King's Quest: Chapter 2 - Rubble Without a Cause (PlayStation 4) Review

From a gameplay standpoint, not much is different from Chapter 1, although there are a few improvements. Notably, most scenes can now be skipped, which was easily the biggest problem last time around. Character speed seems to also have gotten a boost, and the developer has ingeniously used things like sighs and posture to convey Graham's emotions, rather than holding the players back with slow walking speed to reflect his sickness or hunger, something very important in this time round.

Some puzzles are complex, although most can be boiled down to increasing complicated fetch quests, but overall the importance is placed on the order in which things are accomplished. The chapter rewards thinking outside the box, and those who don't take the time to explore and plan things out before acting will find themselves with less-than-optimum endings to things, although how exactly this affects the overall story remains to be seen.

Graham, and several of the more prominent residents of Daventry, has been kidnapped by goblins, forced to live and work in their caverns. The play world seems smaller this time around, with a lot of back-tracking, but thanks to the smaller spaces, it doesn't get too frustrating. Graham is made to be an errand boy, and with little at his disposal, he must find a way to free his friends.

Most of the actual choices don't seem to matter much - the game begins with Graham as King relating this story, so there isn't a whole lot to change on the way, and it seems like the biggest consequences are often just in what narration those 'in control' will get. Still, some of the characters' lives appear to be at stake, and with the colour and depth they have been given, saving them is a task fans will want to succeed at.