Quest for Infamy review. A graphic adventure with some RPG

Roehm is a bit like the Note from The Big Lebowski, only in a medieval fantasy world. He just wants to follow his path, accompanied, if possible, by wine and female company. He discovers in the Quest for Infamy review why this adventure game is less conventional than it seems.

It’s been a long time since I made up my mind to stop starting my adventure story writing with the state of the genre. Talk about the glory of yesteryear, that they are no longer what they were… etcetera. However, it continues to surprise me, and for the better, that some publishers are rescuing niches to attract it to today’s main consoles. This is good news and what has happened with Quest for Infamy , a graphic adventure inspired by Sierra’s classic Quest for Glory, which arrived in 2014 after a Kickstarter and now the publisher Ratalaika has brought it to PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. I played it at the time on PC and I have chosen the Switch version to give it a new twist that also makes all the sense in the world.

Because Quest for Infamy is not the most conventional adventure of all, nor were the Quest for Glory. If you think this is a point and click of those of a lifetime… well, it is; but so many mechanics are added to its approach that someone can catch you by surprise in the case of a graphic adventure. For starters, this is a hybrid with an RPG, so you can expect not just puzzles, but combat mechanics, class specialization, and experience points, for example. One of the first choices we will have to make is whether we want to become a rogue, a mage or a fighter.

 But what is Quest for Infamy about? It is without a doubt a classic bet with a twist towards acid humor. Our heroe”,William Roehm, is caught red-handed in the bedroom of the daughter of a noble lord, and has to leave by legs first, and donkey legs later, straight to the Lonaria Valley where he will find shelter in the small town of Volksville. That’s where our adventure really begins, hopelessly getting into a plot of dark gods, corruption, curses and sects, while our protagonist only wants to be left alone and, if possible, win the favors of some other girl in the way. It is not the most successful story and it rushes too much in the last third, but the interest is maintained more thanks to the humor of our protagonist and the way he deals with all situations.

Although I don’t normally talk about translations, since I understand that especially many independent companies don’t have the budget for it, I’m more scared in the case of this game, since it was promised. Translation into different languages, including Spanish, was one of the goals to be achieved in the Kickstarter that was reached and, unfortunately, the promise was never fulfilled.

The infamous anti-hero.

After supporting the Kickstarter, when I played Quest for Infamy the first time I was surprised, and this second play reaffirms those feelings. The work of InfamousQuests, led by Steven Alexander (who, unfortunately, has had many health problems since the launch of the adventure and has not allowed him to continue developing his activity normally), mixes a refined classic style, with good sprites and backgrounds hand drawn,deepening and expanding the mechanics of the hybrid Quest for Glory, although also noting the lack of experience. It is noticeable in the work of the perspectives, the connections of some maps and, above all, in the different portraits of the characters, very unequal; some, drawn with a style that seeks less realism and others being the result of photographic digitization.

It gets along well because, truth be told, fans of the genre are so hungry for these experiences that they tend to give more value to what works. And it is that Quest for Infamy is a more complex adventure than it seems. To these role-playing mechanics, we add some survival, with a day/evening/night cycle that changes the routines of the NPCs, events on the map itself, as well as the need to rest and eat from time to time so as not to faint.

To all this, we must add the variety that the different paths give. The settings and story may be the same, but there are differences between being a rogue, a mage, or a warrior. In my first game I went rogue (this class always beats me) and now I’ve gone the mage route. Apart from the fact that the choice of your master and the objectives that he sets for you change much of the second arc of the adventure, the way you travel the path does as well. In the first game I had to use stealth, steal due to the shortage of coins, infiltrate houses and use cunning. As a mage, on the other hand, I have had to learn all the combat and environment spells,use them later to get distant objects and reach unreachable places, as well as use ingenuity to achieve my objectives.

 

It is not the game in which I have seen the puzzles change the most according to your class (I would give that honor to a title called Mage’s Initiation that I also recommend to fans of Sierra’s adventure), nor is it the game that makes the most of the mechanics temporary (that honor would go to another great unknown such as Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption, by Corey and Lori Ann Cole, the original creators of Quest For Glory, also on Switch); but Quest for Infamy does a good job of combining all these systems and mixing it with a story that entertains thanks to the humor and cynicism of the shrewd Roehm.

Point and click on consoles.

Normally I would say that these adventures, drinking from the classic style of the 90s, are timeless, since they depend more on whether you know the interface and the game system and adapt to it or not. But, being a console version, there are obviously some changes. The interface has had to change the mouse for the stickand it is something to take into account, because, although it is perfectly functional, you do not achieve the speed and fluidity of movements that you achieve on PC. Added some shortcuts to rest menu, spellbook and game options which helps; I still find something more uncomfortable, however, making use of the most basic options such as walking, looking or interacting with the stage. Especially here where the classic Sierra system is expanded with stealth, running, and swordplay options.

 

The Switch version can help and if in doubt would be my recommended platform of all consoles. Two main reasons: this is a pixel-art adventure done in old-fashioned low resolutions, 320×200 if I’m not mistaken, which isn’t the best display for your 55-inch 4K TV. However, the quality of the backgrounds is better on the smaller Switch screen, and I’ve only seen it outperformed by testing the original game on the Steam Deck screen.which, also thanks to the touchpad, allows you to have the best of both worlds. Not only that, the Switch offers the possibility of touch control and, although it relies on the buttons for some actions, it is useful to move quickly in a game that has a larger number of rooms due to the need to open spaces for combat.

The version that Ratalaika has adapted is the updated 2.0that on Steam can be enjoyed by accessing the Beta tab of the program. This version includes the demanded 16:9 aspect ratio (although it is actually a little less), scrolling when necessary, although sometimes cutting some parts of the stage. It also fixes errors and bugs in some puzzles. In addition, in the console version some extra options are included in the menu such as some small (tiny) clues about what to do next, which are added to the advice of the fortune teller that the game already had. It doesn’t matter much, since the interesting thing about Quest for Infamy is that the puzzles have a fairly measured difficulty with few situations that really resist us. There is also an option to highlight hot spots on the map with text,

I feel somewhat reluctant to say that Quest for Infamy is a recommended game for fans of classic adventures and, above all, those of Sierra. Because, probably, if you belong to that niche, you already know it. I think that the jump to consoles is a good opportunity for this classic style of PC gaming in the 90s to be made known to more people who, precisely, are not the fans who are already interested by default. It’s still a quirky adventure and has some puzzle logic issues that betray Infamous Quest’s lack of experience. Luckily, deaths in combat affect less than before and have fewer consequences, but it is mandatory to save games frequentlybefore other unexpected ones that I think, beyond the tribute, were not so necessary. And yet it ‘s full of charm, love for the genre, and hard work to create an experience more complex than many classics. And I have laughed; sometimes quite. That alone, in an industry as intense as the current one, already deserves my attention.

Quest for Infamy is a classic graphic adventure, yes. With its yesteryear low resolution, classic Sierra-style menu, inventory, and intricate puzzles. But it is also a game that mixes RPG with experience points and combat, like the legendary Quest for Glory. Do you want more? How about some survival mechanics where you take care of your energy and food? Cycle day/evening/night with NPC routines? Different paths to choose from that vary the adventure as a Rogue, Wizard or Fighter? Despite its flaws, which it has, and lack of studio experience, I see in Quest for Infamy a kind of alternative future, in which graphic adventures would have shown everything they are capable of beyond point and click.