Strategy Guide Reviews

A Strategy Guide for your Strategy Guides

The Corner of Randomness: Are Strategy Guides Still Relevant

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No spoiler?!?! HELL YEAH!

No spoilers?!?! HELL YEAH!

As I sit at my computer desk, I look to my right and see a small bookcase of happiness. My photo printer is there. A collection of various LEGO things rest on the shelf below the printer. Then I have two shelves of strategy guides, video game art books, and a few harmonicas just because.  It’s a small collection of things that make me happy.

As the Internet has grown, I’ve read several discussions over the years asking if strategy guides are even relevant anymore. Let’s face it, back in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, we depended on strategy guides to help us get through big games like Final Fantasy and Super Metroid. I remember having envy over the Nintendo Power collection that my best friend had. Those days of waiting on a new map to show up in our favorite video game magazine are still something I fondly remember.

Yet, the Internet is a thing now. I’ve watched a lot of gaming magazines close up shop. Nintendo Power is now a thing for collectors. Now we have YouTube, GameFAQs, and Google to help us when we get stuck in a game. If it had not been for me pestering Keri so long ago, I’d have never rekindled my love of holding a strategy guide while I played a game.

In this world of a quick Google search, are strategy guides even worth your money now? Well, yeah, they are. While Prima is pretty much the only player left standing in this world of how-to videos and streamers showing you how to play, Prima has found a way to remain relevant.

First, let’s get the easy stuff out of the way. Maps and screenshots in a strategy guide are so much easier to read than what some random person typed up as a description on that random guide on GameFAQs. Strategy guides also include a section dedicated on teaching you the general basics of the game, thus making it a great starting point for new gamers. Some strategy guides include artwork from the game while other might include an interview with developers. Some strategy guides are just beautiful works of art that you want to proudly display…I’m looking at you, StarCraft and Dark Souls guides.

Outside of those factors, strategy guides now give you more than just a book to flip through. For instance, Prima includes codes for their digital guides with their physical guide. This means they can easily update the digital guide as patches come out that change various game mechanics. *cough Diablo 3* Some guides include codes for PS4 themes that are exclusive to that guide. Heck, the Fallout 4 guide included artwork worthy of being framed. So yeah, strategy guide companies are learning they need to include more niceties to compete in a world dominated by videos and search engines.

Yet, there is one thing a strategy guide can provide that the Internet can’t. That feature is an always on feature. It might seem trivial, but it’s come to my aid a time or two. I have a data cap, so I have to watch how much Internet I consume or pay a stupid fee. I also live in an area where my Internet goes away from time to time thanks to the amount of users on my trunk. When I lose my connection to the hate filled world of the Nets, I can always trust my strategy guide to be right there. Willing to help me and get me from point a to point b. It might not always be the best directions, but it’s often enough information for me to do what needs doing.

Strategy guides also don’t really troll you. I’ve watched some videos where the person playing just totally trolls their viewers into killing a valuable NPC, or they don’t even accomplish the task you’re needing help with. On the flipside, some strategy guides include great tips and tricks right from the professional players of the game you’re playing. I’d rather have the pro tips than some troll messing up my game.

Yes, in a digital world, there is something nice about having a physical book to get you through a game. It’s lovely to sit down at breakfast and flip through pages full of charts, graphs, and numbers so that when I return to the game, I am more prepared to battle that next boss. I admit that it is even nice to feel like a kid again when a new guide arrives at my door for review. Yeah, strategy guides still have a role to play in our ever connected world. At least until VR can prove it is a thing that is going to stay. Then yeah, guides might be a bit of a buzz kill.

Monday Gaming Diary: Letting Go of Games

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Letting-go-QuotesI had to go BACK to Houston this weekend for my niece’s baptism. I’m of course happy to attend and support my sister and her daughter and all that, but let’s be clear, that drive is a beating. It’s nothing like what Chris does all the time, but by yourself with two kids, it’s a damn beating. To help stave off driving fatigue, I made sure my iPod had plenty of podcasts so I could focus on people talking instead of letting music lull me to sleep.

One such podcast I listened to was the latest iteration of KindaFunnyGames’ PS I Love You XOXO podcast, and one thing that Colin Moriarty said reached out to me and carved out a section of my soul. It’s something I and I know several gamers wrestle with, and it’s the concept of finishing a game no matter what. Colin says that if he doesn’t want to play a game anymore, he just stops, no matter where he is in it. One of the kings of Platinum Trophies, Colin Moriarty, stops playing a game as soon as it becomes a chore to him. Actually, his statement shouldn’t surprise me, as he said awhile back that he isn’t as into Platinum Trophies as he once was, but I wasn’t aware of how deep his sentiment had gone.

I always feel this pressing need to finish every game I start, to the point I get downright depressed and laden with guilt if I rage quit. Right now, I’m at a halt with Just Cause 3, because I reached a point where I’m just not twitchy enough to complete one mission in the main campaign. I have over half of the collectibles obtained and all of the provinces have been completely liberated, but I’m two missions away from completing the story. I feel like a loser. I may beg the husband to help me finish it. Maybe I’ll keep practicing and see how close I am each time to finishing it, only to watch the assholes destroy one of the sets of cargo I’m trying to protect. Which is frustrating, stress-inducing, and doesn’t make me happy. This was on my mind when I happened to listen to this podcast.

When Colin talked about how games shouldn’t be a chore, how they should be fun or at the very least, entertaining, it was like he was talking to me. He went on to say that if a game becomes a beating or you simply lose interest, it’s time to walk away. There are so many games out there, you don’t have to finish this one. In fact, you don’t have to go through all or any of the games in your backlog. You know by looking at a game if you’re going to finish it, and he’s absolutely right. The games you know you won’t finish, cull them from your log somehow, or at the very least, put them on the very bottom of the priority list to be culled later.

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to not jump on every bit of hyped game. Just because everyone else says something is amazeballs doesn’t mean I’m going to think it is. Case in point was Batman: Arkham Asylum. I knew I’d hate that game, but I let pressure and hype get to me and I bought it, thankfully at less than $20. Sure enough, I got frustrated and rage quit, and it was an immense relief to let that game go. Every time I played it, I was tense and nervous and generally did not have a good time. Why would I continue playing it? Just so I could be one of the cool kids? That’s ridiculous. It may be a great game, but it’s not a great game FOR ME.

Not only do I need to stop buying games I know I won’t like (so thankful I listened to my gut with both The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Knight), but I need to let go of games I’m playing. Take Just Cause 3, for example. I’m so close to the end. It’s killing me more than it should that I’m not finishing it. But at the same time, when I realized I wasn’t having any fun and I dreaded every time I fired the game up at the thought of trying that one mission again, I felt immense relief and a release at letting it go.

It’s time to let go. Gaming is supposed to be fun or entertaining, not stressful. I don’t play games for the challenge, even though I know so many others do. I need to recognize that more often in myself and move on when I stop having fun, as well as continue to resist games I know I won’t like.

It’s okay to not like everything everyone else likes. It’s okay to like what everyone else dislikes. It’s okay to stop having fun. It’s not okay to force yourself to have fun.

Monday Gaming Diary: Remember that game I never Platinumed?

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D3x1_Bounty_rewards_UI_AD_023Do you remember that game I’ve worked on for over a year to Platinum? I was supposed to get it done this year, and yet I have not. Yeah I bet you don’t, because why would you? You don’t care. Chris doesn’t care. I care for some reason only God knows. I have one trophy left to obtain in Diablo III for PlayStation 3, which requires a collection of $5 million gold. While upgrading my PlayStation 4 hard drive to something more acceptable, it dawned on me that I should work on this while my PlayStation 4 downloads ALL THE THINGS.

I moved the PS4 back upstairs, moved the PS3 downstairs (my God the PS3 is a beast, isn’t it?) and commenced the playing of Diablo III. It’s sad how much I have this game memorized, and I can’t believe I’m still playing it, but dammit I’ve come this far, I’m going to get this Platinum Trophy!

No, I did not get the trophy. However, when I started on Saturday, I had 4 million gold. As of last night, I had 4.5 million. If I focus, and ignore everything else I need to do, I will get this done this week. Once that Trophy ding happens, I will drop the controller like a hot potato, do a dance, and then export my characters out of the game to bring into Reaper of Souls. It would be so nice to play an Act I’m not as familiar with.

The plan was to Platinum in that version of D3 as well, but now I’m not so sure. It requires a lot of rift running. Or is it questing? I don’t remember, only that I have to do 500 of rifts or quests. Maybe I have time to harvest 5 million gold. But 500 quests? Pshaw.

Oh who am I kidding, I know I’ll at least try. I’m pathetic like that when it comes to Platinum Trophies. I’m no Greg Miller or Colin Moriarity, but if I feel like I can get the Trophies, I’ll always try to make time for them.

In case you were dying to know, I won’t give the same treatment to Just Cause 3. I’m so terrible at the Challenges, that’s not an option. I just want to watch Medici burn…

Monday Gaming Diary: No gaming whilst on vacation

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Minecraft Card Game

So this is fun…

I packed up the PlayStation 4 and two games for my little trip down to see family for Christmas. I figured I would be wide awake at night since my parents go to bed at 9 and I’d have plenty of time to play some Just Cause 3. I didn’t count on the youngest staying up as late with me, the little devil. So while the PS4 was unpacked and set up, it was never turned on once. That was a little disappointing, but it’s not like I wasted any of that time.

Of course I spent time with family, but when everyone else went to bed and it was just me and the toddler, I read every night. I had a goal this year to read two books a month, and as of Sunday morning, I have read 23 books. It’s possible I could get that last book read in three days, but I’m not counting on it. With New Year’s and the kids still home from school, I’m not positive I’ll have all that time to start and finish a new book unless it’s 75 pages long. Maybe I should look for a novella and cheat a little.

The eldest and I did play a card game he received for Christmas, and we had a lot of fun playing it! It’s a Minecraft card game, and it’s one of those with rather complicated rules, but once you get it, it’s so easy to play. I kept trying to get him to play some more, but he got too frustrated after losing twice in a row. The kid doesn’t understand that it’s about crafting as much as you can to get points. Instead, he only wants to mine for rare materials and craft with those. As a result, by the time he collects enough to craft two items, I’m only two points away from winning. Naturally he’s so stubborn, he won’t listen to my advice. Surely he’ll learn eventually, right? I really want to play again.

We’ll be back on the road on Monday for home, where I plan to use the time the office is closed to wrap up a strategy guide or 10. I hope everyone had an awesome holiday! It’s hard to believe 2016 is just this week!

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