FF you like others hate or FF you hate others like

[CharlesX]

This thread is inspired by the liking I have for Trial Of Champions which is only considered mediocre in Wilf's FF rankings, Vagsancho's liking for Crypt Of The Sorceror, The Count (who seems to be no longer on the forum) who liked Chasms Of Malice, the slightly polarising feelings here about Ian Livingstone, and a poster who hated Creature Of Havoc, considered a classic to many, but a TLDR of his objections was it was pretentious and overlong.

   I've mentioned elsewhere some reasons I like Trial Of Champions - the sense of atmosphere, the artwork, the writing. Something about it made me really enjoy it as a teen, even if to others its too Livingstonian with its high difficulty level and linearity.

   Maybe take sci-fi FF. I used to like Space Assassin because its rich world reminded me of a good Choose Your Own Adventure - no question Andrew Chapman can write.

   

[hallucination]

I am pro IL. That’s not to say he is my favourite FF author. But Deathtrap Dungeon is one of my faves of the series, if not my fave, and Trial I am very fond of too, though I recognise its difficulty. If it weren’t for the ridiculous end-game of Crypt I would add that; the atmosphere and story is great. Return TFTM is harsh but enjoyable. Now, Freeway I’m not such a fan of, and Blood of the Zombies is unplayable and barely FF, but in general I’m cool with rolling up an adventurer and just seeing how far along a linear trek I can get, if it’s one of Ian’s. He can weave a sweet fantasy adventure.

An FF that gets a bit of praise on here that I find hard to like is Citadel of Chaos. I recognise its game design is excellent, but almost everything about the actual adventure doesn’t do it for me. Its use of spells is cool though especially for a title so early in the series

I’ll have to put some more thought into non IL/SJ titles and come back. Great idea for a thread!

[kieran]

I think Eye of the Dragon is the best of Ian's post-Puffin books. I think Deathmoor is really well designed. Both books seem to be generally disliked.

There are no books I really hate, certainly none that are particularly popular. Robot Commando is probably one I differ with the general consensus most about - I find it pretty dull.

[hallucination]

Funny, I was just wondering about Robot Commando’s rep. Now I’ll have to revisit it to be sure but if memory serves I liked it. Maybe it occurred to me because of Green’s recent Ronin47 which I’ve been enjoying

[kieran]

Oct 3, 2022 20:40:08 GMT hallucination said:

Funny, I was just wondering about Robot Commando’s rep.

Well it came 48th out of 77 in Wilf's ranking so it's not a fan favourite or anything but better liked than a lot of other books I prefer to it.

[misomiso]

Do you have a link to Wilf's Final rankings?

I don't really like Creature of Havoc - the concept is good, however the dungeon part is so bonkers hard that to me it's so unenjoyable. I also didn't really like the 'twist' answer as to who you are. I much prefer House of Hell which I think is brilliantly designed and has a much better 'final twist'.

I also don't like Forest of Doom which a lot of people rate very highly.

As to ones that I like that others dislike, I have a big softspot for Armies of Death and Stealer of Souls. Armies of Death is not very well designed, but the concept was so good and so enthralling that I forgive it the imperfections, and Stealer of Souls is very underrated imo, as it's an easy book that can help people get into the series.

[kieran]

Oct 4, 2022 8:21:24 GMT misomiso said:

Do you have a link to Wilf's Final rankings?

fightingfantazine.proboards.com/post/16876/thread

Stealer of Souls is very underrated imo, as it's an easy book that can help people get into the series.

Agreed. I feel if it came earlier in the series it would get a lot more love than it does.

[misomiso]

Interesting list.

Armies of Death is very low...!

Crystal of Storms is a bit better than the ranking I think. It has flaws, but the creativity makes up for it imo.

Keep of the Lich Lord is also very interesting as a book. Quite open world and not too hard. A precurser to Fabled lands in some ways.

[CharlesX]

Oct 4, 2022 9:30:20 GMT misomiso said:

Interesting list.

Armies of Death is very low...!

Agreed - I find it hard to accept its lower than his unoriginal Assassins Of Allansia, or for that matter Star Strider, which took a good concept but failed in the execution more than Armies Of Death did. Aside from an unfair comparison to Deathtrap Dungeon, I think this is a protest vote against the 50 50 do-or-die calls which Ian likes.

[kieran]

Oct 4, 2022 10:18:18 GMT CharlesX said:

Star Strider, which took a good concept but failed in the execution more than Armies Of Death did.

It's all subjective I suppose. I agree Star Strider is the more flawed book, but I think it's more engaging and does more interesting things than Armies of Death so I personally rank it higher.

[dragonwarrior8]

My biggest problem with Armies of Death was the mass battle system. It should have been the focus and strength of the book but it was terrible. I mostly enjoyed the item-hunt aspect of the book though. (Oh, except for the whole adventure hinging on that ridiculous random bar bet!) 

[misomiso]

dragonwarrior8

Yes - I'm not sure how you would do the mechanic. the IDEA is excellent but figuring out a good way to implment is quite hard I think.

An alternative concept would be something like spending the gamebook trecking with your army to fight the big bad, and having maybe two big battles a long the way and a few minor skirmishes.

Very tough to implement though.

[hallucination]

Starting at both ends of the rankings and working in, the first jolt I get at the top is Dead of Night at #12 (now, I certainly don’t hate it, so perhaps irrelevant to this thread, but still I was very surprised to see this one ranked so high), followed by Citadel at #17 which I’ve already mentioned. And at the other end, the first (at least, among non-IL titles) that gives a jolt is Battleblade Warrior at #62. To me that seems super low for that title. Interesting.

[hallucination]

I know the link is given above, though I’ll also take the liberty of tidily tucking the rankings into a spoiler

SPOILER: Click to show

1. SLAVES OF THE ABYSS by PAUL MASON & STEVEN WILLIAMS

2. LEGEND OF THE SHADOW WARRIORS by STEPHEN HAND

3. MOONRUNNER by STEPHEN HAND

4. HOWL OF THE WEREWOLF by JONATHAN GREEN

5. SIEGE OF SARDATH by KEITH P PHILLIPS

6. HOUSE OF HELL by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

7. TALISMAN OF DEATH by MARK SMITH & JAMIE THOMSON

8. DEATHTRAP DUNGEON by IAN LIVINGSTONE

9. VAULT OF THE VAMPIRE by KEITH MARTIN

10. CREATURE OF HAVOC by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

11. NIGHT OF THE NECROMANCER by JONATHAN GREEN

12. DEAD OF NIGHT by STEPHEN HAND & JIM BAMBRA

13. CITY OF THIEVES by IAN LIVINGSTONE

14. SORCERY!: KHARE - CITYPORT OF TRAPS by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

15. SORCERY!: THE CROWN OF KINGS by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

16. PORTAL OF EVIL by PETER DARVILL-EVANS

17. THE CITADEL OF CHAOS by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

18. SWORD OF THE SAMURAI by MARK SMITH & JAMIE THOMSON

19. SPECTRAL STALKERS by PETER DARVILL-EVANS

20. STORMSLAYER by JONATHAN GREEN

21. BLACK VEIN PROPHECY by PAUL MASON & STEVEN WILLIAMS

22. BENEATH NIGHTMARE CASTLE by PETER DARVILL-EVANS

23. PHANTOMS OF FEAR by ROBIN WATERFIELD

24. DEMONS OF THE DEEP by STEVE JACKSON (US)

25. SORCERY!: THE SHAMUTANTI HILLS by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

26. APPOINTMENT WITH F.E.A.R by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

27. SORCERY!: THE SEVEN SERPENTS by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

28. THE RIDDLING REAVER by PAUL MASON & STEVEN WILLIAMS

29. REBEL PLANET by ROBIN WATERFIELD

30. MAGEHUNTER by PAUL MASON

31. THE CRIMSON TIDE by PAUL MASON

32. MASKS OF MAYHEM by ROBIN WATERFIELD

33. MASTER OF CHAOS by KEITH MARTIN

34. NIGHT DRAGON by KEITH MARTIN

35. SCORPION SWAMP by STEVE JACKSON (US)

36. TEMPLE OF TERROR by IAN LIVINGSTONE

37. BLOODBONES by JONATHAN GREEN

38. ISLAND OF THE LIZARD KING by IAN LIVINGSTONE

39. TRIAL OF CHAMPIONS by IAN LIVINGSTONE

40. TOWER OF DESTRUCTION by KEITH MARTIN

41. ISLAND OF THE UNDEAD by KEITH MARTIN

42. CAVERNS OF THE SNOW WITCH by IAN LIVINGSTONE

43. THE WARLOCK OF FIRETOP MOUNTAIN by STEVE JACKSON (UK) & IAN LIVINGSTONE

44. STEALER OF SOULS by KEITH MARTIN

45. MIDNIGHT ROGUE by GRAEME DAVIS

46. SPELLBREAKER by JONATHAN GREEN

47. KNIGHTS OF DOOM by JONATHAN GREEN

48. ROBOT COMMANDO by STEVE JACKSON (US)

49. SEAS OF BLOOD by ANDREW CHAPMAN

50. KEEP OF THE LICH-LORD by DAVE MORRIS & JAMIE THOMSON

51. THE FOREST OF DOOM by IAN LIVINGSTONE

52. RETURN TO FIRETOP MOUNTAIN by IAN LIVINGSTONE

53. THE RINGS OF KETHER by ANDREW CHAPMAN

54. DAGGERS OF DARKNESS by LUKE SHARP

55. CURSE OF THE MUMMY by JONATHAN GREEN

56. REVENGE OF THE VAMPIRE by KEITH MARTIN

57. DEATHMOOR by ROBIN WATERFIELD

58. SPACE ASSASSIN by ANDREW CHAPMAN

59. FREEWAY FIGHTER by IAN LIVINGSTONE

60. FIGHTING FANTASY: THE INTRODUCTORY ROLE-PLAYING GAME by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

61. CRYSTAL OF STORMS by RHIANNA PRATCHETT

62. BATTLEBLADE WARRIOR by MARC GASCOIGNE

63. CLASH OF THE PRINCES: THE WARLOCK'S WAY by ANDREW CHAPMAN & MARTIN ALLEN

64. CRYPT OF THE SORCEROR by IAN LIVINGSTONE

65. LEGEND OF ZAGOR by KEITH MARTIN

66. CLASH OF THE PRINCES: THE WARRIOR'S WAY by ANDREW CHAPMAN & MARTIN ALLEN

67. FANGS OF FURY by LUKE SHARP

68. STAR STRIDER by LUKE SHARP

69. ASSASSINS OF ALLANSIA by IAN LIVINGSTONE

70. ARMIES OF DEATH by IAN LIVINGSTONE

71. STARSHIP TRAVELLER by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

72. CHASMS OF MALICE by LUKE SHARP

73. THE PORT OF PERIL by IAN LIVINGSTONE

74. EYE OF THE DRAGON by IAN LIVINGSTONE

75. SKY LORD by MARTIN ALLEN

76. THE GATES OF DEATH by CHARLIE HIGSON

77. BLOOD OF THE ZOMBIES by IAN LIVINGSTONE

[CharlesX]

Oct 4, 2022 16:40:06 GMT hallucination said:

I know the link is given above, though I’ll also take the liberty of tidily tucking the rankings into a spoiler

SPOILER: Click to show

1. SLAVES OF THE ABYSS by PAUL MASON & STEVEN WILLIAMS

2. LEGEND OF THE SHADOW WARRIORS by STEPHEN HAND

3. MOONRUNNER by STEPHEN HAND

4. HOWL OF THE WEREWOLF by JONATHAN GREEN

5. SIEGE OF SARDATH by KEITH P PHILLIPS

6. HOUSE OF HELL by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

7. TALISMAN OF DEATH by MARK SMITH & JAMIE THOMSON

8. DEATHTRAP DUNGEON by IAN LIVINGSTONE

9. VAULT OF THE VAMPIRE by KEITH MARTIN

10. CREATURE OF HAVOC by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

11. NIGHT OF THE NECROMANCER by JONATHAN GREEN

12. DEAD OF NIGHT by STEPHEN HAND & JIM BAMBRA

13. CITY OF THIEVES by IAN LIVINGSTONE

14. SORCERY!: KHARE - CITYPORT OF TRAPS by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

15. SORCERY!: THE CROWN OF KINGS by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

16. PORTAL OF EVIL by PETER DARVILL-EVANS

17. THE CITADEL OF CHAOS by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

18. SWORD OF THE SAMURAI by MARK SMITH & JAMIE THOMSON

19. SPECTRAL STALKERS by PETER DARVILL-EVANS

20. STORMSLAYER by JONATHAN GREEN

21. BLACK VEIN PROPHECY by PAUL MASON & STEVEN WILLIAMS

22. BENEATH NIGHTMARE CASTLE by PETER DARVILL-EVANS

23. PHANTOMS OF FEAR by ROBIN WATERFIELD

24. DEMONS OF THE DEEP by STEVE JACKSON (US)

25. SORCERY!: THE SHAMUTANTI HILLS by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

26. APPOINTMENT WITH F.E.A.R by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

27. SORCERY!: THE SEVEN SERPENTS by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

28. THE RIDDLING REAVER by PAUL MASON & STEVEN WILLIAMS

29. REBEL PLANET by ROBIN WATERFIELD

30. MAGEHUNTER by PAUL MASON

31. THE CRIMSON TIDE by PAUL MASON

32. MASKS OF MAYHEM by ROBIN WATERFIELD

33. MASTER OF CHAOS by KEITH MARTIN

34. NIGHT DRAGON by KEITH MARTIN

35. SCORPION SWAMP by STEVE JACKSON (US)

36. TEMPLE OF TERROR by IAN LIVINGSTONE

37. BLOODBONES by JONATHAN GREEN

38. ISLAND OF THE LIZARD KING by IAN LIVINGSTONE

39. TRIAL OF CHAMPIONS by IAN LIVINGSTONE

40. TOWER OF DESTRUCTION by KEITH MARTIN

41. ISLAND OF THE UNDEAD by KEITH MARTIN

42. CAVERNS OF THE SNOW WITCH by IAN LIVINGSTONE

43. THE WARLOCK OF FIRETOP MOUNTAIN by STEVE JACKSON (UK) & IAN LIVINGSTONE

44. STEALER OF SOULS by KEITH MARTIN

45. MIDNIGHT ROGUE by GRAEME DAVIS

46. SPELLBREAKER by JONATHAN GREEN

47. KNIGHTS OF DOOM by JONATHAN GREEN

48. ROBOT COMMANDO by STEVE JACKSON (US)

49. SEAS OF BLOOD by ANDREW CHAPMAN

50. KEEP OF THE LICH-LORD by DAVE MORRIS & JAMIE THOMSON

51. THE FOREST OF DOOM by IAN LIVINGSTONE

52. RETURN TO FIRETOP MOUNTAIN by IAN LIVINGSTONE

53. THE RINGS OF KETHER by ANDREW CHAPMAN

54. DAGGERS OF DARKNESS by LUKE SHARP

55. CURSE OF THE MUMMY by JONATHAN GREEN

56. REVENGE OF THE VAMPIRE by KEITH MARTIN

57. DEATHMOOR by ROBIN WATERFIELD

58. SPACE ASSASSIN by ANDREW CHAPMAN

59. FREEWAY FIGHTER by IAN LIVINGSTONE

60. FIGHTING FANTASY: THE INTRODUCTORY ROLE-PLAYING GAME by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

61. CRYSTAL OF STORMS by RHIANNA PRATCHETT

62. BATTLEBLADE WARRIOR by MARC GASCOIGNE

63. CLASH OF THE PRINCES: THE WARLOCK'S WAY by ANDREW CHAPMAN & MARTIN ALLEN

64. CRYPT OF THE SORCEROR by IAN LIVINGSTONE

65. LEGEND OF ZAGOR by KEITH MARTIN

66. CLASH OF THE PRINCES: THE WARRIOR'S WAY by ANDREW CHAPMAN & MARTIN ALLEN

67. FANGS OF FURY by LUKE SHARP

68. STAR STRIDER by LUKE SHARP

69. ASSASSINS OF ALLANSIA by IAN LIVINGSTONE

70. ARMIES OF DEATH by IAN LIVINGSTONE

71. STARSHIP TRAVELLER by STEVE JACKSON (UK)

72. CHASMS OF MALICE by LUKE SHARP

73. THE PORT OF PERIL by IAN LIVINGSTONE

74. EYE OF THE DRAGON by IAN LIVINGSTONE

75. SKY LORD by MARTIN ALLEN

76. THE GATES OF DEATH by CHARLIE HIGSON

77. BLOOD OF THE ZOMBIES by IAN LIVINGSTONE

You know the real spoiler tho?

SPOILER: Click to show

Where would Secrets Of Salamonis and Shadow of The Giants rank? Maybe when there are some more Fighting Fantasy there can be a new ranking. Not before, because two isn't enough.
I'd guess they'd both rank in the middle - Secrets Of Salamonis is ambitious but not brilliant, Shadow Of The Giants is well-written but too much of a dungeon crawl, too short and arguably too easy.

[Wilf]

I really don't get the love for Vault Of The Vampire.

[sylas]

Apart from the atrocious interior artwork I quite like Port of Peril. Black Vein Prophecy is not so well liked outside of this forum though it's one of my favourites from a storytelling aspect. Love Knights of Doom too as it's a lot of fun despite the difficulty.

I think Creature of Havoc and Crown of Kings are overrated. I like them well enough yet at the same time feel frustrated when reading them. It took me ages to get anywhere with Creature which was really annoying. Good lore building though.

[terrysalt]

I probably rate American Steve higher than most. I really liked both Scorpion Swamp and Robot Commando.

[misomiso]

Generally there are a lot of good books in the top 25. You can make arguments for a lot of them to be higher or lower.

@sylas

My guess is with 'Creature of Havoc' the difficulty became part of how iconic it is. In one of Ian's interviews he says that he thinks one of the reasons the series was so popular was that early 80s teens were starved of gaming, and Steve said fans kept demanding harder and harder books so he gave them what he wanted. Nowadays Creature of havoc seems almost a joke in how hard it is (Learn a new language?!)

charles X Secrets of Salamonis is brilliant imo! As good as some of the best entries ever. SotG is more standard but well written.

hallucination I almost prefer Dead of Night to Moonrunner; because all three of stephen hand's books are so good it often gets overlooked but people seem to really enjoy it I find.

[CharlesX]

Oct 4, 2022 17:49:19 GMT Wilf said:

I really don't get the love for Vault Of The Vampire.

It's one of Keith Martin's best books imo together with Stealer Of Souls. It's concise, dark and action-packed, with its two shortcomings being its linearity and high difficulty level. If Keith Martin grates on you, you might not see the appeal.

[kieran]

Oct 5, 2022 12:36:08 GMT CharlesX said:

Oct 4, 2022 17:49:19 GMT Wilf said:

I really don't get the love for Vault Of The Vampire.

It's one of Keith Martin's best books imo together with Stealer Of Souls. It's concise, dark and action-packed, with its two shortcomings being its linearity and high difficulty level. If Keith Martin grates on you, you might not see the appeal.

I think Vault is probably about as good as a hub-and-spoke approach can work. Once you reach the castle, the progression between hubs is indeed pretty linear, but there is a fair degree of freedom in which spokes to explore and the encounters in each spoke are fairly involved with a lot of variables on how you may deal with them.

One of my favourite aspects of it is how you can interact with and make allies with (or enemies of) the various members of the Heydrich family.

[zimgief]

Moonrunner is overrated, from my point of view. The atmosphere is stellar, yes, with stunning artworks and scenes ranging from funny to macabre, and it gives the player a lot of freedom, reminescent of tabletop RPGs.
BUT
1) Many scenes being optional, and for some of them frankly hidden, a reader can finish the book without seeing, nor suspecting all the content there is

2) The story is alas full of plot-holes, and even non-sensical. (I suppose I could list them, but it has been some months since I read it. But I'm pretty sure of it, as I studied it rather intensively.)

The Legend of Zagor, while low (65/77) on Wilf's Ranking (I'm reading it right now) is one of my favourite FF. It feels epic, reads epic (one of the longest to read and intricate to map), is the most cohesive dungeon-crawler (unlike Livingstone's books where there can be anything behind a door), and with its four heroes offers a lot of replayability (though the wizard needs to be rebalanced).

[hallucination]

Some folks seem not to like Battleblade Warrior due to it being short, or lacking bells and whistles. Or for it having two mandatory Skill 10 fights, which admittedly makes it pretty tough for a skill 7-8 adventurer. The get-it-right-or-die gem selection at the end is reminiscent of CoT’s ingredient selection, but I think handled with a little more panache (and once you know it, you can just try to remember it, right?).
Vastariner has pointed out that this FF entry may well be a missed opportunity. What if it were the second Sorcery! series?? It’s a cool thought.

I guess I like it for some of the reasons others don’t. It’s not a long adventure that takes hours and reading through the entire book, which is sometimes a very welcome plus (don’t get me wrong, I like some of the long ones too!). It is not so easy that victory is assured, but nor is it difficult in the ways that Masks or Crypt are. The dungeon crawl is a dungeon crawl without being a slog. It’s an FF I have brought along on holidays for when I happen to have a spare hour or so. I like the writing style and while it is a back-to-basics FF, I dig it.
The ending: Wielding a kickass sword which also summons a thousand warriors, and giving the Lizard Men what’s coming to them is a bonus.

[kieran]

Oct 8, 2022 16:59:58 GMT hallucination said:

The dungeon crawl is a dungeon crawl without being a slog.

I always liked the mini dungeon in Battleblade Warrior. That and breaking out of the city are my favourite parts of the book.

The middle section seems a bit bland to me though. Plus it has a lot of bits like this:

1. You see a goblin. Do you shake his hand (2), kick him in the shin (3) or run away (4)?

2. As you reach for his hand, you slip on a bar of soap. Your leg shoots out from under you, your foot flying into the surprised goblin's shin. Turn to 3.

3. The goblin is furious at you for kicking him in the shin and draws a short sword.
IRATE GOBLIN Skill: 5 Stamina: 5
If you win, turn to 5.

4. You turn and flee but trip over a porcupine and tumble on to your back. The goblin comes to your assistance, but accidentally steps on your toe as he pulls you to your feet. Incensed at his clumsiness, you kick him in the shin. Turn to 3.

[slloyd14]

I have a soft spot for Space Assassin. I think it has some good encounters, some good mechanics and a lot of humour. Unfortunately, all the interesting stuff is hidden away and the optimal path is short and very boring.

I also have a soft spot for Battleblade Warrior - I like the battle at the beginning. I also think it doesn't make any egregious mistakes (apart from two skill 10 fights). I also like how if you miss one of the two mandatory items, the lizardmen find it for you and bring it to the bad guy at the end for you to steal and use for yourself!

[paperexplorer]

Have never liked Appointment with FEAR

only read it as a youngster to beat it, otherwise it would have remained on the shelf

I'll stick up for Crypt of the Sorcerer too. It's a great book, rules be damned

[evilwizard]

Eye of the Dragon is one of my favourites as it is an old school dungeon with all the silliness and fun combined with an obligatory ridiculously difficult monster. Assassins of Allansia and Port of Peril are similar and have a lot of good throwbacks to classic titles.

I like Ians more linear style and would put almost all of his books much higher on the rankings. I agree that Armies of Death is badly executed though. The only IL books I don't like are Blood of the Zombies which I wouldn't call a Fighting Fantasy book and Freeway Fighter.

The sci fi and more modern books are not ones I enjoy, except Spectral Stalkers and House of Hell.

Appointment with Fear, Night of the Necromancer or Stormslayer are too convoluted for me, and I have never liked Sword of the Samurai.

[pip]

I have fond memories of reading Crypt of the Sorcerer and Trial of Champions as a kid, because I would usually not bother with dice. The random aspect of gamebooks didn't appeal to me very much, and fights were especially boring for me, so I always skipped them. What I enjoyed was the challenge of finding the true path, and I played honestly when it came to having found such or such item. I notably remember playing Crypt with a friend during breaks at school, and we would skip all the fights but still found it challenging to figure out how to reach the end (keeping in mind we had attention spans of kids, so no mapping or note taking for further playthroughs ever occurred). I had a similar experience with Trials. I understand this is not the way they were meant to be played, but if you don't mind changing the rules so that you have a better experience, I find them very enjoyable games. If you insist on playing by the rules, however, I'm not a fan of the experience.

[revenant]

Oct 20, 2022 20:56:27 GMT pip said:

I have fond memories of reading Crypt of the Sorcerer and Trial of Champions as a kid, because I would usually not bother with dice. The random aspect of gamebooks didn't appeal to me very much, and fights were especially boring for me, so I always skipped them. What I enjoyed was the challenge of finding the true path, and I played honestly when it came to having found such or such item. I notably remember playing Crypt with a friend during breaks at school, and we would skip all the fights but still found it challenging to figure out how to reach the end (keeping in mind we had attention spans of kids, so no mapping or note taking for further playthroughs ever occurred). I had a similar experience with Trials. I understand this is not the way they were meant to be played, but if you don't mind changing the rules so that you have a better experience, I find them very enjoyable games. If you insist on playing by the rules, however, I'm not a fan of the experience.

I think you're not alone in playing this way...I haven't enjoyed rolling the dice over and over again since I was 10 years old. Especially knowing that if you'd rolled poorly for your initial scores you were probably screwed anyway. 

[King Gillibran]

Oct 4, 2022 16:52:44 GMT CharlesX said:

Where would Secrets Of Salamonis and Shadow of The Giants rank? Maybe when there are some more Fighting Fantasy there can be a new ranking. Not before, because two isn't enough.I'd guess they'd both rank in the middle - Secrets Of Salamonis is ambitious but not brilliant, Shadow Of The Giants is well-written but too much of a dungeon crawl, too short and arguably too easy.

What?

They are both brilliant books. Secrets of Salamonis's multi quest is amazing and shadow of the Giants is very exciting. Plus the artwork and covers of both are 10 X better than previous scolastic.