Season 3 Review

Well another 15 months have passed and season 3 (books 21-30) are completed.  I think to say this one was mixed would be an understatement.  I will throw this caveat out though as I always do, I really think everyone involved in the creation of these books did a fabulous job and always enjoy them, even the terrible ones!  

Already we are seeing a shift to much more fantasy books over sci-fi with 8 to 2.  I assume at the time they were selling more, but overall the quality tended to be better with the fantasy settings.  I do not know why, maybe the confines of a gamebook made it easier for fantasy.  

Anyway lets have a look at where they all stacked up -

Top 10 Ranking - 

1. Midnight Rogue

2. Creature of Havoc

3. Phantoms of Fear

4. Trial of Champions

5. Robot Commando

6 .Beneath Nightmare Castle

7. Crypt of the Sorcerer

8. Masks of Mayhem

9. Chasms of Malice

10. Star Strider

Yeah, I put Midnight Rouge ahead of Creature of Havoc, Madness!  Well the reason is that its personal to me.  I had those rose tinted glasses on and it means more to me because of how much I enjoyed it in my childhood.  So yeah, its not going to be that high for everyone, and I bet there is one I have in the middle ground that someone absolutely loves for their own reasons, and their is nothing wrong with that at all.

Midnight for me is so immersive, I really feel like I am sneaking around at night in Port Blacksand.  It helps that its by an author I really like in other fields (WFRP) and I am gutted it was Graeme Davis's only outing.  Yes, the second part with the dungeon crawl is a bit meh, but that first part is some of the most fun I have had playing Fighting Fantasy.

So it edged out Creature of Havoc, which for me had the opposite problem.  The start is a grid to playthrough.  I understand the why though.  Steve Jackson is making you roleplay as a mindless beast.  But that does not necessary mean fun. But if you get past it, the book is fantastic.  Great fun, great encounters and very well written!  And I love worldbuilding so the 20 pages of background was right up my street!

The Olympics are currently on so in that theme I give the bronze medal to Phantoms of Fear.  I think this one does not get enough love.  The ability to flip between a dream and real life is very well written.  It also has some of the best artwork ever in Fighting Fantasy.  It also has a great story and interesting creatures.  But its let down by dream combat, a magic system that is paper thin and the bloody Trial of Ghosts.

So just missing out on the medal table is Trial of Champions.  Another very good book.  I really liked the build up to the dungeon with the gladiatorial games.  But its main problem is that its just not as good as the original Deathtrap Dungeon and it suffers by comparison.   

 

Robot Commando is next, what a great idea.  Mechas that transform fighting dinosaurs, what more would you ever want!? The game mechanics for the robots are also well done.  But this should have been awesome but like many of the other sci-fi books it starts well with fleshed out areas but further "cities" are only one or two encounters.  And some of the editing boggled my mind with where they put illustrations.  But still a very fun book and one you should try.

I struggled about placement for the next two.  I gave it to Beneath Nightmare Castle.  Going round the town of Neuberg is a highlight, its so creepy as you try and work out what's happened.  The castle itself I did not like as much but the creatures are cool as are the willpower tests.  But the art is very poor and does not do the writing justice.  Its also got a lot of instant deaths.  Where as Crypt of the Sorcerer, is fantastically written.  It is a great adventure and a superb story, but a very broken gamebook with a stupid litany of equipment needed and an impossible boss.  Such a shame as with the correct mechanics this book would be right up at the top.

Masks of Mayhem come next, It is a really good start but the writing starts to fail and that is summed up by a terrible ending of two lines.  It also tries to kill you a lot and success relies on a random dice roll.  I was maybe harsh on this one but it could have been so much more.

Near the bottom comes Chasms of Malice.  Pretty good world building here but the writing is odd, the mapping is just made up and makes no lick of sense and one strike combat needs to get in the bin.  Such a shame as there are interesting things in there.

Poor Star Strider though takes up the rear.  Its not impossible difficulty, it does not have broken mechanics, so why so bad?  Because its so very boring.  Not what you want in a gamebook.  

Awards Show - 

Cover - 

Best - 

Come on, it can only be one.

Its a transformer fighting a dinosaur people!

 As something designed to attract kids (and now old nerds), there is nothing quite like this.

Worst - 

A complete mess, and does not do the book justice.

Premise - 

Best - 

Again there is no contest here.  In Creature of Havoc, Steve Jackson uses a huge 20 pages to set up the history of so many people, places and events.  Its brilliant, although odd that you the reader knows this and then take on the mantle of a mindless beast....

Worst - 

Going to visit your friend the Baron in Beneath Nightmare Castle and walking straight into a trap.

Artwork - 

Best - 

Well it has to come from Ian Millar and Phantoms of Fear whose art is right up their with the gold standard of Iain McCaig 

The fabulous Tree Demon wins it for me. 

Worst - 

Beneath Nightmare Castle is not great, this one gets the award for me, I mean how is that shadow being cast with the light going the other way?

The Big Bad - 

Best - 

This was a really tough choice.  Lord Carnuss from Trial of Champions is even more diabolical than his brother who created a dungeon designed to murder kill people!  And Razaak from Crypt of the Sorcerer is a fantastically written bad guy.  But in the end it has to go to Zharradan Marr.  The amount we find out about his childhood, his army building, his plans.  We do not get this kind of detail anywhere else.  And the only way to defeat him is to trap him in another dimension.  

Worst - 

I almost give it to the Merchant Bass but it needs to go to the random dude who faints when you appear to save the president in Star Strider.

Menagerie - 

Best - 

Yeah this is cool.

In Crypt of the Sorcerer, you get a couple of pals and fly about in a hot air balloon.  Of course the skies are not empty a Red Dragon attacks you.  You can not win in combat but you can get help which ends in you riding the dragon instead.  Its straight out of a film!

Worst - 

The Groms, all of them.  They just come across as pretty pathetic and keep trying to scare you with illusions.  

Most Entertaining Death - 

Has to be the dreaded missing the bus in Star Strider.

Final Thoughts -

Season 3 I would describe as solid but not spectacular.  It seems to be now that books are getting tougher, and some are just outright broken.  Masks, Crypt and Chasms are all impossible without a lot of luck that you have no control over.  But there is a lot of good stories in here as well.  The good stuff in season 3 is very good, but the stuff that is bad is very bad.  

I always wondered if someone would go back and make some tweaks in later edits.  As if you did you could make some of these from middle of the road to top tier.

Still, looking forward to the next batch.  Although I might have an interlude first, still FF related mind you.  Watch this space.