[General Discussion] Playing with a walkthrough

Side Quest FAQs are win. Esp. in long games with only one ending; unless the game is OMG FAVORITE GAME EVER, I'm probably gonna use a SideQuest faq. umm. Oh, and to understand Disgaea, I used the hell out of a class faq. I didn't really need help with stages. Maybe understanding requirements for opening different endings, but yeah. And when I finally DO sit down and play Vagrant Story, I'm probably gonna do it with a guide at hand, because jesus christ I need help understanding the weapon system.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I am a real big newbie when it comes to playing RPG's, so I did get the guide with every game I purchased, I found it quite enlightening.

But then again I don't explore, even if I had the time.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

i have never bought a guide book for anthing other than an rpg and even then i only use it after completing the game at least once.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

i don't like using game guides..i prefer to find the secrets by myself that's fun, and you have more from your game

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'm playing Jak & Daxter right now, and am about 65% of the way done. I haven't used a guide yet, but I'm going to because I'm stuck on a part. I find that with action/adventure games, using a FAQ is difficult because it breaks up the action so much. For example, I used a FAQ for Silent Hill 3. I would never have made it through without one, especially during the "burning walls" part toward the end. However, it made the game super slow going. However, on RPG's I almost always do use a FAQ now, because if you miss one stupid secret 20 hours in it can keep you from getting the good ending after playing for 80 hours. Do I really want to waste 80 hours because I didn't bother to look in a FAQ for some stupid secret?

I truly feel that in this day and age, there should be NO secret in an RPG or any other game, for that matter, that you can't backtrack to complete later in the game. That's a pointless function of the game from a by-gone era...

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

For the most part, I try not to use walkthroughs unless I'm having a lot of problems with some part in a game. I really don't like to use them to solve puzzles or other things in a game that make me think, since I think that doing so sucks a lot of the fun out of games...Super Metroid would be kind of boring if you didn't have to think about how to use your equipment to get through all of the traps and stuff in it.

That said, I do pull up guides if I'm having trouble with menial, boring parts of games, like RPG boss battles. Even then, I usually stick it out unless I'm getting utterly creamed for some reason.

FELIPE NO

I usually buy the guide if I buy the game new, but that's usually for the art...

As far as walkthroughs are concerned, I don't use them except in the following circumstances (each presented with an example at work):

1. "It's been three days and I can't solve this freaking puzzle!" (Alundra)
2. "I've fought hard to get this close to 100% and one or two missing widgets are all I need found!" (Super Mario Sunshine...blue coins, how I hate you)
3. "Good Lord this game is terrible. I'm just going to pull up the script FAQ and see how it ends." (...Eh, why start a fight? I'm sure everyone's played a game that made them feel this way)

Anything else is strictly post-game.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I don't play too many games (I already waste more than enough time on other things), but when playing Morrowind or Oblivion I usually check with a walkthrough or the UESP to check whether the dungeon I'm in holds some quest-related items I'd better get or not (I know the games sometimes glitch with certain items, or a quest may end if I lose the item, etc). In the case of some tough enemies (e.g. Umbra) I checked some FAQ to see whether it was worth it killing this thing for his armour, especially since I was still at Lvl 16 and was getting my ass kicked by him.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I usually use walkthroughs on the games I play. Usually I get them from Game FAQs or from IGN, but I did buy guides for Final Fantasy X and X-2. I get easily frustrated, so I don't like having to hunt down every little secret or spend hours solving puzzles. I'm also paranoid that I'll overlook something in an RPG, especially, that will force me to backtrack or even replay the game later I don't mind getting spoiled about what's coming up; I'd rather just play through the games quickly so I don't get hung up on parts that break the flow of the games.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

My way with guides (or gamefaqs) is to first beat a new RPG or other game without a guide.

The 2nd time I beat it, in the future, I like using it for walkthroughs of 'who to talk to next in the storyline so I can hurry up and keep going with the game'. Sometimes I get stuck like that and need a guide to help.

Using a guide to help fight bosses, etc, is pointless because I'd rather have the challenge.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Rarely will I use a walkthrough, although lately I have been more often than I probably should. I like being able to go through the game without knowing what's coming up next and to solve the puzzles myself, unless it's something annoying that I should be able to figure out on my own but can't for whatever reason (for example, it took me a while to solve that "charge up your spin attack to cut all the ropes at once" puzzle in Wind Waker because I NEVER needed to actually use it throughout the course of the game up until then and completely forgot about it). Otherwise it sometimes takes the fun and satisfaction out of completing something by yourself.

However some games practically REQUIRE walkthroughs. I have no idea how anyone could've gotten through Ecco: Defender of the Future without constantly refering to a guide of some kind. Even when you know what to do, the puzzles are STILL difficult, so how they expect people to figure out the solution and execute it without any help is beyond me. So for those, I'll use a walkthrough when I need to, since some of those games are actually MORE fun when you know how to get through the sections and can concetrate on actually doing it.

Lately I've needed to use guides to get by a specific part in a game, but unfortunately I find that once I start using one I get "hooked" and start looking ahead in it, because I'll develop this obsession to need to get 100% of everything from then on after I read about all these cool things that the guide says you can get, even the useless little secrets that don't actually help you.

I don't mind using a guide to find secret things afterwords though. Like I used the walkthrough for Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando almost religiously after I beat the game to get all the bolts, upgrades, and skill points. Some of that stuff I never would've gotten had I simply looked for it, so I didn't mind using a guide for it. Oh, and I also prefer NOT having games that "lock you out" of doing something once you reach a certain point. RPGs are notorious for that, like if you miss some super useful item in the first dungeon you're totally screwed out of it forever or something. As long as you can go back and get pretty much anything, I prefer not using a walkthrough unless I'm super-stuck or already beat the game.

Oh, and 95% of the walkthroughs I get from Gamefaqs. The only ones I buy are the ones I get for like $2-$3 on clearance, and even then it's mostly for the art and such.

Most amazing jew boots

i don't use guides unless i get stuck or tired of something and just want to get past it.

How ya doing, buddy?

I tend to play a game through without using a guide on GameFAQs. If I really think it's worth the time to get 100% out of the game, I'll follow one of the guides on there.

I, like yourself, don't really like to have secrets revealed until I come across them, but I can see their point in not having a lot of free time to play, but then again I would take my time to play a game and not rush it.

I don't understand why anybody would spend £30 on a game only to beat it in a few days, seems like a waste of money when you could simply rent it out.

Most amazing jew boots

I think there`s nothing horrible playing with a walkthrough except of the case when you print it and do everything looking at it (especially non-boss combat tactics). It appeared that I played some games a long time after reading a solution so I didn`t need to think how to kill Painkiller bosses for example.

But knowing the way doesn`t give you an EDGE - even if you know the method you have to realize it yourself (I don`t think you ask your relatives to pass the hard place for you ? ) and depends on your skills in gaming. For example, beating Painkiller - BOOH last boss. It` s your own challenge to survive long enough to kill Alastor with both your sacrifices and enemy attacks.

And I had some cases myself when I couldn`t find some switch for a long time and had to use a walkthrough.

FELIPE NO

2006? What on Earth were you searching for when you found this thread?

As a rule, we tend to discourage people from reviving threads that are more than 3 months old unless it's something like a new game announcement thread and there's been a new development.

Who knows though, this might get some attention after all this time so I'll leave it open. Just bear the 3 month rule in mind in future please mate.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Life +1

I've only ever used guides to:
1. Help me obtain 100% (RPGs)
2. Understand game mechanics better, thus making me a "pro" for show (racing/fighting/LG games etc.)
3. Locate Easter Eggs and/or other trivial oddities (adventure/sandbox games)
4. Provide clarification as to where my next destination is, why I'm going there etc. (old-school RPGs)
5. See how others do it... Especially when, say, I defeat a boss using a most retarded method (SotC and others of its ilk that allow for numerous solutions within the confines of the game engine).

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Torte

2. Understand game mechanics better, thus making me a "pro" for show (racing/fighting/LG games etc.)

This is usually what does it for me. For Gran Turismo or Initial D (word) there is almost no way I'd spend the time figuring out on my own how to play the game. Those games are painfully tedious when you are bad. Reading about where to take the curve at what speed and with which car set-up makes it so much easier to get to an enjoyable skill level.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I always thought basic racing theory was fairly common knowledge. Do you really need a walkthrough to tell you to brake in a straight line then accelerate smoothly through the apex of a corner, shifting down to slow you faster and keep the revs up? Beyond that, all you need to do is learn the brakeing distances for the corners and that'll be different for every car amd no walkthrough will tell you that. I suppose you could use one for the car setup but it's all explained in-game as you go.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

For Initial D everything is in japanese, so the walkthroughs are pretty handy with helping figure out the effect of each new part you are getting, as well as whether or not you should go for them (they are awarded after a certain number of credits).

As far as racing theory in general, I guess you are right that most games are similar and common sense, but I have just picked up the genre as a whole a couple of months back, and walkthroughs were very helpful in getting familiar, especially in GT4.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Heh, I can see how one might need a guide trying to play something in foreign, fair enough.

Gran Turismo is actually a pretty great game to learn racing theory on as the physics model is pretty spot on and the other cars never leave their racing line, meaning provided you pass them in sensible spots, they won't go out of their way to fuck you up afterwards (Like they would in GRID or something similar). Also, the various driving aids and being able to fuck about with the suspension settings means you can make even the most powerful MR cars pretty driveable, so long as you don't brake whilst turning.

I think the thing that's always put me off Gran Turismo FAQs was that I was looking at one to see what races unlocked what cars when the first one came out (Oh look, there is a point to them after all, silly Shin) and noticed the author suggesting to people they stay on the X button and tap the brake button round corners. Given the game shipped with the first analogue controller and given that the analogue sticks allow you to properly control smooth acceleration, pressing buttons at all, other than to change gear in GT is retarded. That's the ultimate problem with gameplay guides rather than factual guides. If it's just telling you where to go in an rpg then you can't go far wrong. If it's telling you how to control a racing game then it could be teaching you a stupid way to do it or at any rate, a way you might not get the best results from.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I don't play with walkthroughs, but for big enough games, I'll spend the second playthrough with my laptop on my knee, looking up items, characters and places of interest in a dedicated wiki. Fallout's is excellent.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

It depends on the game for me as well. Now, I usually DO buy guides with games (like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, etc) but that's mainly for artwork and I stay away from the walkthrough bits... unless I really need it. (Or I want to get stuff like Ultimate Weapons, etc)

For games that I get stuck in (or I just didn't buy the guide or anything for whatever reason) I'll head to Gamefaqs. Second playthrough and all though, I use either strategy guides and/or gamefaqs to find what I've missed.

How ya doing, buddy?

Like a lot of people here I tend to only use the walkthroughs if I'm truly stuck, and it also depends the type of game. If it's a puzzle game or a puzzle in a game I have a lot more fun consulting another mind (whoever's around) than going to an FAQ, but if it's something in an RPG like "I can't figure out who to talk to" or I've tried a boss battle 13 times to no avail I have no shame in checking an FAQ. I'm not hardcore enough to hide the fact that I'm simply sucking at a certain section of the game .

I remember Dad used to buy me the walkthroughs to RPGs he bought me for christmas or whatever, and I always TRIED to avoid them but having the guide right there tempted me to look at it a lot more for some reason.

Also, if I'm playing an RPG a second time for completion I'll definitely use a guide so I don't miss anything.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I rarely play games more than once these days. As a result, if I've spent a long time playing a game and got what I think is most of the stuff out of it on my own (RPGs this is), I'll normally look over a guide or more likely these days through a message board just to see if there's anything special I'm on track for at which point I'll use the guide sparingly to get it.

Case in point, I spent a shit load of hours on Last Remnant up to what I assumed was the end of disk 1 then checked to see if you got anything for doing all the side quests, found out there was an achievement, checked which ones were missable then played the rest of the game by myself, only making sure I spoke to Duke Ghor between each bas battle. I also spent a bit of time reading message boards towards the end of the game but they were mainly full of idiots asking obvious questions over and over again.

I find myself going to message boards more than FAQs these days as you get discussion about optimal character builds and so on. I often disagree with what people say but it's interesting to see how other people approach a game and people do occaisionally discover useful tricks (like Solo-Rush grinding in Last Remnant). Most games though I'm not bothered enough about getting everything to care about a guide, I'll just have a look if I think I've done most of the stuff so might as well do it all.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I prefer to not use walkthroughs at all that could spoil the game for me. The only time I really use walkthroughs is when I get stuck and I can't figure out a solution on my own.

There's nowhere I can't reach.