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Final Fantasy XIII-2 CE Strategy Guide – Why Should I Buy?

January 31, 2012 By Keri Honea 7 Comments

Happy Final Fantasy XIII-2 day! I’m one of the rare few people who loved the first game for pretty much everything and didn’t hesitate in preordering the sequel. Apparently a lot of reviewing sites like this game more than the first, which will probably equal in me hating it. Seems to be the case with everything else, but I’m excited all the same.

If you’re like me and refuse to play a Final Fantasy game without a strategy guide–seriously, I have no interest in playing for hours on end finding every little thing–then I’m sure you’ll make no exception for this strategy guide. However, before you make the plunge in spending an extra $10-20 (depends on where you buy it) for the Collector’s Edition, please read this handy comparison of the two editions. I’m glad I have the Collector’s Edition, just because I love hardback covers, but other than that…I have really nothing to recommend.

Like most CE guides, the inner artwork is slightly different from the regular edition. However, the CEs usually sport the same inner artwork as the paperbacks, including the extra artwork as extra first pages. This one, does not. And after flipping through the CE guide, I have not been able to find the paperback’s inner artwork.

CE front fly page artwork

Paperback front fly page artwork

Furthermore, the back fly pages artwork of the CE has the same image. That was fairly disappointing as well.

There is an extra artwork section in the back of the CE that includes behind-the-scenes interviews with developers. It’s a nice touch for die-hard fans.

At the end of the day, I can’t fully recommend the Collector’s Edition over the paperback, unless you are a true collector who loves hardbacks and included ribbon bookmarks. In other words, insane, like me.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations Strategy Guide Collector’s Edition: Why Should I Buy?

November 30, 2011 By Keri Honea 5 Comments

I’m a massive fan of the Assassin’s Creed series, and since I love the artwork so much, I’ve done my best to pick up all Collector’s Editions of the guides from the series. I picked up the latest AC game’s CE guide last night, and I have to say, unless you are a fan of the series to the point of being a collector, I cannot recommend buying this guide over the paperback edition.

Now, the CE has plenty of things that made me happy to see. For starters, I absolutely love the Subject 16 style of the front and back covers.

Assassin's Creed Revelations Collector's Edition strategy guide front cover

Assassin's Creed Revelations Collector's Edition strategy guide back cover

Zoom in on this one...you'll like the text.

The guide also has additional artwork in the back from Altair’s past, and the artwork depicts scenes that have never been disclosed in any of Altair’s games.

Assassin's Creed Revelations Collector's Edition strategy guide bonus

If you’re a multiplayer fanatic for the series, then you will like the other tangible bonus, which are individual, sturdy maps of all 9 multiplayer arenas. I only have five shown here, but there are four others on the backs of what are displayed here.

Lastly, there is a free code for Prima Games‘ interactive map, much like what they had for their Skyrim Collector’s Edition Guide. However, I have no idea where this code is. It was fairly easy to find in the Skyrim book, but I haven’t seen it in any of the usual places. I submitted a question to the publisher on Twitter, so as soon as I hear a response, I will update here. UPDATE: The good people at Prima Games pointed me toward the hidden code. If I had bothered to look at the back of every multiplayer map, I would have seen it plain as day.

So as you can see, there’s nothing really that enticing for anyone except diehard fans. After receiving the Uncharted 3 Collector’s Edition strategy guide, I’m a little disappointed in this one. I know I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes high for another OST inclusion, but I hoped since both guides were written by the same group, the bonuses would have been similar. But that’s okay. I’m still pleased with my purchase.

On a personal note, I took all of these photos with the fancy pants camera my brother-in-law loaned me to play with. Look better, yah?

Skyrim Collector’s Edition Strategy Guide: Why Should I Buy?

November 16, 2011 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

Most likely due to the massive size of the Skyrim strategy guide, the Collector’s Edition doesn’t really offer much more than the paperback edition in terms of extras. The hard cover is gorgeous, no doubt. There are also two cloth bookmarks within, which are perfect for marking where you are in the main story and where you are in sidequests. The only extra content the CE provides is a download code for an interactive map:

The interactive world map includes over 150 location maps covering all 9 Hold cities. Each map shows the locations of every vendor, trainer, skill book, NPC, and unique item in the realm. You can toggle points of interest on and off and zoom in and out.

That said, I have to admit that I highly recommend splurging for the Collector’s Edition.

Why?

The guide is so massive to begin with, you might as well spend the extra $10 for a nice cover and included bookmarks. You may never use the interactive map, but you’ll never regret buying the beautiful hard cover. For a game like this, I can’t see a reason to NOT buy the CE over the paperback. If I could have gotten my hands on a copy of the Dark Souls strategy guides, I’m sure I would have recommended the same.

Modern Warfare 3 Collector’s Edition Strategy Guide: Why Should I Buy?

November 14, 2011 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

Without a doubt, Modern Warfare 3 is one of the most anticipated games this year, pretty much like how it is every year. This game will sell more copies in the first week than most games could hope to over the course of a year, simply because for many people, this is one of two games they buy all year. It’s well known for having both a fun campaign and multiplayer counterparts, but it’s just as well known that most people play it strictly for the multiplayer. As such, BradyGames’ Collector Edition of their strategy guide was pretty much strictly for multiplayer fans.

This CE has a nicer cover and additional artwork in the fly pages, but that is all the extra it contains in its innards. It has an extra tactical guide for the multiplayer maps that stands up on its own for easy map viewing. It’s spiral-bound too, allowing for easy flipping through as you switch from map to map. On the back of each map are the different versions of each map for all six types of multiplayer matches you can play, as shown below.

Overall, I was a little disappointed. I like to see more come with a Collector’s Edition than just a flip chart for multiplayer maps. Extra artwork, developer interviews, a portion of the game soundtrack, even an attached cloth bookmark…any one of those things.

Unless you just really dig the multiplayer to the point you could see yourself constantly using these maps, it’s hard to recommend shelling out the extra money for the Collector’s Edition. If you’re looking into getting the guide for MW3, pick up the paperback, Signature Series edition instead.

Uncharted 3 Strategy Guide Collector’s Edition: Why Should I Buy?

November 1, 2011 By Keri Honea 1 Comment

The Collector’s Edition of the Uncharted 3 strategy guide has EXACTLY what I want to see in Collector’s Editions. I’m not a fan of a CE of a guide just being a hardcover edition and that’s it. Yes, the hardcover makes them ten times prettier, but give me something else. Give collectors something that’s worth the extra $15. In this case, Piggyback Interactive and Prima Games definitely have.

Yes, that is a copy of the Uncharted 3 soundtrack tucked loosely in the front cover. As a hardcore video game soundtrack nut, I nearly squealed out loud when I found it.

The last image is a photo of one of the examples in the character gallery in the back. Uncharted 3 is already so graphically beautiful, so why include extra concept art or anything similar? All the extra artwork we need are artwork samples directly from the game. If you think these photos of Elena are breathtaking, you need to see the rest.

Do those things appeal to you? Then go buy the Collector’s Edition, pronto. I am more than pleased with these extras, as they definitely fit what a collector of the Uncharted series would want to collect.

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