Customer Reviews

Fighting Fantasy

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was a huge Fighting Fantasy gamebooks fan back in the late 80's and early 90's, so I regarded the release of "The Warlock of Firetop Mountain" with great interest. For those too young to remember, Fighting Fantasy books work like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book crossed with Dungeons & Dragons gameplay, in which you must choose between branching paths that ultimately effect the outcome of the story. You roll dice to determine how enemy fights turn out, and it was great fun that spanned a series of nearly 60 books. I felt that this would be perfect for a handheld video game, and unfortunately, this one is more miss than hit.

What we get here is a standard dungeon-crawling RPG that, in certain parts, is quite fun and challenging. The story is pretty stock by RPG standards; you go through a series of dungeons with the end goal of defeating an evil wizard, but it has (as others here have mentioned) an Elder Scrolls crossed with Doom feel to it. The 3D environments allow for exploration and treasure collecting, and you will encounter monsters and the occasional friendly person throughout your quest. On the positive side, it does have some nostalgic value both for those who enjoyed the gamebotoks back in the day, and for those who like the look and feel of 90's PC games.

The game does have quite a few negative points, however, and these are compelling enough to keep me from whole-heartedly recommending the game. The 3D graphics occasionally look quite nice, but movement and combat reveals many glitches and visual quirks that sometimes hinder gameplay. The combat controls are also clunky and unresponsive, and I found that most battles consisted of mashing the buttons until the enemy dies. The above would all be forgivable if it wasn't for the game's punishing difficulty, which is less of the addictive challenge that motivates you to keep playing and more of the frustrating, "hurl your DS across the room" variety. The difficulty aside, I think the problem stems from the story and gameplay lacking the addictive RPG engagements that suck you in. The story is very linear and, considering that it was taken from a book released in 1982, it has not aged well. Also, the dungeon crawling and enemy fights do not feel rewarding, so I found little incentive to keep playing after 6 hours.

"The Warlock of Firetop Mountain" will no doubt have it's share of fans who scoff at the bad reviews. In truth, this is not a terrible game (I have played much worse), however I think that it's a missed opportunity; this would have been better suited to a Broken Sword "point and click" style or a stylized static 3D style like The Dark Spire. The 3D presentation, with all it's glitches and awkward controls, ultimately lets the game down. If you are a casual RPG fan who is looking for a challenge and can forgive the above, this game is worth at least a rental. For others, I recommend sticking with the Atlus RPGs on the DS.

First thing I'd like to point out is that this game is very remniscent of the first couple elder scrolls games and that is right but essentially this game is smaller in scale. FF:TWoFTM is a dungeon crawler very similar to Elder Scrolls that is based off of the first installment of the book series of fighting Fantasy. In the book, you are a lone adventurer who travels to a mountain with red glowing vegetation on top called Firetop mountain. The mountain was once a Dwarven city but was taken over by a powerful Warlock named Zagor and his many Orc minions. It is said that Zagor has a treasure chest that may only open if you find it's two keys which are spread out very deep in the keep.

In the game, the goal is the same but the story is not nearly as deep as the book itself. You are an adventurer who takes a boat to the port village near Firetop Mountain and from their the quest begins. This game is beautifully detailed for a DS game, perhaps even better detailed than the actual first couple of Elder Scrolls games which many compare this to. This is not one of those games were the developers cheap out and make the environments look the same. The detail in this game is amazing as well with bloodstains on walls, papers littering the floor, pictures on walls, chairs, beds, etc. Everything makes the game feel like you are actually going through a dungeon or underground city rather than an endless maze with nothing interesting like Deep Labyrinth or Moon. The game is also very difficult and changes the enemies as you get stronger I.E. when you backtrack, you are going to see monsters on par with your level rather than really weak monsters that were hard when you originally passed through the area. The game also randomly generates mobs and auto-saves for you when you go through a door so I you don't like the mob you got, you can just respawn, etc. Often, the monsters will seem a step ahead of you and you may feel like you skipped a level when in truth, you are on the right track but you need to reequip or level up.

The game uses a strange control scheme that is basically a two-in-one. You use the bumpers to attack, the d-pad to move, and either the stylus or the face buttons to look. If you'd rather use the face buttons, you get access to the right bumper which does a different attack then the left one but playing this way makes casting spells, hotkey pressing, or healing, or just plain talking and opening doors(all of which uses the touch screen) very difficult. That is why I use the stylus. In this respect, the game resembles Metroid Prime Hunters.

One bad thing people might find is that the monsters and you yourself are sprites. That is true, but it doesn't detract from th game. The sprites are very well detailed and you hardly notice after a while. The sprites are sort of remniscent of Doom enemies. But regardless, this is one good game in terms of adventure and atmosphere because the game is dark and creepy in places and it's really fun to explore in tis game. Also, I'd like to point out the absence of music. The game has no music whatsoever except for the title theme. There is ambience though, but some of it can become annoying. It is also a short game but then again, with the amount of detail in this game, I can understand why the game is so short. I mean, they really went out of their way to make this game detailed because if everything was the same, this game would fail miserably in the hands of reviewers. Even with the detail, the game is failing miserably with reviewers, but then again, reviewers are usually wrong about things so don't listen.
P.S. I'm not sure if this is for preorders or not but you get a free Fighting Fantasy book bundled with the game. Gamestop gave me mine when I bought it and I originally thought that was only if you preorder so either they screwed up or you get it with the game.

Graphics: 10
Controls: 8
Sound: 3
Gameplay: 9
Grade: 9.5(not an average)

I would like to say that I really like this game. It is a bit difficult at times, but my advice for to (if you buy it) is to check every room and talk to NPC's for hints/clues and such. I agree with the previous reviewer that it is similar to Elder Scrolls games (which are some of my favorite games). This is a fun sword & sorcery type of game even if you are not a fan of the books. Warning: this game is not for everyone.

This game really stinks. I got it at GameStop for twenty bucks, which is way more than it's worth. Now that I've played it I wouldn't buy it again, but even so, it's a ten or fifteen dollar game at best. The graphics are far less than stellar, and while you're in a "3D" world, all the characters are 2D and simply spin to face you. Interaction with characters is free up to a point, and creating your own character might be good if it weren't so freaking hard-- it's easier to just go with one of the three pre-loaded archetypes. Combat's the worst-- since the game is in "real time" the enemies have an easy time charging you before you're ready, and fighting them is ridiculous. I died continuously within my first THREE fights, even as the warrior archetype.
What more can I say? The controls are clunky, the graphics suck, and it's no fun whatsoever. The only good news is that my copy came with the original book of Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (which is, by the way, quite good). A similar, but far better game, is Orcs & Elves, also for the DS.

There aren't many first-person rpg's out there for the DS. Considering the DS's capabilities, this game is really a fine example of what the system is capable of, should the programmers be willing to put some extra effort in its making. You get a full 3d world to explore with caves, dungeons and other environments. Like in Metroid Prime Hunters, you can use the D pad to move and the stylus to aim/rotate view, which is very handy. There's even an option to switch to a left-handed control scheme. The combat system is easy to master and the inventory/skill tree screens are meticulously laid out and easy to use. There are all kinds of items that you'd expect to find in a game like this, like melee and ranged weapons, armor and spells, potions and even food! There are also locked chests, be careful with those, if you don't have the skill required to open them they will hurt you as they are trapped! There are various ambient sound effects that add to the overall atmosphere of this game, but not much in the way of in-game music (not that it matters that much). The map screen is excellent and you can even draw notes on it with the stylus and there's always a compass to help you keep track of your whereabouts. The game scenario is what one might call "generic", but then again all rpg's tend to share quite a few elements in their story. There are many side-quests to complete for gaining experience and riches. Also there's quite a few humorous lines in the dialogue, making the characters in the game that much more lively. Buy this game and support the people who made it. If we are lucky, they'll make another fantastic game like this for the 3DS!

Well, although I felt compelled to complete this game, I wouldn't say its very good. Little things like locking up and saving data incorrectly happen from time to time. Also, the game is not particularly well balanced. Beatable, but you're going to have to work the system. It's the sort of game where there are many ways to build your character, but only a few 'right' ways. For example, you can build a close combat specialist, but without a powerful ranged attack the end boss is pretty much impossible.

This is a game with little actual content. It's short. There is no music. And the games ten or so enemies are all 2d sprites that always face toward you. This always facing you thing kills any possibility of stealth; making a rogues pretty pointless. It also gives enemies an irritating advantage. They can avoid close ranged attacks by strafing. You can strafe but it's only useful at a distance. This makes going into close quarters with a ranged attacker, like a faerie, much more dangerous then a dedicated melee unit, like a Minotaur.

That said, the game artistically speaking is very good. The story line is also very entertaining. That shouldn't be a surprise. The game started as a choose your own adventure book. Still, playing the game you get the impression that a talented writer and a talented artist asked they're fourteen year old son to program a game; and then published the beta.

By the way, I've only played through the game once. I started as a rogue. Discovered it was too hard and tried again as a fighter. My suspicion is that the game is a lot easier if you play a mage. One thing I will say for the game is that it has a lot of potential replay value. But that's assuming you want to go through it a second time.