Strategy Guide Reviews

A Strategy Guide for your Strategy Guides

Unboxing the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Strategy Guide Platinum Edition

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When I preordered the Platinum Edition of the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey strategy guide, I had no idea that it wouldn’t release for nearly a month after the game. I can’t tell you how often I was tempted to buy the regular Collector’s Edition of the guide during this waiting period. I had to force myself to stop playing the game too, so I could at least use the guide while playing. You have no idea how hard that was.

But hey, it’s finally here, and I didn’t open it until I was in front of the camera. Feast your eyes on everything the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Platinum Edition strategy guide contains. Decide for yourself if it was worth the price. For me personally, it definitely was. Now I can see if the content is worth the price as well!

Stay tuned for a review in the coming weeks. I’m stoked to have this now before I finished the game!

Why Buy the Shadow of the Tomb Raider Collector’s Edition Strategy Guide?

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Okay well, asking why buy the Shadow of the Tomb Raider Collector’s Edition is essentially the same thing as asking why buy the guide at all. According to Amazon and Prima Games, for that matter, the only edition available is the Official Collector’s Companion Tome.

A companion tome. Seriously? What’s up with the fancy names, Prima Games? Did you know if you search for “Tomb Raider guide” in Amazon, this guide doesn’t show up at all? Maybe a simple “Collector’s Edition Strategy Guide” would serve better?

Regardless, this is the only edition we have, and mine arrived yesterday evening. Here’s what’s inside!

What do you think? Worth a purchase?

Gaming Diary: Oh hey, I’m working on a game with a strategy guide!

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*blows dust off website*

Testing, testing, is this thing still working? Has it really been SILENT here since April? Where did the time go? Everything just feels so silent. Not sure if it’s because we’ve been a little down on the strategy guide scene or what (Seriously, another strategy guide for Harvest Moon? Not Vampyr or Detroit: Become Human?), but I’ve been trying to turn the lull into something more positive.

You know, I do have a stupid crazy backlog when it comes to strategy guides. So I thought, why not finally sit down with one, like Dragon Quest Builders?

Dragon Quest Builders

Holy crap that game is addictive. I’m sort of seeing why my sons love Minecraft so much, but unlike Minecraft, there’s actually a story to behold here. My villagers are pretty darn demanding though. Sure, I’m the legendary builder, but does that mean I’m here to fulfill everyone’s whims? Build me my own room. Change the design of the blacksmith’s workshop because I don’t like it. Don’t you think you should build me a private kitchenette? Gah I just want to build a pretty garden without the monsters messing it up. Then I’ll get around to seeing why no one remembers how to create things. Is that too much to ask?

The strategy guide, however, is a mixed bag to say the least. I’ll have to get more into that later. I’m having quite a few frustrations with it, but I’m still fairly early in the game. So, we’ll see.

In the meantime, E3 is this week! I’m stoked for Doom Eternal, more Wolfenstein, Gears 5, and Dragon Quest XI. Ubisoft is this afternoon, Sony this evening, and Nintendo tomorrow morning. Hopefully I’ll learn of some guide announcements as well!

In Pursuit of Platinum: I Achieved Another Double Platinum Weekend

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Recently, I reviewed a point-and-click adventure and an otome visual novel for PlayStation Lifestyle, both of which had relatively easy Platinums to obtain. For Code Realize: ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ this achievement was far easier than the other, simply because with visual novels, you often only have to replay on speed dial and get the various endings. The Raven Remastered was a bit more of a beating, because I was missing one little thing to get the last trophy I needed.

On thing I really liked about The Raven was that it lulled you into a false sense of predictability. The dialogue might have been weak and rather forced at times, the voice acting merely okay, and the controls were just annoying, but the story really brought it all together. Some of the puzzles were nearly Double Fine-ridiculous as well, especially in the beginning. As the game rolled on, the puzzles weren’t as convoluted, or maybe it was because the game had beaten their brand of puzzles into my head. What I was missing to get my beloved Platinum trophy was the Master Detective trophy for the third chapter. I got the Master Detective trophies with ease for the other chapters, so it boggled my mind how I didn’t get it for the third. What puzzles could I have missed? I played it twice more and still nothing.

I finally had to look it up, since this was a remaster older guides for the original exist. I was a bit livid with what I missed. Because I didn’t go back in one spot and tell someone I solved the puzzle, I didn’t get full credit for solving it. That is all it took. But hey, it’s done, right?

the raven remastered

While I say Bouquet of Rainbows was easier to obtain, it took far longer. Getting each suitor’s “true ending” are various trophies. Some are easy to get. Others take some planning with dialogue responses. Sometimes what you think is the best response to getting max affinity from a character does the exact opposite. Save points at dialogue choice moments are crucial. At one point, I had three or four different save points regarding ONE suitor’s path. At least the game shows you which choices you already made. The problem is that some of those choices are correct, and others are not. For a couple of suitors, I had trouble figuring out what responses would make them happy.

At least a lot of the stories were super sweet, so I didn’t mind replaying certain portions. I didn’t love all of them, but I’ve treasured a few to the point I will actually load up the game to rewatch certain scenes. I am a sucker for love stories. I do the same with Odinsphere Leifthrasir as well.

Code: Realize ～Bouquet of Rainbows～

Now that I have both of those games out of my system, I think the next platinum pursuit will come from a LEGO game…

Gaming Diary: Flowing with Flower

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Flower credits

I played Flower years ago when it first released. It was my first real experience with the SIXAXIS controller, and I wasn’t much of a fan. However, I liked how soothing and calm the game was (until level 5, ya jerks) so I completed it. I think I scored two trophies, the two that are given to you after the first level, and I put it away, never to play again. However, it didn’t stop me from picking up the game when it re-released on Vita. If anything, I just wanted to support thatgamecompany for their unique perspective on games. I loved Journey, and I thought maybe I’d give Flower another shot.

Fast forward a couple of years later, and I decided this weekend was going to be that shot. I enjoyed it far better this time around than I did back then (call it gaming maturity, if you will), and I have 95% of the trophies. I’m not going for that last one, because fuck playing level 5 completely unscathed. I was so close and then an electrical wire crashed down on me in the canyon. Whoever decided to make that a trophy, you suck.

The coolest moment while playing, however, did not come from securing that last trophy I was seeking. It instead came from the credits level, where you bloom flowers to release credits names to the stars. I thought this was an awesome way to do credits back in 2009, and while I still think so, I found something far more intriguing.

One of the developers is the son of a friend of mine. My eldest son goes to school with this friend’s twin sons. The twins are my son’s best friends, so we see this family a lot. It helps they live really close by. One of the first times I visited their house, they asked me what I did for a living, and at the time, video games was my main job (back in those Action Trip days). The dad said, “Oh hey my eldest son works in video games. Have you heard of thatgamecompany?” I was pretty much, “Uh, yeah, I love that studio.”This past summer, they hosted a July 4th party and this game developing son was there, Nicholas Clark. He and I talked a bit about the industry, how awesome Austin Wintory is, and what he was doing now, since he had just left thatgamecompany.

When I picked up Flower over the weekend, I knew there was a chance I’d see his name in the credits, even though I had no idea when he started there. He might have only worked on Journey, for all I knew. Nope, there was his name, right by Jenova Chen’s flower!

Nicholas Clark

I had my, “How cool!” moment and then continued on to release more names into the stars. It’s when I rolled into the Special Thanks section I nearly fell over in shock. Evidently Nicholas’s special thanks went to his sisters and brothers, who are listed in the top image. Alex and Jonathan are my son’s best friends.

I replayed the level almost immediately, called for my son to come watch, and then took as many screenshots as possible. How awesome is that a developer thanked his brothers and sisters? His dad was not in the credits, but knowing Jim the way I do, he wouldn’t have wanted to be mentioned in a video game. Alex and Jonathan, though? If they don’t know already, they’ll be thrilled.

So hey, if you get the urge to replay Flower, maybe these names will mean a little something to you now too.

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