Just finished re-playing this one through (though for the first time as a talkie; thanks Abandonia!). I was probably 14 the last time I played it, and can still remember restoring to the very beginning of Mordack's Castle, then playing through to the end, over and over again.
I remember that King's Quest V was Sierra's big launch into the VGA world, along with Space Quest IV and Police Quest 3, as well as Leisure Suit Larry 5 (all of which are pretty great titles, by the way). The first Christmas they all came out was pretty exciting, because I saw that distinguishable large rectangular box wrapped beneath the tree, but had no idea whether I'd be playing as King Graham, Roger Wilco, or Sonny Bonds on Christmas afternoon. Turns out it was good ol' Grahammy!
Now that I've played all the King's Quest adventures, I'd say the length and difficulty of this adventure is a bit disappointing when put next to King's Quest IV, which was about as perfect a game as I've ever played. The game loses speed after you get into the mountains, right up until you arrive at Mordack's doorstep. Also, I think there's a little too much of the "I'll help you, so you can help me later" type puzzles, which become so predictable that they're easily solved, trusting you have the item in your inventory. On the other hand, Sierra On-Line invested tons of time into those gorgeous 256-color graphics (look at the detail on the exterior of the bakehouse sometime -- it really caught my eye this time through), so if the story's not the best, the game definitely holds up. King's Quest VI remedied both of my complaints about King's Quest V, sporting longer gameplay and (much) tougher puzzles.
Anyway, go download King's Quest V and play it over and over again -- and do yourself a favor, don't cheat the first time through!
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