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Post by hynreck on Nov 8, 2013 17:33:00 GMT
Here's another review salvage from the depths by the Almighty. Let's see how I can improve it. Or make it worse.
Here's another new book for me. Sure, I've seen it sitting on the shelves often when I was a young Fantasy Fighter, but I never found myself compelled to pick it up. Something about that woman on the cover just striked me wrong. I slightly remember some vague Trek vibes about her, which might have put me off... Perhaps I thought the team from Starship Traveller had finally landed and thought: no way am I getting suck back into that black hole.
Recently though, for the last year or so (this dates back my review to a precise no when of existence, seriously, I should be careful about peppering my reviews which such imprecisions), I found myself intrigued and pretty excited at the prospect of playing/reading it, because, as I read more about the FF series in general, I found that BNC is quite rare amongst the FF: it's a horror-themed hommage to Lovecraft. Having been a big fan of Lovecraft for many years, going so far as to master the art of Lovecraftian storytelling to the point it became boring, I was very curious about playing a book in that particular universe. Sure, over the years, Lovecraft and me have grown apart, being that Lovecraftian stories are basically the same, but BNC offered the promise of breaking apart the mold, or, at the very least, offering a new point of view on a worn-out subject matter.
The disturbing elements in Neuburg are indeed plenty and satisfying. From what I read, they come in slow and steady from the beginning, and pick up pace once inside the keep. The deaths are numerous and disturbing… most of them plain brutal. Nothing like being eaten or digested alive by all the atrocities roaming around Neuburg. Or what about a sip from a barrel full of loped-off heads? Or getting diseases from the ten thousand tongues girl? Or slowly changing into a tree? Or being crushed by stones thrown of a great height by soldiers just for the amusement of said soldiers?
The inside illos are a mixed bag, but most of them are disturbing enough or at least gives a good idea of what's supposed to be going on. Cover is overall nice, but the choice of the Spike Maiden is a bit tame, considering what can be found inside the book. However, it's understandable I guess if they still wanted to sell this book to children... Which they shouldn't, really. Along with House of Hell, this is one of those spooky gamebooks that should be reserved for the slightly more grown-up crowd. Overall, though, quite enjoyable. Well done.
So here we go. Some edits, some easy to spots... There was some good conversation started by this book, and quite a few good reviews. Too bad it seems lost, but maybe we can go on from here.
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Post by a moderator on Nov 24, 2013 15:30:06 GMT
Salvaged from the 'Books in Order' thread:
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2014 1:19:00 GMT
From TUFFF... Or getting diseases from the ten thousand tongues girl? Hey, we were all young and stupid once …What? Oh. Anyway, yes, you've finally experienced the atrocities of Neuburg! It is pretty hideous under there, isn't it? Of all the awful ways you can lose in this adventure, my favourite would have to be where you are devoured alive by the creature hanging above the table over the illusion of a delicious banquet.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2014 1:21:03 GMT
From TUFFF... Beneath Nightmare Castle was one of the books I read which showed me that I loved Lovecraft before I even knew Lovecraft. I loved the bizarre collection of monsters and the strange deaths. Getting killed by an orc can get pretty boring. Death (or madness in this book) here is something you really want to avoid. The big boss monster does not disappoint either. I prefer gamebooks like this where you have the constant feeling that you're stuffed most of the time - You wake up blindfolded in a tower, then you have to explore a creepy castle teeming with weird monsters and white robed swordsmen. Even your best friend has been brainwashed. Victory is so much sweeter when you are when you are continuously on the brink of some gruesome death. It's not unfair either. You don't have to fight many high skill opponents (I think, the highest skill you have to face is 9, but you can get several magical items which increase your initial skill in combat and I'm glad they say initial skill) and you can collect items which means that you don't have to fight Xakhaz, the most original FF villain.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2014 1:22:53 GMT
From TUFFF (some previous posts missing?)... Khul is the continent for hard-core chaos, so I think it was the right choice for BNC. Old World horror has its own styles, as satisfactorily demonstrated by Messrs. Martin, Hand and Green. Don't know if you're at all familiar with the Forbidden Gateway gamebooks, but they also have a distinctly Lovecraftian tone. If you don't know them, you might want to look into them once you've finshed going through FF. Gameplay-wise, they're a lot more unforgiving than BNC. I still remember the time I rolled up a character with maximum stats and died at the very first hurdle. But if you're not playing with dice, you shouldn't wind up repeatedly experiencing the same hideous demises and mind-shattering traumas until they start to become a little tiresome.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2014 1:23:40 GMT
From TUFFF... Thanks Greenspine, I don't recall seeing Forbidden Gateway before (maybe by it's translated name, who knows)... I'll stay on the lookout for those, definitely. As for Khul being the place for hardcore chaos, thanks for the info, I didn't know that. I'm still a noob when it comes to such matters, as my previous youth knowledge about FF was mostly limited to Jackson and Livingstone, thus Allansia. For example, I got the French edition of Phantoms of Fear, but never knew it was in Khul... Speak in extremes, it will save you time.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2014 1:24:31 GMT
From TUFFF... The FG books were by Ian and Clive Bailey. There were two of them, Where the Shadows Stalk (hideous goings-on centred on a mine in Wales) and the sequel Terrors Out of Time (global threat-scale adventure including visits to a museum, a manor house and Egypt, plus eventful travel by plane and airship).
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2014 1:26:41 GMT
From TUFFF... BNC stands as my third fav FF of all time, the strange Lovecraftian creatures you come to encounter and its terrifying boss makes it a unique experience, and just for the love of Senyakhaz, princess of Zagoula, I'd give it another shot.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2014 1:27:39 GMT
From TUFFF... Fantastic book. Very good atmosphere. Senyakhaz is probably the most beautifull witch I have ever met. Xakhaz is absolutey outstanding! Everytime I play this game I trully feel myself inside that castle, what I think it is the best compliment someone could give. Razaak's apprentice.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2014 1:28:47 GMT
From TUFFF... The guy on #272 is too cute. I want to tickle his belly. coochie coochie coo! The more beautiful and pure FF is – the more satisfying it is to corrupt it.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2014 1:29:08 GMT
From TUFFF... Be carefull Khaxzan!! Do not underestimate him. That guy is a BAKK-RUMAN, and he would easily suck all your blood in just a few seconds! Razaak's apprentice.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2014 1:29:37 GMT
From TUFFF... **chases the bakk-ruman around the room while singing 'I'm gonna getcha! I'm gonna getcha lil fella!! I'm gonna be your best friend...'**. The more beautiful and pure FF is – the more satisfying it is to corrupt it. (There are a few more post-scraps, mostly from Oakdweller I think, but too tricky to piece together without him.)
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Post by oakdweller on Mar 22, 2015 17:17:54 GMT
The diligent Almighty Mudworm has managed to unearth a great deal of my TUFFF review for this book. Thank you! I think that about three quarters of it has survived, so apologies if the paragraphs don't flow into one another as well as they should. I'm glad that this one has resurfaced because I've always had a soft spot for the crazy horror that Darvill-Evans splatters across the pages.
***MINOR SPOILERS***
Torture, decay, feelings of revulsion and sickening subversions of nature are devices that Darvill-Evans uses constantly here. Just like Creature of Havoc before it, this book has an unusually high number of instant death references. Hynreck has listed some of his favourites, which I agree with, especially the girl with the mutant tongues. I'm also fond of the earliest possible death, where you're carted off by some Xakhaz's deformed servants (266). We're spared the precise details of what they do with their "selection of very sharp knives", but that's probably just as well because the text then delves into the area of torture fetish: "They kill you slowly, and take ecstatic pleasure in your agonised writhings".
The bitter cherry on top here is what happens to your mental state: "You go completely insane before you die". Nice. I don't know where in the adventure it can happen, but I noticed the death on reference 348, which is another instance where you're tipped over into insanity. Something called the Kiss of Death Protoplasm (which I don't recall at all) attaches itself to your face to drain your body of blood. Having run around "weeping, in circles" the text assures you that "you are reduced to a staggering, mewling, shrivelled travesty of a human being”. Nice.
There is also an opportunity to be driven mad when covered by some unnatural spiders in the Keep's garden, whose "lethal venom begins to burn in your veins" (395). There's one of the nastiest descriptions I've ever read of a fatal fall on reference 105, where you hit the ground just before you're about to lose consciousness. Xakhaz himself gets his chance to dabble in your horrific demise too of course, most notably on reference 338 when most of your bones have been broken. The way that the adventure continually demands that you battle to keep your mental health in check is an outrageously risky approach in a children's book.
Where there was once possibly a tranquil pool in happier times, there is now a dark, muddy home for the mottled kraken. Other peculiarities such as the strange elven statue, which contains fertiliser(!) and the mysteries of the compost heap all come together to form a place which is unpredictable and therefore great fun to explore. The starved dwarf gardener with his pet axe is the perfect earthy character to have at the end of all this before entering the Keep. This is another book which can seem disappointingly easy if you cheat. By turning back every time an instant death reference jumps out it is not at all difficult to reach Xakhaz. However, if it is played honestly then the sense of danger feels far more realistic and the victory so much more satisfying once you achieve it.
Dave Carson doesn't seem to be on many fans' favourite artist lists, and I can't say that he's on mine either I'm afraid. Although his work is distinctive, there are too many places where it doesn't seem to fit the mood of the text: the Disney snuff hound (5), the all-too-simple Vitriol Essence (287), the scrawny bat (272) and Noddy (87) all fail to hit the right mark. (And there's something about the Vlodblad (76) that says Sky Lord to me). However, there are a few gems here and there: the Charabats have a fantastic rotten texture to them (46); the Blood Lurchers are well designed, but could've been rendered better (21) and the charming dwarf gardener that I mentioned before is well served (235). I think that FF probably just isn't the right place for Carson's art. I can imagine his work fairing much better illustrating traditional fairytales - and I don't mean that as a back-handed compliment at all.
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Post by cyranotheswordfish on Apr 6, 2015 10:31:37 GMT
Sadly, Beneath Nightmare Castle became the second gamebook on this series of random-ordered playthroughs to not quite live up to my fond memories, though I reckon this may just be down to my not coming across the more memorable encounters this time around. I don't really have a lot to say about this one, to be honest. There's certainly nothing wrong with it - it's well desgined, balanced and written and has a good boss fight. From memory, it has lots of interesting encounters, but I just managed to miss most of them. Anyway, 4 attempts for this one - Eaten by a creature that lured me in with food
- Fell into a pit whilst walking through illusory fire to avoid that creature
- Drained by the Vlodblad
- Success!
51 - Island of the Undead is next - I've not really read this one before, so it'll be new ground for me, if nothing else
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Jul 23, 2015 14:37:36 GMT
Such an amazing Book. Great Atmosphere! So realistic. I can feel it so much. Xakhaz is amazing. Only Razaak is better.
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Post by hynreck on Jul 23, 2015 14:50:58 GMT
I mostly agree with what you said(!), minus that last bit of fanboyism.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Jul 27, 2015 17:17:43 GMT
Some men create something so much bigger than themselves. That is my opinion about Darvill-Evans. In no way, i am trying to criticise him.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Oct 3, 2015 1:55:47 GMT
The feeling of this book is something beyond words. I almost feel the smell of every corner. Too much real to me. Dont know if is it because of Xakhaz, or Senyakhaz, or the fortress, or the zone where Huw lives, but sincerely - Too much real to me.
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Post by paltogue on Oct 3, 2015 8:08:54 GMT
The feeling of this book is something beyond words. I almost feel the smell of every corner. Too much real to me. Dont know if is it because of Xakhaz, or Senyakhaz, or the fortress, or the zone where Huw lives, but sincerely - Too much real to me. I agree Vag, a very atmospheric book.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Oct 6, 2015 20:58:57 GMT
Xakhaz seemed to me so alive when i saw him. His eyes vibrant with existence. No way he is not real. In some other world he lives. My bet.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Dec 10, 2015 8:54:40 GMT
How i wish to play this book again... How i wish... There is a chance that if i will get to the oldage... I will be an oldman closed in my house only playing ff books... There is a chance.. If i dont discover nothing better to do...
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Post by philsadler on Mar 25, 2016 23:40:13 GMT
Could never understand the adulation that this one received. All I can remember of it is: having to fight and kill children (!) having to fight FIVE guards each time you start the book, and very poor artwork. Do seem to remember some nice gory deaths though.
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Post by a moderator on Mar 26, 2016 11:11:47 GMT
You only have to fight those guards if you fail a roll, and the to-the-death fight with children is avoidable.
The main things I like about this book are the atmosphere (to which the gruesome bad endings contribute) and the fact that a character with low stats isn't automatically doomed, but the book can still be challenging to someone who gets good rolls.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Jun 1, 2016 18:03:25 GMT
Spectacular book. beautiful city. beautiful fortress. spectacular finding of trident of Skarlos. Amazing Xakhaz! In Portugal, this book was the publication number 21 ... the 22 that would follow had the name ... Crypt of the Sorcerer ... the spectacular was overcome.
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Post by hynreck on Jun 1, 2016 18:48:00 GMT
So, the spectacular was overcome only in Portugal? That would explain why the rest of us can't see it...
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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 Jun 1, 2016 19:22:59 GMT
gotta ask Vags, in a dual between the two greats Razaak and Xakhaz nothing held back and no one immune to death, who would win?
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Post by hynreck on Jun 1, 2016 19:44:26 GMT
Well, let's see, Razaak's got 3 a, 2 of them in a row, plus a z and the obligatory k. Xakhaz's got only 2 a, and not in a row, plus also a k and a z, but, wait for it, there's also a x in there! Could there actually be a draw? Let me count the points for a second...
And... *drum roll* Xakhaz wins! On behalf of being in a better book, mostly, though.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Jun 1, 2016 20:41:13 GMT
gotta ask Vags, in a dual between the two greats Razaak and Xakhaz nothing held back and no one immune to death, who would win? Beneath Nightmares Castle is a great, great book! Crypt of the Sorcerer is better, though. Xakhaz is a great, a realy fantastic and spectacular oponent! Razaak is better, though.
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Post by deadshadowrunner on Jun 2, 2016 6:37:49 GMT
gotta ask Vags, in a dual between the two greats Razaak and Xakhaz nothing held back and no one immune to death, who would win? Beneath Nightmares Castle is a great, great book! Crypt of the Sorcerer is better, though. Xakhaz is a great, a realy fantastic and spectacular oponent! Razaak is better, though.Vagsancho's comparisons are great,great, realy fantastic and spectacular! Hynreck's comparisons are better,though.
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Post by offm on Jun 2, 2016 9:01:44 GMT
A bit of an inconfidence here , but this book i read it when i was 16 in a car trip with my parents, i almost threw up (because of reading in the car ) and a little because of the book ... but enjoyed it much (well more a less the end was not that great from what i remember) as it was my comeback from a iatus of 2 years from reading that stories ,at the time.
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