King's Quest VIII: The Mask of Eternity

Story & overview

About the game

King's Quest: Mask of Eternity (also known as King's Quest VIII: The Mask of Eternity) is an action-adventure video game written and designed by Roberta Williams and released in 1998 by Sierra Studios, is the eighth, and at present remains the final, official computer game in the famous King's Quest series. It is the first and only game in the series where the main character is neither King Graham nor a member of his family, the first in the series to use a full 3D engine as opposed to the 2D cartoon or pixel style of the earlier games and the first to omit the sequel numbering system on box artwork and title screen, though references to it being the eighth game appear in the file structure and the game was marketed as KQ8 on the official website, interviews, and other places.

The story begins in Castle Daventry with King Graham and his minister talking about the every day affairs of running the country, when the Magic Mirror activates in front of them showing them a bad omen. They witness Lucreto the archarchon of the Realm of the Sun destroy the Mask of Eternity and releasing a wave of energy. The mirror goes on to show the kingdom's only hope, the lowly peasant and knight, Conner of Daventry from a nearby village. He is shown chatting with his neighbor Sarah, when a storm arises and a piece of the mask falls at his feet. He picks it up, and turns around to find Sarah had been turned to stone. The unleashed magic energy turned all mortals in the world to stone, including King Graham. With that the Mirror ends its vision. Early on in the game, the half-stone wizard that Connor encounters tells him about the Mask of Eternity, Connor's destiny, and conjures for him a magic map that shows all explored areas and allows Connor to teleport between lands once the teleportation sites in each land (except for the Realm of the Sun) have been discovered. With knowledge of his Quest, Connor made his way to Castle Daventry to check on his liege and the royal family, finding Graham and the rest of the inhabitants of the castle turned to stone. He vowed that he would save king Graham and queen Valanice, their family, and the rest of the inhabitants of Daventry, or die trying.