LEGEND OF KYRANDIA ][: REVIEW/INTRODUCTORY TUTORIAL BY FANFAN LATULIPE

SUPPLIER: PTG                        │ CRACKER  : NOT NEEDED

RELEASED:    [ 11/18/93 ] [ AM ]     │ PACKAGER : DR. INSANITY

GRAFX SUPPORT: [ ] EGA     [*] VGA    [ ] S-VGA     [ ] WINDOWS  [ ] NONE
SOUND SUPPORT: [*] BEEPER  [*] ADLIB  [*] SBLASTER  [*] ROLAND   [ ] NONE

Introduction

Legend of Kyrandia ][ : The Hand of Fate is the latest from Westwood
Studios, the makers of Lands of Lore : The Throne of Chaos.  This game is
one of simple Click & Point adventure on Locations on the Island of
Kyrandia.  A relaxing break from the AD&D-like trend, the action consists of
gathering items and clues in order to solve the puzzles & unravel the truths
that will lead you to the ultimate goal.
Easy to play, and adorned with nice and colorfull graphics, it is a must
for adventure lovers...  The musical score isn't the best I've ever heard,
but is in tune with the spirit of the plot...  The Digitalized voice
during the introduction doesn't seem to carry on during the game, but wasn't
necessary, as a wealth of appropriate sound effects make up for it.  Finally
the length of play, judging by the size of the game, must be quite impressive.
This game being rather straightforward, I first didn't feel there was
much to be said about it...  But after playtesting it a bit, I realized
that beside the cute & humorous aspect of the action, the game play would be
challenging.  I now will present an introduction that will hopefully give you
an incentive to acquire this 8 disk piece of software brought to you by the
one and only PENTAGRAM...

And the tale begins...

"Kyrandia is Dying,
Rock by Rock,
Tree by Tree,
Kyrandia Ceases to Exist... "
The Mystics meet, and are baffled by the phenomenon...  Together they
go through ancient tomes of legend, lore, magic and science to find a way to
prevent its seemingly inevitable outcome...  Wizards and Alchemists, with
their Dragon servant, and even Marco, and his new servant, the Hand...
With the help of the Hand, they come to a hopefull conclusion...
Kyrandia may be saved, if from the center of the earth, the Magic Anchor
Stones are retrieved.  It was then decided that the quest for the Stones
would incomb to Zanthia, youngest of the mystics, a young lady, who'd
rather be doing something more to her liking with her time...
And it is so that you, Zanthia, go back home to your house in the
swamp, to prepare facing your duty, which you intend to accomplish
with the help of your talent at brewing potions of magical properties...
But of course, that would be too easy, and so begins your adventure...

Controls

During game play, the bottom of the screen presents you with the
following:

--> Options:
- Load & Save Games
- Delete a Previously saved game
- Game Controls
+ Music Volume
+ Main Volume
+ Walk Speed
+ Text Speed
- Quit Game
- Resume Game

--> Equipment Racks : You have 4 such racks, each with a capacity of 5 items
You can only see 2 racks at a time, and can use the
arrow on the right to scroll them...

--> Additinal Space : The space on the right will accomodate your Spellbook
and Cauldron when you retrieve them...
- The Spellbook : Click on it to open it, then use the arrows to
turn pages and the Close sign to close it...
I believe that more Potion recipies can be acquired
later on, and they will probably be added to the book
- The Cauldron : You can put the components of a concoction in it in
order to make the potion, then use empty flasks to
collect the brewed philter...
If you choose to get rid of the content of the
cauldron, flush the contents by clicking on the
chain on the left.

Additional Controls :
The game is played with a Click & Point of the Mouse.  You should
consider the following in order to better face the quest:

--> Dealing with Poeple : Click on the people and creatures you encounter in
order to deal with them.  This includes clicking
on yourself for some comments that might be helpful
Also, keep in mind that the introduction of new
ideas by a character may enable you to go talk
further about a topic with someone who previously
told you all they knew about something.  You will
find that you may need to go back to talk to poeple
often until someone comes up with something and
others build on it...

--> Dealing with Items : Click on items to pick them up, or in some case to
move/trigger them...  You must remember this though:
while some items only take a click to be instantly
in your possession, others need to be clicked upon
and then you must wait for Zanthia to move to them
in order to pick them up.  If you click on something
and jump to click on something else right after,
the first clicking may be ignored!!!
Also, in order to acquire some items, you may need
to click on locations of the screen that may hide
them ( ex: Under a Rug, in a tree stump... )
Also some items will reappear at one of the
original locations if they were all used up during
the game...  This makes brewing potions easier,
since the game will allow you to retrieve ingredients
and try again in case you messed up.

--> Going Places : To change Screens, click on the vertical/Horizontal
arrows that appear at the egded of the screen on either
cardinal direction ( Where a path is available )...
Sometimes you may have to make a passage...

The Spellbook ( Norton's Potion Primer )

This is the list of the potion formulas contained in your spellbook
when you first retrieve it...  As I mentioned earlier, I suspect that if
you retrieve the torn pages, you will be able to incorporate them in it...
Also, from what Zanthia says, the missing spells should be much more potent
than those available to you at first...

- Sandwich Spell
+Mustard
+Ground Wheat
+Lettuce
+Cheese
--> Fills 2 Flasks ( After putting in cauldron )

- Flying Shoes
+Hot air
+Feather or Snipe
+Red Leather
--> Fills 1 Flask

- Skeptic Spell
+Lucky Horseshoe
+Rabbit Footprint
+Sweet & Sour Sauce
+Lizard Tears
--> Fills 4 Flasks then activate flasks at an altar of doubt

- Abominable Snowman
+Snow
+Musk
+Feathers
+Sugar
--> Fills one Flask, Pour on Head

- Regular Snowman
+Snow
+Charcoal
+Moss
--> Fills 4 Flasks, Must be Cold Weather

- Swampsnake Potion
+Windy Woof
+Smell of Eggs
+Onion
+Lizard Tears
+Toadstool
--> Mix with Hot Water, Fills 3 Flasks

Getting Started

I will now provide you with the fastest way to recover your basic
equipment, the Potion book ( missing the best pages though ) and the
Cauldron:

-->  Enter your Lab, and you will find that someone has destroyed most of
your equipment...  Your Cauldron & Spellbook are missing...
Talk to Faun, and recover the following:
- Water Flask from under the Carpet...  If you put it on the Hot Coals
you will get hot water...  But it will eventually get cold unless
you use it straight away...  You will be able to get more hot water
at the hot spring.
- Blueberries on the ground
- Empty flask on the shelves
As you leave, Zanthia decides to magically adjust the colors of her
garments...  And I may be sexist but I wish most women could do that
magically and so fast :)
-->  Exit your Lab and pick up the blueberries on the floor.  For fun, click
on the eyes in the water and see the Amphibious creature try to gobble
Zanthia with its long tongue...  Zanthia however is not a fly, and is of
a tougher mantle, and will teach the stupid beast some manners...
-->  North is the Dock...  A regretfully familiar scene will greet you here
and at several other locations: that of a fading piece of Kyrandia...
Pick up the Mushroom and follow the trail.
-->  You proceed Left to the Weed Patch...  There  your anti-squirrel
security system ( a pair of huge fanged weeds!!! ) is hanging around,
for lack of other option since they're sort of speak "grounded".
Go look in the tree stump, you'll find your Potion Spellbook.  It
seems, however that the wicked thief has ripped out the most potent
formulas.
-->  Go North to the Gnarlwood tree.  Here you want to pluck the onion from
the ground and cut a piece of worm-like squirming gnarlwood...  The
toad seems extremely anti-social and will decide to take a swim in the
murky waters rather than heeding your attempts to comunicate.
-->  North is the Ferry, your primary Objective for this section...  The
Faery is beer-bellied, belching and butt-scratching pig.  He will
insist on getting paid in gold, which, of course, you do not readily
have...  Any attempt to convince him otherwise will be of no avail...
-->  You decided to go Left rather than Right at first to the Dark Swamp.
Click on the eyes that seem to stare at Zanthia from dark holes in the
bark and roots of some creepy tree...  Voyeurs! but of seemingly no
consequence...   Take the feather from the nest, and then decide on
North or Left.
-->  You chose Left to the Quicksand Bog...  Here, you push the trunk into
the quicksand and reach for the Skeleton Key held by a rather creepy
stand, a skeletal arm emerging from the deadly mud...  You can now
cross to the other side.
-->  Heading Left you make it to the Lagoon...  In the tree trunk's hole,
you can recover your Field Cauldron...  You now have the basic elements
to resume the quest...  On the same screen beware of the Croc...  You
may be able to toy with it once, but do not push your luck, for the
predator will dine at your final expense...

Hints to the Resolution of the first part of the quest

Since I do not want to spoil the early play for you, I will only
provide you with the early guidelines for solving the first part...

After you recovered the basic equipment, you will visit the Hot Sulphur
Springs, where you can fill your empty vials with Hot water, and pick up
a rock of Sulfur...  Then backtrack to the Black Lagoon and go north toward
Herb's Home... There you can fill another vial with swamp water, and pour it
on the hot Everglowing Fireberries, which will enable you to pick them up...
you then can go meet with Herb and his two buddies.  You will obtain a stool
and extra vials from him, along with some plant feed.  By conversing with him
you will be told of a treasure, containing gold, somewhere in this section.
You will then go back to the ferry, and toward the natural Bridge where
you will meet the two idiotic fishermen...  One fishes without bait, while
the other slaves at keeping the incoming water ( due to some heavy anchor )
from submerging them...  Proceed past them and you will meet Marco and his
Hand at the cave entrance...  There you can pick more onions...  Marco will
be of no help and his swamp roaming hand neither...  A pretty suspicious
pair if you ask me...  Enter the cave, and you will eventually wake the Rat up
from his slumber...  Fearfull of snakes, he will mistake his tail for one
and get quite upset at you...  He will prevent you from further investigating
the cave unless you can provide him with some cheese...  Back out of the cave,
head south and discover the Fireflies Tree...  Clicking on them gets weird
but relatively uneventfull responses, unless you give them an onion...
Also you can go back and talk to Faun about more stuff you encounter, and
find Marco in a difficult position with your Nasty Weeds... Try feeding them
the Plant Feed to free him...
So there you have the scenery for the first part...  Now you need the
Gold from the treasure for the Faery...  You need cheese, but I wouldn't waste
it on the Rat...  In fact the Rat probably hides a cache of it somewhere in
in the portion of the caves he guards...  The cheese probably should be
given to the Fishermen as bait...  In return, who knows?  His anchor probably
has a LOT to do with the treasure...  But initially, you need to
get past the Rat...  For that I recommand working on the Swampsnake spell...
Gather the ingredients:
-The Onion ( easy - cf earlier )
-The Reptile Tears : take the extra onion and feed it to the crocodile,
see the poor thing sob, and collect its tears afterwards...
-The toadstool... Well I leave that to you : are you to use the
mushroom ( if indeed it is a toadstool ), or the stool, which in fact
belonged to a toad :) Well, save your game and try each varations!
-Hot water
-A Windy Woof...  Well, I'd be taking all the fun out of this if I provided
the last one!  So I'll let you figure that one out :)

Conclusion

This is one of the  most intricate and puzzling adventure games I've
played.  It started giving me trouble at the very beginning!  And I am sure
there is a lot more to come...  A solve for this one will probably needed
by most including the best adventure solvers...
I believe that you are now dying to get the game, and I can't blame you
for that...

Personal Greetings:
Well, I wish to say hello to all the PTG members and Couriers alike.
Being a new memeber I am still not familiar with all of you but know that
Bandieto will properly greet those associated with this release and the others
as well...  I'm looking forward for more exciting releases, and will do my
best to capture their essence in a single text file...  Until next time,

Fanfan la Tulipe
-PTG DOX-
-Sysop of The Kraal-

OK!  Look for more great dox and tutorials and solves from Fanfan!

Another word to the scene: That was pretty lame what Raz0r did nuking
our copy of Kyrandia ][ off of Mirage when we had it up there first.
Also, nuking Faceless's account from Unlawful Entry becuz he uploaded
Sam&Max is not cool either.  If your gonna play, you have to play with
some rules.  Whoever out distributes a new release should get the proper
credit for it!  Our Kyrandia 2 was out first.  The only BBS we didn't get
it onto was UE.  Then when we give that BBS more priority (S&M) we get
our account nuked.  As I see it, the test by which you should go by
in getting a new release out is getting it onto your WHQ and other group's
WHQs.  We did that but other people cheated.  Lets keep it cleaner in
the future.  This is a hobby and its all for fun!  But when our efforts
get so blatantly destroyed by unfair practices, it ruins it sometimes.

- DR. INSANITY [PTG]
THE DIGITAL UNDERGROUND

NOTE: If your not listed as a spreader then you can guess what happened..
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