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Post by petch on Jan 30, 2022 23:32:58 GMT
There have been a lot of tightly fought contests so far in these polls, but if the rankings thread is any indication, this could prove to be the closest yet. Hand was not just the best performing returning author in that thread (based on the average rankings of his books), but his books were also separated by the fewest amount of places than any other author. In fact Legend of the Shadow Warriors and Moonrunner finished in a dead heat and needed a tiebreaker to split them into second and third place, and Dead of Night didn't finish that far behind them in twelfth. Let's see if things prove to be as sharply contested here!
Poll closes at 10pm Weds 2nd.
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Post by vastariner on Jan 30, 2022 23:45:55 GMT
Yes, I think it's difficult to separate them because Hand is consistently high quality. Also they are all similar in their Hammer Horroresque ethos and atmosphere. I went for Shadow Warriors because there's a more cinematic feel to it than the others.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jan 31, 2022 0:12:50 GMT
All great books, extremely well written with multiple viable routes to victory for each one and great lore building for (at least until Jonathan Green came along) an area of Titan largely ignored.
Moonrunner is my favourite though - it's so incredibly devious and the characters burst out of the pages. The sorta Victorian vibe also gives it a really unique atmosphere. It has a few flaws (a bungled twist, a continuity error and a feeling that whatever you do in the first half doesn't overly matter) but the book as a whole is so good I find myself not really caring.
Legend is almost as good and has a really epic feel. It's a bit too subquest-heavy for my tastes but those subquests are pretty great in their own right (bar that awful maze anyway).
Dead of Night is on paper one of the best FFs - very replayable, almost as devious as Moonrunner yet oddly fair, great writing and illustrations and even succeeds in giving the player character some depth BUT for whatever reason I never really get into it. If I were to rank all the books trying to be as objective as possible, it would be a contender for the top spot but in reality it comes somewhere in the middle of the pack for me. If it wins here it would certainly be deserved
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Post by terrysalt on Jan 31, 2022 3:53:11 GMT
Moonrunner is probably my favourite book in the series so it obviously gets my vote. There's so many memorable encounters. As a kid I used to go out of my way to get Conrad chasing after me because he was cool. Legend is also amazing but apart from the circus with the mandrakes I don't quite love it as much as Moonrunner. Dead of Night is in the unfortunate position of being an excellent book up against even better ones.
I would have liked to have seen more from Stephen Hand, he's one of the few authors with a 100% success rate in my eyes.
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Post by Wilf on Jan 31, 2022 9:30:27 GMT
The writing and worldbuilding in all three is superb. Going to be a difficult choice, but it won't be Moonrunner, because if you pick the wrong skills at the start, you've lost. Reckon the whole Witchtooth Line sequence (optional though it may be) brings down Legend slightly, so Dead Of Night gets the vote from me.
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Post by CharlesX on Jan 31, 2022 13:46:59 GMT
Think the world-building in LOTSW is phenomenal, so picked that over the amazing Dead Of Night. Never got into Moonrunner * heresy *.
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Post by petch on Jan 31, 2022 13:55:07 GMT
As a kid I used to go out of my way to get Conrad chasing after me because he was cool. Ha, same. Mainly so I could get that brilliant scene where he wreaks bloody murder at the waxworks. |
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Post by The Count on Jan 31, 2022 18:55:25 GMT
Legend of the Shadow Warriors easily
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,679 
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Jan 31, 2022 22:38:56 GMT
Unfair poll. All 3 deserve to go through  These 3 are in my top 10. Maybe even top 5. If I had to choose one it would be Shadow Warriors. I love the epic quest experience and it has all my favourite villain groups: Shadow Warriors, Mandrakes, Haggwort, even Dark Elves. The shops give loads of additional replay value, as do your stat rolls. |
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,679
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Jan 31, 2022 23:39:30 GMT
The writing and worldbuilding in all three is superb. Going to be a difficult choice, but it won't be Moonrunner, because if you pick the wrong skills at the start, you've lost. Why? Which Skills guarantee a loss? |
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Post by a moderator on Feb 1, 2022 0:44:49 GMT
Unfair poll. All 3 deserve to go through  It's a counterbalance to the 'Best Martin Allen gamebook' poll. |
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Post by misomiso on Feb 1, 2022 20:17:05 GMT
Dead of Night is so good but it often gets overshadowed as Legend and Moonrunner are such Titans of the series.
It's incredibly close as Legend has so much going for it but in the end I went for Moonruner. It may not have as emotional resonance for me but from an impartial perspective its the best. The twist may be badly implemented but the idea behind is so good and stays with you after the book is over.
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Post by CharlesX on Feb 1, 2022 20:51:05 GMT
Dead of Night is so good but it often gets overshadowed as Legend and Moonrunner are such Titans of the series. It's incredibly close as Legend has so much going for it but in the end I went for Moonruner. It may not have as emotional resonance for me but from an impartial perspective its the best. The twist may be badly implemented but the idea behind is so good and stays with you after the book is over. Dead Of Night is well-written and the gameplay is simple but really good. I remember persuading my very Christian parents to buy Dead Of Night, I think because you were a priest trying to destroy a Demon Prince, where FF often hasn't got a good versus evil theme. I've said elsewhere I don't always think the world of J K Rowling but I wouldn't ban their works or suggest they were bad people. Tolkien himself was a devout Christian.
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Post by linflas on Feb 1, 2022 21:51:55 GMT
I would have loved voting for Blood of the Mandrake.
Trying here : anyone having the fanfiction lost in some old hard drive by chance ?
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Post by Wilf on Feb 1, 2022 22:43:51 GMT
The writing and worldbuilding in all three is superb. Going to be a difficult choice, but it won't be Moonrunner, because if you pick the wrong skills at the start, you've lost. Why? Which Skills guarantee a loss? I believe 114 is unavoidable (entering the hall at Hope's End), and there doesn't appear to be a way out of it that doesn't require either Climb or Lock Picking. Any combination of skills that doesn't include either of them will doom you. |
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,679
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Feb 2, 2022 0:09:22 GMT
Why? Which Skills guarantee a loss? I believe 114 is unavoidable (entering the hall at Hope's End), and there doesn't appear to be a way out of it that doesn't require either Climb or Lock Picking. Any combination of skills that doesn't include either of them will doom you. Mask of Belthegor sends help. Problem solved I guess. |
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Post by Wilf on Feb 2, 2022 10:15:51 GMT
I believe 114 is unavoidable (entering the hall at Hope's End), and there doesn't appear to be a way out of it that doesn't require either Climb or Lock Picking. Any combination of skills that doesn't include either of them will doom you. Mask of Belthegor sends help. Problem solved I guess. Good point - had forgotten that! Carry on...
*changes vote because Moonrunner is otherwise sodding brilliant*
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,679
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Feb 2, 2022 10:57:48 GMT
Moonrunner is arguably the most well designed book in the series in terms of gameplay and replayability. You can almost do anything you wish and still find a way to success without it being too easy either. It has fantastic, wonderfully fleshed out characters and oozes atmosphere capturing the essence of Victorian horror.
Where it falls short is the connection with its title (in addition to Radu). This could have easily been explained more thoroughly in the background and in your final confrontation with Gruul. As it stands, it leaves the majority of readers thinking 'Eh?' when the title is suddenly mentioned again at the end. Still, that's only a minor quibble for one of the greatest entries to any gamebook series.
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Post by petch on Feb 2, 2022 17:25:03 GMT
Mask of Belthegor sends help. Problem solved I guess. Good point - had forgotten that! Carry on...
*changes vote because Moonrunner is otherwise sodding brilliant*
With not long to go until the poll closes, that change of vote is looking like it could have a major bearing on the result! |
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,679
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Feb 2, 2022 18:17:32 GMT
My preference is Shadow Warriors but I'd be happy to have any of these go through.
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Post by petch on Feb 2, 2022 23:02:17 GMT
For once, my opening preamble to the poll turned out to be accurate. Remarkably, after tying in the rankings thread, Legend of the Shadow Warriors and Moonrunner finish neck and neck once again. There's just no separating these two.
So, we have our first draw in these polls, which means both books will be in the final. Some prescience in the comments above remarking that more than one book deserve to go through here! However it remains to be seen whether this will actually disadvantage Hand in the final, as it could result in a split vote from those who think a Hand book deserves to win.
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Post by nathanh on Feb 4, 2022 13:46:58 GMT
I missed this poll  Would have helped Moonrunner to a win. Best book. Dead of Night is underrated though. One of the few books I scored 15/15. |
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Would have helped Moonrunner to a win. Best book.