History YMMV / KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder

-->'''Cedric:''' OH NO GRAHAM! WATCH OUT!\\

'''Narrator:''' Uh oh. [[HaveANiceDeath That last step was a doozy!]]

** The fact that the game was made on an one million dollar budget is frequently brought up to snark on the game, mainly because they didn't seem to spend it on the voice cast.

* PortingDisaster: You can't say the UsefulNotes/{{N|intendoEntertainmentSystem}}ES version wasn't ambitious, but it was a far cry from what Creator/{{Jaleco}} accomplished with ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'' or Creator/{{Kemco}} with their ''VideoGame/MacVenture'' ports on the same platform, though there is a large difference in game scopes that had to be compressed for the NES cartridges (one floppy for those games versus ten for ''KQV'') and a more advanced color palette that had to be accounted for. At least it [[AntiFrustrationFeatures minimizes or removes]] some of the {{Unwinnable}} features, like giving you a second chance to save the mouse from the cat. Nevertheless, it still ends up looking ugly and brown, had an extremely clunky attempt to adapt the mouse/icon control scheme of the original version to an NES controller, plus having to deal with a long PasswordSave system instead of battery backup can get frustrating.

* CondemnedByHistory: This game was huge in the early to mid nineties, getting positive reviews and winning many awards, and not undeservedly so -- at the time, an adventure game with its level of exploration and immersion, as well as high-quality graphics, story cutscenes, and voice acting was genuinely impressive. Unfortunately, while lots of people have fond memories of it, it hasn't aged well to most, as people are more likely to criticize it for its [[GuideDangIt nonsensical puzzles]] that often cause the game to become {{Unwinnable|ByDesign}} for overly convoluted reasons if you fail to solve them ([[PixelHunt or even notice they exist at all]]), poor voice acting in the CD-ROM version (provided by people from around the office), and annoying characters (most infamously, [[TheScrappy Cedric the Owl]]). Even ''King's Quest'' fans often tell newcomers to avoid this installment.

* OnceOriginalNowCommon: It's difficult to overstate how big of a deal ''King's Quest V'' was at the time of release, marking a paradigm shift in {{Adventure Game}}s by way of its introduction of [[PointAndClickGame point-and-click exploration]], colorful and detailed graphics, and robust sound, including voice acting in the CD-ROM version, making it one of the first "talkie" games. Nowadays, however, with technology becoming far more advanced and such practices being more common-practice, this tidbit is usually seen as just a curiosity.

** Mordack's castle is full of these, but the most prominent is the weird blue alien thing and the piece of moldy cheese. You actually have to let yourself be caught by the alien thing and thrown in prison, where you then have to notice a tiny rat crawling into a [[PixelHunt barely noticeable hole]] and get a piece of moldy cheese from it, which you need for a later puzzle that gives you absolutely no indication that it's the right thing to use. Also, Cassima only comes to rescue you from your cell once, so this is your only chance to get it (not to mention you have to find a way to incapacitate the blue alien thing next time it appears, or else it'll toss you in prison a second time for a game over. You can win without incapacitating the monster, but doing so will prevent gaining the item to get past Manannan, so you'd have to be lucky and avoid either of them showing up.).

* CondemnedByHistory: While the game was very popular, and seemingly issued with every CD-ROM drive in the '90s, in hindsight it's one of the least-liked games in the series. Many players still loathe Cedric, and the "multimedia" version is remembered as a [[TechDemoGame glorified tech demo]]. Even ''King's Quest'' fans tell players to avoid this installment.

* OnceOriginalNowCommon: This game was huge in the early to mid nineties, getting positive reviews and winning many awards, and not undeservedly so -- at the time, an adventure game with its level of exploration and immersion, as well as high-quality graphics, story cutscenes, and voice acting was genuinely quite impressive. Unfortunately, while lots of people have fond memories of it, it hasn't aged well to most. Nowadays, people are more likely to criticize it for its [[GuideDangIt nonsensical puzzles]] that often cause the game to become {{Unwinnable|ByDesign}} for overly convoluted reasons if you fail to solve them ([[PixelHunt or even notice they exist at all]])[[labelnote:example]]You can't kill the Yeti, because you don't have a pie to throw at him, because you ate it while you were starving, because you didn't have a leg of lamb to eat instead, because you couldn't explore the inn's kitchen to find it, because you couldn't escape after being captured by the innkeeper, because you didn't throw a shoe at a cat to save a rat who could gnaw on the ropes)[[/labelnote]], poor voice acting in the CD-ROM version (provided by people from around the office), and annoying characters (most infamously, [[TheScrappy Cedric the Owl]]).

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: This game was huge in the mid nineties, getting positive reviews and winning many awards, and not undeservedly so -- at the time, an adventure game with its level of exploration and immersion, as well as high-quality graphics, story cutscenes, and voice acting was genuinely quite impressive. Unfortunately, while lots of people have fond memories of it, it hasn't aged well to most. Nowadays, people are more likely to criticize it for its [[GuideDangIt nonsensical puzzles]] that often cause the game to become {{Unwinnable|ByDesign}} for overly convoluted reasons if you fail to solve them ([[PixelHunt or even notice they exist at all]])[[labelnote:example]]You can't kill the Yeti, because you don't have a pie to throw at him, because you ate it while you were starving, because you didn't have a leg of lamb to eat instead, because you couldn't explore the inn's kitchen to find it, because you couldn't escape after being captured by the innkeeper, because you didn't throw a shoe at a cat to save a rat who could gnaw on the ropes)[[/labelnote]], poor voice acting in the CD-ROM version (provided by people from around the office), and [[TheScrappy annoying characters]] (most infamously, Cedric the Owl).

** For extra humor, ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestIV'' turns him into a target that you're able to hit and score 50 points from in Ms. Astro Chicken.

** Cedric. The. Owl. He gives useless information, he leaves when anything dangerous happens, he slows down the action (you have to wait for him to land on something and then speak before moving on every screen), his voice is high pitched and ridiculous, the only time he gives useful advice is after you can do anything about it. He's so much reviled that, in an EasterEgg of the VGA FanRemake of ''King's Quest II,'' an old King Graham runs after the damn owl with his sword ready to strike. And in ''VideoGame/FreddyPharkasFrontierPharmacist'', an official game released by Sierra, you see him wandering in the desert, and later find vultures picking at his bones.

** The infamous encounter with the innkeeper in which his goon RUBS YOU OUT and ties you up is reminiscent of the "gimp" scene from ''Film/PulpFiction''. Only this one came out first.

** The bear. Retsupurae keep calling for it to return during their {{MST}} of the game, and no wonder -- the damn ursine ''punches out Graham!''

* MemeticBadass: The bear that punches out Graham and the [=POOOOOIsonous=] snake which manages to take up ''half of the game'' just by sitting on a random road.

** The fact that the game was made on an ''one million dollar budget'' is frequently brought up to snark on the game, mainly because they didn't seem to spend it on the voice cast.

** Cedric. The. Owl. He gives useless information, he leaves when anything dangerous happens, he slows down the action (you have to wait for him to land on something and then speak before moving, ''on every screen''), his voice is high pitched and ridiculous, the only time he gives useful advice is after you can do anything about it, and he is so. Fucking. ''Annoying.'' So much reviled that, in an EasterEgg of the VGA FanRemake of ''King's Quest II,'' an old King Graham runs after the damn owl with his sword ready to strike. And in ''VideoGame/FreddyPharkasFrontierPharmacist'', an ''official game'' released by Sierra, you see him wandering in the desert, and later find vultures picking at his bones.

** And by the time Graham reaches Mordack's island, he's audibly becoming annoyed with Cedric. It doesn't help that Cedric ''begs'' Graham to go back, ''never mind that they have NO WAY to return at all!''
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: This game was huge in the mid nineties, getting positive reviews and winning many awards, and not undeservedly so -- at the time, an adventure game with its level of exploration and immersion, as well as high-quality graphics, story cutscenes, and voice acting was genuinely quite impressive. Unfortunately, while lots of people have fond memories of it, it ''really'' hasn't aged well. Nowadays, people are more likely to criticize it for its [[GuideDangIt nonsensical puzzles]] that often cause the game to become {{Unwinnable|ByDesign}} for overly convoluted reasons if you fail to solve them ([[PixelHunt or even notice they exist at all]])[[labelnote:example]]You can't kill the Yeti, because you don't have a pie to throw at him, because you ate it while you were starving, because you didn't have a leg of lamb to eat instead, because you couldn't explore the inn's kitchen to find it, because you couldn't escape after being captured by the innkeeper, because you didn't throw a shoe at a cat to save a rat who could gnaw on the ropes)[[/labelnote]], poor voice acting in the CD-ROM version (provided by people from around the office), and [[TheScrappy annoying characters]] (most infamously, Cedric the Owl).

** The desert. It's a load of TrialAndErrorGameplay in which you must map out the oases, and it is likely you avoid it early on, never mind it is one of the ''first'' areas you must explore in the game.

** Mordack's castle is ''full'' of these, but the most prominent is the weird blue alien thing and the piece of moldy cheese. You actually have to ''let'' yourself be caught by the alien thing and thrown in prison, where you then have to notice a tiny rat crawling into a [[PixelHunt barely noticeable hole]] and get a piece of moldy cheese from it, which you need for a later puzzle that gives you absolutely ''no'' indication that it's the right thing to use. Also, Cassima only comes to rescue you from your cell ''once'', so this is your only chance to get it (not to mention you have to find a way to incapacitate the blue alien thing next time it appears, or else it'll toss you in prison a second time for a game over. You ''can'' win without incapacitating the monster, but doing so will prevent gaining the item to get past Manannan, so you'd have to be lucky and avoid either of them showing up.).

* WTHCastingAgency: The CD-ROM version of the game was voiced by Sierra employees, with varying degrees of success. Sierra learned their lesson, and pioneered the concept of Hollywood actors voicing computer games. (That being said, developer Josh Mandel was good enough to reprise the role for VI (where his character has one line), and Mandel has been gracious enough to lend his voice to the {{Fan Remake}}s.)

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: This game was huge in the mid nineties, getting positive reviews and winning many awards, and not undeservedly so -- at the time, an adventure game with its level of exploration and immersion, as well as high-quality graphics, story cutscenes, and voice acting was genuinely quite impressive. Unfortunately, while lots of people have fond memories of it, it ''really'' hasn't aged well. Nowadays, people are more likely to criticize it for its [[GuideDangIt nonsensical puzzles]] that often cause the game to become {{Unwinnable|ByDesign}} for overly convoluted reasons if you fail to solve them ([[PixelHunt or even notice they exist at all]])[[labelnote:example]]You can't kill the Yeti, because you don't have a pie to throw at him, because you ate it while you were starving, because you didn't have a leg of lamb to eat instead, because you couldn't explore the inn's kitchen to find it, because you couldn't escape after being captured by the innkeeper, because you didn't throw a shoe at a cat to save a rat who could gnaw on the ropes)[[/labelnote]], poor voice acting in the CD-ROM version (seemingly provided mostly by people from around the office), and [[TheScrappy annoying characters]] (most infamously, Cedric the Owl).

* WTHCastingAgency: The CD-ROM version of the game was voiced by Sierra employees, with varying degrees of success. Sierra learned their lesson, and pioneered the concept of Hollywood actors voicing computer games. (That being said, developer Josh Mandel was good enough to reprise the role for VI, and Mandel has been gracious enough to lend his voice to the {{Fan Remake}}s.)

** Mordack's castle is ''full'' of these, but the most prominent is the weird blue alien thing and the piece of moldy cheese. You actually have to ''let'' yourself be caught by the alien thing and thrown in prison, where you then have to notice a tiny rat crawling into a [[PixelHunt barely noticeable hole]] and get a piece of moldy cheese from it, which you need for a later puzzle that gives you absolutely ''no'' indication that it's the right thing to use. Also, Cassima only comes to rescue you from your cell ''once'', so this is your only chance to get it (not to mention you have to find a way to incapacitate the blue alien thing next time it appears, or else it'll toss you in prison a second time for a game over).

* CantUnhearIt: Creator/JoshMandel as Graham.

* IdiotPlot: The ''entire first half of the game'' is spent trying to solve ''a single puzzle'' -- find a way to get the snake out of the way of the mountain path. Seriously, Graham couldn't, say, throw a stick at it? Throw a lute at it? Crush it with a sled? No, he absolutely ''has'' to get rid of it by shaking a tambourine at it? ''Seriously?'' Never mind that the FIRST thing you must do in this game is to traverse the harsh desert with no provisions whatsoever.

* PortingDisaster: You can't say the UsefulNotes/{{N|intendoEntertainmentSystem}}ES version wasn't ambitious, but it was a far cry from what Creator/{{Jaleco}} accomplished with ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'' or Creator/{{Kemco}} with their ''VideoGame/MacVenture'' ports on the same platform, though there is a large difference in game scopes that had to be compressed for the NES cartridges (one floppy for those games versus ten for ''KQV'') and a more advanced color palette that had to be accounted for. At least it [[AntiFrustrationFeatures minimizes or removes]] some of the {{Unwinnable}} features, like giving you a second chance to save the mouse from the cat. Nevertheless, it still ends up looking ugly and brown, an extremely clunky attempt to adapt the mouse/icon control scheme of the original version to an NES controller, plus having to deal with a long PasswordSave system instead of battery backup can get frustrating.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: This game was huge in the mid nineties, getting positive reviews and winning many awards, and not undeservedly so -- at the time, an adventure game with its level of exploration and immersion, as well as high-quality graphics, story cutscenes, and voice acting was genuinely quite impressive. Unfortunately, while lots of people have fond memories of it, it ''really'' hasn't aged well. Nowadays, people are more likely to criticize it for its [[GuideDangIt nonsensical puzzles]] that often cause the game to become {{Unwinnable|ByDesign}} for overly convoluted reasons if you fail to solve them ([[PixelHunt or even notice they exist at all]])[[labelnote:example]]You can't kill the Yeti, because you don't have a pie to throw at him, because you ate it while you were starving, because you didn't have a leg of lamb to eat instead, because you couldn't explore the inn's kitchen to find it, because you couldn't escape after being captured by the innkeeper, because you didn't throw a shoe at a cat to save a rat who could gnaw on the ropes)[[/labelnote]], poor voice acting (in the CD-ROM version), and [[TheScrappy annoying characters]] (most infamously, Cedric the Owl).

* PortingDisaster: You can't say the UsefulNotes/{{N|intendoEntertainmentSystem}}ES version wasn't ambitious, but it was a far cry from what Creator/{{Jaleco}} accomplished with ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'' or Creator/{{Kemco}} with their ''VideoGame/MacVenture'' ports on the same platform, though there is a large difference in game scopes that had to be compressed for the NES cartridges (one floppy for those games versus ten for ''KQV'') and a more advanced color palette that had to be accounted for. At least it [[AntiFrustrationFeatures minimizes or removes]] some of the {{Unwinnable}} features, like giving you a second chance to save the mouse from the cat. Nevertheless, it still ends up looking ugly and brown, plus having to deal with a long PasswordSave system instead of battery backup can get frustrating.

** Cedric. The. Owl. He gives useless information, he leaves when anything dangerous happens, he slows down the action (you have to wait for him to land on something and then speak before moving, ''on every screen''), his voice is high pitched and ridiculous, the only time he gives useful advice is after you can do anything about it, and he is so. Fucking. ''Annoying.'' So much reviled that, in an EasterEgg of the VGA remake of ''King's Quest II,'' an old King Graham runs after the damn owl with his sword ready to strike. And in ''VideoGame/FreddyPharkasFrontierPharmacist'', an ''official game'' released by Sierra, you see him wandering in the desert, and later find vultures picking at his bones.