designed by the brilliant mind of Roberta Williams, the co-founder of Sierra. The King's Quest games revolved around a recurring group of characters that were part of the royal family of the Kingdom of Daventry, a magical place that always found a way to surprise gamers. Despite displaying a core set of characteristics that was present in every game, each subsequent King's Quest title evolved significantly, upping the ante with more fantastical worlds, characters, and plot twists. The magnum opus of the series, and probably the ultimate manifestation of what the Sierra On-Line adventure game was all about, came in 1992 with King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow. Right from the start of its stunning opening cinematic, showing Alexander, the prince of Daventry, being shipwrecked in the Land of the Green Isles (the story's setting), King's Quest VI was a breakthrough. It was one of the most gorgeous and artistically creative video games that had ever been seen. The motion-captured character animations meshed perfectly with the hand-crafted backgrounds, and the music was rich and fit the game's various moods perfectly. It was the finest written entry in the series as well, featuring a script chock full of wit, humor, emotion, and a grand sense of adventure. The game was written by the duo of Roberta Williams and newcomer Jane Jensen, who would go on to create the fantastic Gabriel Knight series under the Sierra banner. King's Quest VI was a lengthy game that visited some of the most memorable settings to be committed to a video game, and featured multiple endings depending on how the player chose to reach the final goal. It was a masterpiece, through and through. As the late 90's approached, change was in the air at Sierra, as the company underwent numerous and complex changes to their core business. Roberta and her husband, Ken, who had been the pillars of the company from the very beginning, left in 1996, leaving the suits at Sierra to absolutely butcher what would be the last entry in the King's Quest series, Mask of Eternity (aka King's Quest VIII). The company stuck around for a long time in name only, as the glory days of Sierra releasing great game after great game never returned due to most of the talent moving on to greener pastures. But Sierra's influence is as strong today as it ever has been. The flourishing modern indie game scene has seen a revitalization of the point & click adventure genre, producing some of the finest games the genre has seen since Sierra's heyday. As for King's Quest, it's still up in the air. Numerous game companies have expressed an interest in reviving the franchise over the years, most recently with Telltale expressing an interest, but unfortunately nothing has materialized. However, several of the brilliant minds behind some of Sierra's greatest games, including Jane Jensen, have recently begun Kickstarter campaigns to bring their new visions to a new generation of gamers. Could a new Roberta Williams game be in the cards someday? One can only hope.