Line #32 VideoGame/ConquestsOfCamelot


1	[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Conquests_of_Camelot_cover_5496.jpg]]
2	''Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail'' is a 1989 AdventureGame produced by screenwriter Christy Marx (of ''{{WesternAnimation/Jem}}'' fame) and Peter Ledger and distributed by [[{{Creator/Sierra}} Sierra On-Line]]. It produced one sequel, ''VideoGame/ConquestsOfTheLongbow: The Legend of Robin Hood''.
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4	You play as Arthur, King of Camelot, on a quest to find both the Holy Grail and three of his knights, who have gone missing: Sir Galahad, Sir Gawain, and Sir Lancelot. The gameplay is atypical of '80s Sierra, with many arcade elements aside from their regular puzzles.
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6	Currently available on Website/GogDotCom.
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8	!!This game provides examples of:
9	* AdaptationExpansion: Or, compilation with liberties, as the creator admits.
10	* AllMythsAreTrue: So you'd better offer some tithes at the altars of both Jesus and Mithras, then get looking for that "cup of Christ / vessel of the goddess", so you can fight the Muslim Saracen guardian in the Temple of Aphrodite. But not before visiting Glastonbury Tor to search [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalice_Well a certain well]]. Which is owned by a trio of familiar-looking "[[Literature/TheCallofCthulhu old ones]]".
11	* AllThereInTheManual: The Liber Ex Doctrina.
12	* AncientTomb: The Catacombs, the final stretch of the game. Be wary of rats, ghouls, and literal dead ends.
13	* ArmorIsUseless: Downplayed, the many violent deaths you can potentially suffer all avoid hitting you directly in your armor (or at least hit you more than once). It's subverted at the very end of the game, where [[spoiler:the thief stabs you in the back if you let him live, but your armor protects you.]] Also, you ''have to'' take the helmet the Saracen offers you before you fight him, otherwise he'll kill Arthur with one blow to the head.
14	** It is also a liability in the ocean as you sail, particularly in deaths where you are thrown overboard and the weight of the armor drags you down. Perhaps Arthur should have been a nudie like [[VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Arthur]]?
15	* BerserkButton: A few of them for the Mad Monk, most notably asking him where the Grail is.
16	* BilingualBonus: "Liber Ex Doctrina" can be translated as [[{{Pun}} either]] "book derived from knowledge" or "free from doctrine".
17	* BittersweetEnding: If you play successfully, you manage to heal Camelot, but the last graphic is King Arthur sadly watching Lancelot and Gwenhyver talking in her rose garden as Merlin says: "but your heart may never be healed."
18	* BlackKnight: As himself, and this time with a lance for the jousting sequence.
19	* BoomHeadshot: Refuse the helmet offered to you by the Saracen and right at the start of the duel, he will strike you in the head, instantly turning your noggin into meatsauce.
20	* BossBattle: The arcade sequences generally take this form, unusually for an AdventureGame. The most obvious examples are the Black Knight and the [[FinalBoss Saracen]].
21	* ButThouMust: Do you HAVE to sail to Gaza? Nah. Go anywhere in the world you like. Just [[HaveANiceDeath don't expect to make it there]].
22	* ChainOfDeals: In Jerusalem, you have to buy, sell, trade, and give away various items to the people and merchants to advance the plot.
23	* CircleOfStandingStones: The riddle stones.
24	* CoolClearWater: The spring in the desert is poisoned. It looks fine, but your mule refuses to drink from it. [[HaveANiceDeath If you drink from it anyway, Merlin insults you for not being as smart as your mule.]]
25	* CoolHelmet: The Saracen provides one for Arthur, as shown on the game box. And Arthur had better accept it, [[OffWithHisHead or else...]]
26	* CopyProtection: The Liber Ex Doctrina. Without it (or [[GuideDangIt a substitute]]), you won't get past Fatima's puzzle. Or the Lady of the Lake's test.
27	* CrossingTheDesert: To get to Jerusalem.
28	* CrypticBackgroundReference: There are all sorts of details in the game that have no bearing whatsoever on the game, but are just there to add to the atmosphere. For instance, when Arthur reaches a fountain in the desert, a woman takes fright at his presence and runs away. She's never seen again and is of no importance to the plot, but she was included anyway.
29	* DeadpanSnarker: Occasionally Merlin. Fall to your death in a dry riverbed? Wadi shame.
30	* DeathOfTheOldGods: Very much so. By the time Aphrodite turns up, she explicitly states that her time is over, and when the Grail is taken back to Camelot, the altar for Mithras disappears. Then again, at least one of the Old Gods is still alive in [[VideoGame/ConquestsOfTheLongbow the sequel]].
31	* DefrostingIceQueen: The Lady of the Lake. Arthur manages to get her help by giving her crystal heart back to her. It's also suggested that her moods rely on the weather, and when the icy lake melts in the spring, she's much more benevolent.
32	* DrivenToSuicide: The last way you can die in the game: [[spoiler:Arthur falls on his sword if the thief gets away with the Grail.]]
33	* EasterEgg: In the treasury room, type(case sensitive) [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail HAM AND JAM AND SPAM A LOT]].
34	* EasyModeMockery: You can adjust the difficulty of the {{Boss Battle}}s, but you get fewer skill points for completing them on lower difficulties.
35	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: It IS Sierra, natch. Justified in Gaza as you are a foreigner there and the people there don't take too kindly if you make any transgressions.
36	* EvilDetectingDog: The mule doesn't seem to like Jabir. [[spoiler:You know, the guy who tries to murder and rob Arthur?]]
37	* FetchQuest: Welcome to Jerusalem.
38	* FinalBoss: The Saracen guarding the ruins of Aphrodite's temple.
39	* FisherKing: In a sense. It's implied that Arthur's broken heart at the knowledge that Lancelot and Gwynhyver are in love is the cause of the pestilence that destroys Camelot.
40	** In the end [[spoiler:the Grail restores the kingdom to healthy prosperity, but Arthur is forced to continue suffering.]]
41	* FlowerMotifs: An entire challenge is based on the Language of the Flowers. Gwynhyver's rose is also an important reoccurring symbol.
42	* ForbiddenZone: The Forest Perilous.
43	* GenreShift: The many arcade scenes were rather unusual for a Sierra game.
44	* GoldSilverCopperStandard: Both Britain and the Middle East have them. In Britain, 5 copper are worth one silver, and 5 silver are worth one gold. In the Middle East, 4 fals are worth one dirham, and 4 dirham are worth one dinar.
45	* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: On the one hand, Lancelot and Gwenhyver's love affair places a curse of pestilence over the Kingdom of Camelot (though it's implied that they don't actually have an affair, just that Arthur knows Gwen's love for Lancelot means she doesn't love him alone). On the ''other'' hand, one of the tasks that Arthur must complete is to help a man retrieve his treasured veil so that his wife doesn't find out that he's been cheating with a prostitute. Because the man at least seems honestly repentant, forgiving him is a virtuous act on Arthur's part and thus in keeping with the ideals of his quest.
46	* GuideDangIt: The riddle stones. How exactly is an iceberg lighter than what it's made of? [[DontExplainTheJoke Simple]]: [[MoonLogicPuzzle ice is lighter than water]]. In addition, the Lady of the Lake's puzzle makes no sense to anyone not familiar with floriography, but that happens to be described in the manual. And much later, Fatima's puzzle relies on the player having asked another ([[PointOfNoReturn non-revisitable]]) character about a particular topic. At least the stones' riddles can be randomized by reentering the screen, and the other two can potentially be solved by trial and error or simply brute forced with [[SaveScumming enough reloading]].
47	* HasAType: If you type Kiss Merlin in his room, he'll say he doesn't like men with beards.
48	* HaveANiceDeath: Sierra game, remember? You will often get a snarky comment by Merlin if you die.
49	* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Defied in the duel against the Saracen. Refuse the helmet he offers and your head is instant meatsauce the second the dual begins.
50	* HeroicMime: Arthur never speaks.
51	* HollywoodMirage: Whilst in the desert, Arthur sees puddles of water that disappear as he gets near. More seriously, he is also haunted by images of Lancelot and Gwenhyver embracing each other.
52	* HumanPopsicle: The Lady of the Lake keeps Lancelot frozen in a large ice pillar. Naturally he's [[HarmlessFreezing just fine]] once he gets out.
53	* HeroicSacrifice: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] and [[DefiedTrope Defied]]: Arthur is unavoidably bitten by a poisonous rat in the same room where Galahad is found dying from the same poison, and only has a single dose of the antidote. To survive, Arthur must cure Galahad and then [[TimedMission hurry to find the Grail and be magically cured before succumbing himself]].
54	* InTheBack: A thief can try to do this to Arthur [[spoiler:when he spares his life for stealing the Grail, but his armor protects him.]]
55	* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:After a thief steals the Holy Grail right when you find it, you're prompted to chase him down. When you catch up to him, he begs for his life. Spare him, and he'll stab you in the back when you walk away. Your chain mail will save you from his audacious attempt on your life and the Holy Grail zaps the poor sap into a pile of bones.]]
56	* LastLousyPoint: In three different varieties (Skill, Wisdom, and Soul). Soul is easy enough to max out just by doing every good deed you can think of, but Wisdom requires you to ask some pretty esoteric questions in unusual areas; and on top of Skill being tied to your difficulty level (see Easy Mode Mockery above), a bug makes it impossible to max out.
57	* MadeOfPlasticine: Arthur, who can easily be turned into a pile of meatsauce by many enemies. Some of the human enemies he does kill (e.g. the false guide near Gaza) with even a single swing of his sword will also show very gory deaths.
58	* MissingSecret: The game appears to have a ''lot'' of places you can try to go to but can never ''quite'' reach. The best example is the boat: go anywhere ''except'' Gaza and it will look like you will make it, but the voyage will fail and you will die at the last second by a storm, or Viking raids, or pirates intercepting your ship, or the like. In short, there is no way to reach those lands.
59	* MookChivalry: The wild boars in the Forest Perilous charge at you one at a time. Averted by the four guards outside of Jerusalem, who will all rush in and chop you to bits at the same time if you even try to fight them.
60	* MortonsFork: The very end of the game when Arthur [[spoiler:catches the EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL thief. You can kill the thief or show him mercy. Kill the thief, he is chopped up and dies. Show him mercy, and the EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL thief will attempt to assassinate you. He fails and the Grail will judge the thief instead, and burn him to ash. Either way, the monster of a thief is dead]].
61	* NoBodyLeftBehind: The servants of the Old Ones (i.e. the Black Knight and the Mad Monk) disappear when Arthur kills them, and Aphrodite turns the Saracen's body into a dove when Arthur kills him.
62	* NonSequitur: You kill the mad monk. Naturally, he shouts, "In Vino Veritas!"
63	* OffWithHisHead: Several examples in the Middle East.
64	** Returning to Gaza where the mukhtar's men are waiting for Arthur will result in Arthur's severed head tossed back to where he was moments ago.
65	** If Arthur draws his sword against the Saracen without first putting on the helmet, the Saracen will cut off his head in one hit.
66	** If either Arthur or the Saracen wins the fight with a high attack, the killing blow will result in a beheading.
67	* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: The riddle stones, the statue of Aphrodite's pop quiz on Greek Mythology, and the Lady of the Lake's questions on floriography (the last two double as CopyProtection since the answers can be found in the manual, although these days [[{{Website/Wikipedia}} the internet]] is a suitable substitute).
68	** Basically anything that isn't an arcade sequence is a puzzle that requires you to figure out either where to find the information that you need or how to use the information that you already have. For those who take meticulous notes and figure out how to use them, there aren't very many real GuideDangIt moments.
69	* ThePeepingTom: While exploring Jerusalem, a certain normally-darkened window will occasionally have a young woman inside. Moving closer to investigate will reveal that she is taking a bath, and Merlin quickly suggests that Arthur avert his eyes. [[SchmuckBait You should probably listen]].
70	* PermanentlyMissableContent: There are quite a few things you need to get before passing each of the following points of no return. Most notably, you will need to get the gold, silver, and copper from the treasury, the rose from the garden, and the lodestone from Merlin's room before leaving Camelot, because leaving Camelot is a point of no return.
71	* PointOfNoReturn: Exiting Camelot, sailing to Gaza, entering Jerusalem, and entering the Catacombs. Since this is Sierra, each one makes it possible to permanently miss something [[UnwinnableByDesign important]].
72	* RuleOfCool: You won't find this exact account of King Arthur finding the Holy Grail. So what?
73	* RuleOfThree: Three knights to rescue: Gawaine, Lancelot and Galahad.
74	* SecretTestOfCharacter: The Game! All of your actions have multiple solutions, but all solutions are not equal. The best solutions specifically favor unnecessary forgiveness and selflessness. In many cases, your obstacles will offer an easy way or a hard way, and it is never acceptable to take the offered easy way out.
75	* SexEqualsDeath: Fatima offers herself to Arthur, but will strangle him with her veil if he succumbs. It's a SecretTestOfCharacter, after all.
76	* ShoutOut: The first time Gwenhyver mentions the Lady of the Lake, she immediately adds [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail "the watery tart"]]. There is also an EasterEgg in the treasury if you type "ham and jam and spam a lot".
77	** The Catacombs has a being in a stone coffin that raises only its hand and calls itself "[[Franchise/TheAddamsFamily The Thing]]".
78	* SolveTheSoupCans: When in Jerusalem, you have to make the proper ChainOfDeals with the townsfolk to proceed.
79	* SomethingAboutARose: Gwynhyver gives Arthur a rose from her garden before he leaves for his quest; one that gets him points with the Lady of the Lake.
80	* StraightGay: Heavily implied by typing certain commands and his description of Fatima that Merlin is gay.
81	* TakenForGranite: The hag does this to you if you fail to turn her back into Elaine. Merlin's dialogue afterwards is the current page quote for this trope.
82	* TextParser: Another standard Sierra trope.
83	* TimedMission: From the moment you (inevitably) get bitten by a poisonous rat, the rest of the game is basically this: [[spoiler:You have to give the elixir to Galahad, give the golden apple to the statue of Aphrodite, pass her test, follow her directions out of the catacombs, fight and defeat the Saracen, and follow her directions again to find the Grail before you succumb to the rat's poison yourself.]]
84	* UnwinnableByDesign: You don't HAVE to save Gawain, Lancelot, or Galahad. Only if you don't want to, you know, vaporize at the end of the game.
85	** Just try leaving Camelot without the rose. Or gold, silver, and copper coins. Or the lodestone. Or information about where your knights are.
86	** Just try saving your knights in the wrong order. Mithras gave you those visions in that order for a very good reason.
87	** You don't have to turn the hag back into Elaine in order to progress. You just have to give her all your silver coins, and she'll let you pass. But you need at least 5 silver coins [[spoiler:to appease the old gods so you can get the key to the well that allows you to escape Glastonbury Tor]], so you'll just end up trapped later.
88	** You can get to the Lady of the Lake's palace with either the rose, or [[spoiler:the Heart of Ice]]. If you use the rose, it disappears for the rest of the game. If you try to return without [[spoiler:the Heart of Ice]] after using the rose...well, you won't return.
89	** You ''can'' get through the entire game being relatively selfish, which actually does give you an advantage (fewer CopyProtection challenges and arcade sequences, for example). However, you won't be able to finish the game: at the very end of the ordeal [[spoiler:the Grail kills you for being unworthy.]] You ''are'' warned about this at the beginning of the game, though, and the choices that are required to win the game are generally obvious in their intent if not necessarily their execution. [[spoiler:You may not know that you need to specifically put Gawaine on your horse to get him to safety, but you should know better than to leave him there, for example.]]
90	* WardrobeMalfunction: When Arthur throws the mirror to Mari and she leans out the window to catch it, her dress slips down [[FreezeFrameBonus for a single frame]] to reveal EGA nipples.
91	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After transforming the hag back into Elaine, she rushes away, eager to find her love. Her love is three screens back, long dead and rotted into a skeleton. Even if you return, there's no sign of Elaine and nothing to indicate where she went or how she's doing.
92	** There's magic afoot: her love is long since dead, but the mark of her love is still in perfect condition. She herself is old and decrepit as the hag, but immediately reverts back to her young beautiful self when she gets what she wants. She's also never seen again. The implication is that she rushes off to join him in death, which has either [[TogetherInDeath happy]] [[DeadAllAlong implications]] or [[DrivenToSuicide terrible ones.]]
93	* WhatTheHellHero: Courtesy of Merlin. Usually related to your death. Or if you do something especially vile, like try to kill the friendly hunter in Forest Perilous. Or if Arthur lets one of his knights die.
94	* WorthyOpponent: The Black Knight and the Saracen, who will treat you to a fair duel (rounds of jousting and a battle with equal armor, respectively) to proceed.
95	* TheVamp:
96	** {{Subverted}} with Fatima. She tries to seduce Arthur, but it's a SecretTestOfCharacter. When he refuses her, she helps him with the next step on his journey. And if he ''doesn't'' refuse her, [[SexEqualsDeath she strangles him with her veil]]. After you pass her test you can still kiss her, but [[PressXToDie it's still a bad idea.]]
97	** Mari is a more blatant and straighter example, and heavily implied to be of the [[TheOldestProfession professional]] variety.
98	* VillainsWantMercy: [[spoiler:The thief, who begs for mercy after failing to assassinate Arthur in the end. Mercy is denied as the Grail judges him and burns him into ash]].

Context VideoGame / ConquestsOfCamelot