ST Pawn

I favor and judge by original releases, but it would seem amiss to play Magnetic Scrolls' inaugural title and skip the main feature that they're best known for; high color, 16-bit graphics, which were first featured as an addition to the Atari ST port of The Pawn.

So I'm going to replay this version, and take the opportunity to explore one of the less-obvious aspects of the game. Its cast of characters are, when given the right prompts, much chattier than in any contemporary text adventures, including Infocom's. No, this isn't enough to salvage the game, and it's not even all that useful for solving it, but it gives The Pawn a layer of personality that you might not even know was there. 

The images scroll up and down like window blinds, affording you as much screen real estate for text as you want. 

Kronos is the first person I meet, but he has no graphic, and leaves before I have time to question him on anything but my wristband. But now I'm on two errands. Time to complete the first!

 

There's no graphic for the toolshed, but I complete the optional PLANT PLANT IN POT WITH TROWEL action early.

Kronos' first quest is completed here for a few points. The guards won't chat.

I head west to visit the guru.

 

After covering my wristband, he sends me on a quest for "the essential nourishment." I go north.

Crossing paths with the doomed adventurer, who seems a bit thick.

He does look downcast.

The snowman has little to say. Normally this is where I'd murder the adventurer for some points, but he doesn't show up yet, so I leave and bring some snow to the guru, who has much to say on various subjects, but not all of them.

Wristband: "The only person able to remove that wristband is the most evil person in all Kerovnia."

Kronos: "Kronos is a very evil man who is running out of time and needs others to save his soul." 

Devil: "If an evil person is the only one who has what you want, you must trade with him." 

Snowman: "A poor, pathetic man. I feel pity for him."

Adventurer: "A brave man undertaking a noble quest to rescue his beloved princess from the clutches of Kronos the magician."

Princess: "The Princess is a beautiful maiden who spent much of her time in the palace gardens before being kidnapped."

King: "He is the present ruler of Kerovnia."

Gringo: "I do not partake in the petty politics of this country, and I have only contempt for those who do."

John: "He is a notorious salesman who travels the plains to the west of the King's palace."

Color: "It is strange that the sensation of light can provoke such deep feelings as to cause wars or jubilation. That is an interesting concept, my child, and will require lengthy meditation."

 

I get my pouch in the woods, and as I return to melt the snowman with the red, I run into the adventurer on the narrow track and kill him too.

Only now there's a surprise. Out of the blue, the words "The princess follows you" are printed. Did he actually rescue her? I question her.

Kronos: "Do you know, he kept me there for ages so that he could get my father's kingdom - he isn't fit to be called a member of the human race."

Snowman: "I heard Kronos tell him something when I was brought here and he seemed reluctant to obey, but for some reason he had to."

Adventurer: "He's my hero."

King: "A girl always loves her daddy and I'm no exception."

Gringo: "You're getting very boring. Can we get out of here because I'm sure Kronos will realize that I've escaped soon." 

 

I take her home, and return to the tower to melt the snowman for points. The princess' door is still locked, so I'm not sure how she got out.

 

Next part is the cavern region.

 

We're here to retrieve the blue key, but the niche under the pedestal is empty! Did the adventurer beat us to it? I never saw that happen in QL Pawn, but I guess we're not scoring 100% this time around.

 

Next, I visit the tree house, and the dwarven realm beneath.

 

There's a few important objects down here. First, there's the loose change in the couch here, and of course the hard hat. There's the rope in the mine's lift, and the lumps of lead in the rockface.

And there's this, but I can't vote in this timeline.

With my coin, I visit Honest John to buy some beverages, and chat.

Kronos: "He seems like quite a reasonable bloke to me - he's never done me any harm." 

Adventurer: "Oh yes, I saw him ride past earlier on. I'm not sure where he was going but he looked very determined."

Princess: "I've heard that she's been kidnapped by Kronos, but that's only gossip - it seems to me to be a bit out of character for him to do something like that."

King: "The best ruler Kerovnia's ever had - he sold me a trading permit at half price last year."

Gringo: "I wouldn't vote for him if he paid me."

Guru: "He claims to know everything - the answer to life and all that rubbish but I think he's just a social nightmare waiting for the right time to happen." 

Next, I visit the alchemists with my lunch and lead.

They do have a bit to say when pressed, but mostly they just want food.

Kronos: "He seemed a strange fellow to us - we've never met anyone quite like him." 

Gold: "Gold is an extremely precious metal for which we have sacrificed many years of our lives."

Lead: "Lead is a dull, grey metal that we can turn into valuable gold."

 

I give them what they want and they get out of my way.

And I descend to hell.

Hell's porter will talk, but his topics (and coherence) are limited.

Devil: "Auld Nick equivocates with everything, even me - you don't think I do this out of choice you?" 

Whisky: "Drink sir, is a great provoker of three things - nose-painting, sleep, and urine. Lechery, sir, it provokes and unprovokes: it provides the desire but takes away the performance. Therefore much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it makes him and it mars him; it sets him on and it takes him off; it persuades him and it disheartens him, makes him stand to and not to stand to; in conclusion, equivocates him in sleep and giving him the lie, leaves him."

Hell: "Tis a place for the damned, fit for no mortal or any who has ever done good. The rewards are few here and the punishments many." 

 

I can't get Jerry to talk about anything, so I move on.

The devil has quite a lot to say! 

Kronos: "Kronos, yes, I think I would make him the Himmler of Hell." 

Snowman: "Kronos did well with that one - imprisoning him in the body of a snowman - I would have been proud of myself if I had thought of that."

Adventurer: "His philosophy makes a mockery of a fine physique - I could do great things for him."

Princess: "I would like her to meet me some day, but I fear she will not have the pleasure."

King: "A foolish man who thinks that people will bow to his good-nature and let him be their master."

Gringo: "He's in an election in Kerovnia if my memory serves me correctly. I never vote in elections, they just aren't important - it's the philosophies and the souls that count." 

John: "Is one of my proudest creations - though he has strayed from his teaching somewhat."

Guru: "He is a neutral observer in this game of life. His advice could be well heeded by both sides." 

Asking him about inanimate objects just causes him to think I'm asking about the wristband and cast me out, so I don't get the opportunity to inquire on any others.

 

I kill Kronos and bring his soul to the devil, effectively ending the game. Turns out, though, I can still visit the programmers and unlock debug mode, despite missing 50 points.

 

Then while wandering, it occurred to me, I forgot to talk to the horse! 

Adventurer: "He's my rider, punk."

Princess: "I'm very sorry, I would love to talk some more but I must get back to my family. Goodbye. She then runs off towards the palace."

Gringo: "I'm definitely going to vote for him."

And well, that's all I've got. The graphics are rather nice, if not always consistent in style, and make effective use of only 16 colors (128 for the title screen) - it's too bad there aren't more of them, but what can you expect out of a 720KB floppy? And the character dialog is a fun little piece of worldbuilding that serves absolutely no purpose to the game's critical path, offering you almost no clues or means of solving any of the puzzles, and belongs in a better game than this.