sylas
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Post by sylas on Oct 3, 2020 21:55:29 GMT
Discuss here the newest addition to the Fighting Fantasy series. Number 17 by Scholastic or 69 overall.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Oct 3, 2020 21:56:52 GMT
CRYSTAL OF STORMS review
Oh Crystal of Storms. Do I like it as much as I like the cover? Well...
This is a strange one to review. I went into the adventure with an open mind and allowed the story to give it's best to suck me into a fantastical new world of Pangaria that has been all but hidden from the rest of Titan. To begin with, the Background is wonderful in world-building and concludes with a great lead on to section 1 that actually made me look forward to exploring the many plateaus of civilizations already introduced to us where flying is a common thing.
The adventure plays out in two halves. The first half is excellent allowing you to visit several locations that have their own unique inhabitants and cultural qualities. The further you play through the story, the more you feel you know how this new world functions. And it's pretty original too.
The second half is noticeably different. Where the first half allows for a pleasant exploration gathering clues, food, and equipment, the second half feels much more linear. There are still things to gather and areas to explore but it is more restrictive, seemingly not allowing for continuation without very specific items. It's an odd tonal shift and if anyone was to inform me that a different author had taken over at this point, I would believe it.
Having said that, it isn't exactly a negative on the adventure itself. The story does continue to be strong and the many wacky ideas creative and often amusing. I just wish the execution on gameplay was presented better. A good comparison might be that the first half is like Jon Green's excellent Stormslayer, while the second half is like Charlie Higson's awful Gates of Death (but thankfully without the puerile nonsense).
There are other aspects I didn't like such as a few too many fights (including an incredible unfair one), clarity in game mechanics, and the obvious terrible attempt at a front cover; by contrast, the back cover is very good. The internal art is okay. None are going to be my favourites and resemble a cross between King of Tokyo (the boardgame) and Samurai Jack (the cartoon) but not as good as either. It fits the world of Pangaria satisfactorily enough though.
The story remains very strong throughout even if the later areas are a bit let down on gameplay. It's still a decent addition to the series and while the adventure is a fresh, peculiar one, it no longer seems too out of place in the world of Titan either. If anything, this adventure makes for a great start for younger readers new to the world of gamebooks and with a little more experience, Rhianna Pratchett could do well with future additions to the series, and I would certainly welcome them.
6.8 out of 10
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Oct 3, 2020 22:00:34 GMT
I'm avoiding all reviews til I have a few goes. My first attempt ended with being killed by a Wheelie - the indignity!
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Post by Wilf on Oct 4, 2020 1:17:19 GMT
My first attempt didn't so much end as had me looping back to the first island I visited and repeating that section of the adventure. If this book has been playtested, it doesn't show - there should be a mechanism allowing you to return to the islands without having to encounter everything for the first time all over again. Certainly, there are enough redundant paragraphs throughout the book to make this possible.
It's a great pity this book is so badly broken, too, as it's generally very imaginative and well-written. There's a lot of thought behind the worlds Rhianna has created, and it feels like a credible and cohesive setting for the story. The piecing together of the cause of the disaster is well-handled, with clues evenly spread through the book. The weirder encounters (such as the Dragonfruit Tree and the Stormkin) were effective at creating the atmosphere of the story and showing the disruptive influence of the release of elemental energy, and are by far my favourite moments. There's a couple of tough fights (the dice were very much against me when I fought the Lightning Serpent, causing me to then regain Stamina by using items which I needed to keep if I was to get to Incus) but mostly the combat is pretty fair as there are several Attack Strength bonuses to be gained en route.
There's also a surprising lack of death paragraphs - I've only spotted three so far, and two of those are near-identical - which is a crying shame because the ones we've got are perfectly written, with POV descriptions of your final sights adding some welcome scariness to a book which is more fantastical than terrifying.
Gameplay issues aside (there's a few minor ones, too, like the lack of a rule for fighting multiple enemies at the same time, the lack of an instruction about when food can be eaten, and the lack of any guidance about your home island until you're asked where it is at the end of paragraph 1), the biggest flaw of the book is that it tries to shoehorn the setting into the FF world of Titan, when it would feel more natural if it took place in its own world instead. But then we wouldn't get to fight Wheelies or Clawbeasts or Mudclaws or other Out Of The Pit nasties, and it's nice to see these dotted around the story.
Whilst the actual storytelling in the book is excellent (and it's certainly a damn sight better than in any other post-Puffin title that wasn't by Jonathan Green), Scholastic maintain their their track record of marrying it with utterly abysmal artwork. I dislike these stylised greyscale pieces intensely, and I find myself wishing for a return to the classic Puffin/Wizard art style.
Initial fears about Crystal Of Storms from the rather childish front cover prove mostly unfounded by the text - this is a confident and imaginative entry into the FF canon, and had it been properly playtested and graced with decent illustrations, I'm sure it would be one of the more highly regarded FF gamebooks. Once its novelty has worn off, it'll be interesting to see where it actually ends up in the hearts and minds of the members of this forum. In the meantime, though, Rhianna has left the ending open for a sequel, and I very much hope she gets to write it.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Oct 4, 2020 10:08:33 GMT
WilfI really don't see where the gameplay is broken. Visiting areas you have already been to shouldn't be allowed, just like the majority of other FF books, except if told you can in the text or if you have no other choice otherwise it is classed as cheating. It's the same reasoning behind the method of giving yourself a Skill of 12 because you don't like losing and the book didn't say I couldn't. Sure, there are books that allow revisits (Scorpion Swamp, Master of Chaos), books that can accidentally put you into a loop (Dead of Night) or even force you to start maxed out in stats (Crypt of the Sorcerer) but they are few and far between. It's better to play these books without that negative kind of thought process. Contrary to what you have said, I thought the gameplay was pretty decent. There's only one part of the book that I thought was hugely unfair but I guess that much bigger problem wasn't an issue for you.
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Post by vastariner on Oct 4, 2020 11:46:33 GMT
CRYSTAL OF STORMS reviewPangaria Ah. A windy place?
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Oct 4, 2020 11:54:03 GMT
CRYSTAL OF STORMS reviewPangaria Ah. A windy place? Above the Ocean of Tempests no less.
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Post by Wilf on Oct 4, 2020 15:26:26 GMT
Wilf I really don't see where the gameplay is broken. Visiting areas you have already been to shouldn't be allowed - SNIP!- That's exactly where the gameplay is broken. Reaching a point where I have no other option but to return to an area I've already been to. This is exactly what happened, though. If you don't have the necessary items to make the balloon flight to Incus from Altos or Cirrus, you're diverted back to one of the other two home islands. And if you leave Cumulus till last, there's no way to get from there to Incus at all. What does this have to do with anything? I didn't give myself a Skill of 12. What are you talking about? And Crystal Of Storms is one of them, except unlike Dead Of Night, if you don't have the necessary items to escape the loop, it's mandatory. No negative thought processes here. Thought processes don't enter into it. The book forces me down a path I've already been to, without making a Scorpion Swamp-esque allowance for the fact I've been there before. It would be very easy to put in an option that says "have you been to this island before? If so..." and then being directed straight to that island's balloon, or a location where you can gain a required item. Or else a statement that tells you that your adventure is over because you haven't found the bits you need. But none of that is in the book. I can't comment if you won't specify it.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Oct 4, 2020 16:23:59 GMT
Sounds like you went a different route than I did as I didn't encounter these problems early on (but did later). Other reviewers haven't mentioned it either making yours a unique experience so far. I'll have to read through again to fully understand these issues and see if there really isn't a way past them. The last problem I'm referring to, I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers, concerns the Barnacle and the WFish.
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Post by Wilf on Oct 4, 2020 16:37:46 GMT
Sounds like you went a different route than I did as I didn't encounter these problems early on (but did later). Other reviewers haven't mentioned it either making yours a unique experience so far. I'll have to read through again to fully understand these issues and see if there really isn't a way past them. The last problem I'm referring to, I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers, concerns the Barnacle and the WFish. That monster certainly has a high Skill, but even with the Bathysphere's Skill penalty it's no worse than encountering a mandatory Skill 11 monster, which many other FF books have done. I don't recall whether there are any Attack Strength boosters to be gained before you encounter it. There's certainly at least one Initial-ignoring Skill boost in the book, though.
I thought the mid-fight thing with the ledge was a bit unfair, but that version of the combat is avoidable.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Oct 4, 2020 18:34:57 GMT
It's unfair because the Barnacle only has a Stamina of 20 and you have to fight at least 2 other foes of Skill 9. There's no way of boosting your piloting Skill and no way of repairing the sphere. The Skill boost you can get from earlier only boosts your current Skill to over your Initial limit but your Initial score remains the same. The only boost you can get is for the sphere's damage from the Electric Eel but that's another fight best avoided. the Wraithfish guards the vital silver goblet which makes the fight unavoidable. In the sphere, your Skill is already at a -1 penalty but when you reduce it to 6 Stamina or less you are penalized at a further -2! So even if you begin with a Skill of 12, that -3 penalty is super harsh, and it lowers your Stamina by 2 when you meet it. Your food and potions collected won't help either. The adventure was pretty balanced up until this point, but here you'll need that Initial roll of 11+ for Skill and Luck to stand a chance.
Also, I investigated that looping issue you had and as it turns out, you were right, so please excuse my brashness as it sounded like you were cheating. But yes, the option to go to Incus (paragraph 8) should be readily available at the end of each island location. To a lesser degree, it is also possible to get stuck in the loop on the other islands as well if you're not careful in gathering items. The book should state that if you have visited all 3 islands and haven't found the means to get to Incus, your adventure is over.
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Post by Wilf on Oct 4, 2020 18:47:12 GMT
In the sphere, your Skill is already at a -1 penalty but when you reduce it to 6 Stamina or less you are penalized at a further -2! Or if you back away from the light in the first place, you can fight it with its Skill increased by 1, but with no extra penalty halfway through the fight. Still a harsh fight, but slightly less so.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Oct 4, 2020 18:59:27 GMT
If your Luck is high enough, you can knock it down from Stamina 8 to 4. You get the -2 penalty but you can one shot the thing with another Luck test. Not sure which is better in the long run.
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Post by tyrion on Oct 10, 2020 12:14:21 GMT
So the cover is appalling. It does at least depict two of the new creatures in the book. The spine is also purple, so if you are collecting scholastic books it will stick out from the rest, just like gates of death does. At least I won't accidentally pick up gates of death by mistake.
The background does a good job of setting the scene for the adventure and introducing Pangaria. The prose seems child friendly, it's obvious I'm reading a book aimed at pre-teens. This continues throughout the book, with little evidence of threat, despite the fact a floating island has fallen into the sea. RP's habit of writing out sounds in italics is slightly distracting.
The adventure roughly breaks down into three acts, which I won't go into here, to save spoilers. Here We run into problems, as in the first and last parts you can go round in circles, constantly revisiting the same places, fighting the same creatures and collecting the same items. RP uses code words throughout the book, and adding more in to note that you have already visited an area would have solved this problem.
However, the plot is good, much better than recent efforts, and unveils nicely. It is certainly more plot driven than do you want to go north or south sort of adventure.
In terms of gameplay, you start with no good or provisions, but they are not short on supply. Different types of provisions add different number of stamina points, I'm not sure we need this level of detail filling up space in the adventure sheet. There are some items you need to collect near the end, but this isn't a problem. A high skill is necessary due to some tough compulsory fights. As for mechanics, testing your skill and stamina are in the rules. Also, weapon bonuses add to your attack strength at last!
Overall, it is far from perfect, mainly due to being able to visit the same areas over and over again. However, it is far better than any new non-Jon Green books since the puffin run and is well worth getting
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Post by jmisbest on Oct 10, 2020 12:55:58 GMT
Could someone do a guide for this?
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Post by tyrion on Oct 10, 2020 13:34:21 GMT
Could someone do a guide for this? I'm sure jb or champskees will do one presently. To be honest, you don't really need one.
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Post by jmisbest on Oct 10, 2020 13:50:11 GMT
Could someone do a guide for this? I'm sure jb or champskees will do one presently. To be honest, you don't really need one. Don't you?, I'm getting my copy for my birthday on October 29th and based on what friends of mine told me I assumed I'd need 1. Sorry
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Post by a moderator on Oct 10, 2020 14:46:45 GMT
I can understand wanting a guide if you're struggling to complete a tricky gamebook, but before you've even played it?
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Post by jmisbest on Oct 10, 2020 14:49:21 GMT
I can understand wanting a guide if you're struggling to complete a tricky gamebook, but before you've even played it? The assumption I'll need A guide is based on what friends told me
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Post by a moderator on Oct 10, 2020 15:14:44 GMT
I'd want to try the gamebook first (this or any other), see how far I could get, try to figure things out by myself. If I'm explicitly following a pre-determined path from the outset, I might as well read a novel instead.
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Post by jmisbest on Oct 10, 2020 15:51:04 GMT
Despite having not read this book last night I had A Dream about A Roleplaying version of this Book in which the main character fails and 10 years later Yaztromo sends the group of player characters back in time to prevent the books main character from failing. What do you think of that dream?
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Post by daredevil123 on Oct 10, 2020 16:15:13 GMT
I think you spend a lot of time thinking about Fighting Fantasy which affects your brain's activity during REM sleep.
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vagsancho
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Post by vagsancho on Oct 10, 2020 17:03:48 GMT
Despite having not read this book last night I had A Dream about A Roleplaying version of this Book in which the main character fails and 10 years later Yaztromo sends the group of player characters back in time to prevent the books main character from failing. What do you think of that dream? More or less.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Oct 10, 2020 18:38:18 GMT
There must be a word for the Fear of Losing/Struggling.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Oct 10, 2020 19:07:59 GMT
There must be a word for the Fear of Losing/Struggling. atychiphobia=fear of failure. This is what I experienced after reading Champskees Night of the Necromancer solution.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Oct 10, 2020 20:57:02 GMT
There must be a word for the Fear of Losing/Struggling. atychiphobia=fear of failure. This is what I experienced after reading Champskees Night of the Necromancer solution. Surely a more lack of fear since it feels like you have more lives than Mario.
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Post by daredevil123 on Oct 10, 2020 21:34:23 GMT
atychiphobia=fear of failure. This is what I experienced after reading Champskees Night of the Necromancer solution. Surely a more lack of fear since it feels like you have more lives than Mario. I think johnbrawn1972 meant he feared he would fail to improve upon champskees's solution rather than fail to complete the book. In any case, Fighting Fantasy is surely not a good hobby for atychiphobics.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Oct 10, 2020 22:36:44 GMT
Ah, okay.
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Post by stevendoig on Oct 11, 2020 18:04:27 GMT
So should I get this now - or just ask family for it for Christmas?
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Post by Zhu Bajie on Oct 16, 2020 9:30:17 GMT
Having finally wrestled it out of little Zhus hands (she said it was very good, but not as good as Island of the Lizard King, which is her favourite), I'm now part way through it.
As others have mentioned, the world-building is really good, and perhaps it deserves to stand on its own outside of Titan - but as it is then the Goblins annoy me a bit, FF has millions of sub-goblin types, and they should be SKY GOBLINS or TINKER GOBLINS, rather than plain old goblins IMHO.
I didn't notice the return-to-location bug, but mentally inserted "if you have not already done so" to the location options, but agree a bit of playtesting might have ironed that out. The writing is good, and the combat / reward item is clearly from someone who has a background in modern game design and the Combat Strength bonuses work well.
Also is this the first time the main character has been a cop?
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