Dice Book Publishing Reviews:
Plot/World Building (5 out of 5 Stars)
Plot/World Building (5 out of 5 Stars)
This is something Nardi nails. In fact, the very nature of a gamebook lends itself beautifully to crafting an evergrowing plot in which each scene is significant. Nardi has utilized the genre to its fullest. He writes each scene to not only reveal the story piece by piece but in doing so enhances the immersion aspect that is so critical within the gamebook genre.
The way Nardi has crafted his book doesn’t lend itself to the style of Literal World Building that some other gamebooks do, but from a traditional world-building since he does a great job of layering the overarching history of the world throughout the adventure.
Writing Style/Voice (5 out of 5 Stars)
One thing I look for when I assess an author’s writing style is whether or not I feel like I’m hearing the author. Now, not every writer writes the same way that they talk, and in fact, most will alter their style to align with the genre. Again this is something Nardi does phenomenally. The subtitle suggests that is a Gothic Adventure. This set my expectations to include thoughts and feelings relative to something Dark, Spooky, and Mysterious. As far as my expectations are concerned, Nardi delivered wonderfully.
The book is written in the second person. This may be odd to those of you not familiar with gamebooks or the Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) genre. He gives the reader more personality than most, as the reader is stepping into the shoes of an actual character (the protagonist) as opposed to deciding who they are and how they fit in the overarching story.
Gameplay (2 out of 5 Stars)
This is where Nardi fails. The mechanics, as they are presented and I believe how they were intended to be implemented are simple. This is a good thing. A solo RPG shouldn’t be overly complicated as it detracts from the story. This system looks simple and though it's not my favorite it should work. However, it doesn’t.
The rules are unclear as to which section you’re supposed to read when you either fail or succeed. I initially interpreted the rules to mean, that if you succeed in a challenge roll, then you move on to the section that reads: “When you succeed.” Yet after doing that a few times you realize there’s a lot of context missing from the story.
It turns out that in order for the story to make sense you are better off reading every section as if you failed whatever challenge roll you were presented. If you do this the story is much more interesting, you learn much more about the world as well as the character you’re playing as.
This is a flaw either in the writing of the rules (i could just be misunderstanding how to play) or in how the story is written in which unlucky players are actually rewarded with good storytelling and lucky players are punished by not having a clue as to what is going on.
Final Verdict: Overall Score (3 out of 5 Stars)
From a traditional dark fantasy experience, Nardi does a fantastic job. He is a strong writer. From a game design standpoint, his system itself seems to be sound. It would work fine to great if executed properly. However, because the mechanics of the game either aren’t clear or the story isn't laid out properly for them to work, the overall experience suffers.
Treating this story like a CYOA book as opposed to a gamebook may have been the better way to go in this case. However, it wouldn’t take much to get this book back on track as a gamebook. A few simple edits or additions to the rules could easily increase my overall star rating of the book if Nardi ever chooses to do so.
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