I picked up one of these guides at the store and the other one arrived in the mail from an eBay seller. Can you guess which is which?
I’m actually quite pleased with the condition of the Castlevania guide. The only damage it has is what you see on the front cover. The first thing I did after examining the damage (and leaving positive feedback on eBay) was check and see everything I missed in the very beginning. I missed so much, I’m seriously thinking of starting over from scratch. I missed a major weapon, I now know how to reach certain areas I couldn’t figure out earlier, and I missed equipment and what I’m sure are important items. No wonder I had such a hard time with the first boss.
Okay, thinking over. I’m going to start over. Then I can hear about man being “a miserable pile of secrets” again.
The second guide was totally a spur of the moment purchase. I received $35 in gift certificates from Best Buy, and since I had errands to do in a Best Buy vicinity, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to stop on in and pick up something that ISN’T on my Amazon wishlist. My birthday is Saturday, so I don’t want to accidentally spoil a possible gift. It hit me that Transformers War for Cybertron released last month, and the trailer had me laughing so hard I knew I would own it eventually. I took the very last copy Best Buy had of both the game and the guide, the latter of which I had to dig for in their shoddy organization for guides. I found it tucked between a NIER guide and a guide for Spirit Tracks, so I assume someone tucked it back there for later. Too bad, sucker! MINE MINE MINE!!
I have no idea when I’m going to get to this game, but I’m just so happy to have it. And the guide. I’ve got the touch…I’ve got the powwwwwwer!
MattG and Hembree will probably hate me for this as this game was a challenge to me, but I found and bought the original strategy guide to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. They may think this takes away from their gaming challenge, but I don’t think so. If anything else, it will make me work harder, and my beloved strategy guide site can get a piece of the gaming challenge action outside of my brief stint with Portal.
I’m about to start (tonight, hopefully!) Paper Mario RPG: The Thousand Year Door and work on that guide in between sessions of spell casting with LEGO characters. Castlevania is on my PSP, so when I travel, that will be the game of choice. I have quite a bit of travel scheduled for the next couple of months so both the challenge and the guide review will come along…eventually.
At least I can enjoy this time before September, when Birth by Sleep releases. I may disappear for quite some time then. Ah, who am I kidding. I’ll always be online to yap my trap about my gaming opinions.
That’s one reason why you all love me, right?
Retro Guides by .
I’ve been silent over here for awhile, and the reason why is because I am struggling to get into Mass Effect. I’m struggling to the point that I have to talk myself into playing the game, and well, that hasn’t happened for a couple of weeks due to the greatness that is LEGO Harry Potter. The game is so silly and has such great, thought-provoking puzzles that it’s taken precedence. I really hoped there was a published guide available so I wouldn’t neglect this site, but apparently the LEGO games no longer warrant needing guides. Oh well.
I think the reason why I’m having trouble with ME is that I’ve played a lot of somewhat serious games lately. Yes, Bayonetta really wasn’t that serious story-wise, but the gameplay was quite serious. Then there was Heavy Rain and Final Fantasy XIII from earlier this year. I need a break from the serious stories.
What better way to break away than to play LEGO Harry Potter? You can’t really die, there are always fun techniques to try out, there are tons of whimsical puzzles, and you cast spells. It’s the perfect silly, non-serious game.
But game challenger MattG has also pointed out that Paper Mario RPG: The Thousand Year Door is also just as fun whimsical. So yes, I will be able to review a guide and play a fun game at the same time.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that games with serious stories aren’t fun. I’ve just had my fill of them for the time being and crave a bit of silliness.
Gaming Adventures by .
Look at what arrived in my mailbox today? An incredibly beat up and very used copy of The Official Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door Strategy Guide. Now that I have the proper guide, I can get cracking on the second gaming challenge from MattG. This couldn’t come soon enough, as Mass Effect has really not been able to capture my attention as of yet. I’m 5 hours in, so I expect to be a little intrigued by this point, but apparently it takes awhile for the story to warm up. At least, that’s what everyone keeps telling me. But that’s a story for a different day.
Since MattG loaned me his personal copy of this game, I really feel the need to start on that before I finish up anything else. Or I can switch back and forth. Platforming RPG one day, and sci-fi RPG the next. Sounds like a good week of gaming, if you ask me.
However, my excitement of receiving this guide quickly dissipated when I turned my back on it for a minute, and turned around to see my son ripping one page out.
At least the page tore cleanly.
by Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PSP, a new installment of Metal Gear from Hideo Kojima and his team at Kojima Productions, is familiar and yet different at the same time. Peace Walker packs the feel and core gameplay of a home console Metal Gear Solid title while adding a whole bunch of new features, such as a new type of mission structure, base management and recruitment, weapons level-ups and Metal Gear assembly. Regardless of whether you’re a tried-and-true hardcore MGS veteran who needs a little help or a newcomer who has never played a stealth game before, there are more than enough details in the Prima Essential Guide for MGS: Peace Walker to not only help you get through the game, but enough to score high ranks on every mission as well.
Peace Walker itself has some new and different features for a MGS game, so perhaps it’s fitting that Peace Walker has a new and different type of strategy guide. The PW guide is spiral-bound and has pages laid out horizontally instead of vertically. This way, gamers can keep the guide close to them and have easy access to flipping guide pages while playing Peace Walker on your PSP. The design decision is a great one; while playing Peace Walker, I had no problem easily navigating the pages back and forth. More handheld game guides should come with this type of design or at least use spiral binding.
The pages in the guide are good quality and are accompanied by detailed maps and good quality screenshots. The maps used in the guide are literally the exact same ones as used in the pause menu, except the guide’s maps are detailed with enemy positions and all prisoner/item locations. Not only that, but there’s a red line on every map detailing the exact route that you should take. Alongside the guide’s advice, practically everything you can expect from any given mission is spelled out for you, including cut scene prompts.
When I say missions are spelled out for you, that means every mission is spelled out. All of the missions have loadouts, stealth suit selections, and detailed advice. Most missions also include marked maps with the same amount of detail as in the story missions. No matter what mission you’re on, this guide has the best and most direct advice possible.
The loadout and stealth suit advice is spot-on for the most part, although there were a few missions where I preferred using the Sneaking Suit, rather than the recommended suit in the guide for my non-lethal playthrough. This could be my preference, though; I’m sure that the guide chose the suit with the highest camouflage index, which is most likely, given the accuracy of the rest of the guide.
The Peace Walker guide gets bonus points for: 1) having detailed advice on how to access the “true” ending, which I didn’t even know existed prior to receiving the guide and 2) having mostly non-lethal playthrough advice in the story mission, with advice that advocates the use of the Mk. 22 (tranquilizer gun) and other non-lethal takedowns. Metal Gear fans who choose not to engage in a non-lethal playthrough won’t have any problems, either; engaging in a non-lethal playthrough is more challenging than a lethal playthrough.
For those who will be investing time and effort in Mother Base (Outer Heaven), the guide has detailed Quick Reference tables that show you when and under what circumstances weapons and gadgets upgrades will become available, in addition to how many points you’ll need to start making them. The guide also has details on how to build the absolute best Metal Gear possible, which is important to the story and to certain other Ops available in the game.
The Prima Essential Guide for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker spells out everything and gives enough detail where even gamers inexperienced in MGS can get all the way through any mission they want to play. Combined with its unique handheld gaming-friendly design, the MGS: Peace Walker guide is a fantastic resource for those who need any degree of help getting through Big Boss’ latest adventure.
The Prima Essential Guide for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker earns a 5/5.
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