King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity (Part 1: Kingdom of Daventry)

An evil archon has shattered the Mask of Eternity, turning Daventry into a nightmare! 💀

Welcome to my complete playthrough of King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity (1998) by Sierra Studios, formerly Sierra On-Line. This is Part 1 of 7, covering the game's introduction and Connor's exploration of the Kingdom of Daventry. In this episode we'll get to meet Connor, discover what's happened to the kingdom, get our first taste of combat, and learn why this KQ installment is a huge shift from previous adventures!

⏱️ Episode Chapters

0:00:00 Title
0:00:52 Introduction
0:02:42 Beginning the Game
0:09:45 The Raven and the Wizard
0:12:33 Earning the Crossbow at the Graveyard
0:15:50 Exploring Daventry
0:25:00 Getting the Axe at the Windmill
0:28:35 Retrieving the Rope and Hook at the Mill
0:32:32 The Tomb of Sir James
0:35:57 The Unicorn's Curse
0:37:35 Battle at the Old Castlekeep
0:45:03 A Portal at the Church
0:54:14 Castle Daventry
1:01:47 Secrets in the Wizard's House
1:06:45 The Ring of Illumination

👑 About King's Quest VIII

In Mask of Eternity, which takes place about 2-3 years after the last entry, you play as Connor, a humble tanner, as he journeys through his home of Daventry and to the lands beyond to find the fallen pieces of the shattered Mask of Eternity. In so doing, he must free the world from the oppressive curse inflicted by the evil Lucreto. While Connor has no relation to the royal family, he plays a pivotal role in helping free King Graham and Daventry of its affliction.

KQ8 takes a pretty sharp pivot away from the traditional point-and-click adventure game genre that the series had pioneered and been known for, presenting itself instead as an action-adventure-RPG hybrid. For example, enemies may suddenly appear and attack, so the player needs to be ready for combat. Conner has a health bar and advances in combat skill as the game progresses. While it's not necessarily gory, the animations as you defeat enemies may not be suitable for younger audiences. Still, many of King's Quest's iconic inventory and item puzzles remain, as well as a compelling fantasy narrative. 3D graphics had also became more accessible to consumers in the late 90's with the availability of specialized 3D hardware, and this game became the first in the series to embrace it. This allows for much more open exploration than was allowed in the 2D point-and-click style.

When I initially played this installment roughly 20 years ago, I had personally found this the toughest King's Quest to get into. The darkness of Daventry and the grimness of the Dimension of Death are a sharp contrast from the bright and cheery colors and slapstick comedy from KQ7's Eldritch, and the gameplay feels vastly different. But in playing this again now, perhaps with much more familiarity with 3D RPGs, I found it's much better than I originally gave it credit for. The controls take some getting used to (and adjustment) but otherwise I've been enjoying the opportunity to experience this game again.

⚙️ Game Settings & Patches

For those looking to play KQ8 today, this playthrough uses the following version, patches and configuration:

Version: KQ8 v1.3 from GOG → https://www.gog.com/en/game/kings_que...
Glide Wrapper: dgVoodoo2 → https://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/
• 1440x1080 (4:3) game resolution
• Windowed, fullscreen size & borderless
Patch: Nico’s KQ8 Patches → https://kqmoe.nicode.net/
• KQ MoE Shim (kqmoefix)
• Re-encoded videos (kqmoeavi)
• Play from Disk (kqmoevol)
Key remappings:
• Movement: WASD
• Jump: SPACE
• Walk / Run: X
• Weapon Switch / Put Away: R/F
• Map: Tab
• Inventory: B

🔗 Playlists

Watch the full KQ8 Playlist → TBD
Watch the full KQ Series Playlist →    • King's Quest Playthrough  

#kingsquest #letsplay #retrogaming #kingsquest8 #playthrough #sierraonline