Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers, Episode 1: The Once and Future Space Janitor
100:00 Starting Soon ("Ataraxia" by Aaron Hodges-Boyle)
06:05 Beginning
15:00 Starting the Game
20:11 Space Quest XII: Vohaul's Revenge II
50:50 Into the Sewers
1:04:10 Roger Wilco: Hunted!
1:49:40 Space Quest X: Latex Babes of Estros
2:07:32 Let's Go to the Mall!
2:11:15 Ms. Astro Chicken
2:23:30 Window Shopping
It's time for Roger Wilco to enter the 256-color VGA universe and make his way using a point-and-click mouse interface! I go into this game expecting a game that is the rough technical equivalent of King's Quest V, with time travel elements. Otherwise, I don't know what to expect!
As it turns out, the developers played a time travel trick of their own, since the game immediately reveals its core plot to be a parody of Rise of Skywalker. Yes, Sludge Vohaul is just alive again, for no reason that's been explained yet, and he's back to make more trouble for Roger! Just before our hero meets his end, two time travelers rescue him, open a rift in space-time, and send him through it to the future!
Roger finds himself in the oppressive far-future Xenon of Space Quest XII, but Roger quickly steals a timepod that's clearly going to allow him access to a variety of Space Quest timelines. I spend the latter portion of the session in Space Quest X: Latex Babes of Estros!
I can already tell that this is going to be the best plot in the Space Quest series so far: there's real conflict, mystery, and a core premise that creates huge opportunities for varied environments. Better still, while the interface and general graphical quality is up to the KQV standard, this game actually outdoes KQV in the voice acting department: these are real professionals delivering well-written sci-fi/comedy dialogue!
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This playthrough was originally broadcast live on Twitch, beginning November 23, 2024 at https://www.twitch.tv/58dreamstreet
*Starting Soon theme*: "Ataraxia" by Aaron Hodges-Boyle. Aaron's got a wide catalog of "video game music to study or fall asleep to" over on his Bandcamp page: https://aaronhodges-boyle.bandcamp.com/!