Line #29 VideoGame/KingsQuestIVThePerilsOfRosella


1	[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kqivcover_2685.jpg]]
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3	''King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella'' is the fourth game in the ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' series. Released in 1988, it was one of the first games to implement beyond-PC sound, improving overall sound quality, and the first Sierra game with high(er) resolution graphics with its newest game engine, the Sierra Creative Interpreter (SCI). It also has a largely-unknown version with the graphics and (lack of) music of the previous three games running on its earlier AGI engine, created because Sierra (wrongly) feared there were too many low-end computers on the market that wouldn't be able to run the high-quality version, making the AGI version quite the collector's item among ''King's Quest'' fans. Sierra's fears turned out to be unfounded, and the PC AGI version was withdrawn due to low sales, while the SCI release was a hit. An AGI version that used the SCI soundtrack was also released for the [[Platform/AppleII Apple IIgs]], as well as a version for the [=IIe=] and [=IIc=], making it the last ''King's Quest'' release to support the Apple II family.
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5	In this game, you play as Rosella, the twin sister of [[VideoGame/KingsQuestIIIToHeirIsHuman Alexander]] and daughter of King Graham. Literally picking up right where ''King's Quest III'' left off, Graham has just tossed his adventurer's cap to his children, but before they can catch it, Graham suddenly falls ill and is now on Death's door. His only hope is a magical fruit that grows in the island of Tamir. A good fairy named Genesta contacts Rosella through the MagicMirror and brings her to this land, but her powers are weakened by the evil sorceress Lolotte, meaning the trip is one-way. To win the game, you must find the fruit, defeat Lolotte, and return Genesta's powers to her-- all in the span of a single day.
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7	----
8	!!This game provides examples of:
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10	* AlwaysCheckBehindTheChair: There's an [[FarSideIsland island]] where you have to check behind a ship's detached front, which is lying in the sand. Rearward of the wreckage is a golden bridle that: 1) has no business being there; 2) is [[{{Unwinnable}} completely necessary to win the game]]. The island [[PermanentlyMissableContent is only accessible at one point during play, and after leaving, you can't go back]]. Oh, and using “look” on the shipwreck [[GuideDangIt only works when you're standing in exactly the right spot]].
11	** There is ''some'' justification behind this: you're put on the island after a complicated series of events, and the only other object you can find there does nothing but get you back to the mainland from the island. As per [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail standard adventure game mind-think]], there has to be ''something else'' there.
12	** In later versions of the game, the narrator draws your attention to the gleam coming from inside the boat. You must be close enough to the boat to get additional clues.
13	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Being the first game with the SCI game engine, typing with the text parser now pauses the game, giving you time to think when there's danger or the clock is ticking.
14	* ArtisticLicenseMarineBiology: The whale that swallows Rosella has teeth and a uvula, which Rosella has to tickle to get him to sneeze her out. Practically everything about the previous sentence is biologically inaccurate.
15	* AwkwardKiss: You can try to kiss anything and anyone in the game, but the game usually doesn't let you, saying it's not a good idea, that the intended recipient is embarrassed, or that the target doesn't need a kiss. The only person you can kiss is the frog prince, as well as the unicorn.
16	* BeautifulAllAlong: [[spoiler:Edgar]], if you know about ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIIThePrincelessBride''.
17	* ButThouMust: All your dealings with Lolotte, except for the last one.
18	* CaveBehindTheFalls: That you can only access in the form of a frog.
19	* ChekhovsSkill: She was taught to play the organ in her youth and is as the game states "A Virtuoso" yet despite the fact you can discover this skill early on, it doesn't actually have a purpose until near the end.
20	* CookedToDeath: If Rosella gets caught in the witches' lair, she is boiled to death in a cauldron.
21	* CopyProtection: This game is notorious for this, as you can't even start the game unless you insert a keyword from the manual. Luckily all newer compilation manuals have all the keywords bunched in one section instead of having to painstakingly look up the third word of the second paragraph on page 8, etc...
22	* CoversAlwaysLie: That picture of Rosella in her princess outfit riding a unicorn away from a winged goon is... not accurate. At one point in the game, Rosella does ride a unicorn, but...
23	** she's wearing a peasant's outfit at the time,
24	** she's riding him ''towards'' Lolotte's winged goons,
25	** and she isn't barefoot.
26	* CupidsArrow: Cupid leaves his bow and two arrows. The first arrow is used [[spoiler:to make the unicorn trust Rosella.]] The second one [[spoiler:is used to kill Lolotte at the end of the game.]]
27	* {{Cutscene}}: That unskippable cutscene with the dwarves...
28	* DarkerAndEdgier: Along with ''King's Quest VI'', this is considered to be the scariest game in the series. Despite coming from ''King's Quest III'' to this, III becomes ''notably'' lighter once you leave Manannan's tower.
29	* DevelopersRoom: At one point, if you type "Beam Me Up, Scotty!" you get sent to [[EasterEgg a secret room full of Sierra's game developers]]. This only works in the AGI version.
30	* DevelopersForesight:
31	** Averted, in that this is the first Sierra game to feature the infamous "oops, you tried something we didn't think of" error message, after which the game terminates.
32	** There's a tomb with a mummy that is repelled by a scarab you're meant to be carrying. It's not possible to enter that room without the undead-repelling item through normal play, since zombies would kill you, but via debug modes you can teleport straight into the mummy's tomb without the item.
33	*** In the AGI version, the mummy automatically walks up to you and is then 'repelled' by the scarab even if you don't have it - it's basically a cutscene animation without checks.
34	*** In the SCI version, if you don't have the scarab, they added code to have the mummy kill you, complete with a death message asking how you got there.
35	* DownerBeginning: The royal family just had their BigDamnReunion after Alexander's absence for 17 years and the evil three-headed dragon has been slain. Then, the story begins with King Graham having a stroke.
36	* DreadfulMusician: The stupid minstrel.
37	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Rosella ''definitely'' does. [[spoiler: So does Edgar - even though it takes several games for it to happen.]]
38	* EasterEgg: Aside from the aforementioned DevelopersRoom, there's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OCMJKpkEB0 "rap kq"]].
39	* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: The cemetery and manor house become infested with zombies after dark. One touch ''should'' result in Rosella turning into a zombie, but this is unlikely to happen: zombies don't show up until night falls, and night won't fall for 12 hours of real-life time ''or'' once you get the item that protects Rosella from zombies. The zombies end up being a little pointless, even. [[spoiler: The final FetchQuest of the game even requires Rosella to venture into a tomb where a mummy tries to attack her, but it's repelled by the protective item!]] What a waste of a puzzle!
40	* {{Expy}}: Judging from their designs, Genesta and Lolotte are clearly based on Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. In fact, Lolotte's death at the end of the game directly references the famous "I'm melting, melting!" line from the movie.
41	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Rosella's ''many'' meetings with Lolotte.
42	* FaintInShock: [[NonstandardGameOver When Rosella is forced to marry Edgar]], she faints after kissing him. The thought of Rosella's father dying, failing to save Genesta, being stranded in Tamir, being forcibly married to an ugly hunchback, having Lolotte as her mother-in-law and dooming the world by giving Lolotte Pandora's box probably took its emotional toll on the poor girl.
43	* FallingDamage: Sierra is famous for this. It's obvious that Rosella will die by falling from a tall height, but Rosella can die by falling from a three-foot tall cliff onto a sandy beach. That's how bad Sierra was. Because of this, Sierra game veterans learned to save whenever encountering stairs or high places. Genesta's palace is the only place in the game where staircases have guardrails. Heavenly, heavenly guardrails.
44	* FairyTale: Standard for the series. Unless you know your Grimm, you have no reason to start cleaning the Dwarf house you come across.
45	* FarSideIsland: A far side island becomes an actual walkable terrain and part of the story.
46	* FetchQuest: Of course. Finding the fruit, finding the three treasures to get close to Lolotte, and about half a dozen smaller ones involved in each of those. A little weirdly you have to deliberately undo the ones for Lolotte to achieve total victory, instead of everything just being all better with her demise.
47	* GameOverMan: Every time you die, you are greeted with a pixelated portrait of Roberta Williams smiling at you. Though whether the player sees this smile as friendly, or mocking, depends on who is playing, and how frustrating the puzzle is that killed him/her.
48	* GenreBlindness: The Frog Prince is too oblivious to realize that Rosella's kiss outright proves that she can't be anything other than a Princess.
49	* GoodHurtsEvil: [[spoiler:Lolotte dies when Cupid's bow forces her to experience the pure emotion of love, which is like poison to her evil self.]]
50	* GraveHumor: The gravestones outside the mansion have {{pun}}-filled messages. Remember which are the few whose epitaphs are dead-serious. They're important.
51	* GorgeousGarmentGeneration: Inverted at first when Genesta changes Rosella's gown into peasant clothing. Played straight with Rosella [[spoiler: and Edgar]] at the end.
52	* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: All the winged goons are asleep when they should have been staying up all night guarding the castle's corridors.
53	* GuideDangIt: After cleaning the dwarves' house, they leave behind a pouch of diamonds. You are supposed to eventually give the diamonds to the fisherman, but ''first'', you have to go to the mine and offer to return it to the dwarf leader. He'll let you keep the diamonds and give you a lantern, which will help you get the magic fruit. Many players assume the diamonds are the dwarves' gift for Rosella cleaning the house, not something they accidentally left behind. Nor is it easy to figure out what you're missing or even if you are missing an item when you try to get through the dark cave on the way to the fruit.
54	* HaveANiceDeath: Standard practice for a King's Quest game, but there are a few unique situations. You can [[TooDumbToLive open Pandora's Box]], [[StealthBasedMission fail to sneak through Lolotte's castle]], and many more.
55	* HauntedHouse: Whatley Manor ([[Literature/TheDunwichHorror Yes, it IS named for what you think]]), complete with zombies running about the grounds and ghosts a-plenty at night.
56	* HeroicDolphin: Well, a helpful one at least. It gets you off the deserted island.
57	* ImAHumanitarian:
58	** The ogres and their dog.
59	** Also the witches in the skull cave.
60	* ImmediateSequel: This game picks up the second ''King's Quest III'' ends, starting from its final scene.
61	* InUniverseGameClock: You only have a day to get the fruit and save Genesta, plus some tasks have to be completed at night. Fortunately, night normally won't fall until you need it to fall, and dawn won't come until you reach the end of the game. Night ''will'' fall on its own if you wait long enough, at which point you end up getting [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies killed by zombies]] pretty quick. Fortunately, the time it takes is literally hours of RealTime, and if you do the event that causes night to fall earlier then the zombies aren't a problem.
62	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Edgar...poor Edgar.
63	* JacobMarleyApparel: The manor ghosts. The miser is a very literal case.
64	* JumpScare: If you try to go into the mansion at night without protection a zombie leaps from the bushes and bites Rosella, turning her immediately into a zombie.
65	** There's also the troll in the cave. Every screen has a chance of it spawning and it's always terrifying.
66	* KleptomaniacHero: Notably averted in that you normally get rewarded for averting this: most people will give you stuff if you ask or give them something they need, and outright stealing is strongly discouraged as a result (in fact, you ''have'' to try to give something back to a character that forgot about it. You'll keep the item and they'll give you another one as well).
67	** There is two instances where you ''must'' steal something to progress: you must steal the axe from the Ogre to get through the forest, and you must steal the eye from the three witches in the cave. The witches then bargain with you to get their eye back, giving you an item that you need (and then trying to kill you afterwards because they're still evil).
68	* KingIncognito: Rosella is a princess in disguise, dressed that way to avoid the suspicion of the evil Lolotte. [[spoiler: It doesn't really work, as Lolotte nonetheless suspects that Rosella is something more than she seems because she doesn't look stupid enough to approach the castle by mistake.]]
69	* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: If a certain living tree grabs Rosella, the animation shows one of her shoes falling off while she struggles in vain.
70	* LuckBasedMission: Navigating the damn cave and avoiding the troll. The troll can appear from any of the room entrances, at any time, and kills you instantly if it touches you. And it moves faster than you. And it will ''always show up''. You have no defense other than running away, and you ''can't even do that''. And you have to navigate the dark cave ''twice'' and will fall a lot. Sierra is very unforgiving about falling.
71	* LuminescentBlush: Edgar blushes many times when he sees Rosella.
72	* MacGuffin: Early in the game, Rosella is captured by Lolotte and is tasked with bringing her various items to earn her mercy: a unicorn, the hen that lays golden eggs, and Pandora's box. The items have no significance to the story aside from being wanted by Lolotte and allowing Rosella to earn her trust.
73	* MayItNeverHappenAgain: Princess Rosella gets captured by the minions of the evil fairy Lolotte. One item Rosella must fetch to satisfy Lolotte is Pandora's Box, hidden in a mountain tomb. Once the evil fairy is defeated, Rosella returns Pandora's Box (unopened) to the tomb. There, she locks the door with the key, then kicks that key under the door, precluding anyone from opening that door again. Smart girl.
74	* TheMaze: The maze of caverns behind the waterfall, which you have to navigate ''in the dark''. Well, you do have a lantern, but it doesn't give off ''any'' light [[note]]the "sprite" for the lanterns light hovers directly behind Rosella, and there's only a few pixels around ''that'' allowing you to glimpse the path, or lack thereof[[/note]]. Oh, and there's a troll in the cave trying to eat you.
75	** It's not really a maze: it is four rooms arranged in a square.
76	* MercyRewarded: You should be nice to Edgar. [[ButThouMust Not that you have much of a choice...]]
77	* MessageInABottle: Rosella finds one containing ads for the previous games.
78	* ModestRoyalty: Justified - Rosella is intentionally disguised as a peasant girl.
79	* MultipleEndings: It's quite easy to get through the game and [[DownerEnding forget to look for the Magic Fruit]] - which is the main reason you traveled to Tamir in the first place!
80	** Fortunately, you can do that particular quest at almost any point of the game (after you get the crown, the lantern, the board and the flute). Even the ending, [[TakeYourTime when you really should be getting to Genesta as quickly as possible]].
81	** Even worse, you can go to all the trouble of getting the fruit-- and then ''eat the damn thing yourself.'' WhatTheHellHero!
82	** Worst of all, since the game is on a 24hr clock you can end the game without getting either the fruit or the talisman leading to the ultimate DownerEnding.
83	* NiceDayDeadlyNight: Places where the undead (zombies and ghosts) can be found are fairly safe to enter during the day. At night the undead come out and attack the living. In order to be safe, you need some kind of protection against them.
84	* NothingIsScarier: You never exactly see what the troll in the cave looks like since there's no light. You can only make out his silhouette and glowing green eyes.
85	** In the mansion at night, you're only given text notifications of the sounds that the ghosts make. Somehow, this manages to be creepier than if you could hear the sounds. It doesn't help that there's no music in the mansion, either during the day or at night.
86	* NoOSHACompliance: The stairs you have to climb up in the mansion and in Lolotte's castle have no railings. You wouldn't think this would be a problem, but they're ''spiral'' staircases, which means you have to use the north-south-east-west keyboard controls carefully. (Fortunately, you can also point and click in the SCI version.) And one wrong step will kill you. And then, when you finally make it to the top and complete the puzzle up there[[note]]god forbid you went up there without the necessary items[[/note]], you have to go ''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck back down]]''.
87	* OneHitPointWonder: Played with: you can fall from small heights and just feel dazed, but if you're attacked at all you still die.
88	* OurOgresAreHungrier: There's an Ogre and an Ogress living in a house with their over-sized dog. They’re inspired by the giants from ''Jack and the Beanstalk'', and even have a hen who lays golden eggs.
89	* OverlyGenerousTimeLimit: One day, as in 24 hours. As the game is much shorter than that and restoring a saved game also restores the clock, players are unlikely to ever notice there is a time limit. A certain event advances time to nightfall because otherwise you'd have to idle for 10 - 11 hours to reach night.
90	* PrinceCharmless: The unnamed obnoxious prince you save from being a frog. Also, Edgar [[spoiler:at least until he meets Genesta]].
91	* PrincessProtagonist: Princess Rosella is the heroine of the game.
92	* ThePowerOfLove: With which [[spoiler: Rosella kills the fairy witch Lolotte]].
93	* PublicDomainArtifact: Pandora's box is the third and final MacGuffin you have to give to Lolotte.
94	* QuietingTheUnquietDead: Rosella explores an old house with its own cemetery. In the attic, she's visited by various ghosts, who all require some trinket to lie quietly. The third or fourth of these ghosts is a small boy, who requires a toy. Once he's gotten it, he'll open a compartment which contains sheet music that's essential to win the game.
95	* RaceAgainstTheClock: Rosella has one day to accomplish all her quests and get home.
96	* RealTime: With the exception of a couple of Time Skips, every minute in real life is a minute in-game. You can even check the time using the clock in the haunted mansion.
97	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Lolotte's eyes are red and they glow whenever her evilness is amplified.
98	* RedHerring: Turns out neither of Graham's kids gets his hat.
99	* RoyalBrat: The Frog Prince, who is rude to you because you're a "peasant girl".
100	* RuleOfThree: Lolotte sends Rosella on three {{Fetch Quest}}s.
101	* SceneryPorn: Genesta's palace is easily the most beautiful place of the game with a beautiful garden, exotic birds and a sandy beach.
102	* SchmuckBait: Go ahead. [[TooDumbToLive Open Pandora's Box.]] [[BlatantLies It's probably fine.]]
103	* SealedEvilInACan: Pandora's box. Opening it will release demons who kill Rosella and doom the entire world.
104	* ShoutOut:
105	** The second ghost is chained to moneyboxes and safes, just like [[Literature/AChristmasCarol Jacob Marley]].
106	** The music playing in Lolotte's storage room is taken from ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest1InPursuitOfTheDeathAngel'', specifically, the song that plays when the cops put a chicken on the sergeant's desk. The same tune would later be used as the theme to ''Astro Chicken'' in ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestIIIThePiratesOfPestulon''.
107	** Genesta and Lolotte are the names of fairies from two obscure fairy tales that appear in Andrew Lang's ''Green Fairy Book''. Genesta is named after the good fairy from ''Heart of Ice'' while Lolotte is named after the fairy from ''Prince Vivien and the Princess Placida'' (interestingly enough, unlike her namesake, the Lolotte in ''Prince Vivien and the Princess Placida'' is not evil). Rosella and her mother Valanice are named after Rosanella and her mother Balanice from ''Rosanella'', another story in the same book. All three stories were originally written in the 18th century by the Comte de Caylus.
108	** One of of the companion gamebooks mentions Mannikin, the protagonist of ''Heart of Ice'', saying that long ago Genesta raised him and assisted him on his travels.
109	* StandardHeroReward: Nastily subverted, in that after [[ButThouMust bringing her three treasures]], the evil witch Lolotte offers to marry you to her ugly son. And promptly locks you up to have this carried out. That's a NonstandardGameOver if you don't escape in time.
110	* StealthBasedMission: Near the end of the game, you have to sneak through Lolotte's castle.
111	* SuddenlySuitableSuitor: Rosella's suddenly a lot more interested in Edgar after [[spoiler: Genesta transforms him]].
112	* SwallowedWhole: While swimming out in the vast ocean, Rosella gets swallowed up by an enormous whale. She must escape or share the fate of the skeletal remains of a man inside who she affectionately calls "James". The whale is too massive to escape via brute force. You have to climb back up to the mouth and tickle its uvula with a feather to make it sneeze Rosella out. This is arguably the most annoying part of the game, not only because escaping the whale by climbing out its throat often results in you sliding back down, but you also have to escape before Rosella passes out from lack of fresh air.
113	* SwansASwimming: There is a swan swimming around in a pond on Genesta's island. It doesn't affect the game in any way, but it's certainly very pretty.
114	* TechDemoGame: The game was marketed as a showcase for sound cards, namely the Ad-lib and Roland MT-32. Sierra even hired an outside composer for the first time, William Goldstein, to create the score.
115	* TheThreeTrials: Lolotte assigns Rosella the task of finding three legendary treasures to prove she isn't a spy (the unicorn from the box art, the goose that lays the golden eggs, and Pandora's Box).
116	* TimedMission:
117	** Although you'll never notice it in actual gameplay, because there's only one place you can check the time, and you might never think to do it even if you find it, you really do have [[RealTime exactly twenty-four hours]] to save Genesta and Graham.
118	** You have to escape the whale's mouth fast otherwise the fumes will get to you.
119	** You have to escape the deserted island or the thirst and overexposure to the sun will kill you.
120	* ToiletHumor: If you type "fart" the game says "You were raised better than that!"
121	* {{Threatening Shark}}s: There's a shark to dodge off Tamir's coast, and a whale that you'll also have to escape.
122	* TurnUndead: The magic amulet you get from the witches, which will save you from the zombies that walk the graveyard where you'll be solving puzzles to get the third treasure.
123	* UnfinishedBusiness: The ghosts at the manor. Rosella must dig up their graves to find the item they want to make them move on.
124	* UngratefulBastard: The bratty Prince who treats you like crap because of your clothes, stating that you're not a princess but "a ragged commoner". He could at least be thankful regardless.
125	* {{Unicorn}}: The first MacGuffin Lolotte demands. It's widely agreed that getting to befriend and ride the unicorn is one of the best parts in the game. It's too bad it didn't want to still be your friend longer than a day (at least you can kiss its nose while it's "tame"!) Given that you handed it over to Lolotte, it's not surprising that it doesn't like you after that.
126	* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Eating or forgetting the magic fruit you were supposed to use to save your father's life. [[DownerEnding If you saved Genesta, she'll return you home in time to watch your father pass away]].
127	* UpdatedRerelease: The primary SCI release was updated in 1989 and featured some enhancements, such as a faster default walk speed for Rosella. More significant, however, were the many backgrounds modified to give the game a more streamlined art style, and also to allow one background to serve as both the night and day screen, with a starry sky overlay placed over the daytime sky. (The original 1988 release had completely separate files for the day and night screens and thus took up more disk space.)
128	** The Amiga port, based on the 1989 update, also came with digital sound effects, something no other release had.
129	* UnconventionalWeddingDress: If you end up in the bad ending where Rosella is forced to marry Edgar, she's made to wear a black wedding gown for the ceremony.
130	* UvulaEscapeRoute: There's a puzzle in which Rosella is swallowed by a whale, and must use a peacock feather to tickle its uvula in order to escape.
131	* WanderingMinstrel: Rosella meets one who is absolutely terrible at his job. She gives him a copy of "The Compleat Works of William Shakespeare" [sic], so he can go off and become an absolutely terrible actor.
132	** His official name is Frankie of Avalon.[[note]]A reference to Frankie Avalon, TeenIdol singer of the late 50s turned actor of the 60s and 70s[[/note]]
133	* WhenTreesAttack: The forest surrounding the three witches' cave has trees with ominous glowing eyes. If you get to close, well...[[YetAnotherStupidDeath don't get too close.]] You need to show them that you're a threat before you can pass through the forest safely.
134	* WickedWitch: Lolotte, the game's villain, is an evil, green-skinned magic user. There's also a trio of evil witches who live in a skull-shaped cave and have to share a single glass eye to see, clearly inspired by the Graeae sisters of Greek Mythology.

Context VideoGame / KingsQuestIVThePerilsOfRosella