Dragon Lore: The Legend Begins is a point-and-click adventure game released in 1994 by Cryo for MS-DOSCD-ROM, and later ported to the 3DOgame console. The hero plays Werner Von Wallenrod, a farm boy who must interact with various characters in a fantasy atmosphere, solve puzzles, and fight enemies. Eventually the protagonist uncovers that he is the orphaned son of the late Axel von Wallenrod, a "Dragon Knight." Werner sets out to uncover his past and reclaim his heritage. Werner's ultimate goal is to earn the favor of enough of the current Dragon Knights so as to be voted into their order. He also has to deal with his rival, Haggen Von Diakkonov.
Characters
Werner Von Wallenrod: The hero of this game, who is on a quest to become a Dragon Knight.
Chen Lai: The cousin of Fujitomo.
Formar Thain of Hav'shal: A Dragon Knight who gives Werner advice once he arrives by raft.
Tanatyha Hyrenapth: A Dragon Knight who likes someone that sheds with blood.
Cheldyra: She is a friend of the Toadstools.
Arthus of Erwyndyll: He advises Werner about the flowers.
Kuru: A Dragon Knight who is a military leader.
Klaus Von Straupzig: A Dragon Knight who almost looks like Arthus.
Herg Nach Drakhonen: He is obsessed with the Jewel of the Duck Dragon.
Hellayena D'Article: Gives Werner advice to throw down a weapon with honor.
Alexandre of Egregalionne & Sylvan of Sygill: Two persons in the same body, seeking a vase that was stolen from two thieves.
Haggen Von Diakkonov: The main villain of this game, who murdered Werner's father Axel Von Wallenrod.
Fujitomo: A dead Dragon Knight, whose ring was above his coffin.
The Archmage: The wizard of Castle Von Wallenrod.
Technical issues and release information
The PC version had relatively high memory requirements, which made the game difficult to run unless the user first edited the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files and/or created a boot disk. The game was bundled with multimedia kits such as those released by Reveal. At the time, many personal computers were not equipped with CD-ROMs and sound cardsout of the box, and users wanting these features may have chosen their kit based on the pack-in software. The Reveal4x CD-ROM kit featured a SC400 sound card, speakers, and a large bundle of multimedia software, including games and educational titles. Besides Dragon Lore, this kit featured another Cryo Interactive game, MegaRace. GOG.com released an emulated version for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2013.
Reception
Dragon Lore was a commercial success, with sales of 300,000 units by 1997. A reviewer for Next Generation applauded the game for its fast-moving rendered graphics, captivating plot, and gratifyingly difficult puzzles in its later sections. He added that the inclusion of fighting segments, in addition to being satisfying of themselves, serve to break up the monotony that puzzle adventure games sometimes suffer from. GamePros brief review of the 3DO version stated, "Smooth, rendered 3D animation and voice clips accompany the great mythological storyline to make up a well-rounded game. RPG fans will enjoy the attention to detail as well as the intuitive motions and menus... slow access time is one of the few setbacks."
