Strategy Guides

[Pike]

So I know that these days you can just go to GameFAQs or whatever, but back in the day, these were all the rage. Do you have any gems lying around?

I've got a few; not as many as I'd like. I've got some for the original Starcraft and Brood War, though, which is pretty neat.

By far my most used and abused strategy guide was the one for FFTA, though. That thing is battered and dog-eared and glorious.

[Madame Adequate]

Got a really nice one for FFX that I got sometime after the game itself, mostly out of curiousity. I think I have a Star Ocean 3 one as well, for some unknown reason. The others were little ones that came free with magazines, but some of those old FFVII ones were key to me actually learning where things were and how to breed chocobos and whatnot.

[VeloZer0]

I've never owned a strategy guide. I'm fiercely determined to figure out puzzles on my own, even nowadays I am more likely to quit playing a game than look up the solution. Although nowadays the compulsive min-maxer I am and the increasing ubiquity of the ability to permanently f*** your progress up as you play through the game has forced me to be a little more dependent on guides.

[Wolf Kanno]

I have a small collection, I mainly buy them to get my hands on the artwork or a family member bought me the game and grabbed the guide for my convenience. Probably my three greatest gems are the original SNES guide for Chrono Trigger, an FFIII (VI) complete guide that actually has early translations of stuff taken from the Japanese World and Character Guide Books for FFVI. I also have the Xenogears Strategy Guide, which much like the Official FFVII guide, has a bunch of missing stuff that you would think a guide would have gotten.

I never use guides the first few times through a game, unless I truly get frustrated at something. The MegaTen games are the only exceptions mostly because Fusion can be really tricky and it's not fun killing an hour trying to get a fusion to have a certain ability only to read later that the fusion monster is incompatible with the skill. After a few playthroughs, I'll read up on it through a guide or gamefaqs to see what I've been missing or learn more about the underlying mechanics.

[GhandiOwnsYou]

Man, strategy guides were magical back in the day. I used them for my second playthroughs of Final Fantasy VII through XII, Kingdom Hearts I + II and Parasite Eve. Prior to that, I was too young to really buy them myself, and prior to FFVII any adventure / RPG game I played was usually dicking around on my dad's save file rather than actually trying to play myself. I recently tried to get back into the pure crack joy of official strategy guides, but I fear they have been bested forever by Wikia. I snagged the guide for New Vegas, and it was nigh impossible to navigate. An iPad and the Fallout Wiki made things a thousand times easier to find exactly what you were looking for.

Not to say there aren't still places where strategy guides excel though. Comparing different Armor / Weapons is much easier in a book form, and a huge gloriously detailed world map folded up in the back is amazing. I'll probably still collect them for big games, but they're not likely to end up as ragged as FF VIII's.

[Rantz]

I had an Ocarina of Time strategy guide once, but it magically disappeared.

[Sephex]

I have old Nintendo Power guides, tons of FF guides and various other guides that edczxcvbnm gave me while he worked at GameStop because they were zeroed out. In my early years, I obviously used them as there was no internet whenever I got stuck. As I got older, I mainly collected them for fun. However, Is stopped doing that altogether because the layout of strategy guides got more and more boring as time went on.

[Hollycat]

I have ffx, crisis core, spyro the dragon, kingdom hearts 2.

I like having physical copies.

[ReloadPsi]

FF7, Yoshi's Island and Donkey Kong Country 2. I only follow a guide on my second or later run through a game, and no sooner. There's no fun in being told how to beat the game on your first try.

[Alpha2099]

I've got a good number of strategy guides. I have one for Legend of Dragoon, several Pokemon versions, Crash Bandicoot 3, Warcraft II, the list goes on.

[Quindiana Jones]

I have more than six but less than twelve. Or maybe more than twelve...

I like to play games then buy a strategy guide if I think I'll be keeping the game forever and ever. I can't be arsed with online guides. I hate reading things through a screen.

[Alpha2099]

Oh, I almost forgot. Years ago I bought the strategy guide for FFXII. It was only 20 bucks, and I loved how comprehensive it was. Trouble is, I never actually finished the game. As I recall, I may not have even got out of the Tomb of Raithwall. Oh well, it's still a cool guide.

[Jinx]

I don't really care to use them, because I always have a hard time beating monsters the way the guide tells you. And as soon as I do it my way, blamo.

Also, Rantz, what kind of noob needs a guide for OoT? I just beat that game in 3 days after not playing it for 5 years.

[Miss Lady Shelly]

The only ones i have are Conquering Zelda, Wizardry (NES), 2 others from Nintendo (NES) i can't remember for the life of me what they are called, Donkey Kong Country 1,2,3 (SNES), and New Super Mario Bros (DS).

[Rantz]

Also, Rantz, what kind of noob needs a guide for OoT? I just beat that game in 3 days after not playing it for 5 years.

I got it after beating it several times.