Once Upon A Climb, King’s Quest Chapter 3 Review [PC]

I never thought a romantic comedy would make good game, then I played King’s Quest Chapter 3: Once Upon a Climb and now demand more – King’s Quest Chapter 3 Review

Personally, I’m a fan of romantic comedies. Hitch is one of my favorite movies of all time. I believe it’s a quirky genre that has something for everyone. King’s Quest Chapter 3: Once Upon a Climb takes the romantic experience and turns into a fun and hilarious adventure game. After becoming king and seemingly advancing the town of Daventry to new levels of prosperity, King Graham realizes he is happy but wants to share his life with someone. He’s a bit lonely, despite getting buffer and having a prominent jaw, and asks the magic mirror to show him how to find his true love. The mirror shows him a large tower, so King Graham decides to adventure to it. After scaling the tower, Graham discovers there are two princesses trapped in the tower and that falling in love is not like the fairytales. Graham then begins his quest to fall in love with one of the princesses, and in return have one of them fall in love with him. All the while, discovering a way to escape the tower which has them bound to the castle with a magic barrier. In the end ,Graham and one of the princesses do end up together, and they all escape the tower.

This is one of my favorite chapters of the game so far. While the gameplay is still largely the same, the situation almost makes it feel like an entirely different genre. What I liked most about it was thinking I had made a choice in who to be with, but unknowingly ended up with the other and realizing that I had also caused Graham to fall for her instead. The building of the relationship is very organic and does an impressive job of capturing how relationships, both friendships and partnerships, are formed. The humor in this chapter is also very well done, capturing Graham’s ignorance of romance, and also a strong female friendship among the two princesses. It is still kind of the damsel in distress situation, but it does pass the Bechtold test and gives the princesses much more dimension aside from being love interests. Also one of my favorite jokes in the entire game comes from this chapter. The only way to escape the magic barrier is by finding true love. Graham’s friend Whisper enters the barrier and is also able to escape it because Whisper loves Whisper more than anyone loves anyone.

The ending is a bit lackluster and resolves extremely pleasantly. It is also very reminiscent of Frozen to the point that it has to be influenced by it. Overall, it is a really fun chapter that is a great homage to romantic comedy and the damsel and distress fairytale genre, without being a dry rehashing. I have to ding the chapter a bit due to lack of conflict, it never really feels that there is a dire situation or any sense of imminent danger. But despite that, it is still one of my favorite chapters of the series. Though lacking conflict, the heart, warmth, and humor really emanate throughout the chapter making it one of the most memorable of the series.