Sierra’s King's Quest III: To Heir is Human was originally released in 1986 and looked to do something a little different with the popular series. Not only did it forsake a continuation of King Graham's story as the ruler of Daventry, it explored an array of experimental game mechanics which were cutting-edge back in the day. The story begins with young Gwydion tirelessly performing chores for his master Manannan, a cruel and cunning wizard. Gwydion is an orphaned slave who knows very little about the world around him or his past, as his youth has been spent obeying Manannan’s every whim and command. When his master starts travelling more frequently, however, Gwydion gathers the courage to explore Manannan’s forbidden quarters and visit the town close to his mountain home. Within him, he harbours a restless feeling that something terrible will happen soon if he’s unable to learn more about his master’s intentions.

King’s Quest III Redux, by AGD Interactive, is a remake of this quarter-century old game, delivering both visual and audio enhancements along with some key story and gameplay improvements. This game marks the indie studio’s third KQ remake, following the original King’s Quest and its first sequel. The most obvious upgrades of the third game are bringing the graphics to VGA standards and replacing the original text parser with a point-and-click interface, but KQ3 has received the 'Redux' label because of its adjustments to the original story. The changes don’t represent massive plot or structure overhauls, but there are several alterations blended seamlessly into the original story. The transition has been done so smoothly that if you’ve never played KQ3 or have forgotten most of it over the years, you’d never know the new additions weren’t always an integral part of the game. Some of the differences expand on the King's Quest II remake, further fleshing out the storyline details introduced there and introducing a new character known as the 'Father'.

For those new to the game or in need of a refresher, completing chores forms a large part of the gameplay in the early stages; fail to do so and you can expect to be punished or killed. As you set about these tasks, if you happen to collect any inventory other than food or general items, you must hide them before Manannan returns or risk being turned into ash by one of his spells. As in the original, a timer at the top of the screen shows how many minutes have passed, but it now offers the added help of displaying green when Manannan is away, turning yellow when he is almost ready to return and red when he’s imminently due to teleport back. I estimate that you have roughly three minutes each time, give or take. If you complete a chore quickly, you can either wait for Manannan to return or head to your room to have a quick nap, which skips time forward. In fact, your private quarters provide a pivotal role, as it’s the only part of the house that Manannan is not willing to enter. After you’ve successfully completed the requisite number of chores, Manannan will begin taking longer journeys, giving you a window of roughly 10 to 30 minutes (the amount of time varies between each trip) to really go exploring.

Eventually you’ll escape Manannan completely, but even then there are plenty of trials awaiting you. You’ll spend time on a pirate ship (in captivity once again) and confront the perils of Treasure Island before finally beginning a trip to Daventry that involves overcoming obstacles in the wilderness and surviving deadly beasts. Gwydion’s travels lead to a number of potentially deadly mythical creatures, such as a giant spider, Medusa, the Abominable Snowman and a rather large Hydra. Not all enemies are monsters, however, as you’ll also need to contend with humans who are eager to stand in the way of your freedom. Thankfully, there are some friendly creatures as well, such as the fairy tale Bear family (think Goldilocks), who may not be greatest conversationalists, but at least they won't tear you to shreds and have you for dinner. Part of your journey also includes uncovering your true identity (concealed from you by Manannan), which not only reveals the remaining part of your quest but ties your character into the larger King’s Quest series.

The timed aspect of the early sections makes for a punishing and rather steep learning curve, as dying and having to go over your actions again can get annoying at times. This is a core feature of the original KQ3, however, so the developers were simply being faithful to the source material in keeping it in. AGDI have provided an auto-save function, at least, which is a helpful improvement, though it doesn't always prevent you from having to backtrack fairly significantly, so some prudent manual saves are still recommended. If you’re able to survive the early time pressures, the rest of the game doesn't involve much more, typically allowing you to explore at your leisure. You’ll still be faced with some good old-fashioned Sierra deaths if things go wrong, but these are often quite amusing. There's usually a good pun to go with each death, and it can even be fun to experiment with some of the potential outcomes. In the original game, you were almost guaranteed to die and die often, but KQ3 Redux is not quite as merciless, alleviating a few challenges that once resulted in a quick and easy demise, like navigating down a brutally punishing winding mountain path with twitchy controls. Here this sequence has been replaced with a very manageable walk, where only laziness or stupidity can really be the cause of your death.

Visually, KQ3 Redux is one the better examples of pixel art that I’ve seen to date. It works within the confines of its 320 x 200 resolution but still manages to craft some stunning graphics. There is an immense amount of detail crammed in, making each scene look on par or even better than the visuals from Sierra’s own VGA sequels. Modernizing the look yet still capturing the exact feel and setting of the original is a feat that must have required considerable skill and effort, especially the scenes from the pirate ship, which I've always felt were designed poorly in the original game. I also appreciated the scenes in Medusa's cave (a new addition), which shifts from the colourful and almost cartoon-like fantasy atmosphere elsewhere to dark, gloomy despair in flickering green phosphorous light.