Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain Review
A publisher, a license holder, and a developer all working together on a single video game is a fairly common, and safe, strategy for everyone involved. Usually licenses, like those of blockbuster films or best selling comics, are an already proven franchise, so in turn the subsequent licensed video game has a much greater chance of doing well for itself. At first glance it would seem as though publisher Aspyr Media and developer Big Blue Bubble are testing the formula, but with successful book franchises, starting with the immensely successful Fighting Fantasy book series. However, rather than taking the easy road, developer Big Blue Bubble has chosen the road less travelled, putting game design as their top priority with this year's Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain for the Nintendo DS.
The Fighting Fantasy books are choose-your-own-adventure style books, where-in readers choose the course of the story frequently throughout the book by way of choices. Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was the first book in the series, and in translating its engaging style to the Nintendo DS, developer Big Blue Bubble, wisely chose to make the game an RPG. In Western RPG style, Fighting Fantasy plays in a first-person perspective, with the 3D gameplay taking place on the DS' upper screen, and 2D menus and additional controls on the lower.
The game opens in the village of Stonebridge, a settlement near the foot of Firetop Mountain. It's far from modern day, as players arrive on a row boat after answering a series of situational questions that seemingly construct the player-character's past. Players' answers determine what class they best fit into based on the personality traits they display, however there is room for customization if players choose to do so.
Zagor, the fabled warlock of Firetop Mountain, is rumoured to have riches beyond any man's imagination, riches that players set out to claim as their own. Fighting Fantasy's story line does feature a few characters, but none are recurring staples within the story aside from Zagor, and the player-character. As much as characters and character development are traditional cornerstones to a well written story, the game almost entirely leaves both out of the picture, at least in the traditional sense.
Character development is placed in the hands of the player, and it's surprisingly effective. Whereas other Western RPGs leave players to their own devices in a massive open world - often time alienating all gamers that enjoy at least a bit of linearity - Fighting Fantasy plays to the best of both worlds. The game takes place in the sprawling innards of Firetop Mountain, and as players focus on their quest to face off with Zagor they're basically given a lot of wiggle room to toy with and make their-own, without losing interest in their overall goal. The glue between the pieces is the excellent, yet concise writing. Choices aren't blatantly good vs. evil, but a variety of more personality-based choices.
