Author's Note: This is the second part of my retrospective on The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm's Revenge. If you missed the first part of this retrospective, here's a link:

• The Quest For The Worst Adventure Game Puzzles - The Legend of Kyrandia - Book Three: Malcolm's Revenge [Part 1]

If you enjoy this blog and would like to read my other adventure game retrospectives, here's a list of my previous episodes of this series:

• Episode 1: The Dig
• Episode 2: Atlantis: The Lost Tales
• Episode 3: Loom
• Episode 4: Drowned God
• Episode 5a: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Part 1 & Episode 5b: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - Part 2
• Episode 6: The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime
• Episode 7a: The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time (Part 1)& Episode 7b: The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time (Part 2)
• Episode 8a: The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time (Part 1) & Episode 8B: The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time (Part 2)
• Episode 9a: The Legend of Kyrandia: Book One [Part 1] & Episode 9b: The Legend of Kyrandia: Book One [Part 2]
• Episode 10: D (The Game)
• Episode 11a: The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate [Part 1]& Episode 11b: The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate [Part 2]

But ZombiePie, What About The Multiple Endings/Routes?

I love this community. I say that from the bottom of my heart. To prove that, I played The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm's Revenge three times to see every possible puzzle in the game. Yeah, talk about dedication. For those that do not know what I am talking about, near the end of Malcolm's Revenge, it asks its players to pick one of three possible playstyles to finish the game. They can either opt to be evil, good, or neutral and selecting any route results in a unique way for you to get to the game's credits. It sounds interesting on paper, but the execution is ultimately superficial. You still visit essentially the same locations but instead perform different tasks or need to tackle them in a new order. In fact, the game outright recycles puzzles between these three routes. Similarly, the final sequence at the conclusion, where you need to prove Malcolm's innocence is the same across the three routes, and the ending doesn't change regardless of your choice.

However, how these varying playstyles can unfold is a more significant issue. First and foremost, there's virtually no connective tissue between how you played the first half of the game versus its second. The problem is that the second half of the game requires the player to toy around with specific areas or mechanics they might have skipped or missed depending on how they first tackled Kyrandia. For example, you can miss talking to Darm and completing his quest during the opening act, as he is merely a different alternative to Zanthia. However, talking to him and Brandywine is a requirement for the Evil Route, and that's a problem if you don't even know where he lives. Some of the end-game routes require Malcolm to use the toy factory near his apartment, and that, too, is something you don't necessarily have to tinker with when first exploring Kyrandia. The lack of connective tissue between the game's beginning and end can fuck over players that don't know what they are doing, and that's a bummer.

Malcolm's Revenge failing to deliver on a novel idea returns us to its core gimmick: changing Malcolm's moods. The mood system feels like an anti-climax after Zanthia's alchemy mechanic or even Brandon's amulet. At least in the first game, Malcolm was a legendary wizard-jester who could turn people into stone. I understand the need to bring him down, but having players interact with different "flavors" of magic always felt like this series' crease. And the mood mechanic culminating into three barely different end-game routes is a horrible disappointment. I am impressed by the additional writing this presented to the team behind the game. Having every NPC quip back positively or negatively to Malcolm's variable moods and one-liners sounds challenging. Also, the writing for the game is not a complete misfire. Malcolm is a fantasy shitlord, and when the story and writing revel in that, the game is at its best. However, a part of me cannot help but look at Malcolm's "redemption" and notice how it utterly undermines the first game. On that note, let's again review some puzzles!

Kyrandia (Neutral Path)

Preparing For The Journey Back To The Isle Of Cats - [Rating: 6/10] - As mentioned earlier, when Malcolm returns to Kyrandia after his brief descent into Hell, he will be presented with the return of the "good" portion of his conscious, Stewart. Stewart and Gunther (i.e., Malcolm's evil conscious) prompt him to pick one, but I always go with the third option and have both of them tag along for the final part of the game. After exploring Kyrandia for a bit, Malcolm should return to the castle and discover the pirates that transported Malcolm to the Isle of Cats have taken over and turned everyone in Kyrandia into mice. King Brandon and his friends beg Malcolm to do something, and when Malcolm tries to bargain with the pirates, they say they will leave if they are provided with a treasure equal to the throne of Kyrandia. Malcolm muses the six gems from the Isle of Cats will likely suffice, but his route to the island is murky, with the pirates unwilling to transport him.

Next is a Byzantine and long-winded journey that starts in typical Kyrandia form: item collection! No matter your route, the first part of Malcolm's journey will involve a good amount of collecting random shit, and it's probably the worst in the neutral path because it requires the most significant amount of back-and-forth navigation. Also, have I complained enough about this game only giving you ten inventory slots? Considering how item-focused the last two hours are, it is a massive oversight by the design team as it becomes a complete pain in the ass. In this case, Malcolm will first need to exit the castle, return to the dump, and continue searching until they acquire an empty flask and nail. As I mentioned in the last episode, pulling items from trash heaps uses RNG. As a result, your experience here can take seconds or upwards of ten to fifteen minutes! Next, return to the city limits, where you can collect two units of firewood before returning to the town square. From here, you need to find the Magician's Lodge, open the padlock on its door using the nail, and then use it again to free the citizens in jail cells. Then, you need to scan this screen until you find a sesame seed, a flask of water, and an eel.

This entire process would take about five to seven minutes on a good day. However, thanks to the RNG, fiddly inventory system, AND terrible digitized backgrounds and foregrounds, it took me about ten to twelve. I have said my piece about hating the MANY times when the game resorts to you needing to pull shit from a heap, but I must emphasize how the game recycles that puzzle format no less than five goddamn times. Likewise, the final part, where you need to pixel-hunt for stuff in a jail, sucks. Some people are nostalgic for this early era of 3D rendering in PC video games, but it's dog dick ugly in Malcolm's Revenge. The art team on this game was simply out of their element as the simple process of figuring out what parts of the screen are even clickable is a chore. Is this introductory sequence impossible? No, but it's annoying and a terrible way to start the game's conclusion.

Creating A Pegasus Potion - [Rating: 3/10] - The good news is that not everything in the end game is the worst. As you explore the town portion of Kyrandia, you'll eventually find Zanthia, who is busy working on a potion. When Malcolm brings her up to speed about his deal with the pirates, she'll reveal she can make a Pegasus Potion but lacks its final horse-based ingredient. If you have played the neutral route before, then you may remember spending a portion of the first act making toys in a toy factory and one of those toys being a rocking horse. Return Malcolm to the toy factory, adjust the levers so the left one is up and the right one down, toss a firewood log into the top of the machine, and press the green button to make a toy horse. Return to Zanthia's workplace, throw the toy into her cauldron, and then bottle the concoction using a flask. To return to the landing pad where Malcolm can use the potion, exit Zanthia's lab by going down some stairs and then climb up a pipe in a sewer. Then, click left, right, down, left, left, left, and left. Finally, use the potion on the platform to see Malcolm transform into a Pegasus and end up on the Isle of Cats.

I'm split on this puzzle. Zanthia tells you precisely what she needs and how to use the final product to get to the next part of the game. The issue here stems from you possibly not knowing where to make the toy horse because there are routes and paths in the game's first act that skip using the toy factory entirely. If you elected into the neutral course AND managed not to interact with the toy factory in the game's first half, the solution to this puzzle is a genuine head-scratcher. It also does not help that finding the platform to use the potion can be tricky because there's a high likelihood you've never seen it up to this point unless you went out of your way to interact with Zanthia. Again, that's a piggybacking design issue because the first act's routes do not communicate with the three paths at the end of the game.

Getting The Cheese Maker From Fluffy - [Rating: 8/10] - Oh, fuck me. Did you enjoy collecting bones in the jungle? No? Then don't do the neutral route because it recycles that puzzle for a second time! When you arrive at the island at dusk, you discover most of its inhabitants are gone, including the cart that would typically transport you to the dog fort without issue. So, grab the machete at the jungle entrance, and get to chopping as you move left, left, right, left, left, and up. Be mindful of snakes and pick up any bones on the ground. Eventually, Malcolm should find Fluffy, and he will offer to give him a cheesemaker if you give him ten bones. As you already have a handful of quest-required items in your inventory, it is impossible to complete this in one go, and you will have to make multiple circuits in the jungle before you reach that amount. The snakes can and will fuck you up, but the good news is that the fleas are gone. Additionally, navigating the jungle at nighttime is more challenging, which makes remembering how to return to Fluffy aggravating. I hated this sequence with every fiber of my being and wished it did not exist. However, at least one more part of the final act is somehow worse.

Getting The Six Gems & Returning To Kyrandia - [Rating: 5/10] - Have Malcolm walk back to the island entrance and then move left until he enters the acropolis with the cat-shaped statues. Use the cheesemaker on Malcolm to get a block of cheese and then apply that to a mouse statue in the center. This act causes the statues to revert to their earlier circle-like form and allows Malcolm to collect the gems underneath the figures. With all six gemstones, retrace your way back to Fluffy, and when you talk to him, he will present Malcolm with a magical can of tuna that somehow allows Malcolm to warp back to the main continent of Kyrandia. Technically, this puzzle is relatively straightforward, but I'm bumping it up a few notches because of the stupid amount of backtracking. The jungle is a purple and green blur, and it is challenging to tell if you are going in the correct direction. Needing to do that twice is simply unconscionable.

Defeating The Pirate King - [Rating: 7/10] - Back at Kyrandia, you might think it is time to make a beeline to the castle, but you would be wrong. If you decide to hand over the gems without finding one extra item, the pirates will backstab Malcolm, take the jewels, and refuse to leave Kyrandia. To avoid that, return to the castle trash dump. While there, continue to pull junk from it until you find the fish queen's collar. If you pulled this item earlier, you need to remember where you put it. Also, you might as well continue toiling away until you find the "Nut-On-A-String" because it will play a significant role in the final handful of puzzles after this one. With the collar, present one gem to the pirate king's assistant, and when he asks to see more, give him the collar, and watch the fish queen whisk him away into Limbo.

On paper, sending the pirate king to suffer in Limbo for eternity seems easy. However, knowing to find and collect the collar is a massive red herring that comes out of nowhere. It has been ages since Malcolm last used or was subjected to the collar, and you can be forgiven for not realizing it was even in your inventory in the first place. At no point does Malcolm or anyone else muse if there's a place to send the pirates. Likewise, how many goddamn times does this game have the crux of a puzzle be "keep pulling random shit until the right one comes up?" Did the designers run out of ideas? Because it sure feels like it, AND I'M SICK OF IT!

Kyrandia (Evil Path)

I'm not going to break down each puzzle for this route. Still, to highlight how completely superficial the multiple paths end up being, I want to show you that the vast majority of the puzzles are just recycled ones you encounter elsewhere.

1. *Preparing For The Journey Back To The Isle Of Cats - A complete recycle across multiple playthroughs. You even need to pick up the same items in the trash heap.
2. *Herman's Pawn Shop - The game's evil route forces you to interact with Herman earlier than the other two routes. That said, this puzzle is a recycle.
3. Collecting A Hypnotized Squirrel - This is an Evil Path-specific puzzle with a massive asterisk. You need to use a sesame seed from Herman to lure a squirrel and then use the Nut-On-A-String to hypnotize it. You do this specific puzzle once in the first act if you play the game on its evil route, which means it is "technically" a recycled puzzle. However, you might have avoided doing that, so I'll count it as "new." [Rating: 6/10; As I will review next, the quest giver that asks for the squirrel tells you precisely what they want. On the other hand, knowing to connect the sesame seeds and toy with the squirrel is a leap.]
4. Getting A Portal Potion From Darm: Finally, a puzzle exclusive to this route! When completing the Evil Route, Darm's help is needed to get Malcolm to the island. To accomplish that, you must hand over a Hypnotized Squirrel to their dragon companion, Brandywine. To the game's credit, Brandywine outright says what she needs, and you should know how to collect this item if you played the evil route during the first act. It's a bit fiddly getting the necessary inventory items to interact with a squirrel, but it's okay. [Raing: 4/10]
5. *Getting The Gems - This is technically a recycled puzzle. However, the evil route's version is significantly easier because Fluffy doesn't need bones and immediately gives Malcolm the cheesemaker when he talks to him. As a result, this is a simple "Pick Up And Deliver" mission. Also, returning to Krandia is the same.
6. *Beating The Pirate King - This is the same goddamn puzzle across all three routes.

Kyrandia (Good Path)

1. Breaking Out Of Jail - I'll give the game credit here and call this unique. Of the three routes, the Good Path is the only one that doesn't force you to start things off by pulling shit from the trash heap. Instead, the pirates immediately send Malcolm to jail, and he needs to free himself and those around him by picking the jail's locks using a nail. Unfortunately, getting that nail isn't logical as you need to use Malcolm's Jester's Staff on one of the mice near him three times to cause them to bump their head on a board that knocks out the nail. As I have said before, the game could be more consistent in using the staff. It's forgivable here, considering it's all you have, thanks to the pirates stripping Malcolm of his inventory before they send him to jail. [Rating: 5/10]
2. *Preparing For The Journey Back To The Isle Of Cats - You have to collect the same shit as the previous two routes, but the good route gives you a bit of a mulligan. Instead of forcing you to pull shit from the garbage patch, there's a treasure chest with most of what you need. In fact, it even has a few sesame seeds you can fertilize to limit the times you need to barter with Herman. Considering the chest is all but impossible to skip and makes your life a thousand times easier, I'm giving this my lowest mark. [Rating: 1/10]
3. *Making A Pegasus Potion - This is a complete 100% recycle of the puzzle found in the neutral route.
4. *Getting The Gems - The good route does not force you to collect bones to get the cheesemaker, but it's practically the same sequence.
5. *Beating The Pirate Captain - AGAIN, this is the same goddamn puzzle across all three routes.

Clearing Malcolm's Name

Preparing Malcolm's Inventory For His "Trial" - [Rating: 4/10] - With the nasty pirates out of the picture, Kyrandia's "Voice of Reason" announces it is time to determine Malcolm's guilt regarding his murder of Brandon's parents. Be aware this is the end of the game, and to the best of my knowledge, there's only one way to complete it. If you know I am wrong about that, feel free to send me a correction. Oh, and here's a fun question. How does the game start us off with this trial? YUP, WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE TRASH HEAP NEXT TO THE CASTLE AND KEEP PULLING SHIT UNTIL WE HAVE A HALF DOZEN QUEST ITEMS! You'll need to drop all the gems and the cheesemaker to make room for these new quest items, but take note of where you place these. From the trash heap, you need to have a Nut-On-A-String, two Empty Flasks, a Broken Flask, a Nail, a Bent Nail, and a Firewood Log. Some of these items, like the firewood, can be found elsewhere, but the issue of this possibly taking upwards of ten minutes still stands. Yet again, I must preface that none of this is complicated, but there's no denying it is a waste of time and annoying.

Convincing The Queen To Testify In The Trial - [Rating: 5/10] - Malcolm desperately needs as seal-tight a case as possible. To start things off, return him to a graveyard near the castle and locate the grave of Brandon's mother. If you completed the neutral route during the game's first act, you might recall that you can summon her spirit by placing two yellow flowers on her tombstone. However, the flowers will run away if you attempt to pick them up by hand. Instead, cut the yellow flowers off using the broken flask and place two on the tombstone to initiate a cutscene with Brandon's mother. She agrees to help Malcolm and informs him that summoning the ghost of the king will significantly help his case as well.

This is another puzzle where your mileage may vary. Interacting with the ghost of Brandon's mother the first time is not a required scene and knowing how to do this to ensure Malcolm doesn't get executed is not clear. I hate how it is not until AFTER you start the trial, the Voice of Reason states that you need at least two sources of testimony to prove Malcolm's innocence. That's what I would call a "dick move." Likewise, Brandon's mother is the only person in the game who guides you into understanding your real quest here, which is summoning the ghost of Brandon's father. Overall, it's a confusing mess of a sequence.

Dealing With Herman's Pawn Shop - [Rating: 7/10] - Well, it's time to do what I consider the most annoying part of the game! When Malcolm returns to the bathhouse area, he discovers it has been demolished and turned into a pawn shop run by Herman. The first thing up for sale is a crutch, and to get it, Malcolm can easily purchase it after handing Herman one of his remaining gems. Unfortunately, the rest of his interactions with Herman will not be so easy. Exit the pawn shop and discover the only thing up for sale are sesame seeds, and if you have any hope of completing the game, you will need at least three of these. The problem is that Herman is no longer accepting gemstones as payment. Instead, he is programmed only to want one randomly selected item for one sesame seed. If you exit and return to the shop, you can reset Herman and have the game select a different item. You have no control over what Herman wants, and there is no way you can possess everything he asks for in his script. To increase your odds of success, return to the toy factory, make at least one copy of each possible toy and dump as much shit as possible next to Herman before you start a conversation with him. You can only have ten items on Malcolm at any time, but if you exit a conversation with Herman to pick up some shit from the ground and return to him without leaving his store, he'll still offer the same bargain.

So, this shit sucks. For those who have played Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, this part with Herman might remind you of the bullshit with Omar and the bazaar merchant during the Team Path. However, I can assure you this is 1,000 times worse because of the amount of fiddly inventory management Malcolm's Revenge forces you to interact with instead. Also, your feeling of getting closer to the end is worse in this situation. In my case, I had Herman ask for a toy rocking horse six times in a row. I genuinely thought something was wrong with my game file before he finally asked for an orange peel, which I somehow forgot to bring, even though it is one of the more common items to pull from the trash heap. Maybe you get lucky, and all three things Herman wants are ready to be handed over to him. However, the odds of that happening are incredibly low, and it's more than likely that your playthrough, should you play this game, will be miserable no matter what you do.

Making A Fish Cream Sandwich (AGAIN) - [Rating: 10/10] - The Kyrandia games do have a tradition of kicking the shit out of you the closer you get to the end, and this game is no different. Even after you prove your innocence, the Voice of Reason will refuse to clear Malcolm's name until he gets a fish cream sandwich. Therefore, you might as well do that now instead of starting the trial prematurely. First, return to the dock or cellar of the toy factory and capture two eels using the Bent-Nail-On-A-String toy. Combine two sesame seeds with these eels to make fertilized seeds, but do not fertilize the third seed, or you need to strike a deal with Herman again. While next to a source of fresh water, have Malcolm use an unbroken empty flask and then use the water-filled flask with a fertilized seed and repeat this step for the second one. The seeds should become a "Large Sprout," but before leaving, capture a third eel and track down where the cheesemaker was last placed. Use the trash heap next to the castle until you pick up another unbroken empty flask, and then find a dairy farm near the city limits.

When you attempt to use a milk spout, Malcolm will indicate it is empty. Use the two sprouts on a hopper to create enough feed to summon an army of cows which immediately fill up the dairy tank. Use a nail on the tank to allow Malcolm to fill the flask and then return to the tavern/parlor. When you talk to the barkeep, he will ask Malcolm for some cheese which you can oblige by using the cheesemaker on Malcolm. When you ask him to make a fish cream sandwich, he states the machine is busted. Use the crutch you got from Herman on the device, and Malcolm will quickly repair it, but the chef reveals he's also out of ingredients to make sandwiches. Toss in the eel, sesame seed, and cream; the machine should belch out the sandwich you need. It is time to officially start Malcolm's trial without needing to backtrack or worry about ancillary puzzles.

On a more positive note, there's more than one way to make this sandwich, including interacting with the barkeep at the tavern to help Malcolm. However, the basics of what I described above are set in stone across all playthroughs. No matter what, you need multiple eels, three sesame seeds, a flask of cream, and the cheesemaker. The steps involved with getting all these ingredients are bizarre and follow no semblance of logic the game has scaffolded at any point. Who in their right mind would ever think to apply seeds to eels to fertilize them? How does that make any sense whatsoever? Also, if you accidentally fertilize the third sesame seed and then need to bargain with Herman again, may god have mercy on your soul. And there's so much backtracking and using random inventory items on small bespoke pixels during this sequence! Fishing for eels wasn't fun the first time, and it did not get better the third or fourth time. Making this final sandwich is a comprehensive case study of how awry the Fables & Fiend team got when making Malcolm's Revenge.

Summoning The Ghost Of Brandon's Father - [Rating: 6/10] - Don't worry, the end is nigh. Be careful about not interacting with the Voice of Reason until you are 100% ready to prove Malcolm's innocence. If you don't have everything he's looking for when you start the sequence, you might end up screwing yourself over without knowing it. First, find Malcolm's apartment in the room beyond the toy factory and check his mattress. When you do that, he should discover a crumpled picture of Brandon's father, King William. Now, find the Voice of Reason in the town hall and use this crumpled piece of paper on a magical cabinet in the room. This will cause King William to appear and profess Malcolm's innocence. The Voice of Reason will teleport Malcolm into the parlor, where Brandon's mother first testifies in Malcolm's defense, but the jury demands more evidence. Once again, apply the portrait on the magical cabinet, and you can officially sit back and enjoy the game's ending.

First, the game's ending is a lot of fun, and the end credits sequence is worth checking out if you have never seen it. I love old-school video game credits that show you the team behind a game. Furthermore, seeing the developers treat Malcolm as an annoying pest never ceases to put a smile on my face. In terms of completing the trial itself, it's more of the same annoying fiddly shit that plagues the rest of the game. I have always found Malcolm needing to perform the same summoning action twice to prove he's innocent a weird choice. But that's ignoring that the one item you need to find to complete the game is hidden underneath a random mattress in a room you last visited two to three hours ago. While Brandon's mother directs you to find an image of the king to summon his spirit, nothing in the game points you to this mattress. That, at least in my books, is game design malfeasance, and it is the laziest possible way to put a capstone on the final puzzle in your video game. Having an entire point-and-click adventure game end in a pixel hunt is simply excessive.

Should You Play The Legend of Kyrandia - Book Three: Malcolm's Revenge (Answer: No, And This Game Is A Brutal Disappointment)

We are barely into 2023, and I already have a strong front-runner for my "Biggest Disappointment." Seeing a franchise pivot this hard in a direction antithetical to everything that made the previous games even remotely enjoyable is depressing. That this series is virtually dead, with no hopes of ever being revived, does not help matters either. The unfortunate truth, however, is that this happened years BEFORE EA acquired Westwood so that usual scapegoat doesn't fly in this case. What you have is a studio that was once one of the most diverse in the industry, forcing all hands on deck to lean into a niche that paid dividends until it didn't.

For those who read these blogs seeking my advice, my directions this time are easy. Play the first two games and avoid Malcolm's Revenge. The first two Kyrandia games presented fun SCUMM alternative experiences when Westwood Studios was at its peak and willing to test all parts of the PC game market. As I said when I published my first post on Book One, when EA bought Westwood, independent estimates claimed Westwood alone represented 5% to 7% of all PC game sales. Imagine every person in the world spending $20 on Steam and knowing $1 of that was going to one developer. It's simply impossible to fathom these days, but it highlights how dominant a player Westwood was in the PC gaming arena. You owe it to yourself to check out their non-Command & Conquer titles to see how much of a dominant force Westwood was. At the very least, check out Eye of the Beholder or Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos to see how they influenced a generation of CRPGs. However, the first two Kyrandia titles deserve to be on your shortlist of games to play as well, and with that, I bid you adieu.

Also, here's an archive of my livestream attempt to complete this portion of the game: