Today our search for tomes to read and worlds to explore leads us to face a mysterious quest with the review of Il Ritorno di Rupert 1: Il Palazzo Dei Misteri. I thank Edizioni Librarsi for sending us a copy of the gamebook, allowing me to begin this adventure which intrigued me quite a bit.
Il Ritorno di Rupert 1: Il Palazzo Dei Misteri is in fact a reworking of a series of gamebooks written by Stephen Thraves. Back then the title of the gamebook was Battle Quest and its protagonist was an unnamed hero. Given the less than encouraging results of previous editions, I was eager to get my hands on this new story written by the skilled hands of Alberto Orsini.
At first glance I can say that the result is more than satisfactory. Il Ritorno di Rupert 1: Il Palazzo Dei Misteri is a volume of 300 paragraphs with a cardboard cover and dust jacket. Inside there are a good number of very pleasant black and white illustrations by Marco Sada, while the cover image is by Krzysztof Porchowski Jr. The result is very evocative and allows the reader to more easily imagine the epic nature of the opponents and of the landscapes encountered.
You can find the gamebook Il Ritorno di Rupert 1: Il Palazzo dei Misteri on the Edizioni Librarsi website at a cost of €17.90.
As you can imagine, being the story of a barbarian, exciting adventures await us full of deadly trials, monstrous creatures and evil sorcerers!
Plot Review of Il Ritorno di Rupert 1: Il Palazzo Dei Misteri
Unfortunately, our story begins in the worst possible way; in fact we will not be able to boast of the title of hero, but of that of slave. At the end of his latest adventure, Rupert has fallen victim to a powerful spell cast by the evil sorcerer Murgle. Now defeated, he was enslaved and subjugated to the sorcerer’s will by two magical bracelets. Months and months of torture carried out partly for fun and partly to bend the will of Queen Tasha, reluctant to accept his advances and blackmailed in this way given the sovereign’s weakness for our protagonist.
Luckily, Murgle decided to stop the torture and give us a very special mission. In fact, we will have to venture into a distant kingdom in search of a lost artifact, the Scepter of the People, a powerful artifact capable of granting every wish; a deadly challenge for which the sorcerer is willing to even reward us with freedom. Obviously this is a proposal that we cannot refuse so, armed with a gigantic desire for revenge, we will set off towards challenges so terrible and lethal that they almost make us regret our cell.
A First Look at the GameBook Rules
Il Ritorno di Rupert 1: Il Palazzo dei Misteri has a very simple rulebook that requires no dice rolls. Taking a look at our hero’s sheet, we see that there are not the usual characteristics, but a single column called Strength. Strength represents the only parameter we will have to take into consideration. We will start the gamebook with 10 strength points which can increase and decrease based on tests and fights, without ever exceeding the initial score. If we reach 0 strength points, our adventure will unfortunately be over and we will have to start again from a point of rebirth. They are save points within the gamebook that will allow us to start over from a specific paragraph.
Where there is a barbarian of course there are also deadly fights against legendary creatures. Il Ritorno di Rupert 1: Il Palazzo Dei Misteri maintains this expectation and manages it with a very streamlined combat system that does not require constant dice rolls on attack and defense. Our opponents will in fact have a number of shots necessary for their defeat. Each turn we will have to open a random page of the game book and add the numbers of the paragraph we see. If the result is a draw we will have hit our opponent, otherwise he will have hit us. As our strength decreases, Rubert will be able to resort to barbarism, a state that will decrease the number of blows needed to defeat the enemy.
Final Considerations of the Review of Il Ritorno di Rupert 1: Il Palazzo Dei Misteri
To conclude this review, I can safely say that Il Ritorno di Rupert 1: Il Palazzo dei Misteri is an excellent gamebook that respects the premises. The story is gripping and the fights alternate with puzzles that keep the reader’s attention high.
The replayability is quite high and the different paths we will take to get to the end will show a living world full of deadly dangers. I recommend this gamebook to everyone who loves exciting stories, fast combat and fun puzzles. I am very curious to know what you will choose to do when you have the Scepter of the People in your hands!
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