Originally developer and released for PC by Infamous Quests and Phoenix Online Publishing, Ratalaika Games S.L. has ported the classic-inspired point-and-click adventure Quest for Infamy for consoles including Nintendo Switch. Quest for Infamy was originally released for PC back in 2014 however the game has now arrived on Nintendo Switch and other consoles, and we are here with the review of the title. This is our review of the Nintendo Switch port of Quest for Infamy in which we try to be as infamous as possible.
In Quest for Infamy, you play as William Roehm, a not-so gentleman who is caught with the Baron’s daughter and later escapes to find himself stuck in the city of Volksville and its lovely surroundings. The city offers plenty of exploration and you are free to go wherever you want. The game does not point you in the right direction, so it is completely up to you to find what to do next and how to proceed with the story. There are different clues here and there which help you find your next goal but other than that, you are really on your own when it comes to exploration and story progression.
Similar to most point-and-click titles, Quest for Infamy has something to say about everything in a screen or the map. Clicking on random objects and surfaces will result in a humorous response and sometimes you will end up learning something important about the city as well. While the game may look like there is no tutorial, there is actually an NPC in the game that tells you everything about the city, its surroundings, what creatures you can expect in the game, and how to fight enemies and monsters in the game. You can learn all of this quite early in the game and it is just sneaky that the developer has actually hidden a full tutorial in the game like this. If you decide not to speak with Ned O’King, you will completely skip the helpful tutorial in the game.
For moving around, you use the left joystick to move the pointer around and then press the A key to make your character move to that particular location. Pressing the ZL or ZR results in what sort of movement you want from Roehm. You can cycle between walking, crouching or running and a change in the cursor icon shows what sort of movement is currently selected. For choosing a different action, you have to press the B key and it switches between observing, interacting, fighting, talking, and movement.
This sounds and looks tedious however it actually feels tedious in the game as well. Switching is not very convenient, and you will often miss the action that you want to do in the game resulting in you pressing the button again to reach the particular action. The X key is dedicated to your magic abilities while pressing Y opens up the inventory screen where you can choose what gear or weapons to equip or choose an item to use such as healing potions. Pushing the – key opens up your stat screen where you can see your character stats including your proficiency in combat skills and environmental skills. Depending on your chosen path, you will master one of the three key skills in the game.
You can choose to become a brigand, sorcerer, or rogue. Each of these can master one particular skill. For example, Rogues can master thievery and Sorcerers can master Mystical Power. Completing various tasks in the game gives you Infamy Points and the more Infamy points you earn in the game, the more activities, and tasks you can do in the game. As you are exploring the outskirts of Volksville, you will come across a variety of enemies including wild animals such as bears and giant spiders to undead enemies.
Each enemy in the game is different and you have to take into consideration three different attack types. You have Hacking, Stabbing, and Slashing. Certain enemies are weaker against one type and powerful against the other type, so you have to keep this in your mind to survive in combat. Apart from attacking, you also have a block and if you manage to block an incoming attack, you can leech some health back as well. Each of your skills and attacks has a certain level and the more you perform these actions, your proficiency in them increases and you level up them. For class-specific skills, only if you specialize in one of the three classes, you can then level them up beyond a certain point.
The visuals are of course pixelated, and everything is not very clear for you. The dialogue is written fairly well however the game lacks when it comes to its delivery. The voice acting is not very good and sometimes the delivery ruins an otherwise humorous moment in the game. There is a strong hint of humor at nearly every stage of the game. The game is written pretty well and you get to enjoy the narration as well however the delivery sometimes is pretty sub-par. Apart from this, the audio design of the game is fine and the background music suits the game’s theme exceptionally well.
One of the things to note here is that Quest for Infamy is not an easy game. Sticking true to the classic point-and-click formula, there is no handholding or tips in the game, and you have to figure out what to do next pretty much on your own in the game. There is a QuickStart Walkthrough and an Instruction Booklet built into the Nintendo Switch port, but they only cover the start of the game and once you have completed the prologue, you are on your own after that. While it may be fine for players who are used to this format of games, some of the new players might find the game hard or difficult to figure out what to do next.
Quest for Infamy takes its inspiration from the classic Quest for Glory by Sierra Games with its gameplay and pixelated visuals while the gameplay reminds me of the much newer Tales from the Monkey Island as well. While the voice acting in Quest for Infamy is not up to par and the console controls are somewhat choppy, the overall package is quite entertaining as Quest for Infamy offers a decent-sized world to explore, plenty of NPCs to interact with and diverse environments to solve puzzles in. I will certainly recommend it to players who love classic titles and if you particularly love the old point-and-click genre.
Final Verdict:
While Quest of Infamy is a great throwback point-and-click adventure title, the console controls really do not do justice to the game. It is clearly evident that this was a PC title and was ported to Nintendo Switch with minimum efforts to improve the controls and UI to better suit to consoles. You will find the controls clunky and annoying and the voice acting also falls short of the otherwise decently written dialogue. I personally enjoyed my time with the game because I am a huge fan of the classic 80s/90s point-and-click titles and I am sure that if you love these classic titles, you will have a good time with Quest for Infamy as well. I will suggest that you skip the Nintendo Switch release and go for the original PC release.
Final Score: 7.0/10
