The Legend of Kyrandia (Book One)

In the first instalment of The Legend of Kyrandia, you play as Brandon, who sets out to save the kingdom from the evil jester Malcolm. It's a magical journey that puts your brain to the test in one of the genre-defining point-and-click adventures. I suggest keeping a pen and paper nearby, or having an exceptional visual memory, as many scenes appear quite similar, and mapping your progress will help immensely. Most of the puzzles are logical, but a few require trial and error, and taking notes on what you've already attempted can save you a lot of frustration. As you journey through Kyrandia, you unlock new powers to aid in defeating Malcolm by interacting with various objects. Watching your amulet absorb colours from these magical items is immensely satisfying and expands your gameplay options. Limited inventory space adds a layer of challenge, forcing you to choose carefully what to carry, as some objects become obsolete. There are also many ways to meet an untimely end, which is why I frequently save my game; better safe than starting over. The comedy is delightful, making the experience even more enjoyable, and the voice acting consistently impresses. You’ll come to care about what happens to Kyrandia and meet a cast of memorable characters. Darm and his dragon form a humorous duo that’s hard to leave behind once you’ve fulfilled Darm’s request. For an early ’90s game, the pixel art is impressive, though it’s clear some shortcuts were taken. Many areas, especially the forests, look very similar, and more than once, I felt as though I’d looped back to the starting point. Again, mapping your path proves extremely helpful. The music is whimsical and perfectly complements the game’s atmosphere. It never feels repetitive or grating. And the soundtrack is available to stream. I highly recommend this game to anyone taking their first steps into point-and-click adventures or those looking to revisit the classics and experience what laid the foundation for the genre.

One of those games that immediately evokes memories of my (misspent) youth, locked in my bedroom with curtains drawn, the game's amazing soundtrack flowing from my Sound Blaster 16 to my speakers. Totally worth a play, though as other reviewers have said it IS possible to make in-game decisions that will prevent you from finishing the game... so use your save slots judiciously!

Back in the day when DRM meant starting the game and grabbing the manual to locate a keyword to start the game. Loved playing Gobliins and this series as a kid and now it'll be fun to enjoy it again. I actually still have my boxed copy of Hand of Fate from childhood packed away along with some memories.

This adventure game has plenty of wit and humour, beautifully drawn pixel graphics, and a simple intuitive interface. Some of the puzzles are a little obscure to figure out, this is where luck fills the gaps. The game allows you to make mistakes that are detrimental to your success later, so save many points of progress. As with most games in this genre, a maze or two is expected, and these are not impossible to master (as long as you map them out).

I played this when I was younger and did have fun playing it, but the mazes drove me crazy. They're not hard, but quite tedious to get through - you'll need to map it out on paper if you really want to play it old school without a walkthrough. The art is wonderful though and I love the music so it did make playing the game a lot less painful. The story is simple but the gentle sense of humor is cute. Some puzzles are easy to figure out, but there are some where you have to try to figure out what works with what with very little hints to go on. On top of that, it's very easy to die or put yourself in an unwinnable state, so saving your game often is a MUST. Also, there is some pixel hunting! For me, it had been so long since I played this game, so I have no regrets about buying this game, but, even though I did enjoy it after so many years, I think it will be quite a few numbers of years more before I play it through again. I'm not sure if I can recommend this to new players because of it's frustratingly unrefined rules of adventure game play, but if you want to know what it was like for us back in the day when we were young and didn't know what we were getting ourselves into and want to experience adventure gaming the way we did, then I gladly recommend it highly! You can then come to review this game and commiserate with the rest of us older adventurers about how it all was when this was all so new!