Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-Playing Game by Steve Jackson

Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-Playing Game Steve Jackson ebook
Page: 240
Format: pdf
ISBN: 0140317090, 9780140317091
Publisher: Puffin / Penguin Books

First published in 1980 by Puffin this was the first of Ian Livingstone's and Steve Jackson's (a Uk based chap, not the owner of the US games company that bears his name) “Fighting Fantasy” series. Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, developed by Laughing Jackal, can best be described as an interactive Choose Your Own Path adventure book, which makes sense as that's what this game is based on. They can be intimidating to newcomers, chock full of strange gameplay systems and confusing Square Enix has slapped the Final Fantasy name on quite a few different games over the years: there are now Final Fantasy racing games, fighting games, and even a musical rhythm game. Capcop have yet to realise this and I wouldn't be surprised to see a collapse of Japanese publishers (much like the demise of THQ), especially with budgets set to get bigger with the introduction of the next gen consoles. Some of you may have read my overview of Dungeoneer, Advanced Fighting Fantasy here and here. FF: The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain was the first Fighting Fantasy book written It is clear from the outset that FF: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is a traditional RPG. But you might not know much more about Square Enix's massive set of role-playing games. The idea of Fighting Fantasy was a sort of cross between Dungeons & Dragons and Choose Your Own Adventure, creating a solo adventure experience for young role-players everywhere to waste time during recess or study hall when a group of friends were not available. When you get right down to it, Warhammer Quest is a fairly straightforward action-RPG that's set in a generic fantasy world. I finally had time to read through Fighting Fantasy. Can we start from the beginning? Contrairement aux deux éditions précédentes, et malgré un sous-titre le présentant comme un « Introductory Role-Playing Game », Advanced Fighting Fantasy ne s'adresse pas véritablement aux joueurs novices. This adventure, titled “The Well†, was the first adventure in the original Fighting Fantasy role-playing game (also from 1984, not a solo game book) and I have played it a few times with people just for kicks. There are no cutscenes or spoken dialogue. The series would go on for nearly sixty books, although by the '90s it had been pretty well eclipsed (and rendered all-but-obsolete) by computer games. Dragon Warriors appeared in the mid-80s, as gamebooks like Fighting Fantasy and Lone Wolf were at the height of their popularity. This could only have happened in the context of Final Fantasy 7, a $45 million production with a US marketing budget of over $100 million - the RPG that, to be sure, cracked the western market, but had a lot of help doing so. So, since there is no need to create characters, a group can just pick up these rules, read through the basic explanation of combat and tests and then start playing the introductory adventure included. So it's hard to sum them all up nicely.