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Post by CharlesX on Nov 14, 2022 17:09:39 GMT
And as for that most heavily criticised moment of the book, the appearance of the infamous bum-faced demon? Well, I know humour is a subjective thing, but as we advance in years we're supposed to grow out of finding scatalogical jokes funny so this is probably much more of an indictment of my own sad lack of maturity than it is legitimate praise of the book, but I found it fucking hilarious. I have a similarly puerile sense of humour but for some reason, the BFM didn't do it for me. Maybe it's because there was no real context or setup to it, or anything more to the joke than 'Ha ha, bums!' It had none of the sophisticated subtleties of this scene from South Park: I wonder whether the bum-faced monster was inspired by\a rip-off of South Park's episode? Mitchell and Webb have their own 'take' (which also might be a rip):
I know what you mean tho, maybe Gates Of Death felt more like a David Walliams job than a Roald Dahl one.
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Post by vastariner on Nov 14, 2022 19:11:02 GMT
I was thinking more the Vibrating Bum-faced Goats from Viz.
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Post by paperexplorer on Feb 26, 2023 4:46:11 GMT
Okay, so I finally got around to playing this one. Given it's reputation, I was prepared for a rough ride... look, it wasn't great, but it really wasn't the worst thing I've read.
The biggest problem is the negatives stand out. A lot. Many times my eyes were rolling from bad puns. Bum faced monster isn't funny and has no place in a book set in allansia. The broken nature of the finale regarding the boots. The fact that the salamonis section and the temple at the end felt like an annoying version of scorpion swamp crossed with that infernal maze in twofm, requiring you to trudge back and forth over the same ground over and over while avoiding awful loops. The fact that there are multiples of all essential items in the book. The simplistic writing and lack of of descriptions. The artwork.
Damn it. I was trying to be positive and look... there's just too many faults with this book to ignore. I'm not sorry I bought it and read it, and I will revisit it again, but gee it's hard not to close it and be left with a negative impression.
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Post by CharlesX on Feb 26, 2023 8:29:30 GMT
Okay, so I finally got around to playing this one. Given it's reputation, I was prepared for a rough ride... look, it wasn't great, but it really wasn't the worst thing I've read. The biggest problem is the negatives stand out. A lot. Many times my eyes were rolling from bad puns. Bum faced monster isn't funny and has no place in a book set in allansia. The broken nature of the finale regarding the boots. The fact that the salamonis section and the temple at the end felt like an annoying version of scorpion swamp crossed with that infernal maze in twofm, requiring you to trudge back and forth over the same ground over and over while avoiding awful loops. The fact that there are multiples of all essential items in the book. The simplistic writing and lack of of descriptions. The artwork. Damn it. I was trying to be positive and look... there's just too many faults with this book to ignore. I'm not sorry I bought it and read it, and I will revisit it again, but gee it's hard not to close it and be left with a negative impression. The worst thing about it is it has several positive things which could have worked in the hands and mind of someone who knew what they were doing. The different weapons, the vivid magic items which seem like a tribute to eighties gamebooks such as Knightmare, the extra length, the humour elements (which work half the time, and don't work another half), and the fact there are too many errors both in terms of fundamental ones and continuity, and just linking and difficulty. Ten smoke oil vials is very much giving them out like candy. The artwork, like the paper quality, is also seriously disappointing. Shame that FF, which already had a bit of a problem with no one proofreading, continued to do that for the early and mid Scholastic range titles.
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Post by paperexplorer on Feb 26, 2023 11:23:04 GMT
Oh, and another thing I noticed was a distinct lack of situations requiring a test of luck. I think maybe I rolled twice the entire adventure. The stat was practically irrelevant
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Post by paperexplorer on Jun 16, 2023 7:48:07 GMT
Just pulled the book of the shelf and was having a bit of a flick through it... reference 421 - what's going on there? Oddest end passage I've read
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Post by CharlesX on Jun 16, 2023 8:58:52 GMT
Just pulled the book of the shelf and was having a bit of a flick through it... reference 421 - what's going on there? Oddest end passage I've read Some gamebooks (e.g. Maelstrom's one) mention you aren't supposed to read random passages as it spoils your enjoyment. However:
In the lead-up to that reference, you are savagely shot by some highwaymen and can feel yourself dying, you reach out to a glistening object which (if you have it) might be something such as a Nostalgia Potion or Enchanted Compass which can turn back time. If you don't have anything like that it's game over, in the inimitable humour of Charlie Higson's gamebook (going over whether his humour works would be pointless).
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