CHEATERS!!!

[Maya]

I´m just curious to know

[Shlup]

I don't hesitate to use a guide just 'cause I'm usually more interested in furthering the story than challenging gameplay.

[Roogle]

I don't want to miss anything, so I always use a walkthrough. If it's a fun game and I think that I can stand playing it again right afterwards, I'll probably wait until the next game to get everything. If it's a Suikoden game, I'll always use a walkthrough.

[-*-Rikku-*-]

Yeh i use a walkthrough all the time, i'm really someone who don't wants to miss some things that are important.

[Ultima Shadow]

NEVER!

Oh, well... I check a bit in walktroughs sometimes so that I don't miss anything but ONLY on my second plays.
NEVER on my first play trough a game.

[PearlRose]

Walkthroughs have saved me from lots of headaches when playing. ^^

[Captain Maxx Power]

First time through I wing it and don't use a guide unless I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing. Cheats if I've say forgotten to save it at a certain point and would haveta backtrack a long way. Tips I can't avoid picking up from different people.

[m4tt]

I almost always use a guide. It's just the way I play. I want to get everything I can with as little effort as possible. Maybe when I was younger I'd play through it on my own first, then use a guide the second time. But now I don't really feel like playing games a second time most of the time.

[ShunNakamura]

In FF games I really find no reason to cheat... they are generally easily enough as is.

As for walkthroughs... I tend to try and wing it at first. V, VI and VIII I did a good job on, got just about the whole way through. V I wanted to find out how to kill mr. omega cause he annoyed me(I don't like leaving anything alive in my trail). VI well.... I couldn't find locke(my fav) so I used a guide to find him... although getting through Pheonix cave annoyed the crap out of me.... but I refused to get a guide. VIII got to a certian point.... couldn't find out why i was missing so many GF's or why I was so weak.... basically I needed to find a guide on drawing... then I kicked myself... so simple.... I must not have paid attention during the tutorials.

IV and VII I used guides fairly early on. For IV I couldn't get passed the Dark elf thing(wait is that fairly early on??? whatever) and VII I got to Rocket town(or near it) and was wondering why I didn't have Yuffie yet(I knew she was a playable character from all the hype surronding the game). So I looked that up... got ticked, restarted and played through with her.... very glad I did... she is my fav character in the FF series.

So basically yes I use guides but I try to play through spoiler free first... it is only when I miss something I really want and know it is in game(Yuffie) or run into some problems I don't think I should have that I use them.

Games I have NOT used walkthroughs on untill I wanted to see if I got everything are Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, Parasite Eve(this one was a pain, but it was one of the first console games I played... before I even knew they had guides online yes taht was at least 5 years ago if not more(I was 12 in other words), And I am currently playing Xenogears(the non-demo) without a FAQ or guide. The Xenogears demo was fun... so I just have to play hte real one.

[ShivaBlizzard8]

Ii always use a guide when playing because I don't want to miss anything - its nearly impossible to find all the hidden things in an FF game, since a lot of the time you don't even know what you're looking for. I don't really consider it cheating - I still have to do everything myself. Having others beat bosses for you or using game hacks or codes - now that's cheating.

[Samuraid]

Hardly ever...but sometimes.

[Sepho]

I own guides for FF's 7, 8, 9, and Origins (and I used to own one for Chronicles), but received the majority of them as gifts, and almost always after I had played through the game several times. I mostly use them for reference when helping others, though, and I used to run an FF site for which they were very helpful.

I have nothing against the use of walkthroughs if it makes the game more enjoyable. Back when I had limitless amounts of time to play games, I'd just search, and search, and search to figure out where I needed to go before I would resort to looking at a walkthrough. Now, I don't care. I really only have time to enjoy the story these days, so if I get stuck, I'm looking it up, rather than aimlessly wandering around, and trying to figure it out on my own. I remember referring to the Wind Waker guide many times.

[Flamethrower]

I always use walkthroughs. I'm hopeless without them.

[Luc]

The first time through an RPG, I try to not use a strategy guide. If I'm really stuck, and just about ready to give up, I'll just use a guide. Most FF's are really easy though, so I guess this is mainly for the other RPG's that are hard.

[m4tt]

I own guides for VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, FFOrigins, FFAnthologies, FFChronicals and FFTactics. Mostly because when you buy them WITH the game you get a discount.