Eye of the Dragon

Eye of the Dragon is one of the later fighting fantasy gamebooks. It is also the first (besides the very easy Island of the Lizard King) where I legitimately discovered the one true path on the first attempt. You need one key item and five optional items which can make the final challenge easier, although I found all six on my first blind playthrough.

That said, it is also pretty challenging, with lots of game overs. Ian Livingstone also installed a few anti-cheating measures here, such as cursed items which hurt you intially but later save you down the line. Tough luck to folks who peep and go back if things look hairy. I admit to fudging some dice rolls to save myself during the game, but it was kinda hard. There is also plenty of cool stuff, as well as a companion, whom you can pick up along the way.

That said, the story is garbage, even by the standards of the Fighting Fantasy series. Someone offers you information about a magical treasure and lets you retrieve it. However, to ensure that you share the spoils from its sale, he gives you a slow acting poison and tells you to drink it, as an insurance policy for him of sorts, to make sure you do not take the treasure and run. I don't know about you, but that seems like a pretty dumb idea. He does betray you at the end later, but I'm seriously not sure if a reader should have expected anything different.

There are also lots of encounters in the game which make no sense from a writing perspective. I mean, why are merchants setting up shop in a random dungeon filled with monsters. Who are they selling to? One of them is kinda pretty, so there is that. At the end of the day, this feels like a dungeon filled with random things rather than a cohesive world.

I was somewhat entertained by it, but I can't give a pass to the story and setting after so long. Bloodbones proved that you could have a strong setting and writing in the Fighting Fantasy framework. At some point, I seriously can't give a free pass any longer.