The Curse Of DragonShrine

Baf's Guide

An okay game marred by some non-obvious puzzles and too many empty locations. For the most, The Curse of DragonShrine is nicely written (aside from the clumsy introduction when the player is hassled by some country bumpkin types) although the ending is deeply unsatisfying. For the main villain of the piece to be disposed of in such a poor fashion just left a lot to be desired and the lingering impression I had afterwards was that this was a game written too hastily and with too little care.

-- David Whyld

Unjustly accused of the disappearance of one Jenny O'Brian, you are hounded into seeking refuge inside a deserted castle. Once safely past the opening puzzle, a ghost appears to give some confusing exposition and set you on your task: to break the curse of the Dragon Shrine.

The puzzles themselves are not very difficult, but the coding is a bit buggy, and the various pieces of background material about the curse and magic involved is very contrived and convoluted. It's best to ignore all the contradictions and simply follow the instructions as best you can.

Two more points. One, the gallery of paintings is a nice touch and acts as a guide of sorts. Two, although there's plenty of dragon statues in the game, no actual dragons appear, which I found disappointing.

-- David Welbourn

Delron Review Compilation
The writing moves back and forth between text-adventure standard ("You must bring the body of the last victim to the shrine and give her the potion. Read the incantation from the scroll. I must return to the lake, for I am too weak to stay. Your fate is sealed.") and atmospheric, but the author doesn't quite have a steady enough hand with the writing to make the atmospheric work ("A white figure hovers nearby, looking at you curiously. In a state of shock, you are unable to move because you have never seen such a thing in all the days of your life. She is a ghost"). I think Mystery might be better off working on writing with a scenario that doesn't require evoking emotion in the player, or at least aims for lighter-weight emotions.
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