Set in the land of Kyrandia, the kingdom and very world itself are imperilled by Malcolm, a court jester with murderous intent. Having killed the incumbent king and queen, Malcolm seizes control of the Kyragem, intent on usurping its power for his own ends. Kallak, head of the society of Royal Mystics, casts an enchantment which seals Malcolm inside the castle, preventing his escape. Unfortunately, the potency of the spell wanes, and, armed with the full power of the Kyragem, Malcolm now seeks his revenge against Kallak and the remaining mystics.
Meanwhile, Kallak takes Brandon, unwitting prince and heir to the throne of Kyrandia, and hides in the kingdom's sprawling forests. Malcolm tracks Kallak down and turns the powerless mage to stone, but fails to find Brandon, who is out on an errand at the time. The game commences on Brandon's return to the family home, only to discover Malcolm gone and his grandfather a lifeless statue. As Brandon, the player must find a way to wrest control of the Kyragem from Malcolm and find a way to save his friends, the kingdom, and the very land itself.
Released originally in 1992, Fables & Friends: The Legend of Kyrandia - Book One represents Westwood Studios initial foray into the world of point-and-click adventures. The game was released initially for IBM PCs and the Commodore Amiga, which is where I first discovered the game, and it's an impressive artistic showcase.
Following a year later, Westwood released a CD-ROM version of the game, which is the version shown in this particular video. It features full voice narration, with Joseph "Joe" Kucan -- better known as Kane from Command & Conquer fame -- in the leading role. It also features support for the Roland MT-32, arguably the "gold standard" in terms of MIDI music at the time.
In terms of interacting with the game world, Kyrandia eschews the noun-verb interaction system popularised by LucasArts SCUMM engine in favour of a simple contextual system; click on an item and an object within the game world, and provided a valid interaction exists, something will happen. It's a system which works well, reducing the amount of guesswork involved in figuring out how items should be used.
It's a shame that the puzzles and general pacing don't live up to the rest of the experience. The "birthstone" quest results in a great deal of time spent wandering endlessly in pursuit of items to solve the puzzle, exacerbated by the fact the solution is randomised on each playthrough. Worse still is the tedious "Serpent's Grotto", a labyrinthine series of caverns where Brandon must distribute fire berries throughout the caves to avoid becoming monster chow. Constructing a needlessly complex series of interconnecting screens almost becomes the game's raison d'etre, disguising the fact there's really not a great deal of meat on the bones of the core game. You should also be prepared to save often because, like so many Sierra titles, it's possible to die when you least expect it.
Although Kyrandia isn't perfect it's still a decent adventure game, one which looks and sounds excellent, even to this day. Ultimately, the game was well-enough received and sales sufficiently plentiful to greenlight two sequels, both of which I hope to cover in the fullness of time.
Developer: Westwood Studios
Publisher: Virgin Games
Year of Release: 1992/93
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