Dilandau3000 plays King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow - Part 5 of 43

We have a talk with the ferryman, and find out that not all is well in the Land of the Green Isles.

All maps by Dan_.

Isle of the Crown

To the west of the large house is the docks. If you go there, a man will jump into the water near the dock. Notice that when he stands there in the water, his eyes have a golden glow. This guy is the man with the glowing golden eyes that you saw when Alexander talked to the vizier. If you join him for a swim, you will die. Instead, just stand there and he'll disappear. Apparently, Alexander thinks nothing of it.

Use the hand icon on the door of the ferry. You'l meet the ferryman. Speak to the ferryman. After Alexander mentions Ali from the book shop, he'll let you in. Talk to him inside, and you'll find out that due to the feuding between the islands, travel is too dangerous. Since Vizier al-Hazred stopped sea travel, the ferry hasn't sailed. You'll find out the source of the feud is over stolen property. Fixing the ferry would be counterproductive at this point, as it suffers from dry rot from being out of the ocean for soon long. It would break apart as soon as it touched the ocean.

The only other way to travel is through a magic map, and the only way to get information on it is through one person we haven't met just yet: the pawn shop owner down in the village.

Talk to the ferryman again. The ferryman will tell you about his last trip with both the Queen and Princess Cassima. Apparently, both of them had been coldly received at one of the islands due to the "he said, she said" of the recent feuding.

Talking to him again will (not surprisingly) reveal that there is no other seaworthy ship on the island, as ships tend not to last for very long around the Land of the Green Isles.

Talk to the ferryman after this and you'll learn more about Princess Cassima. Apparently, she is a very virtuous woman whose heart is pure. Not surprisingly, her mother and father, the King and Queen were the same way, as they served the island and cared about the people in them.

Keep talking to the ferryman and you'll learn about the other islands. The Isle of Wonder is a bit strange, but if you have a sense of humor, it's wonderful. The Isle of the Beast is interesting, but you won't be able to get very far. The Isle of the Sacred Mountain has some elusive creatures that are quite a sight.

You'll also hear about a legend where The Land of the Green Isles is near the edge of the world, and that the strong ocean currents are some sort of magnetism that sucks life from this world to the next.

There is a lucky rabbit's foot on the table. If you use the hand icon on it, the ferryman will let you have it. You're done here, so use the hand icon on the door and you'll leave the ferry.

Dilandau3000 plays King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow - Part 4 of 43

We check out more of Ali's Books in this entry...

All maps by Dan_.

Isle of the Crown

Use the hand icon on the books on the far right side of the bookstore. You'll read some love poetry. Believe it or not, the poetry isn't that bad, and the narrator's voice actually gives it a bit of justice. There is even one poem Alexander particularly likes as it hits a bit close to home. When Alexander puts the book back, a page will fall out. Pick up the page with the hand icon. It's Alexander's specific poem from before. Amazingly, Ali lets you keep it.

The far left has cookbooks. If you try to read one, the game makes a reference to King's Quest III.

Between the door and the children's books is a table with a free book. Take the book. If you read it, you'll find out that it's very, very boring.

If you take the black book on the table in the center, Alexander will just read it.

In front of Ali is a book of magic spells. If you use the hand icon on it, Alexander will talk to Ali. You'll need to find a rare book to exchange for the book of spells.

We're done here, so head out of the bookstore and head through the arch to check out more of the island. You'll see a rather large house, and out pops a servant girl. As she looks at the roses, an old woman mercilessly savages her as she tells her to get back to work. This is obviously a reference to Cinderella.

Dilandau3000 plays King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow - Part 3 of 43

Well, we can't do anything at the castle, so let's check out the village.

All maps by Dan_.

Isle of the Crown

You could go down the path leadin west of the castle entrance, but it won't really do any good this early in the game. All it does is lead to nothing.

Here is another thing that should be mentioned that sets this game apart from the last one: unlike the last game, if you try to swim into the sea, you actually get a warning before[ you get swept in by the undertow, as opposed to being told you're going to drown only to drown anyway. If you still go any further, you'll be swept into the ocean to your death.

If you die, you get what is probably the best post-death stuff in the game: Alexander goes to some sort of land of the dead, takes a ticket made from the skin of part of an arch from what looks like a bird-skeleton man (even though he's the only one in some sort of queue), gives the ticket to a man in armor before going through the door in a skull made out of some sort of fleshy material and having the door closing behind him. All the while, two skeletons watch as a transparent Alexander just resigns himself to his fate as he's all like "Well, I died."

Head back to the fork and go left to the village. There's a pawn shop, a key shaped arch leading to another end of the village, and a man sitting on the ground who will trade old magic lamps for new ones. If you talk to this man, you'll find out that he is hoping to luck out and find a real genie.

If you go here first instead of the castle, you'll find out you're in the Land of the Green Isles from the first villager you talk to instead of the castle guards.

The two shops to the right are Ali's Books and the Pawn Shoppe. Enter Ali's Books. Ignore the man in the black robe who glances at Alexander from the side, as he won't respond to you. It should be mentioned that Ali is voiced by the late, great Don Messick.

Talk to Ali. He'll tell you about this isle, as well as the fact that there are three other islands: the Isle of the Sacred Mountain, the Isle of Wonder and the Isle of the Beast. He'll also tell you of a supposed fourth island covered in mist. The only way to learn more about these islands is to meet the leaders of them first hand. Unfortunately, due to political infighting between the islands and the fact that traveling between islands has been dangerous for years, you won't be able to take the ferry between the islands which has since been decommissioned.

Dilandau3000 plays King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow - Part 2 of 43

In this video, we start looking around and check out a castle. Not much to this, but you get a good idea of how much this game improves over the last.

All maps by Dan_.

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Look around.

You'll find a shiny object to the left. If you focus the eye icon on it, you'll find out it's Alexander's royal insignia ring. Take it.

You'll also notice a plank to the right. Use the hand icon on it and Alexander will move it to one side. You'll find a box. Use the hand icon on it, and open it up to find a single copper coin. Take the coin.

You're as ready as you'll ever be, so go north and venture out into the rest of the island. You'll find a fork in the road. The left path leads to a marketplace, while the right path leads to the castle. Let's check out the castle.

There are two dog men acting as guards. Obviously, they'll block your path if you try to get in. Talk to them, and you'll find out you're in the Land of the Green Isles! Your current location is the Isle of the Crown, the main island and home of the royal family...including Princess Cassima. What luck! But if you keep talking, they still won't let you in. Show them your ring. (The coin won't work.) You'll meet Captain Saladin (voiced by the late Tony Jay), who looks like a border collie. You'll gain entry to the castle.

You'll meet Vizier Abdul Al-hazred. You'll find out that both of Cassima's parents became ill and have since passed, Cassima is in morning and that she and the Vizier are to be wed. So much for making your way here, since you have no way out and Saladin has orders not to let you into the castle again.

Notice the guy with the gleaming gold eyes in the center. You'll be seeing him again.

Dilandau3000 plays King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow - Part 1 of 43

You have absolutely no idea how long I've been waiting to do this one. At 43 parts, this entry in this long-running, popular series became not only the biggest and grandest adventure to date, but in the history of the entire series as well.

Unlike the other games, this one was co-written by Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen, who wrote the Gabriel Knight series. As a result, the game's story is better than that of the fifth. Jensen also wrote the guidebook.

The game no longer asks if this is your first time playing, and instead just gives you the option of either playing the opening which then leads to playing the game, restoring your game or just going straight to the beginning without the intro...all from the main menu! About time!

There is speech in the CD-ROM version of the game, and compared to the fifth game, the speech audio is a vast improvement over the original. The voice actors are hired from outside of Sierra and really sound motivated, and aren't simply Sierra staff just reading lines off of a sheet of paper.

The sixth game begins with Prince Alexander (voiced by Robbie Benson) thinking about Princess Cassima of the Green Isles, both of whom met briefly at the end of the fifth game. Thoughts of her have tormented him for months, until one night an image of Cassima appears in the Magic Mirror. Cassima is trapped in a tower, and longs for Alexander. Alexander pays attention to the stars in the night sky as he looks on, and tells his mother, Queen Valanice, that he has to sail out into the sea if he has any hope of finding Cassima.

After three long months, Alexander finally spots land, but it will still take hours for him and his crew to actually reach it. Before they can get there, a storm brews and wrecks their ship. Alexander then wakes up an unknown amount of time after this alone.

The commands for the drop-down menu at the top are the same as the last game, but for those needing a refresher course, here they are from left to right:

Walk: With this icon, you can move Alexander around by clicking on a location. Just be careful where you click, because there is definitely as many ways to die as the last five games...probably more.

Hand: With this icon, you can pick up objects if you click on them. Just because it's not nailed down doesn't mean you can take it with you, but it's there for a reason and you'll never know what you can collect until you try.

Eye: With this icon, you can look at and examine objects in the immediate area.

Speech Bubble: With this icon, you can talk to people.

Inventory Item: When you select an item from your inventory, it appears in this slot. This lets you interact with things in the environment with that item. The simplest example: if you have a key in your inventory, it can appear there. You can switch to it and click on a locked door to try your luck at unlocking it.

Pack: This is your inventory, which shows everything you currently have on your person.

Settings Switch: These are the game settings. Here, you can save and load games, and also play around with the volume settings for music, sounds and speech.

The Music of ActRaiser...AGAIN

Here's all the music from the game again, now in playlist form because I didn't know about playlist embeds back then. Enjoy!

HCBailly plays ActRaiser - Part 10 of 10

Here it is: the final battle against Tanzra!

Once you enter Death Heim, there's no turning back. You'll enter a boss rush where you fight all the Act 2 bosses again, in the order of towns you developed. Some of the bosses are more vicious than last time, some aren't. The changes are listed below.

Also, if you have magic, use it now. Magic will not work on the Final Boss, and any magic you do use on it will only work on its attacks.

Refer back to the blog entries where they first appeared for boss strategies. Some of them may not work here because of the changes, but in case you need a reminder...there you go. Also, updated stuff for the Wizard/Werewolf boss from Bloodpool and the Ogre Wheel from Aitos are in this blog, so read up!

Minotaur

He's much faster this time around. The whole "jump over his axe when he throws another at you" tactic will barely work unless your reflexes are impeccable and you have more distance.

You'll probably be using magic on him at least once this time around. Hope you have a lot of MP and a lot of lives...

Also, loving the lunar eclipse in the background of those boss fights.

Wizard/Werewolf

He's as easy as ever.

Also, finally found out that he follows you around and leaps at you if you're on the platforms...assuming you don't kill him with magic like last time.

Pharoah

Same as ever.

Ogre Wheel

If you can beat him without magic, you don't have much to worry about.

Snake

Also the same as ever.

Ice Wyvern

If you thought this would be the same, you thought wrong. The ice crystals from its breath fly farther when the attack hits the ground, making it easier to take splash damage.

You'll probably have to hit it from behind during the ice breath, but thankfully it's not faster than in Northwall.

After this, you'll face Tanzra.

First Form

Tanzra's first form isn't that bad.

He'll attack with his own version of Magical Stardust, and it works a bit like your own, except the projectiles are blue and slightly bigger. Go all the way to the right and duck, so it won't hit you.

If you're too close to the right side of the screen, go all the way to the left and jump when the Magical Stardust comes at you.

After this, Tanzra will drop down and shoot projectiles at you. If you stand at the right distance, face him and duck, you'll be able to attack him with the waves of light while the projectiles will fly around you in a sine wave pattern, missing you completely.

Yes...you have that power-up again for this battle. Give 'im hell!

Second Form

Biggest. Life Bar. Ever.

He'll shoot three fireballs at you and they'll attack from above and below, closing in on the same spot you are. Move forward a little bit when they close in and they shouldn't be able to hurt you.

The chest cavity that protects the blue orb in his body opens up. As he draws energy from it to shoot a lightning bolt, wail away at it with the waves of light. When he fires it, stop attacking and duck!

He'll then shoot two crackling balls of energy - one blue and one red - from his mouth twice. The blue one is always in the air, while the red one is underneath the "floor." Destroy the blue ones, you'll more than likely take out the red ones while attack him after he shoots the fireballs again, making it a priority to take as little damage as possible against Tanzra's first form.

His attack pattern will repeat itself, but if you can stay alive, you can take him down in no time!

If you have Magical Light equipped, use it when Tanzra's attack pattern begins to repeat. You'll get rid of all the fireballs that move towards you while making the pairs he 

Once you beat him, enjoy your credits...as well as your ending sequence with typos.

Also, the beginning of the credits music sounds like the 20th Century Fox theme.

Yuzo Koshiro composed the music for this game, by the way.