How are you supposed to figure everything out?

[Randy]

I think their intent is that the secrets will either be found by other people (even if it's 1 in 100,000 by sheer accident) and then the info will spread. Or you'll end up finding out from the guide.Of course there's some stuff that then stays hidden for years in spite of that, like the sidequest at the end of FF9.

I don't think any of this is a problem. It gives games a realistic feel of depth. It creates an important distinction between a world that's revolving around you as a player and a world that you just happen to be exploring.

A reviewer once said something that really stuck in my head: The greatest fictional worlds are those that feel like they existed long before you were there, and will continue to do so long after you've left.

(P.S go and play FF9)

[Vajrajina]

I can see your points. I can understand that the game wasn't exactly aimed at someone like me who has got a job that takes up half his life, so my patience isn't sufficient. Perhaps you can find all, or most the stuff with a silly amount of trial and error.

BUT

I still don't see how anyone can beat Penance without a guide. If you played the game through completely blind and killed the big bad Penance, please comment on how you did it.

I mean, I've been capturing monsters and grinding Blitzball for days now and I'm still nowhere near beating the guy. The grind it takes to get him is unbelievable, but it's not a dumb grind either! You can't just grind XP until you are level 100 and can challenge him... you need to get the celestials, get all the monsters, grind a ton of AP (or use the AP trick), rare items to customise your armor, then grind the spheres and THEN you can fight Penance.

Perhaps I'm just not nerdy enough,but I don't see anyone figuring all this out by themselves and actually doing it, completely blind.

But please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Rez09]

Can you Yojimbo him? I learned pretty early on that Yojimbo and a lot of luck ($$$) solves most problems in FFX. <.<

[Mirage]

You're not supposed to figure it out. You're supposed to buy the guide.

Of course, that all fell apart when the internet became a thing.

[Wolf Kanno]

You also chatted with your friends about it in the lunch room. I remember trading tips and secrets with friends about some of the classic RPGs.

[Mirage]

i had a binder full of random tips and rumours i had heard, organized by game and how legit they sounded

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I just used the official strategy guides, but I really only had them because I liked looking at the pictures and just owning more things related to FF. You can get enjoyment from the games without the use of guides, and the main stories were easy to get through without a guide, I've always seen that extra stuff more as things that add replay value. If you love the game enough, you'll start trying to explore more of the world on other playthroughs or try new things. With the super bosses it becomes more trial and error maybe of figuring out what works and what doesn't, but they are still possible to beat. We just live where all of this stuff is easily accessible online so there's no reason not to do everything you possibly can on a first play through with a guide unless you really want to experience everything fresh and without help when playing for the first time.

There still is some bulltrout in some games like the chest system in XII where you could miss out on the Zodiac Spear or whatever the weapon was called unless you didn't open specific chests, and there was no way to do that without a guide unless you were lucky or didn't bother with chests most of the game. That's the only instance I can think of off the top of my head where you absolutely need a guide because you can screw that up right from the beginning of the game without any kind of warning.

[theundeadhero]

5
5
11
13

It also helps that these were spread out over time, with years between the games as we grew up, instead of getting to jump from one to the other in succession.

[Mirage]

How old were you while doing this? Such design doesn't seem to be aimed at adults who have day jobs.

I don't really get this argument. School + homework easily takes up as much time as a full time job. Lots of adults don't have less time than they did when they were in school. They just prioritize differently.

[theundeadhero]

I easily spend over 40 hours a week between in-class time and homework.

[Bubba]

I love my FFVII guide. I rarely use it on playthroughs but it is annotated to all hell. Corrections, boss strategies, enemy skill locations. You name it.