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I can't really fix my question in one line.
Anyways here's the question.

Do you like using guide book on RPG games on single player games such as Final Fantasy series on your FIRST TIMe playing, with no or almost no knowledge about the game?

I'm wondering what people might choose. Sometimes you just want to play the game once and you might as well just guide book once.
If you never played the game, you'll miss lots of items/bonuses without guide book. Just admit it, you can't ever get every single secret skills,secret quests, secret items, etc without guide book for most of the games. (Games like Diablo 2 doesn't count .__. even if you play only single player.) because once you pass your chance to get certain items, you can never return to get it. (Like if you leave some items in wob, you can never get it again. If you don't get certain espers in wob and move on to WoR, you can never get it again, etc)

So the downside of not using a guide book is unable to get all the futures of the game. Still I'm sure there are those of you who dare to take the challenge. Do you?

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It used to be that I would use the strategy guide as a reference tool when I got stuck, although I feel that really spoiled my enjoyment of some games. Now I just try to get through as much as a can without a guide, although with the RPGs of today this can be a bit annoying considering there are so many arbitrary sidequests that must be done in order to get the best equipment or skills or whateve (why hello there Tales series). I have no problem with playing with a walkthrough the second time through a game though.

This post has been edited by Zeromus_X on 1st July 2007 05:38

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Generally no now, but I used them a lot back when I was younger and didn't get the games as much, like my first time though FFVII (my first FF) and I couldn't beat the Gi Nattack or whatever it was called. I also used one for FFX-2 in order to get 100% because that is seriously impossible without a guide book.

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"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

Well the only guide book I own is FF VIII. And yes, I used it for the whole way through, and whenever I think about replaying I do. But the boss strategies helped a ton as well, same with knowing what boss to draw from and when to do so.

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Quote (Zeromus_X @ 30th June 2007 23:37)

It used to be that I would use the strategy guide as a reference tool when I got stuck, although I feel that really spoiled my enjoyment of some games.

That's a lot of my answer too!

I only use a guide if I'm so stuck there is 0 advancement in the game. I will consult internet/guides the 2nd time around.

The one exception to that is with pokemon, in which I got the guide as a renewal gift for nintendo power, and I use it expressly for the pokedex in back just to check types. I would never have known that Lucario is Fighting/Steel otherwise. (I knew he was Fighting, but the Steel attribute gives him weakness to fire, an advantage my team has) So it's not about seeing where to go, or what pokemon people have, it's all about elementals.

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i get the strategy guides only for games that i know will be hard or that got godly reviews. so far, i have played only a few games through more than once, and i have the guides for all of them. then, i try to resist reading ahead, and only consult the guide when it is desperately needed. i use them the first time around. i have guides for only a handful of games, but i am glad that i have them.

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

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No guide book on my first playthrough. If I want to re-play it and max it, I'll use it.

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Shoot, I didn't understand the question and hit the "yes" button. I thought you meant the instruction book. Well, my answer is supposed to be "no" as I don't own any guide books. I like struggling through the game and trying to figure everything out myself first, if I get really stuck I read a walkthrough on the internet.

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I don't like to use the guides on my first play-through, but I will consult them if I'm really stuck, for example, when you need the key to the Ancients on FFVII. I don't think I would have worked that one out otherwise.

But generally, no, I don't like to, but I have no issues on play-throughs after that.

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In the end, it boils down to two simple choices. Either you do or you don't.

I null-voted. Who needs a detailed guide book when you have the internet? gamespot.com and cheatcc.com (for the guides/hints/walkthroughs, not the actual cheats) help me tremendously when I get stuck in a bind.

I only go through guides when I'm in a real tight spot (like against Lady Yunalesca in FFX) or after I had already completed the game for things that I have over-looked.

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I don't use guide books for any of my playthroughs. XD If I'm in a jam or want to find sidequests or something, I turn to this crazy thing we call the internet.

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Nope. I've only had a guide book for Lunar 2 (which was bought because it was really nice and had extras in it). If I'm stuck, I go online.

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Well... same as most of the other people here, i rarely use help on my first playthrough, only if im VERY stuck (were talking hours of trying here), and i don't buy a book - i check hints online.

For a second playthrough im more open-minded, and wouldnt mind consulting online help for areas and stuff that i've missed...

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Two reasons why I don't use guides the first time through: 1. It takes fun a way from the game. 2. I dont have the luxury of using them because they are too damn expensive! On an added note I really only get guide books for curio reasons. I own the strategy guide for the original FF1 because it was only a quarter at a garage sale and I've only looked at it once.

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Ill get guides, mainly if Im stuck, but there some games that guides dont seem worth getting (looks at Kingdom Hearts), because I bought one for one of the games, never used it and sold it.

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Two reasons why I don't use guides the first time through: 1. It takes fun a way from the game. 2. I dont have the luxury of using them because they are too damn expensive! 

well, it does kinda take some of the feeling away from the game, but without it, how would i find all the extra stuff? the sidequests also add a lot of fun to the game (hopefully). i agree that it is kinda hard to drop $20 on a guide book, especially if the game isn't all that difficult. i only own guides for my 3 favorite games: FF7, FF8, and FF10. the FF8 came with the game, and the FF10 was one i somewhat took from my friend in two halves, ratted out, and missing the (mind blank! how can that be?) mountains section.

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

Generally, i play the game first, so i can get a feel for it. i learn the story and get immersed in the plot and characters. i usually explore a lot whenever i can, so the missing treasures thing isnt really a problem for me, unless theres a code involved. after the first playthrough, i use a guide which i normally buy with the game, i focus on the gameplay elements, the side quests, the extras et cetera. i also look at the playability and the replay value of it...the more technical stuff

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

I Only use Guide Books if im stuck and i dont know what to do, Other than that i dont use em.

I sometimes use it on my first playthrough, but that's partly because I like to be able to thoroughly complete a game in just one playthrough--especially long games like RPGs. Usually I'll start out not using it, and then I'll consult it every so often, when I'm confused as to what to do next or if I want to check whether I've gotten all of something that I can't get after I do something else.

I have to admit to using a guide to cheat on a few of the Golden Sun games' puzzles...but it's not like I wouldn't have figured them out if I hadn't taken a bit more time.

I'll also admit that there are times when I regret using a guidebook/walkthrough, especially when dramatic events or unusual battling conditions suddenly appear to make my gameplay experience more fun. Using a walkthrough really does spoil the experience, in most cases.

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Normally, i don't really like referring to guides as i prefer to find things out for myself, it's always a lot more fun, and i won't thumb through a guide unless i'm really hopelessly lost. i played FF7 without a walkthrough the first time and although i did miss out on a number of things, it didn't dampen my game experience one bit, and as a matter of fact, i actually got pretty immersed in the game and there were no distractions to worry about such as the next place or the next boss i was going to encounter as well.

It just seems to provide a more immersive gaming experience overall without a guide, and there's a greater sense of acheivement as well when you figure things out for yourself.

I used to use guides, but now I don't. I'm finding I prefer going through and figuring things out myself. Not to mention that guides tend to have spoilers, and I'm beginning to not like those a lot more than I used to.

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I thoroughly enjoy playing with a guidebook. Sometimes I wish the games were better designed, or the guidebooks better designed, to make it more ideal and include less spoilers. I don't really play games for the challenge, I play for the experience. I do enjoy a good boss fight however.

My ideal playing experience would have all the reference material in the game already provided to the player - the player knows how much a longsword costs, and whether or not its better than a rapier. At the same time, I don't want to know the best strategy for beating Boss X, unless of course Boss X is the only place to obtain Super Weapon Y (rare steal from 2nd form only!!!). That's needlessly frustrating. Square seems to get off on this sick practice however. Thus, I own the guidebook to FFXII.

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Oh sure, I don't have to get kicked in the junk to activate it, but I like it anyway. -- Thief commenting on the difference between Throw and Blue Magic.

No because it destroys the games reply value and difficulty

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I never use guide books. They destroy any sense of accomplishment you might get from the game. I used one for a while on FF8, as someone offered to lend me it. It didn't really increase my enjoyment of the game. But man that game has a lot of secrets, many of which would be pretty much impossible to find.

Generally I don't use the web either, but if you're completely stuck, then it beats, not coming back to the game in question.

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Guidebooks are for preppy wimps. And not all of them provide correct information accurate to the selected game.

Using no guidebooks in games is the best decision, since it makes you feel much smarter and more focused into it. In my opinion, guidebooks are only useful when you feel you've missed somethings after beating a game.

I feel like this is still a relevant question, four years down the line, even though most guidebooks seem to have been replaced by the internet alone - or at least I assume they have, I haven't noticed them in game shops in the numbers they used to have.

Do any of you guys use internet guides (or the old paper ones) for your first time through a game now? I have to say that I do a little more now than I used to. I used to buy the books back when I was much younger more as a companion for the games I was playing and not as much as a guide; nowadays I will rely on them more because I play my games largely to experience them and not for any sense of actual accomplishment. If I get stuck in a game that I really have been wanting to play for a while, I have no shame in checking a guide, because my goal is to experience an entire game, not to get frustrated for hours on end with one small part of it.

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Largely, my answer is yes.

When I first started playing RPG games, I couldn't afford to buy the guides as well - so I didn't use them. If I got really truly stuck, I'd try and find help online, but that was very hit and miss.

As I've had more money, I have bought the guides for FFVII onwards (FF guides, at least). And I use them for first time run throughs (and replays on the earlier titles). As has been said by others before me, however, I tend to use them as a reference tool, rather than a walkthrough. I don't tend to use them to find out how to beat sections unless I've been stuck for days.

I don't read ahead, and I avoid anything relating to spoilers on a first run. But I do use them to try and make sure I don't miss items, because I like my first run to be pretty comprehensive.

Like R51 says above, I also like to buy them as a companion. I've always wanted to be able to buy the FFVII Ultimania - but not understanding a word of Japanese, I'm stuffed. The guidebooks produced often serve as a next best thing for me.

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It should come as no surprise to many people that I'm a fan of guidebooks. I don't care about spoilers, and I don't get any sense of accomplishment out of games anyway.

I have a question for those who are familiar with official, printed guidebooks (since I'm not):

have they changed over the years? Because in theory, they no longer have strategy as a primary selling point. The internet's message boards are almost by definition better at that. Printed media may still offer things that a fan could never offer, such as background info, behind-the-scenes, illustrations, concept art, stuff like that. But that's more Ultimania, and less Strategy Guide.



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Quote (Djibriel @ 27th July 2011 11:31)

It should come as no surprise to many people that I'm a fan of guidebooks. I don't care about spoilers, and I don't get any sense of accomplishment out of games anyway.

This.

Especially if I've heard there's all sorts of bonus crap I'm not likely to stumble upon. I don't generally use it for boss strategies--those I'll figure out on my own (if I've got time, anyway), but for really obscure stuff that I'd never find on my own, yeah, I'll absolutely use it.

Quote (Djibriel @ 27th July 2011 20:31)

I have a question for those who are familiar with official, printed guidebooks (since I'm not):

have they changed over the years? Because in theory, they no longer have strategy as a primary selling point. The internet's message boards are almost by definition better at that. Printed media may still offer things that a fan could never offer, such as background info, behind-the-scenes, illustrations, concept art, stuff like that. But that's more Ultimania, and less Strategy Guide.

I can only really answer you in relation to FF guide books, really.

But in that respect I woul say that yes, they are trying to add more artwork/information akin to what you would find in ultimania. Nowhere near as much, and probably little that isn't available online, but they at least seem to try.

The guidebook for XIII, for example was available in hardback with some really nice artwork and detail.


Also, the official piggyback guidebooks did at one point (FFIX) try to somehow bridge the gap between book and net by using the guidebook to try and force you to go to their website and enter the codes the book gave you to actually access the strategy information. This was mostly in relation to the secrets and bonuses, but was, frankly, a complete pain in the arse.

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