How many people used a guide for this game?

I ask because I played this game back when strategy guides were less common for console RPGs and the internet wasn't exactly a major thing yet. So I sometimes feel one of the reasons why I loved this game so much is because I honestly had to stumble upon all of the games secrets. My one friend who had played the game had a terrible memory so trying to figure out how to get Gogo, the chainsaw, or even where to go next pretty much fell onto me to actually find out. I was curious to know if anyone else had to do this as well or if some people played it later and thus had easy access to the benefits of friends with good memories and GameFAQs.

I played it around the time the Anthology version came out, so no. No guides.

Nope, no guide. Just me, my SNES, and my nerdboner gettin' the nerd on. I try to play all games, at least the first time through, with no outside help at all.

I first played it sometime after FF8 came out, so there was information around, but not conveniently like it is nowadays. So acquiring information was still somewhat of a hunt.

I never used a guide for this game. I don't like to use guide; I prefer to find the answers by myself.

I played this around the turn of the millenium, on an emulator, so I had information available to me on the late 90s internet. Finding information back then was like going on an actual quest. I remember compiling a comprehensible list of information from various places that i printed out and put in a irl folder.

Naturally, I played the game a few times without checking things first, like I always do, but in the end I usually search up all the secrets I might have missed.

I had a friend with a very good memory, so no guide the first time around. Later I checked one to see what I might have missed. Which wasn't much, as it turned out.

Eventually I learned about the last dragon and Raiden from Gamewinners back in the day, but otherwise no guide.

Oh man, finding the Water Dragon and getting the Raiden Magicite was a bitch. Took me a few years before I figured it out.

Yeah I rocked a huge GameFAQs walkthrough. I loved those things.

I played through it the first time without a guide. What made me go get the guide (The Nintendo Power one) eventually was that I wanted to know what had happened to Shadow.

:(

I adopt the same approach with any FF game I play. I never use a guide the first time round and then if I feel the game warrants a second playthrough then I'll use a guide the second time as I hate missing stuff.

I probably did at certain points (particularly to do with getting characters and/or finding dragons), but I tend to avoid doing so on my first playthroughs. The only thing I really like to know about is missable stuff that you can't get later on, because I don't like playing the entire game all over again.

Beat it myself the first time since it was 1994. But talking to friends about it and scouring the primordial ooze that was the internet for more anything I may have missed eventually became as much an adventure as the game itself. Strangely I don't recall missing much the first time or two through. Aside from asshole things like the chainsaw.

No guide, but I have a cousin that told me about some things. Also some random tips that I read in Nintendo Power. I eventually was able to do everything without assistance by my third playthrough, I think. It's been about...20 years...

*flips table*

I've used a GameFAQs guide. Otherwise I might have overlooked some really cool items such as an elixir hidden in a clock.

I'm going to when I play again shortly