Fables & Fiends: The Legend of Kyrandia - Book One

aka: Kyrandia 1, The Legend of Kyrandia: Book One
Moby ID: 394
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

The Legend of Kyrandia is the first in a trilogy of adventure games by Westwood. In this game the player controls Brandon, grandson of Kallak - a wizard of the realm of Kyrandia. Malcolm, a psychotic jester imprisoned in the past by Kallak, has broken free and wishes to take over the land as well as lay down his revenge. He turns Kallak into stone leaving him with only his eyes, so that Kallak is not denied his tears for Kyrandia's sake.

This is where Brandon steps in; returning home shortly afterwards only to find that his grandfather has been turned into stone, Brandon is being told by a messenger from the Realm of the Land that he has been chosen to embark on a journey that will rid this realm of Malcolm and his evil. He has to prove himself not only a hero, but a worthy heir to the crown and ultimately of becoming a king.

Throughout the journey Brandon will collect many items and also learn how to master magic. Available spells include disappearing, healing yourself, summoning ice upon fire and shifting into a wisp. Interaction with the environment is confined to highlighted items, and a single cursor is used for all actions, without differentiating precise commands.

Spellings

  • דברי ימי קירנדיה - Hebrew spelling
  • ザ レジェンド オブ キランディア - Japanese spelling
  • 凯兰迪亚传奇 - Simplified Chinese spelling
  • 키란디아의 전설 - Korean spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

53 People (49 developers, 4 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 77% (based on 33 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 114 ratings with 7 reviews)

A true classic that Westwood deserves

The Good
It was one of the first games I've ever got to see in VGA mode and also the first game I heard using an Adlib sound card. Visually, this was one of the most stunning work during that time it was released, the story was unique and everything seemed to jump out of the screen, cool characters and interesting villains. The environment was so much alive and so visually appealing to the eyes, even the gloomy parts of the environment seems perfect.

The music was beautiful that I wanted to get a music soundtrack for this game. I really consider this as one of Frank Klapecki's finer works even today. The tune is so memorable and something I look forward to hear everyday. I never get bored listening to his tunes.

The Bad
The game is rather too short if you try to finish it the second time around. The only thing making this game so long is the cave. You can finish it within a day if you can memorize everything that you have to do there, but normally, it's tiring.

The Bottom Line
This game has a great story, interesting characters, great visual style, great music. I don't regret playing this game and I even look forward for a remake if there will be one.

DOS · by Dwin1118 (33) · 2004

A gorgeous fable with mesmerizing music for your gaming pleasure!

The Good
The graphics in this game are really wonderful as is evident from most of the earlier adventure games developed by Westwood studios. The voice acting is good and suits each character well (only in the CDROM version). The CD version is definitely worth having (if you can still find it) because of the poster that came in the box with it. The music in this game is brilliant, perhaps the best in any fantasy adventure game ever (IMHO). Thanks to the incredible genius of Mr. Frank Klepacki. The story is very interesting, typical of a mystical, fantasy adventure game. Best of all the game has memorable characters especially Malcolm, the evil jester.

The Bad
The game has a few terrible and rather tedious puzzles like the maze in the caves, the gems puzzle (gems have to be placed in a specific order without any use of logic) is especially difficult, since the sequence to place the gems is random each time the game is played.

The Bottom Line
It's a point n' click adventure game made in the days when Westwood studios was creating some wonderful games at par with Lucasarts and Sierra. The plot keeps one interested, as you help Brandon to solve puzzles on his quests while he learns about his true identity as the rightful heir to the throne. A nice adventure game for the whole family, highly recommended!! I sincerely hope Westwood decides to create Kyrandia 4. I sincerely hope Mr. Brett W. Sperry is reading this!!

DOS · by Roger Wilco (1144) · 2008

A decent, solid adventure game.

The Good
Westwood has struck gold again; this game became one of the classic adventure games of all time and spawned a sequel (maybe two?). The graphics are as good as they get - amazingly drawn landscapes and detailed characters, the music is excellent as well, and the storyline is wonderful.

The Bad
It's challenging, damn challenging (or maybe I'm just dumb?). The controls aren't very intuitive, but reasonable.

The Bottom Line
A classic adevnture game with everything that makes an adventure game classic.

DOS · by Tomer Gabel (4539) · 1999

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Modify the title? RetroArchives.fr (709) Nov 21, 2020
Game Compatibility George Halls Apr 17, 2009

Trivia

CD version

The CD version adds speech and support for Windows 3.x (albeit completely identical to the DOS version).

Development

The Legend of Kyrandia is based on the text adventure Kyrandia: Fantasy World of Legends, a BBS game. It was designed and programmed by Scott Brinker and Richard Skurnick in 1988, and based on multiplayer interactive game concepts by Tim Stryker.

According to Rick Gush, Mike Legg and Brett Sperry played the game online, bought the rights to the game and were sued later on by the person who sold the game to them, but after several years the court case was decided in favor of them.

The game introduced a single-icon cursor for all actions, and Brett Sperry and Louis Castle, thinking that this was their secret weapon, presented a demo of the game to Ken Williams. But Ken showed them King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder which was in development then. It had its own new icon-driven interface, so it was a big letdown moment. Ken liked the game though and asked them if they want to sell Westwood to Sierra, but at that moment they preferred their freedom and control.

Extras

The Legend of Kyrandia CD-ROM version came with a free poster based on a painting by Roger Loveless.

Awards

  • Amiga Joker
    • Issue 02/1994 – #2 Best Adventure in 1993 (Readers' Vote)
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/1999 - #88 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/1993 – #2 Best Adventure in 1992
  • PC Games (Germany)
    • Issue 01/1993– #3 Best Adventure in 1992

Information also contributed by game nostalgia and Roger Wilco

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Related Sites +

  • Game Nostalgia
    Provides extensive background info for The Legend of Kyrandia, pictures of the cast and examples of voice-overs, full credits with shots and info about the design team, a demo of the game, specific details about the game, various goodies, all musical themes, shots of every location in the game, saved games, a list of reviews, including a "nostalgic "review and tech specs.
  • Kyrandia Shrine - Germany
    An Fan Site of the Kyrandia Trilogy. Only in German.
  • ScummVM
    Get "The Legend of Kyrandia", as well as many other adventure games, to run on modern systems by using ScummVM, a legal and free program.
  • Walkthrough on Gamer Grand Central
    No frills step-by-step walkthrough

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 394
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Contribute

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tomer Gabel.

Amiga added by Martin Smith. Windows added by lights out party. FM Towns, Macintosh, PC-98 added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: MAT, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Apogee IV, Rüdiger Müller, martin jurgens, Crawly, CaesarZX, ymihere, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto.

Game added November 7, 1999. Last modified January 19, 2024.