Quest for Glory IV : Shadows of Darkness videogame
Specs
Title: Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness
Genre: Adventure game/role-playing video game (hybrid)
Series: Quest for Glory
Engine: SCI2
Platform MS-DOS, Windows
Developer: Sierra On-Line
Publisher: Sierra On-Line
Designer: Lori Ann Cole, Corey Cole
Composer: Aubrey Hodges
Release date: December 1993 (floppy version), September 1994 (CD version)
Mode: single-player
Characters: Narrator, Katrina, Dmitri Ivanov the Burgomeister, Ad Avis, Dr. Cranium, Bonehead, Igor, Anna, The Chief, Domovoi, Gypsy Davy, Gypsy Magda, Nikolai, Boris Stovich, Leshy, Bella Markarov, Erana, Rusalka, Yuri Markarov, Ivan, Baba Yaga, Olga Stovich, Tatina the Queen of Faery Folk
Setting: Mordavia
Synopsis
The action takes place in the mythical land of Mordavia, where one can choose to play as a fighter, thief, wizard or paladin. The hero starts from the caves of the Dark One, in a world full of undead beings. When going out of the cave's mouth, the character meets mysterious Katrina who will the player many times along the journey. The hero must help the town folk, thus encountering several foes but also allies. The character is finally bound to enter the abandoned castle and fight the Dark Master of vampires, Avoozl.
Personal view:
The game story is all about the influence of Slavic folkore and its manifestation in Mordavia, a land where the hero has to fight various monsters. Not only Katrina, but Boris Stovich and shopkeeper Olga advice the player to watch out because "Mordavia is a valley surrounded by mountains, many bad things are wandering around and no wagons can get in or out." However, the skepticism and xenophobia of Mordavians are perpetually emphasized "There are many dangers in Mordavia and we certainly do not need a new stranger to stir up new troubles." The village's inn surrounded by gothic atmosphere (town gates made of massive oak logs, twin towers stand above the town wall like massive silent sentinels, all crafted in a Slavic style) allows the hero to prove his worth in the land of adventures!
The Castle of the Dark One is not to be omitted from this place, Castle Borgov of Mordavia seems abandoned, but the narrator tells us that it used to be owned by Borgov Boyars, and now it must be run by a mysterious distant cousin!
A monastery in bas relief architecture with symbols "of the Dark One" looms majestic above the hotel, the villagers describe it as an abandoned ominous place with a very bad reputation. It reminds me of Robert Kaplan's introduction in Balkan Ghost...
The sinister cemetery welcomes the hero with graves of many mysterious characters such as "House of Borgov", "House of Ligeia Poe", "Elyssa", "Janos", "Mikhail Mehd", "Pasha Sperry", "Arken Tenna" and so on ... Have you noticed yet the intermingling of Orientalism with the West? If that's not enough, there is a library with books such as "Talk Fu" - the oriental art of attacking opponents with unpronounceable names.
The gypsies are not to be left out of the picture, their camp has colorful wagons around a fire pit, with wolves howling and sometimes even Magda and Davy shape shift into one of them. They have the same xenophobic attitude towards strangers too, despite their immigration history when they claim that they were drawn here by the magic in the land. The fact that they have "a true name" and also another name that they reveal to strangers proves once again the animosity towards foreigner.
