The Legend of Kyrandia

The Legend of Kyrandia: Book One is a 2D point-and-click adventure game, and the first game in the Fables & Fiends series. It was developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Games in August 1992.

The Legend of Kyrandia
Developer(s)Westwood Studios
Publisher(s)Virgin Games
Director(s)Brett Sperry
Designer(s)Michael Legg
Rick Parks
Paul S. Mudra
Programmer(s)Michael Legg
Artist(s)Rick Parks
Writer(s)Coco
Composer(s)Frank Klepacki
SeriesFables & Fiends
Platform(s)Amiga, DOS, FM Towns, Mac, PC-98
ReleaseAugust 1, 1992 (DOS)[1]
1992 (Amiga)
October 1993 (FM Towns)
1993 (Mac)
February 15, 1994 (PC-98)
Genre(s)Graphic adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Players take on the role of a young prince who must end the tyrannical chaos of an evil court jester in his kingdom. The game makes use of a simple interface system that allows the player to interact with objects and people, while solving various puzzles using a variety of items and special abilities.

The game proved a commercial success, reviews noted its lush artwork and stereotyped fantasy writing. It had two sequels: The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate in 1993, and The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm's Revenge in 1994.

Gameplay

The Legend of Kyrandia utilizes a point-and-click interface which is more simple than similar games of its era, which instead relied on more complex multi-action interfaces. In the game, players can click on anything to examine and interact with objects, items in a scene and people. Any objects that can be taken can be stored in a simple inventory, with the player able to carry a set amount on their character, but able to drop objects within a scene for later collection or removal.[2]

The game features a variety of puzzles and scenes to explore, though also features hazardous obstacles, traps, and moments that can incur death; being killed automatically ends the game, and forces players to start a new game or reload from the last save they made. One of the more unique elements in the game is a special amulet with colored gems, each of which can be used to solve a puzzle with a special magic.

Plot

In the fantasy kingdom of Kyrandia, the evil jester Malcolm murders King William and Queen Katherine. He is imprisoned by the Mystics, the kingdom's powerful magic users, but escapes eighteen years later. Using the Kyragem, a mystic stone containing the kingdom's vast magical power, Malcolm wreaks havoc and corrupts the natural magic of Kyrandia.

Brandon, the son of William and Katherine, has been raised in secret by the leader of the Mystics, his grandfather Kallak. When Malcolm escapes, Kallak writes to fellow Mystic Brynn a message with guidance on how to prepare Brandon to defeat him. However, before he can deliver it, Malcolm finds Kallak and turns him to stone.

Brandon returns home to find the petrified Kallak and seeks help from Brynn, who helps him read the letter and locate a magic amulet that will aid him in his quest. The amulet is powerless at first, but throughout the game Brandon enables more and more of its spells. Brandon meets with Darm the mage, who assists him in acquiring items needed to reach Zanthia, a powerful sorceress. Zanthia reveals that Brandon is the son of William and Katherine, and that the Kyragem is sealed in a vault in the royal castle, which Malcolm now controls.

Brandon sets out to find the royal treasures that are needed to unlock the vault. He secures one of these, uses a potion to fly to the castle grounds, and pays homage to his parents at their grave. This leads him to meet with his mother's spirit and receive the final power on his amulet. In the castle, Brandon works to find the remaining treasures, discovering that Brynn, Darm, and Zanthia were captured and also petrified by Malcolm. Securing the treasures and using them to enter the vault, Brandon tricks the jester into petrifying himself, ending his terror. With the land free, Brandon assumes his rightful role as Kyrandia's new king.

Development

Kyrandia was originally a MUD for MajorBBS programmed by Richard Skurnick & Scott Brinker. Westwood Studios purchased the Kyrandia intellectual property. The story was adapted by Rick "Coco" Gush, who called the original designer "a jerk" who "tried to make a stink" after Westwood's franchise became financially successful through their publisher at Virgin.[3]

Reception

According to writer Rick "Coco" Gush, The Legend of Kyrandia was commercially successful. He noted that it was "a solid A-minus or B-plus" title that helped to secure Westwood's "new relationship with Virgin". Later bundles with its sequels continued this success.[3] The Legend of Kyrandia series as a whole, totaled above 250,000 units in sales by August 1996.[4]

In 1992, Computer Gaming World's Robin Matthews described The Legend of Kyrandia "as a cross between Loom, King's Quest V and Secret of Monkey Island 2", praising the "beautifully drawn" VGA graphics and humor. The magazine concluded that the "storyline is hardly original ... but the presentation of the game, the general quality and the feel, make this a promising debut and a welcome addition to the world of graphic adventures".[5] In April 1994 the magazine said that the CD version "is a quality product throughout" that added digitized voices to the "excellent, if somewhat short" game's "Stunning graphics and sound", and advised Westwood to "just release the CD version of their titles first".[6] The first installment in the series received 5/5 in Dragon[7] magazine.

GOG.com released an emulated version for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2013.[8]

References
  1. "Kyrandia Advert". Computer Gaming World. No. 96. Software Publishers Association. July 1992. p. 115.
  2. Fables & Fiends: The Legend of Kyrandia Book One (game manual). Virgin Games. 1992.
  3. Dickens, Evan (May 20, 2002). "Rick Gush, designer of the Kyrandia games". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on November 22, 2002.
  4. "Westwood hits GENCON 96" (Press release). Westwood Studios. August 28, 1996. Archived from the original on June 5, 1997.
  5. Matthews, Robin (November 1992). "Westwood Studios' The Legend of Kyrandia". Computer Gaming World. No. 100. pp. 34, 36. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  6. "Invasion Of The Data Stashers". Computer Gaming World. April 1994. pp. 20–42.
  7. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (March 1993). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (191): 57–62.
  8. "Release: Legend of Kyrandia". GOG.com. CD Projekt. September 12, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
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