Why is SQ6 (generally) disliked?

[codefenix]

I realize this is an aging thread, but I just wanted to add my observation regarding SQ6:

 

Without SQ6, the Space Quest series would be complete.  If the series had ended with SQV, then it would have ended on a good note, with Roger once again the prominent hero at the top of his game to seemingly live happily ever after...  

 

...Until SQ6 came along, and:

• Rendered all of Roger's greatest triumphs null.  When the game opens, we're told that Roger's prior achievements don't matter.
• Dropped a ton of new characters on us (Stellar, Circuit Syndey, etc.) who we're just to accept as having been close friends of Roger's, despite nothing having ever been mentioned about them previously.  
• Forced the idea of Stellar as a new love interest, which was unnecessary, since Roger had already "got the girl" in SQV.
• Left us hanging at the end with the previous bullet point unresolved.

SQ6 is a disjointed mess, and lends nothing to the series.  It just falls flat, and ruins an otherwise perfect series wrap-up that SQV offered.

 

SQ6 should never have been made.

[pcj]

• Rendered all of Roger's greatest triumphs null.  When the game opens, we're told that Roger's prior achievements don't matter.\

That wasn't the only time it happened in the SQ series though. SQ2 reset the accomplishments of SQ1. You could argue SQ5 is the one that reset SQ4's accomplishments as well. In which case SQ6 actually reset SQ5's accomplishments.

 

I think the point the Two Guys were trying to get across is that Roger was always destined to be a loser no matter how well he did. ("Life sucks, again.").

 

 

• Dropped a ton of new characters on us (Stellar, Circuit Syndey, etc.) who we're just to accept as having been close friends of Roger's, despite nothing having ever been mentioned about them previously.  

 

More characters is certainly a departure from previous SQs, though Sludge Vohaul pretty much came out of nowhere as the big bad of SQ2.

 

 

• Forced the idea of Stellar as a new love interest, which was unnecessary, since Roger had already "got the girl" in SQV.
• Left us hanging at the end with the previous bullet point unresolved.

 

Well, that lack of a resolution is hardly the fault of SQ6. They probably expected to tie that up in SQ7. (The fan game Incinerations provides a decent resolution to the Stellar/Bea thing BTW).

[codefenix]

You could argue SQ5 is the one that reset SQ4's accomplishments as well.

 

Those accomplishments all take place in the future, so it's hard to say.  ;)

 

 

 

though Sludge Vohaul pretty much came out of nowhere as the big bad of SQ2.

 

There was more wiggle-room that early in the series for newcoming characters.  Also, the name "Vohaul" was alluded to in SQ1, so at least there's a connection.

 

 

 

Well, that lack of a resolution is hardly the fault of SQ6. They probably expected to tie that up in SQ7. 

 

It was introduced in the first place when it wasn't called for though, that's my point.  I realize they didn't have the advantage of hindsight that there wouldn't be an opportunity for further storytelling in SQ7, but that doesn't change how out of touch this installment is with those before it.

 

Maybe I'll play Incinerations one of these days.  I generally stay away from fan works, but it does look impressive.

[MusicallyInspired]

Regarding characters that Roger "already knew" that weren't mentioned before, I don't think he knew them before. I was under the impression that between the introduction cutscene where he was demoted and the point where you start the game and get sent to shore leave on Polysorbate LX, there would have been an indeterminate amount of time (perhaps a couple of months) that allowed Roger to meet and befriend members of his new crew. I don't think we're meant to assume that Roger knew these people before SQ6.

[suejak]

SQ5 had a ton of characters too, all new except Bea. Some of those relationships (Quirk) were implied to have started sometime between SQ4 and 5...

[ArmyGuyDan]

playing part 6 just didn't feel like a Space Quest Game

[Tawmis]

20 hours ago, ArmyGuyDan said:

playing part 6 just didn't feel like a Space Quest Game

Man, some serious necroposting happening - but these forums have been so quiet - I, personally, don't mind! Nice to see some conversation happening.

So, like you - I didn't overly enjoy SQ6 (there were certainly parts I thought were hilarious, yes - like when Roger's walking around Windows 3.0/3.1/whatever) - but over all, it felt like Space Quest to me (the humor, the writing, etc) - I just didn't enjoy the art animation style. Which is weird, I know, when we consider AGI/SCI art - but the way Roger's drawn and such, looks very much like a 6th grade kid's animation project. The big legs, clunky boots, etc.

But then, the background art in sharp contrast was stunning. It made for a weird mix.

Example:

Similarly - there is a series of books called Dragonlance which are some of my favorites. They made an animated cartoon out of it. The animated cartoon portion was excellent. But then the dragons in it were CGI, and literally rip you right out of the cartoon, because of the odd contrast.

Cartoon art:

And then the CGI mixed with it...

 

[ArmyGuyDan]

I believe a lot of it fell apart and when Mark and Scott split up after SQ4

[Chamillinator]

Yea I always wondered the dislike for this game too. For me though this is the game I started on and never knew the other 5 existed for a long time. I literally thought it was just a play on all the space stuff back then using numbers and what not and didn't realize it was actually the 6th game. This game (SQ6) and Freddy Pharkas are my go to games when I need to go back and get that past feeling I think about these 2 games daily I swear lol. I played both of these games all the time back then never getting anywhere in either of them because I couldn't figure them out and the internet was just basic at that time. I don't recall ever getting off the ground and if I did it was probably a rare thing and that I don't remember, because I remember the street scenes and anything that resembles that to this day. As in Futurama reminds me of SQ6 as does Star Wars in the bar scene. Like even though I never got into Star Wars nor do I care for it, but that scene sticks out for me and I've only seen it like once lol. So again for me this game is great but let me get into the other games.

Now for me I'm mostly into P&C games that have voice, rarely do I play any game that doesn't have voice weather it be P&C or otherwise unless I have to, which makes going back to some of these older ones a bit hard for me to do. I did play SQ1 VGA and it was okay, it was short and wasn't a whole lot going on but this was a few years ago so it wasn't all that impressive to me. If I had played a lot of these adventure games back when they came out that I missed out on I probably would like them a whole lot more but this is where I'm at. Then I played the remake of part 2 and I didn't really get into it that much and the voices were mostly annoying to me. I know it was a fan remake but still just didn't do much for me. I was also hoping for a remake of 3 with voice and such but that obviously didn't come about and I wanted to play a bunch of the fan games but never got around to them and that's kind of where I ended up. I still want to play 4 since it has voice and possibly 5 but I will have to be in the right mood/setting to play those in order to enjoy them better. It's kinda like Jason X of Friday the 13th, that's the movie that got me into that franchise even though I've known about it since I was a child lol.

Also one last thing is now that I'm older with much less time it's hard for me to enjoy a P&C game nowadays because back then when I had all the time in the world and no internet I could just walk around clicking on everything and enjoy it for what it was. Now though when I play games I just have to get through them as fast as I can in order to get on to the next game on my long backlog list of games, like ToonTown I rushed through that a few years back but wasn't that enjoyable but I feel like I would have loved it had I played it when I was younger.

[Chamillinator]

Yea I always wondered the dislike for this game too. For me though this is the game I started on and never knew the other 5 existed for a long time. I literally thought it was just a play on all the space stuff back then using numbers and what not and didn't realize it was actually the 6th game. This game (SQ6) and Freddy Pharkas are my go to games when I need to go back and get that past feeling I think about these 2 games daily I swear lol. I played both of these games all the time back then never getting anywhere in either of them because I couldn't figure them out and the internet was just basic at that time. I don't recall ever getting off the ground and if I did it was probably a rare thing and that I don't remember, because I remember the street scenes and anything that resembles that to this day. As in Futurama reminds me of SQ6 as does Star Wars in the bar scene. Like even though I never got into Star Wars nor do I care for it, but that scene sticks out for me and I've only seen it like once lol. So again for me this game is great but let me get into the other games.

Now for me I'm mostly into P&C games that have voice, rarely do I play any game that doesn't have voice weather it be P&C or otherwise unless I have to, which makes going back to some of these older ones a bit hard for me to do. I did play SQ1 VGA and it was okay, it was short and wasn't a whole lot going on but this was a few years ago so it wasn't all that impressive to me. If I had played a lot of these adventure games back when they came out that I missed out on I probably would like them a whole lot more but this is where I'm at. Then I played the remake of part 2 and I didn't really get into it that much and the voices were mostly annoying to me. I know it was a fan remake but still just didn't do much for me. I was also hoping for a remake of 3 with voice and such but that obviously didn't come about and I wanted to play a bunch of the fan games but never got around to them and that's kind of where I ended up. I still want to play 4 since it has voice and possibly 5 but I will have to be in the right mood/setting to play those in order to enjoy them better. It's kinda like Jason X of Friday the 13th, that's the movie that got me into that franchise even though I've known about it since I was a child lol.

Also one last thing is now that I'm older with much less time it's hard for me to enjoy a P&C game nowadays because back then when I had all the time in the world and no internet I could just walk around clicking on everything and enjoy it for what it was. Now though when I play games I just have to get through them as fast as I can in order to get on to the next game on my long backlog list of games, like ToonTown I rushed through that a few years back but wasn't that enjoyable but I feel like I would have loved it had I played it when I was younger.