Radiant
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Always a fun question to ask in a forum like this. In Heroine's Quest, which character do you like most, and briefly tell us why.

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= Radiant =

1848
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I liked Skrymir the most. His accent is just very entertaining to listen to. I never skipped his lines when talking to him

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[Last edited by 1848 at 01-04-2014 12:21 PM]

PicaLudica
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Ooooh, that's a difficult one, especially since there are so many likeable characters in Heroine's Quest.

For me, as of now, it's a triple-way tie between Eitri, Andvari and Loki.
Eitri because he's so adorkable it makes want to hug him and feed him cookies (though I know I would need to explain to him what cookies are first, and I'm sure he would find them fascinating). Sorceress/Eitri is my OTP.
Andvari because he's extremely well characterized and voiced, listening to his rants was a joy (and I want to stuff his face with cookies too, even though he would end up offended and wouldn't talk with me anymore ).
And Loki because, well, it's a bit embarrassing, but he moved me to tears (I do tear up easily, but still). Concerning Loki,

1848
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PicaLudica wrote: Eitri because he's so adorkable it makes want to hug him and feed him cookies (though I know I would need to explain to him what cookies are first, and I'm sure he would find them fascinating). Sorceress/Eitri is my OTP.

Eitri is female according to the voice audition descriptions

Eitri
Number of Lines: 120 - 150
Sex: Female
Age: 18 - 25
Description: Eitri is a Svartalf with a keen interest in other cultures, who gathers tales from other creatures (such as humans) and has an extensive collection of exotic items. She is generally cheerful and happy to trade for an interesting trinket or two.
Audition Line 1: "Happy am I to tell you my name is Eitri. Proud purveyor and trader am I of trinkets, gizmos, and wronkels from all of the Nine Worlds. Unmatched is my collection in all of Svartalfheim."
Audition Line 2: "Legendary to us is Midgard, realm of the humans. Many are the stories I have heard, and wishful am I to pay it a visit."

Fizzii
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We were originally aiming to have a female voice actor to voice Eitri for some variety, but getting good female voice actors with quality equipment isn't that straight forward, so we opened it up to male auditions too, with the aim that they would sound a bit feminine.

The actor for Eitri is actually male We thought he had a nice blend between male and female.

smaug
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My favorite, among the many many interesting characters, would have to be Hervor! She is so soft spoken and frail looking, yet she bends a sword with ease, in despair of her lost son! I am sure, she loves her family, yet her sadness and longing for earlier life, is always apparent, even before you actually know who she really is.
And, even as I have seen that her family can, sort of, keep in touch with her, in her true form, I still feel a little bad about depriving them of her, I am sure she was, and is, much loved by both Volund and Heime..!

PicaLudica
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Svartalfar are very ambiguous about their gender. Though he does have a female voice actress, Eitri appears male and he's referred to as "he" by the other svartalfar. And since they're all shape shifters anyway, the question of their gender and/or sex is basically irrelevant as far as they're concerned.
But even if Word of God says that Eitri is a woman (and audition descriptions are a very debatable source of canon information), I maintain my OTP.

A note about female voice actresses: in Japan, it's a very common practice to have female actresses voice male characters (not just boys, like in English/French voice acting, but teens and men as well). Some voice actresses even specialize in male roles. Since I'm very used to this, I didn't consider Eitri's female voice actress as an indication of the character's gender and/or sex.

EDIT: Aaand it turns out that Eitri's voice actor is actually male. The end result for his voice is perfectly androgynous though, kudos!

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[Last edited by PicaLudica at 01-04-2014 03:00 PM]

Arnblas
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For me it's Andvari. I've played through several times now, and I still die every time he says

v_k
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I'll go with villains: Ratatosk, cause he's soooo kawaiiiiiiii, and Thrivaldi, cause being a person, who's constantly in two (or more) minds about anything, I can certainly relate to his situation .

muhabor
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My vote goes to Aruvandel. I like when he says "You shouldn't mock me like this" relvealing he perfectly knows his manner of speaking is ridiculous

Jack Stryker
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I like Kraka, because she's someone I really feel sympathetic for. After all, I'd sure hate to have lost my parents at such a young age. Losing my grandparents in my adult years was harsh enough.

I've always liked girls with cockney accents too. Plus, she'll occasionally be outside the village with the husky, and the animation clearly shows her petting him. And if there's another kind of girl I like, besides the brave and independant kind, it's the kind of girl who likes animals. (Just as long as they're not PETA supporters or anything, but let's not get into that.)

I want to say she's cute too, but she does seem a little young and I don't want to seem like a pedophile. ...Because I'm not.

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[Last edited by Jack Stryker at 01-04-2014 06:23 PM]

Gonedalf
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I love Alviss, and Andvari personally. I also really love Kraka and Liff. I really wished that my rogue could tell Lithrasir that Liff didn't want her letter, and then instead of there just being a quest lost, there could be a different side quest where my rogue could steal him for herself and take Lithrasir's place as the female lover. My rogue is evil.

PicaLudica
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Gonedalf wrote:
I love Alviss, and Andvari personally. I also really love Kraka and Liff. I really wished that my rogue could tell Lithrasir that Liff didn't want her letter, and then instead of there just being a quest lost, there could be a different side quest where my rogue could steal him for herself and take Lithrasir's place as the female lover. My rogue is evil.

I'm a sucker for romance side-quests. I wish there were romantic interests for the heroine - like in Quest for Glory 5, where each would be more suitable for a certain class. I realize that given the ending, that kind of subplot wouldn't make much sense, but maybe that could lead to a hidden ending?

Antidragon4185
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Although Crystal Shard has done a superb job at populating the game with memorable and dynamic characters, four in particular stand out for me;

Hervor; In a high fantasy game of heroes and monsters, her plight is steeped in morally ambiguity. No matter how her fate is resolved, a cloud of melancholy regret hangs above her character, perfectly in tune with her animal motif.

Kraka; Her snappy personality make it easy to like her, while her situation makes it easy to pity her. Then suddenly, she’s nicking your stuff, leading you on a wild goose chase, and sic’ing a hulking bandit on you. (Feisty one, isn’t she?) I love how her character toys with your sympathy and ire simultaneously, while remaining one of the most colorful characters in the game.

Thrivaldi; On most occasions, the incompetent comic-relief character is more annoying than endearing. (i.e. the infamous Jar-Jar Binks.) This two-headed-troll, on the other hand, hits his mark perfectly, deftly juggling his two personalities amidst some stellar voice acting. In addition to his performance, he manages to impact the plot in a meaningful way, while remaining a valid threat the whole time, becoming menacing, funny, and significant at the same time. (Oho, Yes!)

That Guy Behind The Ice Wall; It was a bit of a surprise. Suffice to say, I have never felt more pity for a irredeemable, classic villain.

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[Last edited by Antidragon4185 at 01-06-2014 07:55 PM]

RogueIce
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Antidragon4185 wrote: Kraka; Her snappy personality make it easy to like her, while her situation makes it easy to pity her. Then suddenly, she’s nicking your stuff, leading you on a wild goose chase, and sic’ing a hulking bandit on you. (Feisty one, isn’t she?) I love how her character toys with your sympathy and ire simultaneously, while remaining one of the most colorful characters in the game.

Kraka is definitely my favorite, for the reasons succinctly given by Antidragon4185. I would also like to add this for her character:


So yeah, definitely my favorite character. Hervor is a close second.

1848
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RogueIce wrote:

Click here to view the secret text

×She does have an underlying nobility, for in the Battle of Munavagir she goes out of the gates to help defend the town, despite being the youngest one present and arguably least capable fighter of the bunch. This is in sharp contrast to Regin who decided to "cover the rear" but in reality elected to avoid the fight.

At least, this is how she was for my Warrior playthrough. Might be different with other possible actions taken by the Heroine. But the fact remains Kraka has this element of bravery and nobility within her that the Heroine can potentially bring forth.

PicaLudica
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1848 wrote:

Click here to view the secret text

×As for Regin, don't forget that he is a Svartalf. Ever noticed how you never see him outside during the day? The sunlight would kill him. He can only go out at night.

Fizzii
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Regin is an old man (yes, 40s-50s is old back then) and not a fighter, so he wasn't expected to fight

PicaLudica
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Fizzii wrote:
Regin is an old man (yes, 40s-50s is old back then) and not a fighter, so he wasn't expected to fight

Fizzii
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Ha yes. Andvari might give you some idea of how long they live!

Even so, his human form is old But I wouldn't know what his real age is.

v_k
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Fizzii wrote:
Regin is an old man (yes, 40s-50s is old back then) and not a fighter, so he wasn't expected to fight

It just struck me that Munarvagir's defence forces are 3 to 4 women, most of which aren't fighters and one is arguably a child, and only 1 man. Was it deliberate in a kinda-political-statement kind of way or just a coincidence?

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[Last edited by v_k at 01-06-2014 11:00 PM]

Fizzii
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We never talked about that, so it's probably just a coincidence. There are actually more male characters in the game than female (I suppose, because the bad guys are all male too).

There should be two men fighting, but it depends if one is available or not - Sigurd and Liff can both fight.

v_k
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Fizzii wrote: There are actually more male characters in the game than female (I suppose, because the bad guys are all male too).

Yeah, I noticed. It's a bit funny how in a game, that tries to balance out QfG's gender inequality by introducing a female protagonist, the female NPCs are quite a bit more patriarchal than in QfGs. I mean, for one they're all involved in some sort of relationships, except for Kraka and the Norns (and I'm not even sure about Kraka since I didn't play a rogue). For another, there's a certain lack of power figures among them - probably, once again, only the Norns qualify as such. Even Brynhild has a tough facade, but is in fact a typical damsel in distress.

(don't take it as a critique, just an observation - the game is still head and shoulders above most of its peers in that regards)

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[Last edited by v_k at 01-06-2014 11:32 PM]

Fizzii
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I don't think HQ was made to have a female protagonist simply because of the recent discussions about feminism / female tropes in video games. Corby actually had the idea for a female lead since 2004, which is before this became a hot topic.

Given the theme, Radiant would have aimed to have made the characters fit how they were portrayed in mythology. As far as I am aware, Sigrun and Helgi were a couple, same with Brynhild and Sigurd, and Liff and Lithrasir. Also, with these sorts of games, I personally enjoy seeing things similar to the original myths and era (I did learn a little bit about Viking mythology while working on this game). Back in the Viking ages, people would have been fairly patriarchal, and this is just a reflection of that.

There has been some discussion about the game lacking variety in terms of races and different coloured skin, but again, the original myths would have been written based on the authors' experiences and what they were used to. I don't really agree on tokenism in a single game for the sake of it, especially if it stands out in a way that comes across as too racially conscious (which I don't believe to be a good thing, as race should never matter), but I would agree that there needs to be more mainstream games with different variety of themes or cultures.

PicaLudica
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v_k wrote:
Yeah, I noticed. It's a bit funny how in a game, that tries to balance out QfG's gender inequality by introducing a female protagonist, the female NPCs are quite a bit more patriarchal than in QfGs. I mean, for one they're all involved in some sort of relationships, except for Kraka and the Norns (and I'm not even sure about Kraka since I didn't play a rogue). For another, there's a certain lack of power figures among them - probably, once again, only the Norns qualify as such. Even Brynhild has a tough facade, but is in fact a typical damsel in distress.

(don't take it as a critique, just an observation - the game is still head and shoulders above most of its peers in that regards)

I don't think we should consider this game as a pro- or anti-feminist statement of any kind. I took the patriarchal structure of Fornsigtuna and Munarvadir in stride, since we're a) in a Viking setting, which I - being a lousy historian - assume by default to be a patriarchal society; and b) in a (high) fantasy setting, which is traditionally couched in patriarchal values, with a few heroic/extraordinary female figures (LotR had three female characters of any significance whatsoever. Three). So I really wouldn't read too much into the male/female balance of the game. Besides, the heroine is badass enough by the end of it to satisfy all one's girl power needs.

v_k
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Fizzii wrote:
I don't think HQ was made to have a female protagonist simply because of the recent discussions about feminism / female tropes in video games. Corby actually had the idea for a female lead since 2004, which is before this became a hot topic.

Oh, I didn't mean that. It's just substituting female protagonist for a female one is balancing out gender inequality, no matter the feminist discourse.

Given the theme, Radiant would have aimed to have made the characters fit how they were portrayed in mythology. As far as I am aware, Sigrun and Helgi were a couple, same with Brynhild and Sigurd, and Liff and Lithrasir. Also, with these sorts of games, I personally enjoy seeing things similar to the original myths and era (I did learn a little bit about Viking mythology while working on this game). Back in the Viking ages, people would have been fairly patriarchal, and this is just a reflection of that.

There is however one strange occasion that doesn't fit this line of thinking - substituting Aurvandel for Groa. I mean, given how Vikings generally considered magic women's business, it'd make much more sense to have a female wizard, so I'm very curious about the reasons behind this move.

There has been some discussion about the game lacking variety in terms of races and different coloured skin.

Now that I wouldn't worry about - given how numerous green- and blue-skinned characters are .

And once again - I'm not saying a game should be a political statement, nor am I criticising it for not being one. I'm just noticing what I consider peculiarities in its narrative.

(I should probably stop derailing this thread too )

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[Last edited by v_k at 01-07-2014 12:33 AM]

Fizzii
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Now that I wouldn't worry about - give how numerous green- and blue-skinned characters are .

Indeed . The general impression I was getting was that it wasn't enough to have a female lead, but that she should also have coloured skin or the option of coloured skin, instead of being 'blonde and white'. I'm all for options (people can choose how they want their character to look), except it's not feasible for this sort of game and better suited to 3d rpgs.

I can't say why Aurvandel was there and not Groa, but Radiant or Corby may be able to shed more light on that. It may be possible that some older sprites had a male wizard already.

On that note, it actually was a lot easier getting voice actors for the male roles compared to female roles. Not sure why this is the case, but we got quite lucky with some of them.

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[Last edited by Fizzii at 01-07-2014 12:38 AM]

PicaLudica
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Fizzii wrote:
I can't say why Aurvandel was there and not Groa, but Radiant or Corby may be able to shed more light on that. It may be possible that some older sprites had a male wizard already.

Maybe he was intended as a homage to Quest for Glory's Erasmus? That was my very first thought when I saw Aurvandel for the first time, it immediately made me smile. ^^

1848
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Fafnir totally looks like Michael Jackson though

dmatrixone
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Back in the Legend of Fair Spring* days, we had a plot significant wizard in the game. He was the only other character in the playable demo so, I know that Corby put a lot of work into drawing his sprites. The old wizard and Aurvy sprites are similar so, I would guess that Corby repurposed them for The Herald of Ragnarok.

* = This was the original HQ game from 2004