Sierra's Quest For Glory series has a fond place in the minds and hearts of many gamers. At a time when Sierra's most popular product was the serious and somewhat-righteous King's Quest series (1989), Hero's Quest (later re-released as Quest For Glory 1: So You Want to be a Hero) was a breath of fresh air in the genre. Unlike KQ, QFG featured uncanny humor, three different character classes (fighter, mage, and thief), and an actual fighting system.
Quest for Glory 1: So You Want to be a Hero (1989)
The game starts with you, the fledgeling graduate of the Famous Adventurers' Correspondence School. Seeing a notice, you go to the town of Spielburg to become a hero (you also happen to be trapped there, so you decide you might as well save the whole place). You find out that the elusive sorceress Baba-Yaga has wreaked havoc in the valley, and when Baron Stefan von Spielburg tried to stop her, she cursed him. Both of the Baron's offspring, Barnard and Elsa, disappeared a short time afterwards. It was his notice that lured you to Spielburg, and now you must save them (and the line at the bottom reading "No Experience Necessary!"). The entire valley is filled with monsters and a character named Bruno almost gets you killed.
You manage to rescue Barnard who is trapped in the shape of a bear. The Oggress Baba-Yaga is behind his polymorphing. You then go to search for Elsa in the hands of brigands, only to find out that she has grown up to become the leader of the band of ruffians! You manage to disenchant her and use reverse Baba-Yaga's magic spell to destroy her, thus becoming a true hero!
Side notes: it is interesting to note that a lot of the animation for the game (at least the re-make) was done as claymation. Also, if you're a thief, "pick nose" is a valid command.
Quest for Glory 2: Trial by Fire (1990)
You journey from Spielburg to Shapeir, a city in the middle of a desert, with your friends Abdula, Shema, and Shameen. You find the city has its own share of problems - elementals threaten the city, appearing at random and attacking citizens. You find that an evil wizard in the city of Raseir (Shapeir's twin city) is behind the elemental attacks. The wizard, Ad Avis has usurped the ruler and taken his place as Sultan. Avis tricks you to find Iblis the Destroyer, a powerful Djinn, and leaves you for dead. You manage to escape and throw Avis to his doom from a high tower before he can gain control of the Djinn. Avis cries for his Dark Master to save him, but to no avail. No body was found. In the aftermath, the Sultan adopts you as his son in gratitude.
Side notes: this is considered a "rare" game by collectors. If you have the original disks, manual, and packaging, it may be worth some money! It was hard enough for me to get a non-original copy of the game! If you import a character saved in the previous game, you may choose a fourth character class - Paladin. This game was also full of many bugs - I never actually finished it myself. They didn't have patches back then.
Quest for Glory 3: Wages of War (1992)
Ad Avis's death caused the planes of magic to shift made a rift between worlds. You travel with your friends Rakeesh and Uhura to their home, Tarna, a vast region, the land resembling Africa. You are here to help Rakeesh, a liontaur paladin, prevent war from breaking out in Tarna. The Simbani hunters and the magic-using Leopardmen are at each others' throats. You begin to suspect that there is a third side to the war - and you later discover that you are correct. The Demon Wizard set free by Avis's death is using the Leopardmen and Simbani against each other in an attempt to set his own armies free. You are eventually ready to face the Demon Wizard, but he conjures a magical doppleganger of you. As you are fighting your double, a thief you befriended in town comes and takes your place and you rush over to the Demon Wizard and fight him. You manage to shatter his orb and destroy his link to his homeworld, thus killing him.
Side notes: this was the first game in the series to replace the normal text-based interface with an icon-based one. Instead of 16 colors, the game had 256 - and when I first saw this game (this was the first of the series I picked up), it looked gorgeous. A map option was also introduced. As a funny note, you will sometimes notice Laurel and Hardy walking through the savannah, looking for a French fort.
Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness (1993)
Just as you are disposing of the Demon Wizard, Ad Avis (who isn't dead after all!) transports you to a sinister land named Mordavia. You meet a girl named Katrina, but she only tells you the name of the land and some other minimal information before disappearing. You go to a town and find the townsmen hostile and suspicious. The town had a cult to summon the "Dark One" (whatever THAT is!). There were garlic garlands everywhere, rumors of men changing into wolves at night, strange hearings about "the Master" who is the owner of the town... you even meet Baba Yaga again! You find that the Dark One is someone named Avoozl, who killed the great wizard Erana and her paladin Piotyr years earlier in this very land. You manage to recover her magical staff. Katrina, the woman you think you may grow to love, is actually a vampire and the Master everyone was talking about. When Ad Avis called out for a Dark Master to save him, she was the person who answered his call. Their plan is to summon Avoozl and seep the land in darkness - forever. The vampires would never need to see the light of day. While summoning Avoozl, Ad Avis attacks you. Katrina comes to your aid and he kills her. You break free and Avoozl kills Ad Avis. Using Eher staff, you kill Avoozl and manage to bring peace to the spirit of Erana. As the villagers cheer you, your friend Erasmus summons you to new adventures.
Side notes: this was the first CD-ROM based game in the series. The combat interface was customizable, having an arcade mode (vaguely similar to Street Fighter) and a strategy mode (slower, but more emphasis on intelligent attacks).
Quest for Glory 5: Dragonfire (1998)
Erasmus has summoned you to Silmaria, a land threatened by the Dragon of Doom. You meet nearly every other character of note in the previous games. The city needs a leader, and there are 5 competitors in the Rites of Rulership - Elsa von Spielberg (from the original game), Magnum Opus (a Roman warrior type), Kokeeno Pookameeso (leader of the Silmarian Guard), Gort (a Frankenstein type monster, and the Prince of Shapeir (you). You are to complete 7 rites: freedom, conquest, valor, destiny, courage, peace, and justice. Through treachery and battle, you survive the first six rites and even manage to rescue Katrina or Erasma from Hades. In the last rite, you must find out who is behind the mysterious Assassin and the invading forces in Silmaria. You find out that the Assassin is really Bruno (from the original game) and the man behind it all is Minos, an influential noble. You fight and defeat his minotaur - before Minos himself dies, he unleashes a dragon from the Prophecy Stone and you must kill it. You are joined by four of your friends in the fight. You eventually defeat it and become King of Silmaria (non-Thieves) or the Chief Thief. If you do not become King, Elsa takes your place as the Queen. You are also given the option of marrying Katrina, Elsa, or Erana. And they lived happily ever after.
Side notes: this was the last game in the series. There was supposed to be a multiplayer compononent, but it never made it through. Sorry if my info is a little bit vague; I haven't played this one.