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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:42:18 GMT
From TUFFF.... On to the next adventure...I thought I'd have a go at this newly acquired addition to my Puffin collection (just looking for Deathmoor and Curse of the Mummy now). CAUTION - SPOILERS BELOW!!! I'm currently on attempt five. The first four have had varying degrees of success, but in each case my hero has met his untimely demise. Attempt 1 - After tumbling through the inter-dimesional portal deep below the Margrave's castle, I awoke in Reinhardt's body. That was unexpected! After getting Menicus, or should I say Reinhardt, on his feet I decided to climb the closest summit and have a butchers at the lay of the land. On the way up, I feel all funny and end up switching bodies with Reinhardt. Now I'm the feeble Mencius, and suffering from the effects of a serious bullet wound. Oops, my bad. Following my instinct, we made for a column of smoke in the middle distance and came across a sorcerer who granted me the power of speech in the local lingo, Kal. Next thing I know, we're on a magic carpet bound for the city of Kallamehr. Bloody Reinhardt didn't take kindly to me nabbing his body back again and started a rumble as we streaked through the clouds. Silly sod tripped over Khasim the sorcerer while he was driving and ended up falling off the carpet. Well, it was his own fault. Suddenly, I'm in the big city, apparently without any of the valuable items I might have picked up on the way. Hmm. Perhaps I took a route that was too direct? So I start getting my bearings. Where better to start than by following a lead: Mencius is apparently taking a break from his evil machinations by busking in the market. I confront him and prepare to dispatch the fiend...except it's some other guy who just looks a bit like him, Saba. Turns out he's a fighter as well as a showman, and he dispatches me (or rather the feeble Reinhardt) with ease in his tent. FAIL. Attempt 2 - This time I'm a bit more cautious. Where fools might have rushed in to confront Mencius in the cells, I stand back and watch him disappear into the floor. Now what? Well, I grab his book, learn a spell and in the blink of a Cyclops' eye I'm after them. Straight to Kallamehr via the smoke-signalling Khasim and this time the trail takes me to the bath house. Apparently my name wasn't down on the VIP list, and after I'd done for his mate, the second Bouncer killed me with a soap-on-a-rope. FAIL. Attempt 3 - Right, I've got this sorted. Got to cells. Stand well back. Get book. Use portal. Err, get spell all muddled up and get trapped in between dimensions. FAIL. Attempt 4 - This time I rush Mencius in the cells and again wake as Reinhardt. Rather than bothering the sorcerer again, I make for the next village. It's a fun little town...I get poor old Mencius' bullet wound sorted then go for a night out in the boozer. But it's not all fun and games: I knuckle down and learn a smattering of the local lingo and grab myself a fancy Vizier's robe. Later I try out my new linguistic talents in the souks. Perhaps I misunderstood a few words as I end up getting completely ripped off when I buy a doggie and a goat to feed him with. The mutt looks like my uncle from Seattle who used to sing in a band. I name the pup after him. Turns out my dog has a nose for trouble and he leads me straight to my old buddy Khasim the sorcerer. Whisked to Kallamehr (this time without further trouble from Reinhardt) we start sleuthing. It's going pretty well until I bump into Mencius in the markets. I got my body back, but he went on a rampage in Reinhardt's frame then gave it back to me to take the rap. Next thing I know an ugly chap is separating me from my head. FAIL. If at first you don't succeed...use a bit of "save-gaming"? Never! |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:43:32 GMT
From TUFFF.... This is becoming ridiculous... Magehunter must be one of the hardest books of the series! |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:44:12 GMT
From TUFFF.... But apparently, it can be completed with min. stats. at least. Two Words |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:45:13 GMT
From TUFFF.... I get the impression that low stats may even be to your advantage. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:45:39 GMT
From TUFFF.... I'm still embarrassingly missing this one in my collection  ~ Vae Victis! ~ |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:46:28 GMT
From TUFFF.... Two minor course corrections and I've managed it. 1. Strolling up to the front door of the Big Bad Guy is rarely a good idea. Turns out there's a back entrance. 2. Oooh, that Riddling Reaver is quite the little prankster. I solved his riddle; the 'joke' is that the answer's not helpful, in fact it's a bloody hindrance! I love the appearance of Logaan if you dispatch the Riddling Reaver, especially as he's not namechecked  |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:47:33 GMT
From TUFFF.... I had this book twice and sold it twice for piffle. I couldn't read it on both occasions, much in the same way as I detest Sky Lord. If only I knew what it was really worth Two Words |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:48:29 GMT
From TUFFF.... As I understand it, you are a stranger on Titan and as such monsters etc don't have their proper names and you can only ell what they are in relation to other FF books from their descriptions. If that's correct, I think that premise alone sounds like a good idea.
But then, so did Freeway Fighter's ~ Vae Victis! ~ |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:50:10 GMT
From TUFFF.... Magehunter is very hard - there are a lot of false paths and the final battle is tough. Wouldn't say it's the hardest book in the series but its certainly up there. Definitely worth a read though for the excellent "Most Revered Treatise of Magehunting" and working out how best to apply it. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:51:16 GMT
From TUFFF.... Oh for crying out loud, I've just written a huge post about Magehunter and it isn't bloody here. Basically I just want to say I love it, the writing is cool, I love the multi-adventure thing going on with the codewords where you can have a different experience each time you play (must have been a bitch to write), and there's a strange misprint over paragraphs 66 + 67.
There ~ Vae Victis! ~ |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:51:42 GMT
From TUFFF.... It's Paul Mason's favourite of his FF books. I'm not sure which I prefer - they all have something outstanding (in a good manner).
There's only one way to find out - FIGHT! |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:55:00 GMT
From TUFFF.... It's funny you know. I recognise the skill and brilliance in Paul Mason's books, but they've never been my favourites. I don't know why, I keep thinking I must be missing something as lots of other people think they are the best of the lot. For example, BVP seems utterly random and whacky to me, with an 'ambience' I don't really like. Marmite author for sure. Maybe I need to play them again, as I haven't (other than SotA) in a while. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 0:55:42 GMT
From TUFFF.... For me this particular book shines in the way you can take a completely different path through the game depending on your choices... For example, in my first play through I never even had a companion! The way codewords (eg 'trail' and the 'x' fame markings) work is very clever indeed.
Plus, you've got to love enemies like the BIRD OF PRODIGIOUS SIZE and the SHAGGY SHAMBLER |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 1:00:30 GMT
From TUFFF.... Batman vers...sorry, Black Vein Prophecy has the most ingenious storyline. Crimson Tide has the most cryptic solution. Slaves of the Abyss is the closest to a Titan-based setting and is the most playable. Magehunter is the most infuriating read. The Dreaming Sands is very amateurish...but not unenjoyable. Despite The Riddling Reaver being a multiplayer adventure that I have read but have yet to play, it is probably the most enjoyable as far as FF gaming goes. Though overall BVP's kick-ass storyline climbs so high, I do not even mind its gameplay being utterly lousy. It's one of those few gamebooks that may work better as a CYOA than one based on statistics and combat. It may not be the most enjoyable out of Mason's efforts, but definitely one you'll love above the rest after reading it from the correct path from beginning to end. Two Words |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 1:01:48 GMT
From TUFFF.... I think all of Paul Mason's books are brilliant, and The Crimson Tide is my favourite of them all. I rate them all very highly though. (Whether I'll still rate them highly after I've Played Them In Order remains to be seen...)
Wish he'd write a new one for Wizard. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 1:04:21 GMT
From TUFFF.... This is my least favourite of Paul Mason's books. It has a lot to recommend it but I think it really needed a lot more sections to come off. The "fish out of water" premise doesn't really work as you spend so little time in your own world and you often feel rail-roaded into doing silly things simply because you have no other options. Still above average for the series though. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 1:08:24 GMT
From TUFFF.... I agree, it certainly would have benefited from an extra hundred or so paragraphs. ~ Vae Victis! ~ |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 1:08:59 GMT
From TUFFF.... It would have worked better the other way around - you are an Allansian mage transported to Reinhardt's world. After a few paragraphs I had sussed out we were in Kallamehr and the mystery had gone... |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 1:10:21 GMT
From TUFFF.... I see your point, but that throws out a fundamental aspect of your character's personal journey. Man from a world with only evil wizards travels to another world and learns that some magic-users can be good: character development.
Man from a world with good and evil wizards travels to another world and learns that they have evil wizards too: so what?
Besides which, Spectral Stalkers already did 'inhabitant of Titan gets to grips with strange new worlds'. The outsiders' perspective on Kallamehr here is something new for FF. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 12, 2014 1:10:49 GMT
From TUFFF.... Man from a world with good and evil wizards travels to another world and learns that there are NO good wizards? That could be intriguing, especially when you try to use that spell the beardy gave you gratis. |
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Post by moderndaymoriarty on Jan 13, 2014 2:44:06 GMT
I love Paul Mason's books, and I consider them to have some of the strongest ideas, writing and imagery in the series. But as this book plainly shows, his experimental approach was challenging, and ultimately I felt that Magehunter was a step too far. The whole concept of the body swapping was interesting, but it necessarily took up so much time and space in its execution, that the book has very little actual plot. Its a real shame because the culture shock of your character arriving in a land where attitudes to magic are very different, is very interesting and promising. The whole stranger in a strange land deal.
But it is given no room to develop, because all the time is spent juggling the various 'Who is in whose body' stuff. If he had just done a simple swap (between you and Mencius), cut out the character of Reinhardt (or sidelined him), and then proceeded on that basis, then he would have really been on to something. The book wouldn't need to constantly be accounting for who is in what body, and who is carrying what etc etc.
The actual quest is very short. You make a few short stops outside Kallemehr, then go into the city and kill Mencius. Its a bit more complicated than that, but that is basically all the plot. The specifics of what happen and how they happen are rushed over or abstracted to near absurdity.
I would happily support Mason's other 3 entries in the main series as contenders for being amongst the very best but this one was a bit of a self indulgent mess. Its very impressive that he managed to keep track of it all, and that it works as well as it does in a purely mechanical sense. But in terms of offering a satisfying quest and narrative, this is a real bust IMO. Particularly disappointing as it was coming from such an accomplished storyteller as Mason, and because it does actually have so much unfulfilled promise.
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Post by a moderator on May 2, 2014 17:30:44 GMT
From the 'Books in Order' thread (hurrah for the Wayback Machine!) The typographical oddities are intentional, echoing similar ones in the actual book. Sometimes my in-jokes get very odd. |
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Post by sunil on Nov 3, 2021 11:56:24 GMT
I remember liking this back in 2010 (TUFFF days!) and liking it, but just read it again (actually, I walked it through using Champskees' solution!) this last few days and felt that it seems far shorter than even Deathmoor (which I read, I mean walked through last week)!
Didn't really get the storyteller bit. Is it supposed to be a dream sequence?
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Post by petch on Nov 3, 2021 12:56:33 GMT
I love the storyteller bit...in fact it might be my favourite sequence in the whole series. It's beautifully written, otherworldly and dreamlike in an almost Lynchian way, and in true Paul Mason style, never quite spells out exactly what's happening, trusting the reader to make their own interpretation. As far as I can tell though (and a lot of this is from memory and I am more than happy to be corrected), you're transported through the Realm of Tales Told by the mystical power of the storyteller to the Omnipresent Tower, which exists across dimensions and its physical manifestation in Kallamehr is the tower where Mencius has holed himself up. The story that the storyteller relates to you to get you there is implied to be your own backstory (ie that of the magehunter).
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Post by slloyd14 on Jul 9, 2022 11:09:47 GMT
Great story and lots to explore, such as meeting the Riddling Reaver and various other people. Shame most of the exploration leads to failure.
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Post by aeris2001x2 on May 1, 2023 7:20:35 GMT
A noble failure this book. Too Ambitious for its own good.
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Post by CharlesX on May 1, 2023 18:32:32 GMT
Too much is dependent on rolling an Avatar with higher Luck, mid or lower Stamina and below 12 Skill, with half or something of the Avatars not even ridiculous but failed before they've begun. So, I'm saying the problem isn't the adventure, which is well-written, but the difficulty level. At least playing Seas Of Blood (just as an example) you know there's an outside chance you can win without optimum stats. A lot of Magehunter reminds me of Virtual Reality adventures with its vivid world, deaths and touches of cynical humour (the world is either very stereotypical because of lack of imagination or as a bit of a pastiche, or both). It is dark but at the same time never as dark as some of the series or others can be.
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Post by a moderator on May 2, 2023 12:22:02 GMT
As a rule, I'd rather a gamebook be ambitious than uninspiredly derivative. This one can be frustrating at times, but I still rate it above some of the more 'traditional' dungeon-crawls.
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