So......anyone interested in another FF Gamebook LP?

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Which of the below FF books are you most interested to play?

Talisman of Death
0
No votes
Sword of the Samurai
0
No votes
Midnight Rogue
0
No votes
Vault of the Vampire
2
100%
Daggers of Darkness
0
No votes
Dead of Night
0
No votes
The Keep of the Lich-Lord
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 2

SGamerz
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So......anyone interested in another FF Gamebook LP?

Post by SGamerz »

I've been one of the biggest fans of gamebooks, and the various Let's Play threads are what really drew me to this forum in the first place. After reading through all the older playthroughs on this board, I'm now feeling the itch to start a LP myself....if enough people are interested.

The FF series is the biggest batch of my personal gamebook collection. Out of the original 59 FF books, I own all but 4 of them (Battleblade Warrior, Legend of the Shadow Warriors, Night Dragon, Knights of Doom), although I can't say I'm completely familiar with all of them, since there were a few (like the infamous Sky Lord) which I played once and never gone back to it again. As it is, though there're still a lot of options available for my first LP attempt. I will try to avoid those with extremely narrow paths (those where you take 1 wrong turn, miss one item and clue, and you're dead), so here are the ones I have in mind:


Book 11: Talisman of Death
"The once-peaceful world of Orb is in terrible danger. Dark forces are at work to unleash the awesome might of the Evil One - and only YOU can stop them. YOUR mission is to destroy the Talisman of Death before the dark lord's minions reach you. But beware! Time is running out..."
Set in the world of Orb, which those of you who participated in the Way of the Tiger LP would be familiar with, this book is actually written by the EXACT same authors, Mark Smith and Jamie Thompson. Also features a couple of familiar cameo characters from that series. This book is also the first FF gamebook (I think) that experiments with the concept of "save points", allowing the character to get resurrected that 2 specific points in the book and giving the readers the chance to correct their mistakes within one playthrough without having to roll up a new character (and as a result more lenient than the average FF gamebook). Also the first FF book to be written by non-co-creators who're not also named Steve Jackson. :)

This is also the only FF book (I think) that features a player character form the normal world being pulled into fantasy by the gods to help save their world. Although that bit doesn't seem terribly relevant since it's never brought up again after the introduction. >.>

Book 20: Sword of the Samurai
"The land of Hachiman is in grave danger. The Shogun's control is slipping. Bandits roam the land freely and barbarian invaders have begun to raid across the borders. All this because the Dai-Katana, the great sword, Singing Death, has been stolen from the Shogun. YOU are the Shogun's champion, a young Samurai. Your mission is to recover this wondrous sword from Ikiru, the Master of Shadows, who holds it hidden deep in the Pit of Demons."
As far as I know, the only FF book with a setting in Hachiman (Titan's versin of Japan). Character plays the role of a samurai warrior, which is also unique in this series. This adventure features 2 distinct "paths" to victory, and can sort of be considered "easy" and "hard" modes respectively. It's also the first book to feature "Special Skills" selection like Moonrunner (although Steve Jackson tried something similar in Book 18 where you play a Superhero with a single unique power). Also written by Mark Smith and Jamie Thompson, coincidentally.

Book 29: Midnight Rogue
"YOU are an apprentice in the Thieves' Guild of Port Blacksand. Tonight is the testing time, the climax of your training. Your mission is to find and steal a priceless gem, the Eye of the Basilisk, and the special skills you have learned will be tested to the limit! Many terrors lie in wait in the darkness of this evil city's backstreets and alleys. Will you be able to accomplish your dangerous task? You have until morning to prove yourself."
The only book where you role-play as a thief character, also features Special Skills selection. Gameplay is somewhat more linear like the traditional FF, but still nowhere near as punishing as the likes of Deathtrap Dungeon. Also refreshing in that for once your objective doesn't involve trying to defeat an evil archlord/wizard/powerful monster. Also takes us back to familiar territory, Port Blacksand (City of Thieves), although written by a different author (Graeme Davis)

Book 38: Vault of the Vampire
"YOU are a hardy adventurer and have journeyed to the icy mountains of Mauristatia in search of great wealth and fortune... but what you find there makes your blood run cold. You discover by chance the terrible secret of the local villagers. Can YOU free them from the evil tyranny of the bloodthirsty Count, or will you too succumb to a horrifying fate?"
Written by Keith Martin, who's my personal favourite FF author partly due to his ability to get me stoked for the final climatic encounters in most of his books. He also wrote Tower of Destruction (which had a LP thread here), and that was when his books started to get more nail-bitingly difficult as he starts going crazy with number puzzles and scavenger hunts. Vault of the Vampire is one of his earlier books, and thus way more lenient. The setting is more of less traditional FF (typical warrior adventurer, enter evil castle/fortress, find magic MacGuffin, kill big evil, rescue maiden), but I find the authors writing builds up the appropriate atmosphere to get me hooked.

Book 35: Daggers of Darkness
"Dark forces are massing in the wild and ancient land of Kazan. Unless you reach the Great Throne in time the murderous vizier Chingiz will take power. Who knows what evil will flow from Kazan if his vile schemes succeed. But time is running out. You must face Chingiz before it's too late: the destiny of Kazan is in YOUR hands."
Luke Sharp's books haven't been done here, and not often listed as favourites in online reviews, and it's not hard to see why. Detailed, in-depth descriptions are certainly not what this author is interested in, and his writing tends to be choppy and abrupt and that, as well as the randomness of encounters and characters in his books, can make it hard for immersion. Sharp's forte seems to be in the design of mini-games within the gamebooks, and it certainly shows in this book, which actually features a Snakes-and-Ladders maze, amongst other things. Luke Sharp also has little use for the traditional linear path, and there's almost never a "true path" or "must-have essential items" in his book, adding to replay values with multiple possible paths to victory. That doesn't necessary mean the books are easy though and players of the infamous Chasms of Malice (Book 30) would know. As far as difficulty goes though, Daggers of Darkness IMO strikes the right balance.

What the cover summary doesn't tell you is that the player character actually plays the role of one of the possible heirs to the throne and this is a quest to seize your rightful seat from the evil Vizier, which is another fairly rare setting for FF (although not for traditional fantasy).

Book 40: Dead of Night
"YOU are renowned throughout the land as a Demon-Stalker, waging war against the creatures of Chaos. More than once you have thwarted the Demon Lord's evil schemes, but now Myurr has discovered a cunning way of exacting his revenge. There is no alternative. YOU must confront and destroy the Demon Lord, for the whole of the free world is threatened! Myurr's evil powers may soon enable him and hordes of his vile demons to cross from the Demonic into the Earthly Plane!"
Yet another book with a non-traditional player character with a list of unique skills to choose from (as you can tell I'm kind of a sucker for these), Dead of Night is another book where I feel the writer's (Jim Bambra &
Stephen Hand, the latter of which wrote Moonrunner) style added immensely and effectively to the atmosphere. Also one of the few books, where the player character has a legitimate personal grip against the big bad (just like Moonrunner, which I guess is logical since they had the same author). Also features multiple possible paths to success, although again by no means easy to attain.

Book 43: The Keep of the Lich-Lord
"Clawing his way back from the grave, the foul Lich-Lord has once again set his sights on the Arrowhead Islands. Allying himself with the Chaos pirates of Blood Island, he threatens to bring the Varadian Alliance under the cruel domination of his undead armies. They have already taken Bloodrise Keep, a key point in the defence of the islands, and soon nothing will stand between Mortis and victory. A cunning and fearless warrior is needed for a vital mission to enter Bloodrise Keep and overthrow Lord Mortis - a warrior like YOU!"


For those of you who didn't like the fact that the "non-true path" seemed to contain the more interesting, if punishing, encounters.....well, you'll not find such a problem in this book. Often considered one of the easiest FF books in the series, The Keep of the Lich-Lord is one that really encourages sidetracks, and more often than not rewards you for them (but unlike Ian Livingstone doesn't punish or doom you to certain death for not taking the sidetracks he wants you to). Written by Dave Morris and Jamie Thompson, the former of which has only ever written one FF book, but is an established gamebook author in multiple other famous series (Knightmare, Blood Sword, Virtual Reality, Fabled Lands, to name a few). I've always felt that Dave is the best at adding life and flavor to his settings and characters. The Keep of the Lich-Lords isn't his best work, but still a fun (if easy) ride.

-----

So.....anybody game? :)
Silent Wayfarer
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

I've done Sword of the Samurai and Midnight Rogue before, so I'll vote for the others that aren't them. #38 Vault of the Vampire seems good.

On a side note, I have Night Dragon and Knights of Doom and I want to do one of them, so I should probably start a new thread.
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

I'm up for whatever book you choose. I do lean towards Dead of Night and/or Vault of the Vampire, but not enough to warrant a vote.

Also, another anti-vote for Midnight Rogue, as I own it and remember it quite well (wouldn't be as fun).
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Darth Rabbitt
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I'd be most interested in Talisman of Death, Dead of Night, Keep of the Lich-Lord, or Vault of the Vampire.

But really anything is cool.
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Shiritai
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Post by Shiritai »

Another vote for vampire vaulting.
Dr_Noface
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Post by Dr_Noface »

lung of the lichfiend
SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

Vault of the Vampire it is, then. I'll get the thread up soon.
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