Kyrandia is a land of dark, mysterious forests, and sleeping dragons. A fantastic land where rubies grow on trees and magic abounds. Who would imagine that a land so idyllic would spawn a murderer so demented? Some say that the court jester, Malcolm, was mad to begin with. Others whisper in sly, conspiratorial tones that it was his burning desire to possess the precious Kyragem that slowly drove him to slay the peaceful King William. As the rightful prince of Kyrandia, you must pursue the elusive Malcolm to recover the powerful gemstone. Only then will you be able to reclaim the throne and restore harmony to the land of Kyrandia. The Legend of Kyrandia awaits you!
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The Kyrandia trilogy is one of the most nostalgic games for me, played all of these so much as a kid in the late 2000s (I had no internet and the main source of games for me was my uncle who I really have to thank for a lot of games I still cherish). The first one always seemed the least interesting to me, and yeah, it's pretty short and the puzzles aren't that interesting (but more on them later). As a kid, I played these games WITH NO SOUND. It didn't work in the versions I was playing on winXP. Now, having finally gotten the full experience of the first game, I can say that it's got tons of charm. The music by the man himself Frank Klepacki who also made the ost for Lands of Lore which I adore, the visuals, the voice acting, the humor, it's all just beautiful and makes me wanna stay in this game for a bit longer.
But then come the puzzles. If you know Kyrandia, you know about the hell cave, the pit of doom, the treacherous cavern. I didn't have too many problems with it, mapping it on a piece of paper was even kinda fun. And finding only 4 rocks (the final rock is hidden in a place where it's almost indistinguishable from the background texture), trying to complete the puzzle with them and watching Brandon fuck it up in the most stupid way possible was painful yet hilarious. Again, the humor in this game is very good, it's light and it's sweet.
What really annoyed me is most of the other puzzles in the game. The altar where you have to put 4 gems the order of which is random other than the first one, and when you fail these gems respawn somewhere on the map which you have to go around every time just to try again (or just use saves). The potions that you have to mix somehow guessing that you need a flower/berry and a gem with a corresponding color, not even mentioning that if you don't have a necessary gem it might be on the other end of the map, and also the usage of said potions is just a guessing game once again (you get an orange potion that does nothing, but if you're in a very specific spot it will turn you into a pegasus and send you to the final location of the game). The bells that you have to play in the order that you also have to guess. The whole you have to bring a flower with you to a location you can't return from and if you don't have one you'll have to load the game and do everything again but how would I know that I need to have a flower with me if the game has had a lot of useless items up to this point thing. Uh. I know that old point and clicks are famous for this kind of stuff but come on, not like this. This is like either you use a walkthrough or bruteforce the game by just trying out every interaction. That whole thing really irritated me.
Otherwise, it's a very pleasant experience and a sweet funny little fantasy game if you don't mind using a walkthrough and doing a bit of backtracking from time to time. Really looking forward to replaying 2 and 3 which I played much more as a kid and which I remember as being far more ambitious, fun and absurd than this one.
The Kyrandia trilogy is one of the most nostalgic games for me, played all of these so much as a kid in the late 2000s (I had no internet and the main source of games for me was my uncle who I really have to thank for a lot of games I still cherish). The first one always seemed the least interesting to me, and yeah, it's pretty short and the puzzles aren't that interesting (but more on them later). As a kid, I played these games WITH NO SOUND. It didn't work in the versions I was playing on winXP. Now, having finally gotten the full experience of the first game, I can say that it's got tons of charm. The music by the man himself Frank Klepacki who also made the ost for Lands of Lore which I adore, the visuals, the voice acting, the humor, it's all just beautiful and makes me wanna stay in this game for a bit longer.
But then come the puzzles. If you know Kyrandia, you know about the hell cave, the pit of doom, the treacherous cavern. I didn't have too many problems with it, mapping it on a piece of paper was even kinda fun. And finding only 4 rocks (the final rock is hidden in a place where it's almost indistinguishable from the background texture), trying to complete the puzzle with them and watching Brandon fuck it up in the most stupid way possible was painful yet hilarious. Again, the humor in this game is very good, it's light and it's sweet.
What really annoyed me is most of the other puzzles in the game. The altar where you have to put 4 gems the order of which is random other than the first one, and when you fail these gems respawn somewhere on the map which you have to go around every time just to try again (or just use saves). The potions that you have to mix somehow guessing that you need a flower/berry and a gem with a corresponding color, not even mentioning that if you don't have a necessary gem it might be on the other end of the map, and also the usage of said potions is just a guessing game once again (you get an orange potion that does nothing, but if you're in a very specific spot it will turn you into a pegasus and send you to the final location of the game). The bells that you have to play in the order that you also have to guess. The whole you have to bring a flower with you to a location you can't return from and if you don't have one you'll have to load the game and do everything again but how would I know that I need to have a flower with me if the game has had a lot of useless items up to this point thing. Uh. I know that old point and clicks are famous for this kind of stuff but come on, not like this. This is like either you use a walkthrough or bruteforce the game by just trying out every interaction. That whole thing really irritated me.
Otherwise, it's a very pleasant experience and a sweet funny little fantasy game if you don't mind using a walkthrough and doing a bit of backtracking from time to time. Really looking forward to replaying 2 and 3 which I played much more as a kid and which I remember as being far more ambitious, fun and absurd than this one.
I went into these blind. My best friend snagged them for me and had me play them at his house lol
What can I say? It’s a good point n click.
Maybe not as good as some King’s Quests, but it certainly has charm. Worth a play imo
What can I say? It’s a good point n click.
Maybe not as good as some King’s Quests, but it certainly has charm. Worth a play imo
Point & clicks are some of the first games I've played and always give me this comfy, nostalgic feeling; sometimes I just chill eating or drinking something with a walkthrough open because never in a million years would I be beating most of these games otherwise. At times I dare try to figure stuff out on my own and get to experience some of the absolute biggest bullshittery ever conceived, and I'd say searching (or possibly grinding) for different colored gemstones that randomly spawn across areas in order to guess a randomly generated puzzle ranks pretty high in that department.
This my partner's favourite game so my experience with it is curated through her guidance which saved me a lot of time.
Kyrandia is weird beast, it's an old school adventure game filled with randomly placed items that don't always do much. The areas are oversized and are only there to invoke a sense of scale. There's even an optional side quest.
About halfway through I realised that Kyrandia is point and click adventure set in an early open world game.
It's unintuitive and weird but it's also unique and it helps the world building - this is a magical whimsical land filled with magic that is fueld by precious stones, flowers and alchemy.
The game looks beautiful to this day
There is a lot of attention to details - in the dreaded serpent cave the rooms illumination will match the strength of the fireberry you placed or carry.
The animation has some real gems, it's livelier than games tended to be back then.
The story is alright, it's mostly carried by Malcolm the jester. The 3rd act felt a bit rushed, I left the game with more questions than answers.
Puzzles are a mixed bag. A lot of trial and error and ludicrous amounts of backtracking. There are also a lot of clever solutions and the magic amulet system feels organic and come into play a lot.
Kyrandia is game I ultimately enjoyed a lot more than I expected but I'm glad I had a guide to help me filter the rough bits.
Kyrandia is weird beast, it's an old school adventure game filled with randomly placed items that don't always do much. The areas are oversized and are only there to invoke a sense of scale. There's even an optional side quest.
About halfway through I realised that Kyrandia is point and click adventure set in an early open world game.
It's unintuitive and weird but it's also unique and it helps the world building - this is a magical whimsical land filled with magic that is fueld by precious stones, flowers and alchemy.
The game looks beautiful to this day
There is a lot of attention to details - in the dreaded serpent cave the rooms illumination will match the strength of the fireberry you placed or carry.
The animation has some real gems, it's livelier than games tended to be back then.
The story is alright, it's mostly carried by Malcolm the jester. The 3rd act felt a bit rushed, I left the game with more questions than answers.
Puzzles are a mixed bag. A lot of trial and error and ludicrous amounts of backtracking. There are also a lot of clever solutions and the magic amulet system feels organic and come into play a lot.
Kyrandia is game I ultimately enjoyed a lot more than I expected but I'm glad I had a guide to help me filter the rough bits.
This was bad!
The labyrinth was a nightmare. The final area sucked. And some puzzles don't even have clues and just demand a tedious amount of time to get solved.
For the French I wrote a review - https://lacritiquedumoment.wordpress.com/2023/02/23/the-legend-of-kyrandia/#kyrandia12023
The labyrinth was a nightmare. The final area sucked. And some puzzles don't even have clues and just demand a tedious amount of time to get solved.
For the French I wrote a review - https://lacritiquedumoment.wordpress.com/2023/02/23/the-legend-of-kyrandia/#kyrandia12023
Moon logic is far too strong in this one.