One of the game's highlights is its graphics; King's Quest VII has very elaborate and colorful graphics, compared to other games of the time, with painted backgrounds and animation techniques. The game makes use of SVGA graphics, new at the time, before The Dig and Space Quest 6. Also included are certain areas that pan from one side to the other, rather than going from screen to screen. Despite the cartoonish graphics characteristic of family-friendly computer games, the game includes several violent death scenes.
Plot
The name of this entry, The Princeless Bride, is a pun on the title of The Princess Bride. Like most King's Quest titles, it is also a reference to the plot: Princess Rosella is soon to be a bride, but ends up in another world shortly before her marriage. It is the only entry in the series to feature Queen Valanice in a major role, and also the only one in which King Graham is not shown or mentioned at all (with one minor exception in version 1.4).note Sierra marketed the game as an improvement in the series by stating that completion of earlier KQ adventures was not necessary to fully enjoy the game, even though the final chapter revealed a strong connection to the events of King's Quest IV.
Story
Walking through a forest in Daventry with her mother, Queen Valanice, Princess Rosella dreams of adventures in faraway lands and freedom while her mother pressures her to find a prince to marry. As they argue, Rosella sees in a pond an image of a castle in the clouds and leaps in, followed by her worried mother. The two fall through a portal together, but an arm suddenly snatches Rosella away, separating the two women.
Valanice ends up in a desert in the Realm of Eldritch and is left with only Rosella's comb. Valanice discovers from the ghost of a man who died in the desert that an evil witch closed the only way out, forcing Valanice to find a way to reopen it. By piecing together a turquoise arrow, Valanice manages to open the passage out and departs the desert.
At the same time, Rosella is pulled out of the portal into the Vulcanix Underground by Otar, the Troll King. To Rosella's shock and disgust, she has been transformed into a troll herself and is to be married to Otar. Seeking a cure and escape, Rosella encounters the friendly troll Mathilde who offers to concoct a potion that can cure Rosella in exchange for Rosella's help in finding answers to the Underground's recent troubles with the Land of Ooga Booga. Rosella is able to gather the ingredients and is cured, but the evil Malicia locks her away to prevent Rosella from distracting Otar. Escaping, Rosella discovers Malicia conspiring with Otar to cause the volcano the Underground is part of to erupt which will destroy the entire realm. Locating Otar's pet dragon toad, Rosella and Mathilde discover that the real Otar is being held prisoner in the Land of Ooga Booga while the one Rosella has met is an imposter working with Malicia. After escaping Malicia's clutches, Rosella uses an elevator to rise to the Land of Ooga Booga.
After passing through the desert, Valanice discovers herself in a forest where she finds Attis and Ceres, the Lord of the Hunt and Mother Nature, have been transformed into a stag and a tree respectively by Malicia. Worse, Malicia drove an iron stake into Ceres' roots, leaving her with a life-threatening wound that could spell disaster for nature if Ceres dies. Making her way to a nearby town, Valanice agrees to steal a magical statuette in exchange for a salve that will allow her to pass through a dangerous part of the forest. Though Valanice succeeds in stealing the statuette, she is arrested after recovering a giant block of cheese that falls from the sky, the moon of the realm.
Rosella successfully reaches the Land of Ooga Booga, but the passage back to the Underground collapses behind her. With the help of local Doctor Mort Cadaver, Rosella begins seeking out the real Otar while coming up against many challenges. After rescuing a black cat, Rosella receives one of the cat's lives and the location of Otar. With the help of a gravedigger she helped earlier, Rosella manages to reach Otar, but is imprisoned with him by Malicia. Using the dragon toad, the two escape and plot to return to the Underground to foil Malicia using a secret entrance located in the town. With help from Mort, they bypass one of Malicia's monsters to enter a swamp, but Otar convinces Rosella to enter Malicia's house and steal back a mysterious device that is the only thing that can stop Malicia. After evading a werewolf, the two manage to find the secret entrance in the town hall and reenter the Underground.
In exchange for returning the moon to the sky, Valanice is pardoned and manages to retrieve the salve. Acting on advice from a rock spirit, Valanice restarts the local river, breaking Attis' curse. Using the salve to get past the werewolf, Valanice makes her way to the Land of Ooga Booga where she locates and returns the Headless Horseman's head. In return, he allows Valanice use of his horse Necromancer to reach Etheria. In Etheria, Valanice locates the Fates who tell her that the king and queen are gone and she must travel to a dreamworld to speak to Mab, the lady of dreams. Valanice is also able to get the ambrosia she needs to restore a magical cornucopia and break Ceres' curse. With the help of Mort, Valanice is able to enter the dreamworld while asleep, only to discover Mab frozen in a block of ice. With Ceres' help, Valanice is able to find a way to break the curse while Mab's brother provides a way into the dreamworld while she is awake. Valanice frees Mab who helps Valanice use the winds to contact King Oberon and Queen Titania. With the volcano close to erupting, the king and queen return to help.