Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire is the second video game in Sierra On-Line's Quest for Glory series, and the sequel to Hero's Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero.

Gameplay

The game's interface is a text parser, which requires the player to input commands from a set (but unknown) list to have the character perform actions.

The game follows the path of its predecessor, although there are distinctions in gameplay. Most of the game takes place in the fictional city, and on a restricted time frame; the entire plot is concluded in 30 days. Many of the puzzles in the game do not appear or cannot be solved until certain days. This keeps gameplay on a tight, linear narrative. The game is also difficult to navigate, as it has an odd perspective and mapping system. The problems with the navigation are compounded by the maze-like layout of the fictional city. This layout was employed as a primitive form of digital rights management: completing early quests was very difficult without the map in the manual provided with purchases of the video game. This difficulty is reduced once the player obtains a magical map which transports their character instantly to hotspots.

The game features a real-time combat system.

Plot

The story is inspired by various Middle Eastern myths and stories, including Arabian Nights.

Quest for Glory II takes place in the city of Shapeir and its surrounds, a land which is host also to Katta, humanoid, cat-like creatures. Trial by Fire was the last EGA game to be created by Sierra On-Line, and followed development processes intended for the graphically superior VGA games which followed, which made its development difficult.

The manual is illustrated by Marvel Comics artist Ernie Chan.

Characters and references

Quest for Glory II is the only game in the series without any influence of Erana in it. It does, however, feature a reference to Erana, as she is in one of the portraits of great mages in the Wizards' Institute of Technocery. If the Hero requests her sponsorship in his initiation as a wizard, he is told that Erana had not been answering the WIT's summons for many years now.

There are various Easter eggs throughout the game, such as the Starship Enterprise from the television series Star Trek appearing during the opening credits. The astrologer appears to have been based on Omar Khayyám.

As in the other games of the series, there are a large number of in-jokes and mythological references, especially, from The Arabian Nights. One of them is the name of the Sultan, Harun al-Rashid.

The game contains many references to classic films. The caravan scene is an homage to Lawrence of Arabia. Signor Ferrari and Ugarte, characters portrayed by Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in the movie Casablanca, appear in Raseir, as does the Maltese Falcon from the movie of the same name, which also featured Greenstreet and Lorre in other roles. Caricatures of the Marx Brothers also play important roles.

There are several references to other games or movies in magician Keapon Laffin's shop: a doll of princess Rosella (from the King's Quest series), a Cookie Monster doll, and an antwerp doll (a reference to the first game), among other things.

The final city in this game is Raseir, an anagram for Sierra, the company that produced the game, and the antagonist, Ad Avis, is named after Sierra's then-new creative director, Bill Davis.

Reception

Although the game is generally well liked, its time management aspect had a mixed reception, with some critics feeling it arbitrary. In 1991, Dragon gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. Computer Gaming World stated that the game was more linear and less replayable than its predecessor, but had an excellent conclusion.

Both Michael Baker and Tyler Willis of RPGamer gave the game 4 out of 5 starts, praising the game's strong narrative, superb writing, and graphical design.

Legacy

QFG II is the only game in the series to not have originated or have been remade beyond the EGA graphics engine by Sierra On-Line. However, AGD Interactive released a VGA remake of the game using the Adventure Game Studio engine on August 24, 2008.