The opening section does an impressive job of imposing a real sense of being stranded on the player. The only money Alexander can find from the wreck is a single copper coin. The game emphasizes the poverty of this by allowing him to use it at the local pawn shop but only to buy one item at a time. He must swap out the item for another if he needs a different one. Although his signet ring proves to people that he is royalty, an audience at the castle reveals that the local Vizier intends to take control of the Kingdom by marrying Cassima. The few other items Alexander can scrounge up on the starting island are a boring book, an unlucky rabbit’s foot, and a free mint. You are forced to watch helplessly as Beauty is abused by her step mother while you explore. The signet ring, which has positive associations because it will get people to talk to Alexander, must be traded away for a magic map to even move around the surrounding islands. In this way King’s Quest VI begins with a real sense of narrative coherence by making the player feel desolate and reflecting that in the puzzles.
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Another interesting change in the visuals is how much less complex VI is when compared to V. While King’s Quest V used its graphical enhancements to create lush scenery and artwork, the title suffered because players would often be confused or intrigued by something they’d see on the screen but were meant to enjoy only aesthetically. When King Graham is escaping the Roc’s nest high in the mountains, you can see a village off in the distance that you’ll never visit. When you are exploring the shops of the village, the walls are lined with items you cannot touch. King’s Quest VI features a much more conservative visual style that assumes the player is going to be looking with their own eyes than with the look command. Rarely is a place depicted that we will not go to at some point while items that we cannot interact with are faded and distant. Something is both gained and lost in this situation: the game is not as exotic as its predecessor, but it is the better design because it is less visually confusing.
