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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 17, 2014 22:56:28 GMT
From TUFFF (May 2012)... Which FF book has the best replay value? Could you please list out the top five |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 17, 2014 22:58:21 GMT
From TUFFF... That depends on what you mean by 'replay value'. For some people, it's an insanely difficult book that takes five dozen attempts to win (not including all the times you fail to roll all sixes during character creation, and thus don't have a chance from the outset). For others (and this is how I interpret it), it's books with a variety of viable paths through them, so you can have a go at the adventure and win, then go back and try something different, have a load of new encounters, and still be in with a chance of winning. Howl of the Werewolf is a good one in that regard. Sword of the Samurai has two separate paths to victory. Appointment With F.E.A.R. is a bit different in that it has a separate solution for each superpower, so while there's a comparatively narrow 'true path' for any one attempt, once you've won once, you can choose another power and follow a different route to victory. Moving on to books that haven't been reissued, and are thus not going to be so easy to find, Luke Sharp's books are very free-ranging. His first two (Star Strider and Chasms of Malice) are less good because of general unfairness and an overload of Instant Deaths in the endgame phase, but Daggers of Darkness and Fangs of Fury are playable and replayable.
US Steve Jackson's books (Scorpion Swamp, Demons of the Deep, Robot Commando) have more than one successful ending, though you wind up covering a lot of the same ground whichever solution you choose.
There are multiple viable paths in Beneath Nightmare Castle and Spectral Stalkers. Moonrunner has some quite free-ranging sequences. There's more than one way to win The Rings of Kether, and Phantoms of Fear has a couple of different routes to success. If you're looking for 'kill you a lot' books, the main contenders for the crown are Crypt of the Sorcerer and Spellbreaker, but Armies of Death, Return to Firetop Mountain, House of Hell and Creature of Havoc are also distinctly lethal. The best of the really tough books yet to be reissued are (IMO) Slaves of the Abyss, Black Vein Prophecy, The Crimson Tide, Siege of Sardath, Knights of Doom and Magehunter. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 17, 2014 22:59:03 GMT
From TUFFF... Hmm, I would say: 1. Scorpion Swamp (3 missions, 3 endings, non-linear)
2. Robot Commando (3 endings, pretty non-linear)
3. The Rings of Kether (2 endings, plenty of paths through it)
4. Daggers of Darkness (1 ending, but plenty of ways to get there)
5. Demons of the Deep (3 endings though more linear than the above 4) |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 17, 2014 23:00:37 GMT
From TUFFF... Which FF book has the best replay value?
Could you please list out the top five Any book which cunningly hides the way to victory. Any book which has multiple ways to victory. Any book which has lots of funky encounters which aren't on the way to victory. Any book which revels in its detailed world-building and is beautifully written. House Of Hell, Seas Of Blood, Appointment With FEAR, Creature Of Havoc, The Crimson Tide, Siege Of Sardath, Spellbreaker, and Knights Of Doom are all very replayable. And the Sorcery! epic, too. There may be many others (especially by Messrs Jackson (UK), Hand, Mason and Green). |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 17, 2014 23:04:56 GMT
From TUFFF (July 2012)... Any book which revels in its detailed world-building and is beautifully written.House Of Hell, Seas Of Blood, Appointment With FEAR, Creature Of Havoc, The Crimson Tide, Siege Of Sardath, Spellbreaker, and Knights Of Doom are all very replayable. And the Sorcery! epic, too.There may be many others (especially by Messrs Jackson (UK), Hand, Mason and Green). House of Hell is a very 'instra-kill' book, but it's layout is just so creative and its descriptions are so vivid that it's just so much fun to keep going.
My personal choice is Vault of the Vampire, which was my first ever FF book and introduced me to the series. It's gothic horror adventure style was perfect for me, making me wish I'd seen more. Sadly it was years later that Return of the Vampire was published, and would be over a decade before Howl of the Werewolf... Still, I'd love to see more of Mauristatia, our own FF world of Ravenloft  Fighting for your Fantasy - Remember the gamebooks of your past, one adventure at a time - fightyourfantasy.blogspot.co.uk/ |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 17, 2014 23:05:54 GMT
From TUFFF... For me, how much good is the book, bigger is its replay value. So, it's preety simple to answer:
1 - house of hell
2 - city of thieves
3 - trial of champions
4 - crypt of the sorcerer
5 - deathtrap dungeon Razaak's apprentice |
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Post by deadshadowrunner on Mar 18, 2014 4:04:59 GMT
Both Dead of Night and Spellbreaker allows you to pick which paths you want to go,so you can go to different towns and villages each time you play.However DoN is better because Spell has only one narrow true path whereas for DoN virtually any path you take leads to victory.
Legend of the Shadow Warriors has two paths to victory and the part in the town is quite non-linear too.
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,678 
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on May 30, 2016 19:44:58 GMT
Different starting attributes, different equipment/skills, different paths chosen, all of which can still lead you to victory is good replay for me. here they are:
Moonrunner
Dead of Night
Night Dragon
Robot Commando
Stormslayer
Howl of the Werewolf
Demons of the Deep
Keep of the Lich-Lord
Night of the Necromancer
and in some respects City of Thieves, Legend of the Shadow Warriors, Master of Chaos, Spectral Stalkers, Sorcery! 1 & 2
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Post by coppertop71 on May 30, 2016 20:26:26 GMT
From TUFFF... Hmm, I would say: 1. Scorpion Swamp (3 missions, 3 endings, non-linear)
2. Robot Commando (3 endings, pretty non-linear)
3. The Rings of Kether (2 endings, plenty of paths through it)
4. Daggers of Darkness (1 ending, but plenty of ways to get there)
5. Demons of the Deep (3 endings though more linear than the above 4) Yes I would agree with this list although I haven't played Robot Commando for a long time, the others are definitely good replay books. Scorpion Swamp is right to be at the top as it's 3 stories in 1. I would also say House of Hell has good replay value too, not because it has multiple endings but because of the atmosphere and horror it immerses you in |
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on May 31, 2016 13:21:54 GMT
I do not agree with this replayable "criterium", non linearity, different endings have not value to me.. for me the more replayable books are the best books: Crypt of the Sorcerer, City of Thieves, Deathtrap Dungeon, Caverns of the Snow witch, House of Hell, Talisman of Death, Trial of Champions, Beneath Nightmares Castle, Vault of the Vampire, Slaves of the Abyss, Howl of the Werewolf, and Night of the Necromancer.. Robot Commando and Appointment with Fear have not replayable value to me.
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Post by hynreck on May 31, 2016 13:38:26 GMT
So, about that font size...
Is it a sign of insecurity on your behalf?
A mine is bigger than yours syndrome?
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Post by a moderator on May 31, 2016 13:54:58 GMT
Given that one of the main things distinguishing gamebooks from other books is the variety of different ways the story can go, there's a sense in which having just one narrow path to victory, from which almost any deviation guarantees failure, is a bit of a waste. Even just a little bit of freedom to explore (the first 3 streets in City, the alternate routes through the Keep in Beneath Nightmare Castle) enhances replayability far more than the 'Die, Reader, Die!' harshness of many of the books.
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Post by philsadler on May 31, 2016 14:01:53 GMT
So, about that font size... Is it a sign of insecurity on your behalf? A mine is bigger than yours syndrome?
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Post by hynreck on May 31, 2016 16:34:39 GMT
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,453
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on May 31, 2016 17:55:52 GMT
I don't mind a narrow route to victory so long as the false routes are still fun and interesting.
One thing I like about a lot of American gamebook series (notably CYOA and Endless Quest) is they often let you go on quite wild tangents where depending on the path you're on you can have a completely different story. As opposed to FF where generally the only difference tends to be along the lines of "the path with the troll" or "the path with the ogre". I think Crimson Tide is probably the closest to approaching the American style but then it also has a narrow route to victory at the same time.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on May 31, 2016 19:25:32 GMT
Vag has chosen some pretty good titles!
I admit I have a bit of a crush on Night Of The Necromancer. One reason why is if you use dice properly and generate stats randomly it is rare for any 2 games to be alike. The 'forces' are quite strong but you need to be able to improvise to generate 2 deaths to acquire the Black Hourglass. It is so easy to obtain unlike the red herring Spirit Stone.
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Post by coppertop71 on May 31, 2016 23:17:04 GMT
I do not agree with this replayable "criterium", non linearity, different endings have not value to me.. for me the more replayable books are the best books: Crypt of the Sorcerer, City of Thieves, Deathtrap Dungeon, Caverns of the Snow witch, House of Hell, Talisman of Death, Trial of Champions, Beneath Nightmares Castle, Vault of the Vampire, Slaves of the Abyss, Howl of the Werewolf, and Night of the Necromancer.. Robot Commando and Appointment with Fear have not replayable value to me. Of course any book which you enjoy will have replay value so there's no right or wrong answer. The ones with multiple endings or different successful routes though mean you can replay the book in a different way. One of my favourite books is City of Thieves, but once i completed it, I didn't do it again as I'd only be retracing my steps or going down routes i knew would be unsuccessful. I will do it again at some point but for now it's done & dusted |
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,678
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on May 31, 2016 23:50:13 GMT
Many of those books are far better reads than plays since play becomes monotonous when you have go through the same motions every time if there is only one correct path. When rolling dice no longer is enjoyable, I find just reading and not playing to be fine as well, preferable in some cases. House of Hell, Black Vein Prophecy, Spellbreaker, for example, which I do not count as having good gameplay but a good read instead with brilliant storytelling, vibrant and memorable encounters on the wrong paths, all the while not having to worry about rolled numbers.
Come to think of it, I may have just convinced myself that these three mentioned should be on my list too even though they don't fit my original criteria.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Jun 1, 2016 12:49:29 GMT
Many of those books are far better reads than plays since play becomes monotonous when you have go through the same motions every time if there is only one correct path. When rolling dice no longer is enjoyable, I find just reading and not playing to be fine as well, preferable in some cases. House of Hell, Black Vein Prophecy, Spellbreaker, for example, which I do not count as having good gameplay but a good read instead with brilliant storytelling, vibrant and memorable encounters on the wrong paths, all the while not having to worry about rolled numbers. Come to think of it, I may have just convinced myself that these three mentioned should be on my list too even though they don't fit my original criteria. I would give Spellbreaker 9/10 for readability but 1/10 and 2/10, respectively, for the original and reprint gameplay wise. |
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