King's Quest V Instruction Booklet (NES)

King's Quest V                                       [NES-8Q-USA]

Konami, Inc.

-- CONGRATULATIONS!

You are now the proud owner of  from Konami. This is the official Nintendo Entertainment System(r) adaptation of the award- winning computer game by Roberta Williams. Before you sidle off to Serenia and search for Mordack, please read this manual thoroughly.

THE QUEST THUS FAR...

Long ago, in the kingdom of Daventry, there were three magical treasures that kept the kingdom strong and prosperous: A magic mirror that foretold the future, an enchanted shield with the power to overthrow any invaders, and a treasure chest that was never empty. These treasures were taken from Daventry by deception and stealth, and without them Daventry grew poor and weak and King Edward, once a stout-hearted and vigorous ruler, had become powerless and sickly. Edward had no heir, and everyone feared the chaos that would result upon his death.

King Edward asked his bravest knight, Sir Graham, to embark upon a quest to recover the three treasures. Graham's quest was successful, and as his reward, King Edward named Sir Graham his heir and granted him the throne of Daventry.

King Graham was a wise and kindly monarch, and with his great wisdom and the return of the three treasures, Daventry prospered once again. But Graham knew that he must soon marry and establish his own royal line with an heir to the throne. He searched far and wide, but no maiden in the kingdom possessed the qualities he sought in a queen.

One day King Graham saw in his magic mirror a vision of a lovely young woman held prisoner in a crystal tower. The mirror told him that her name was Valanice, a girl both beautiful and good, who had been stolen from her home and taken to a far land. Graham vowed to find her and set her free. After a long journey with many trials, he did, and asked her to be his queen.

In time, Queen Valanice and King Graham became the parents of twins, a son and a daughter. Life in Daventry was peaceful and good - for a time.

In a land far away lived an evil and powerful wizard named Manannan. It was his wont to kidnap infant boys and raise them to be his slaves, eliminating each in turn before he was full-grown and could pose a threat to the wizard's dominance. His most recent vassal, a boy he called Gwydion, was, however, unusually bright and perceptive. He mastered several of Manannan's spells and cast one against him which turned Manannan into a cat. With that, Gwydion was free!

After a time, Gwydion's travels brought him to Daventry, not the lovely and peaceful Daventry of days gone by, but a land devastated by a terrible affliction. The kingdom had fallen victim to the ravages of a dreadful three-headed dragon, which had burned the land all around and drove many people away from the town.

Gwydion was able to use his newly found powers to destroy the dragon and rescue the intended victim from its lair. He was taken before the King and Queen and rewarded in such a way as he never could have imagined in his life as Manannan's slave.

In later years, King Graham's health began to fail, and the royal physicians were powerless to help him. Only a magical fruit from the faraway land of Tamir could bring about a cure and restore the health of Daventry's monarch. Graham's daughter, Princess Rosella, set off in pursuit of this healing magic for her father. On her journey, she performed many brave deeds, and had many great adventures.

With the King's health fully restored, and his family together once more, it was a happy and fulfilled Graham who set out for a walk in the forest one spring day almost a year since Rosella had returned from Tamir. The kingdom was peaceful and prosperous again, and the people were content. Birds were singing in the trees. It seemed an auspicious sign.

As Graham was contemplating his good fortune, a sharp wind blew into the wood from the east, whirling up sticks and leaves into his path, and startling the birds into silence. The air grew suddenly colder. It seemed an unexpected storm was approaching. Graham began to walk back to the castle, his joyful mood broken by a dark foreboding.

When he reached the top of the gentle rise overlooking his home, he was horrified to see only empty space where the royal castle of Daventry had stood only minutes before. Cold fear gripped his heart. Where was his family? What had happened to them?

"Whoo-hoo... whoo-hoo." An owl hooted behind him, but Graham scarcely heard it over the pounding of his heart. "I can tell you what happened," came a voice behind him, and Graham spun around to confront a large owl in a blue vest and spectacles. "I know what happened to your castle. I saw it all," said the owl.

Journey into the magical world of               on a mission to find the missing castle and the royal family of Daventry.

written by Bridget McKenna.
 * "The Quest Thus Far..." was adapted from the Sierra game documentation,

HOW TO PLAY KING'S QUEST V

_King's Quest V_ is an adventure role-playing game in which you control all the movement and actions of the main character, King Graham. You will spend a lot of time in the game traveling to interesting - and sometimes dangerous - places. You'll look for useful items to help you reach your goal. You will also talk to people to get information and clues. On the screen in front of you will be Graham and his sidekick, the wise owl Cedric. Your actions will be controlled through the use of an. This is a strip across the top of the screen which has pictures (or ) that represent actions to be performed.

All of the activities performed through the icon bar are controlled with your NES(tm) controller. Let's look at the controller functions first, then the icon bar.

 - Press to move Graham in 8 directions. Also moves the pointers (called ) from the icon bar around.

 - Press to make the icon bar appear.

 - Press to turn the Pause Game feature on/off.

 - Quick-action button for using the Look, Talk and Action icons. This will be explained in the next section. Also used to cancel actions from the icon bar.

 - Use to advance text. Also used to carry out a selected action from the icon bar.

MY KINGDOM FOR AN ICON BAR!

 - In _walk_ mode you use the control pad to move Graham around on the screen. The control pad will move him in eight directions. If an obstacle is in the way, you will have to walk Graham around it.

 - This is slightly different than walk mode, and some- times a faster way to get around. In _quick travel_ mode you will see an arrow cursor which you move with the control pad. Position the cursor to the location you want Graham to travel to, then press the A button. Graham will now walk to the spot. He will avoid objects that are in the way, but he will still go by the shortest route possible.

 - To _look_ at something on screen, select this icon, then move the cursor over the object you wish to examine. Press the A button, and if the object has a description, you will be told what that description is. If there is nothing special about the object, an "X" will briefly replace the arrow cursor.

 - Choose the _talk_ mode when you want to begin a conversation with someone on screen. Select the talk icon, move the cursor over the person you wish to speak to, then press the A button. To start a con- versation with someone off screen, press the B button to pause the game, then start talking to the person. Graham will wait, he's very patient during the pause mode.

 - The _action_ mode is used when you want to pick up items, open doors, or generally perform an action on something. Select this icon, then move the cursor over the item you want to act on, then press the A button. If you can't act upon an item, you will see the "X" appear.

 - This icon displays the last item selected in the _inventory_ mode (described next). To use the current item, select this icon, then move the cursor to the position you wish to put the current item on, then press the A button. For example, if Graham has a key in his inventory and wants to use it to unlock a door, make the key the current item, then select it. Move the arrow to the door and press the A button. If the key fits, the door should open.

 - The _inventory_ is like a backpack which Graham uses to store all the things he picks up on his journey. Choose the _inventory_ when you want to see the items. To select an item, press the A button when the item is highlighted.

 - Choose the _memory_ mode when you want to save, restore, or restart the game. If you select , you will receive a password. The password can be used to return you to that location with all of your items. To use the file feature, select <File>, then enter a new name to save your current location. Press the A button to enter a highlighted number/letter. To <Check> a password and make sure you wrote it down correctly, select check, then use the control pad to select the password from the number/ letter list. Use <Escape> to cancel the _memory_ mode.

To <Restore> a game, follow the same instructions, but this time you will be sent back to the saved _file_ or _password_ location.

<IMPORTANT: King's Quest V will save a file      > <location only while the cartridge is still in the> <control deck and the power is ON. If you turn  > <the game off or remove the cartridge, you can   > <only return to a previous _password_ location. >

<Sound/music> - You can use this icon to turn the sound and music on or off.

THE WORLD OF SERENIA

As our adventure begins, Cedric leads Graham to the land of Serenia to meet his kind master Crispin. Beginning from Crispin's house, Graham and Cedric will journey far in their efforts to save the royal family. Aided by the know-it-all owl Cedric, and with the powers granted to him by Crispin, Graham will make his way across the countryside of Serenia. His journey will take him to the barren desert to the west, and across the treacherous mountains to the northeast. On the other side of the mountains he must cross the sea and find the island stronghold of the evil Mordack.

It is a dangerous quest, and Graham and Cedric will need all your help to lead them and bring them home safely. It is a good idea to use the _file_ save feature as you play, especially if you think you could be in a troublesome situation. The game holds up to 20 file saves at a time. (Remember, though, that all file saves are lost when you remove the game pak or turn the control deck off.)

Another hint is to make maps of your journey. Writing down places you've been and the things you see can be helpful in the game.

QUESTING FOR QUEST QUESTIONS...

<A GUIDE FOR THE BEGINNING ADVENTURE GAME PLAYER>

Adventure games are different from arcade games. The object isn't just to shoot everything in sight and rack up a gazillion points. Some adventure games don't even use points. They require you to solve puzzles or problems and try to achieve a final goal. For example, the goal might be to free your family from the clutches of Mordack. To do this, you may have to solve a lot of smaller problems along the way. There are common questions that new adventure gamers have, so we'll try to answer them for you.

Q: What good does it do to LOOK at something? A: LOOK tells you if an item has a special feature. For example, if you look at a desk, you might receive a message that says "You find a statue of a gold yak." If an item has a name and a description, then it is a clue that something can probably be done to or with that item.

Q: What should I do with items that I find? A: If you can pick them up, do. You never know when you'll need an item that you saw once and left behind. For example, after battling all of the Hideous Otter-headed Jungle Beasties, then freeing the Princess and saving the farmer's son, you may earn a voyage across the Silver River to the Wizard's Keep. Upon entering the Keep and ascending the Stairs of Amazing Girth, you might encounter the Knight of Daze, who tells you that the Wizard will only see you if you present a gift of gold. Now don't you wish you picked up that yak in the desk?

Q: Is the TALK function useful, or just a distraction? A: Well, if you had talked to the citizens of Serenia, we can't guarantee that you would learn that there are no Otter-headed Jungle Beasties in this game, let alone a Knight of Daze. However, they might have information about Mordack and his secret hideout...

Q: What do I do when I get stuck? A: We recommend throwing your arms up in despair and going outside to play in the fresh air, but if you really want to stick with it, then just try lots of new combinations. For example, if you come to a wall of flame that prevents further progress, try the LOOK icon on the items around you. Maybe something like a giant candle is in the room. You might think "Hey, candles produce flames, and there is a giant wall of flame in my way." Next you could try to use something from your INVEN- TORY on the candle, or try to perform an ACTION on the candle. Maybe the candle is really a lever that turns the wall of flame on and off.

Q: I keep failing in my quest. I'm tired of starting all over from the beginning. What can I do? A: Use the MEMORY feature often. Save, save, save. Save before a fight. Save before you try something risky. Write down passwords and check them. If you're going to turn the game off, you can only come back to a _password location._ If you're in the middle of a game, use the _file save_ to save up to twenty locations. If you encounter trouble or get stuck, RESTORE your game from a previous save.

Q: I've tried everything I can think of, but I'm still unable to go any further in the game. Is there anything I can do? A: One idea is to enlist the help of a friend or family member. Some- times when we try to solve a problem it helps to get another person's insight. Everyone thinks a little differently, so a sticky situation for you might be more obvious to someone else, and vice versa. Adven- ture games are as much fun for groups as they are for one player.