Are The Later Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks Any Good?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มิ.ย. 2024
- In which I review the 12 new Fighting Fantasy gamebooks to appear since the original series ended in 1995, from Eye of the Dragon to The Secrets of Salamonis. Do they stand up to the great adventures of the past?
Find out my top 10 Fighting Fantasy gamebooks here: • My Top 10 Fighting Fan...
#fightingfantasy #gamebook #roleplaying #roleplayinggames
Thanks for this overview of the newer books. I've always been into them since early 80s. I don't have the patience to read them anymore, but love listening to play throughs of them. Seens lots of other content I'm interested in.. sooooo subbed!
Thanks so much!
Bloodbones was my reintroduction to FF last year, in adulthood. Really enjoyed it. Also played through Assassins of Allansia. Very good, but frustrating having to kill every assassin to complete the game. Many paths led to skipping vital confrontations. Impossible to complete with mapping every choice.
I've found the gameplay is either lacking or awkward in some of these later gamebooks. But they've tuned the writing up a bit. Assassins is OK, but not Livingstone's best, I reckon.
I agree Secrets of Salamonis is amazing!
Yeah, best one in ages. Very witty and clever.
I love how the people talking about this are 30+, it just shows you how impactful imagination is.
So true!
55 here and i think we should introduce these to our kids (in my case grandsons), to spark their imagination.
48 here, still read them!
I enjoyed your video a lot, as always, even though I'm not very familiar with gamebooks. I like to learn about things I don't know much about, and these gamebooks look like fun.
Thanks, Julie!
I think _Howl of the Werewolf_ is one of the best gamebooks in the whole Fighting Fantasy series - and unlike most of Jonathan Green's previous books in the series, you don't need to start with the maximum SKILL of 12 to be able to complete it!
I have purchased all of the 'new' Fighting Fantasy series, but to my shame, I haven't played most of them. I really must try to play some of them some time now that I've watched this video. At least I got _Howl of the Werewolf_ when it was originally released back in 2007. Have you seen the prices it sells for on eBay in early 2024? Ouch!
I know, these gamebook prices are ludicrous now! Top tip - if you're looking for Keep of the Lich Lord, forget forking out for the FF version. It was republished (and slightly rewritten) for the Fabled Lands series, and can now be bought for a paltry £6.99!
Nice review. Really interesting to hear what other readers think of the later books.
Just been checking out your channel (and subscribed!) Kudos on paying so much for Magehunter!!
Thanks Michael. Its a shame Magehunter is so expensive. They have been finds out in the wild in charity shops. But not very often.
Have you played other game books outside of the Fighting Fantasy series, like Fabled Lands? I’m curious to hear your thoughts about those, if you have.
Hi, David. I don't know much beyond Fighting Fantasy, I'm afraid, though I did love the Cretan Chronicles series, also published by Puffin. I'll check out Fabled Lands!
I am curious about the Golden Dragon series - anyone played these?
(All Dave Morris stuff really) Check out Bloodsword, Lone Wolf, & Legendary Kingdoms as well as Fabled Lands!
Fantastic vid... I loved these growing up as a youngster. Aint got any of the new ones, but I'll look out for them.
I still pick up any on the rare occasions I spot buried away in a charity shop that I never got back in the day as a young whippersnapper. I actually wrote a short tongue-in-cheek game around three weeks ago inspired by these books. It's a short piece of daftness (around 1300 words, and a little potty mouthed in places)... I'll post it below for anyone wanting to play and have a giggle!
...........................................................
Escape the Zombie Room
by: Jonathan Antony Strickland
You're Stuck! Trapped in an empty room fifty by fifty foot square, with twenty foot high walls and ceiling. The walls, floor and ceiling are made of solid thick concrete and there is no escape! Also you notice that written on the floor in blood are two sets of words. These read: "Keep the sequence!" and "Know your alphabet!"
As you're wondering what the words mean and how you are going to get out, a voice suddenly sounds out of nowhere and explains your situation. This is what it says:
"To escape my room you must survive four zombie attacks. The zombies will magically materialise at the opposite side of the room to you now. If you manage to survive the brain eating monstrosities, then I'll set you free, back to your normal life. The four attacks will happen five minutes after the other, and to help you survive I will tell you the type of enemy you are facing, and give you a choice of six weapons to deal with them. Anyway, enough blathering on, my zombies are getting hungry!!!"
Your weapon choices are explained to you below, and you are told that you are only allowed to pick one weapon for each attack, and only for the third attack are you allowed to select two of the weapon choices. Also, once you have chosen a weapon, you cannot choose it again and it will vanish once it has been used for one wave of the zombie attacks.
.......
Weapon Choices
1_A Baseball Bat, inscribed with the number 8.
2_A fully loaded eight chambered gun, complete with eight bullets, gifted to you personally by my kind self, and inscribed with the number 25.
3_A grenade with a ten second timer, that is guaranteed to kill ten people (or in this case zombies) within a fifty by fifty foot square area, and inscribed with the number 5.
4_An eight foot long spear, inscribed with the number 14.
5_An old fashioned super thick large iron dustbin, inscribed with the number 1.
6_A magic killing dice... When rolled, and the numbers one to five come up, everything apart from yourself will be killed in the room. However, if a six is rolled, then you will die!
.......
Then the zombies are explained below, read them and then make your choice of weapon to face each wave of attack.
Zombies
First Attack Wave made by_ A stereotypical brain eating zombie.
Second Attack Wave made by_ A huge muscle-bound zombie (far bigger and tougher than your measly pathetic self).
Third Attack Wave made by_ A group of seven zombies (also remember you can choose two weapons that you haven't picked before to deal with these brain munches).
Fourth Attack Wave made by_ A group of seventeen zombies.
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And that's that! I could of course give you more time, but that would mean me being nice!!! Guess what though, I aint nice. I'll trip you up every chance I can get. So friggin hurry up! You've got a few minutes to decide what you're going to do! Think it through and then make your choices, for the first zombie will be materializing very very soon!!!!
................
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.....
...
.
.
Times up. A lumbering moaning smelly and slimy gray zombie materialises out of thin air and starts shuffling his bitey way towards you... Hope you chose well!
To find out if you've made the right choices (if indeed there are any right choices to be made) then now read on below.
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...
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Conclusion (below is explained the "best" way to survive the zombies!)
Here are the "what's" and "how's" you should have probably chosen to defeat the four sets of zombie attacks.
1_ To kill the single zombie you should have chosen the "Baseball Bat". One undead dude aint much cop, so a few bats around the head with the Baseball Bat should easily see him drop!
2_ To kill the huge muscle-bound zombie, you should have chosen the spear. The simple reason being that if the huge smelly git got a hold of you, he'd literally rip you a new one!!! So by using the long spear you can kill him quite easily at a distance, jabbing him repeatedly without too much risk, until he drops!
3_ Next came the group of seven zombies. In this case you were allowed to pick two weapons. What you should have selected was the grenade and the iron dustbin! The grenade of course can be chucked and would go off killing all the zombies, though unfortunately it would also kill you! However if you also picked the iron dustbin, then you could chuck the grenade, and in the precious few seconds before it went off, put the iron dustbin over yourself to provide the necessary protection from the deadly shrapnel!
4_ And lastly came the group of seventeen zombies. So how the bloody hell do you deal with this bunch of brain eating filth? Well unfortunately you're going to have to use the dice. It's a risk of course, with you having a one in six chance of dying yourself... but hey, sometimes in life you just gotta take that risk to push on to the next part of it!
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And so there you go. That's apparently the best way to do it and to survive.
Oh, by the way. You didn't choose the gun did you? Surely not! No no no... You're far too clever to fall for that one. I mean, a gun gifted to you by me.... ME of all people!!! Personally gifted by me... Ha ha ha. Only a fool would pick that gun. After all, I gave you it... me! And as you should know (or at least realised at some point), I am a massive twat (I stuck you in this room after all) and should never be trusted. In fact, I proclaim myself King of the Twats... All hail my glorious twattery!
Not that there was anything wrong with the gun of course. Perfectly fine piece of equipment... It's just that the eight blank bullets aren't much use now are they!!!!
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So there you go. You've won!....................... Or have you? You see, with me being an utter rotter, I'm going to now release fifty extremely hungry zombies into the room. That is unless you can give me the one five letter word I want to hear. You give me the word, and off you go... Toodly pip me old mucka!
"What word be this?" I hear you ask.
Guess what!
Yes you guessed it (though not the word). I'm not going to tell you what word I want to hear you say. But I will give you a clue. There is a simple puzzle hidden here. And seeing as I'm such a nice guy, here's a second clue. Was there anything in the text that didn't make sense. Tell you what, I'll give you a few minutes to try and work it out. Go on, mull it over, after all your very life does depend on it! One correct word, that is all I ask and off you go!
And of course, if you have no idea of the word I speak, then I'm afraid... Well, how can I put this nicely?????? Nope! Can't think of a polite way to put how you will have your brain chewed over by fifty dead walking horrors! So I've just gotta say don't worry, and I'm sure you'll make a fine addition to my friendly little mushy horde!
Ha, ha! Thanks for posting this game. Loving the iron dustbin! (Secretly hoping it might attract viewers to this page...)
PS. I can never find any of the old ones in charity shops. They only seem to sell on Amazon for £100 each!
@@michaelbartlettfilm Glad you liked the game. It's a bit of daft light hearted nonsense if nothing else. And really hope your channel grows some, it well deserves too.
@@milthyswinbuckle5158 I'm glad you posted your game here. I'm really not familiar with gamebooks, so this was very helpful. And fun too! Thanks!
@@milthyswinbuckle5158 Thanks so much, Milthy! (Still loving the name!)
I think if you read the original ones a long time ago when they came out, there's a certain power of all those memories and associations that makes it very difficult to fairly compare old books to newer ones. OTOH if you are picking up an older book for the first time it might be easier to compare fairly.
Steve J and Ian L have both penned some of the best adventures but not everything they write is solid gold and some of the best FF books were by other authors.
Fair point. I must admit, Forest of Doom seems a lot simpler on a replay.
I had the same experience as you with Stormslayer. Was enjoying it but at some point (a different place to the one you mentioned) it didn't fit together properly and I genuinely didn't have a clue what was going on.
I'd love to see that one revised somehow. It's pretty good overall, just needs a few tweaks here and there.
I enjoyed Giants very much. I am finding Secrets very ambitious (=frustrating) especially as I’m up to my 6th attempt and starting from scratch is such a drain. Not a fan of the Calendar wheel either, as even though days pass you are only allowed to adjust it when instructed which seems odd. I still haven’t finished it but not even sure what the objective is? Complete all the quests on the Adventure board?
As far as I could make out in the times I've played it, you have to complete all the quests, but there's a best order in which to do them.
@@michaelbartlettfilm - oh wait! So there’s a sequence to the actual quests too? 😳
@@age-of-adventure Ha, ha! Don't shoot the messenger!
My interpretation of the adventurer in Eye of the Dragon agreeing to drink poison is simply that they're someone who is honourable or trustworthy.
I do get how that would take away from the character being a blank slate to scrawl upon, though.
Yeah, I think the less info given about your character the better, really. Which is why I thought it odd when they started introducing character profiles in Stormslayer. It didn't seem to add to the gameplay for me.
Is this in any way related to the Dave Morris book of the same name?
This video is going to cost me money! Werewolf one or Steve Jackson? Which is best for an 11 year old?
I'd say the werewolf one. It's easier to get into and is more fun. But Secrets of Salamonis is excellent once you get the hang of it. I think it's more tilted towards the older, veteran FF fan, though.
@@michaelbartlettfilm I tried to get the Werewolf book today. $400. You should sell yours.
@@CBs_Bill_from_Montana Blimey, it's not THAT good!
The old Fighting Fantasy books were aimed for kids too, it's just the culture has changed unfortunately.
Fair point. I miss the good old days where they were happy to scare kids to death!
Night of Necromancer is a book that i dont quite understand. Nice video by the way!!
Thanks! Yeah, it's an odd one. Good atmosphere and story, but a bit odd as a game.
@@michaelbartlettfilm Blood of yhe zombies is lousy.