Do you use a walkthrough?

[Saber]

When I ifrst started playing final fantasy I didn't use guides. The first time I did buy a guide I found that I had more items then what the guide told you about. It wasn't until the harder games, 10-2 and 12 that I based my game on a walkthrough.

When you use a guide all is good. You make sure you get everything (or almost everything), and you only have to play once.

When you don't use a guide you explore and feel more achivement. Sure you might miss something or get stuck, but if you figure it out you gaming skills go up.

So what about you? Do you use a walkthrough?

[Rebellious Eagle]

I only use a walkthrough as a last resort and when I'm stuck on a challenging boss. Otherwise, no, I think it's more fun to beat it yourself.

[scrumpleberry]

If I really like an FF game the first time around I will either finish it once on my own, then take the second game and totally decimate it with a walkthrough, or start a new game and play with a walkthrough so I don't miss any sekrits.

After that, I play it alone but use a walkthrough if I forget exactly how to find sekrits. I like to make a list of valuable items or collectibles I want to collect around the game before I do things too.

If I don't like it so much I play it once on my own. If I'm really stuck I use intarbuttz help, but I don't think that's ever happened to me on an FF

[RedPouch]

I usually use a walkthrough after I've played the game once. I don't like them ruining the experience of the game though.

[Elly]

i use the maps, item/shop lists, and occasionaly the bestiary of Strategy Guides but never the walkthrough or Boss Strategies as i found my play style is seldom the same as the guide writers and therefore their strategies don't work for me... regardless of using them or not i always buy them anyway as a complement to the game, i believe the guide and game are part of a whole product, and usualy the guide has some good official art in it as well... i also try to keep everything in as near mint condition as possible (sometimes :bou::bou::bou::bou: happens) including the guides... oh and i despise who whote the FFIX guide, putting half of it on the net then reomoving it later was the lamest of the lame, if they ever re-release IX they better give us a complete guide...


(i don't know how to answer the question since i buy the guides but don't use the walkthroughs...)

[blackmage_nuke]

When I make my first play through I use lists to find where to steal things and what monsters drop what and such. The second time i'll probably use a walkthrough to find all the secrets.

[Vermachtnis]

If I get stuck and none of the ideas I come up with work, I run to a FAQ. I try not to use one on my first time. But I get so paranoid about missable items. Especially the items that's only available for a very short amount of time and is in a town that's on the other side of the map. And I love FAQs when after I beat the boss and go back to make my characters as strong as possible.

[theundeadhero]

I'M SO WEAK :weep:

[DarkBahamut]

I'm not a noob. I only use walkthroughs on special things like Chocobo breeding.

[Zeromus_X]

I like to use them when I get stuck (usually happens on puzzles), or for Guide Dang-it things like missable or collectible stuff.

[Rantz]

If I get stuck and none of the ideas I come up with work, I run to a FAQ. I try not to use one on my first time. But I get so paranoid about missable items. Especially the items that's only available for a very short amount of time and is in a town that's on the other side of the map. And I love FAQs when after I beat the boss and go back to make my characters as strong as possible.

Something like this. I usually go my first time without a walkthrough, though.

[Pete for President]

I never use a guide the first time through. After that it depends on how rewarding and "gettable-without-a-guide" sidequests and secrets are.

[Jiro]

I don't use walkthroughs unless I get stuck. But I like to use guides in some games to make sure I collect anything particularly useful/interesting.

[Anniexo]

I only use it when I've gotten lost, or I wanna know how to get something, like in FFV I didn't know about Iron Claw I could fight.

[FFIX Choco Boy]

I've played through the FFs with my walkthroughs so much, I no longer need them. I beat them all myself the 1st time thru, though.

[sdm42393]

I try and beat the game on my own first. Most playthroughs after that, though, I use a walkthrough to complete the game 100%.

[Elpizo]

I didn't use any walkthrough when going through FF I and II Dawn of Souls. But after that, I did start using wlakthroughs because there were so many good stuff you could miss in later FFs. Most of the time I only play through it once with a walkthrough, because I remember everything when playing it again. Except for the Playstation ones, because they're so large.

Strangely enough, I didn't use a walkthrough when going through XII, except for a few moments (like the Great Crystal or how to get certain items for hunts). I think that was because there's no point in going after treasure chests in XII, aside from the Zodiac Spear, so no need of a walkthrough to warn me if a dungeon has great stuff to aquire.

[Quindiana Jones]

I always play games by myself first. Then, if it's so awesome that I know I'll never get rid of it (eg. FF7, FF9, FF12) then I'll buy the walkthrough to get the most out of it.

Over and over again. :)

[Wolf Kanno]

Like everyone else, I don't use a walk through the first time through a game or even the second. Hell, I only buy strategy guides if they were given to me cause my family purchased it with the game or if the title in question has some good artwork that I can view in the strategy guide.

[,,,]

Yes, I use walkthroughs. I like to experience as much of the full game as possible, therefore I don't want to miss any hidden bosses, dungeons, etc. Then there are games (I don't think any FF games fall under this category too much) where you really have to use a guide, because the secrets are so hidden or vaguely alluded to that the only way anyone would stumble across them is by accident or dumb luck. That annoys me.

Also, if I'm not sure where to go next or whatever, I find I'm better off using a guide than trying to do it by myself. The rewarding feeling of figuring something out myself does not even remotely compensate for the hours of pointlessly wandering from one edge of the map to the next, visiting every town and talking to every NPC until I find whatever I needed to unlock the next part of the game. I prefer to have fun when I'm playing a game, call me crazy.

[Depression Moon]

When i started FF I did not have a walkthrough, but with FFX my older brother bought one for the game and we really only used it to find secrets and rare items. I have also purchased a guide for XII for the same reason as it's impossible to discover the majority of the secrets and sidequests without one.

I'll probably get one for XIII too.

It's half and half in voting right now.

[beema]

Originally I didn't but I started using them more and more because I wanted to cover every secret in the games... leave no stone unturned so to speak.

I even gotten into the habit now of using multiple ones at once, since some cover things others don't, and vice versa.

It's gotten quite vexing I have to say... almost like an addiction. I wish I could just play through the game unaided and discover things for myself... it might be less complete but I feel like it would be more fun.

[MJN SEIFER]

I used to have an excelently written one for FFVII (I wish I could find it, as it's the only one I can't find, and it was my first one.), which I read and it helped me, I also used one for FFVIII, which kind of ruined one scene for me, but I'm sure it happend to eveyone else (Seifer).

[Lacarus]

Rarely. Only for getting those hard-to-get equipment/items/characters etc. and in FF's only after first playthrough.

[Loony BoB]

Only for things that people would never realistically figure out on their own without spending craploads of time sorting it out with a lot of trial and error - ie, Chocobo Breeding etc.

[Bolivar]

Never on the first playthrough (okay, some exceptions). If it's a game I really like, I'll usually get the strategy guide after because I like having that physical material owned and with the game.

The second time is good to get everything you missed.

When it comes to FF, games like I, IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX, XII, my brain essentially is the walkthrough for it.

[Roogle]

Yes, I use a walkthrough when I play through a game. My main goal is to catch things that may be missed on the first playthrough because I will likely only have enough time to play a game once before shelving it and moving on to another game.

[hhr1dluv]

^Ditto.

Also, there's always some things in these games that always make me ask, "how the crap would anyone figure these things out without a walkthrough?" Stuff like the zodiac spear, the Calm Lands mini game, the location of the Baaj Temple, etc.

[Dark Angel Kira]

i only use the the guides to look at the maps to see where items etc are and if there are any extra stuff you can do for the rest, i use my brain otherwise its not a challenge, it would be too easy :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

[Masamunemaster]

I usually use a walkthrough after I've played the game once. I don't like them ruining the experience of the game though.

[Sephiroth]

When I was a child and started to play Final Fantasy I always used Walkthroughs. But today I know how many mistakes and errors are in such walkthroughs/not even all is mentioned. So I am the one who writes them after many hours of enjoying and exploring the world of Final Fantasy.