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NeoQuest - NeoQuest is a game about a fantastic world which people spend hours,
even days engrossed in. As far as games on Neopets go this is one of the most
popular and far reaching on the site. What draws them in droves to this world?
Is it the lure of high adventure? Do they just really want that shiny trophy?
Whatever the reason, NeoQuest is more than just a game, for some it's a way
of life. When it first came out, the game was played in such numbers that it
brought some Neopets servers to their knees. Despite the huge amount of time
some people sink into this game, there's a lot that we don't understand about
NeoQuest and the world that it's set in.
As I was playing the game the other day, I noticed that there are a lot of
very puzzling things going on in this seemingly straight forward game. The longer
you spend fighting your way through it, the more you notice that there are some
things in NeoQuest that defy explanation.
In NeoQuest, you find yourself in Neopia's distant past, up against many fierce
beasts of unrivaled strength and -- hey wait a minute, aren't these all just
petpets? Sweet Fyora, they grew 'em big back then! There are Spyders in this
game big enough to eat a Poogle. What happened between the fall of Jahbal and
now to make these blood thirsty killing machines into doe-eyed pushovers who
want nothing more than a pat on the head from you? Were the ferocious beasts
of yesteryear somehow domesticated into the petpets that we know today? It's
hard to imagine that one day a traveler thought to himself "Wow! This Bearog
chewing on my head is really cute. I should take him home to the kids!" Yet
somehow, we ended up with much tamer versions, with hardly a vicious bone in
them.
The pygmy in the Jungle Ruins are another part of this petpet enigma. Once
warriors known the world over for their fighting skill, they are now pink little
companions known for their soft fur and massive saucer-eyes. Meepits are creepy
enough without a giant spear and the intent to maim you. In Neopia's past there
were entire villages of these little pink demons with different ranks and skills.
Some were shamans and others belonged to more physical fighting classes. Their
social structure has since broken down, but how? The cute little fuzz ball that
you gave your Mynci had ancestors intelligent enough to cast a complex fire
spell. Did they really lose that ability? What could lie beneath their vacant
gaze?
The defeat of a monster leads to even more questions. After a fight with a
Drakonid you end up with the creature's heart, but it still whimpers and runs
off? I know if someone had just gotten my heart from me, I wouldn't be doing
too much scampering. Plains Lupes, one of the few actual Neopet based monsters
in the game, also pose some interesting questions. You beat one and get it's
hide, and most of the time it leaves afterwards! Is it carrying the pelt of
another Lupe, or are you skinning one of your wild cousins? I'd hate
to see the day when 'Field Dress' is added to the list of options. Actually,
that might not be too bad if it means you get to eat Spicy Fire Lizard jerky
-- maybe it would even restore Hit Points.
Why can't you, being a Lupe yourself, talk it out with your fellow canines?
Is there really that much of a communications breakdown between a wild Lupe
and a more civilized one?
Sometimes monsters will drop healing potions when they are defeated. If they
had them in the first place, why didn't they just use them? It'd save them a
lot of trouble. They might even have won the fight.
Now that I think about it, there are a lot of creatures hauling around items.
Shiny stones, copper rods, credit cards -- these guys are more loaded then I
am! Where do they get all of this stuff? Some things that they carry are just
plain odd. Rotting cloth, bits of string, rocks, what do they do with it? Perhaps
there is some sort of monster marketplace that we just don't know about. A place
were they can socialize, and talk about the latest in glowing stones, and where
to bury small furry animals. Could that sort of thing be what's behind the mysterious
door everyone's talking about?
For those of you who don't know, in NeoQuest there is a room deep within the
Techo Mountain caves with a locked door. To my knowledge, no one has found the
key for this secret area. This leaves a lot of NeoQuest aficionados wondering;
what exactly is in there? Does it hold riches beyond your wildest dreams? A
secret boss and a different ending? Maybe not something as mysterious as all
that. With our luck, someone will finally make it in just to find out it's only
Xantan's linen closet.
"What? I spent thirty hours looking for the key to this, and it's just a stinking
closet?! This is a rip off! It's an outrage! It's- Hey! These sheets are really
soft!"
There are a bunch of strange characters in NeoQuest from walking sludge piles
to undead Aisha, but one of the weirdest of all is Rollay Scaleback. This is
a guy who loved lizards so much that he underwent a series of mysterious, and
probably painful, procedures to become one. I certainly can't tell what he was
before this, but chances are good that he was some sort of Neopet. Wouldn't
it have been easier and less time consuming just to buy a Techo morphing potion?
Even more weirdoes can be found within the walls of Two Rings Palace. Where
else can you find a serving staff stronger than the Arch Magus of Roo? Why should
anyone need a Butler who can use Fire magic? Unless you just want to save a
lot on heating bills. Or maybe there was a budget problem that year, and Jahbal
could only afford either servants or guards. I suppose that having battle ready
maids can come in handy sometimes, but I hope that they can actually cook and
clean and all that, or else it seems like a waste of money to me.
Certain Non Playable Characters behave pretty oddly as well. You hack and slash
your way through a dungeon crawling with nasty beasties, all to find some hapless
sap who's gotten themselves stuck in there. When you finally do reach them,
you chat with them a while, maybe hand them some items, and then leave them
right where they are. You'd think living in a monster pit would get old
pretty fast, but when you come back through the caves and what have you, they're
exactly where you left them.
Now maybe I'm just a little strange, but if I was trapped in a cave with various
things that wanted to eat me, I'd run with the first chance to escape that I
saw. I certainly wouldn't take up residence there. I can't imagine that cave-front
property has such high Real Estate values that you wouldn't leave when some
wandering adventurer practically hands you a ticket out of there.
If all of this leaves you scratching your head, you're not alone. While you're
playing the game sometimes it's hard to notice all the strange things going
on around you. You're probably too busy figuring out how to get your next weapons
upgrade or if you need to use a potion to wonder why the Ghastly Aisha tells
you it's master will avenge it when you've already defeated him. You've got
bigger worries in a game that takes days worth of playing to finish.
It makes you wonder what the staff was thinking as they worked on this game.
Where some of the oddities added on purpose, as some sort of office in-joke?
Are these flaws of logic simply carry-overs from similar Role Playing Games
that inspired this one? It's hard to tell from our perspective as players. We
can't see the whole picture from where we are, we know nothing of the development
phases of a game this large. To us the decisions that the Neo Nuts make can
be confusing and downright mystifying.
Maybe these questions will be answered, maybe the secrets hidden in the game
will finally come to light. By the time we have an understanding of this, NeoQuest
2 is sure to come out with a whole knew set of puzzles that make you tilt your
head and say "Huh?"
Until that time, keep your eyes open for those little bits of twisted logic
that litter the game. If you find some of your own, feel free to send them my
way. Also remember -- if you ever find Xantan's linen closet, steal a towel
for me.
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