kyrandia...underated?

[Anarcho]

Hey folks, I just found my cds after moving back stateside, and was going through various downloads from underdogs that i've burned, and came across the kyrandia series.  I played through the first episode last year (never played it when it came out, but remember admiring the graphics/story in PC gamer when it came out).  Now i'm tackling the second episode, and after just the first few rooms I'm totally into it.  Why doesn't this series garner the same respect of others?  Don't get me wrong, the various sierra quest games were amazing, as were the lucas arts games, but it seems to me that both companies put out plenty of so-so stuff that overshadowed great works by less known companies, of which i'm only now finding.

Maybe it's just that i've lost perspective, judging games i'm playing for the first time against games i've played a million times.  Still, for all the great graphics in King's quest 5, i'll take Kyrandia 1 any day cause it's got the graphics, gameplay and story.

To take it even further, I'd even venture to say that Monkey Island II is pretty OVER-rated.  Sure it's better than most adventure games, but it was just too damn long, with too many puzzles that were just there for the sake of having puzzles.  Graphically it's great, and i honestly love the first part of the game, but it just keeps going and going and going with no end in sight.  I remember reading an interview with Ron Gilbert about his experience with MI1, and how he planned it so that the player would advance in the story at the exact time that he wanted them to, and how each puzzle was planned at the exact right time.  And it shows, the first game is amazing, no one disputes that.  But for some reason, the second game just isn't as tight.

well anyway, that's my rant.  I guess my point is that it's to bad some games got overshadowed by the big names.  

-Logan

[Moox]

I agree with you. I may be a little old for kiddie games but i would play pajama sam, put-put, or spyfox rather then kings quest

[Anarcho]

Would you say King's Quest is a kiddie game?  I'm not being accusatory, I just wonder what you mean.  The first game sorta is, with all the fairy tale aspects, but at the time I think it was a whole lot more...

But glad to hear you agree.

[Las Naranjas]

I think he just said that he prefered several games which were obviously kiddie games rather than kings quest, which carries the implication that he doesn't think it is one.

[MrColossal]

I don't really know what to think of Kyrandia anymore... I played Kyrandia 2 first [it was about the first game that i ever wanted to buy when i was a kid cause it looked good] then i bought 3 and it came with 1 and 2 so I played the first and then the third.

The first I don't remember too well. In my memory it seemed generic... Maybe I'll have to see it again. I remember the art was nice but that's about all. Kyrandia 2 I remember better, it was pretty and I liked some of the art and the whole casting spells thing was neat but some of the puzzles, ugh, playing Simon with the fireberries or whatever they were... ugh...

the 3rd was interesting and had a lot of neat ideas [escaping from capture and then escaping from jail, personality meter] but again, a lot of the puzzles and stuff were really badly done. Objects seemed placed in the world only to further a puzzle and not like they belong there at all [and what was with the damned tic tac toe game?! and the damned fleas!] and the art was a little wonky from time to time [again, this is distilled memories through the years, i could be dumb]

I think as a whole, the Kyrandia series makes an impressive series but there may be too many stupid parts to make it an awesome series, personally

[auhsor]

I agree with eric, except I havnt played the third. I can say that I enjoyed the first two, and they are good, but not great.

[Nacho]

I just played the first one, and I agree that it's underrated... Maybe it can't reach the "Olympus", but IMO it definitelly needs a mention somewhere...

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

I find it to be a very innovative series, in terms of gameplay. It's also a hell of a lot of fun!

And I'd just like to state here my opinion that MI2 is NOT over-rated, it IS in fact great... although it could have a better ending.

[Vel]

I also think that Kyrandia games are very very underrated - they are better than all of lucas's stuff and most of sierra's(in my opinion). They have rich plot, and the third one is just amazing. The non-linearity, the puzzles, the graphics... True classics.

[Crichton]

I'm glad you brought up Kyrandia. I agree that the series is totally underrated. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I've played Kyrandia before any King's Quest (but not before SpaceQuest) but I absolutely loved the game and its atmosphere. The feeling when exploring the forest in the first game can only be described as adventurous. And the music that plays while you're exploring is quite pleasing too. I still have all the MIDIs from Kyrandia series. Anyway, I really enjoyed all of them, and loved the twist in the third one where you played as a villain. :-)

Some people say that it's King's Quest rip off but I don't think so. King's Quest didn't invent the whole medieval or fantasy setting, it existed in books before. :-P

[Vel]

Yes, King's Quest is the typical fantasy setting, although it was given much more history and stuff from III onwards.

[DanClarke]

Ive played them, and call me biased but i just don't like those kind of games where theres no real direction.

I think with a game like this, if you pick up an item, you should pick it up for a reason, and not be able to put it down until its served a purpose

Likewise in that you shouldnt find yourself dying when you walk into a cave or a room, these games are, afterall, about exploring and having adventures.

If i wanted to concentrate on staying alive and dropping items everywhere i'd play Resident Evil.

I don't think i'm the only one here who thinks this way.

[Vel]

Dan, such deaths were only possible in very early sierra games. In latter 80's ones onwards you had pretty obvious reasons to save your game, because of the awaiting death. I think that going completely the other way is just as big mistake as this one - giving the player endless time limits, for example, kills the tension. Undoubtedly, the best way of handling deaths is the "try again" button, but that didn't come until mid 90s. So, save early save often.
As for Kyrandia games, I think you had pretty obvious reasons to save your game, there weren't any really unexpected deeaths. As for the inventory items, I think that the limited inventory is just a part of Kyrandia's charm.

[MrColossal]

all the gripes you have dan i share, but there are a few good parts in the series...

"Try Again" didn't just appear however, it existed in lots of text adventures for many years. Why it didn't get added to graphical adventures until later, i have no idea.

I respect Kyrandia over King's Quest more because at least Kyrandia tried to create it's own universe and not just take a bunch of fairy tales and push them into a game. The Hand of Fate was interesting and maybe it was because I was a kid, the ending surprised me and I didn't even see it coming.

I should play them again but I can't stand adventure games at the moment... Maybe in a few months I'll have Jess play them and I'll just watch.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

The Hand of Antrus? I think you're mistaking Hand of Fate with Pirate Fry 2...

PS - This post no longer makes sense because MrColossal went back and corrected it. Good boy!

[MrColossal]

damn you Squinky!! damn you to Bermuda!!

[Anarcho]

I also dislike games that lack direction.  That's something I like about some of the new "horror" adventure games coming out, i.e. enclosure and 5 days a stranger come to mind.  The tension pushes you to complete the game.  And there's obvious direction...i.e. get out alive or solve the murder etc.  Not always orginal, but interesting/fun for the adventure genre.

To reiterate wha eric said, the thing I liked best about the Kyrandia series was that it introduced original ideas...i.e. the tree elevator, transformation into a unicorn, the various gems, spells.  Plus it was just a beautiful game.  I can't really think of any graphics I didn't like, in the first game at least, i'm just starting the second...

[Nacho]

If i wanted to concentrate on staying alive and dropping items everywhere i'd play Resident Evil.

I don't think i'm the only one here who thinks this way.

Nope, you're not alone in this...

But Lucas and Sierra were two completely different ways of tellign stories, discussing it again should be like discussing the sex of the angels...  

[Mari]

I personally loved the Kyrandia Series.  I love being able to pick up and put down objects.  I think the thing I liked most about the series though was the sense of humor.  "If a saw has no teeth, is it still a saw?"  Priceless!

But they tell a good story.  I think the most important thing in an adventure game is how well it tells the story.  

[auhsor]

Well those who love kyrandia might be encouraged by this...

http://forums.adventuregamers.com/showthread.php?p=49808#post49808