A Strategy Guide for your Strategy Guides
The strategy guide, however, definitely was a perk only Nintendo Power subscribers could pick up.
Crazy thing is I never used it for help with any of those games. It really wasn’t that well done of a guide since they smashed in as much information as possible and neglecting detail. I suppose it would be great for speedrunners, but not for those who are playing these games for the first time.
I’m still happy to have it.
Final Fantasy X was the very first Final Fantasy game I ever played. I know I’ve gone on about my dearth of gaming background from my youth. A friend introduced this game to me when I bought the PlayStation 2 for my husband. I couldn’t get into it then, as turn-based combat isn’t that exciting to someone who is just getting into gaming. A few years later, I bought it and the strategy guide for myself. I spent many, many hours playing it, but I put it on hold to get a small break from it.
That break was about four years ago.
Soon I’ll be starting all over again on a new console, and I’ll check out the sequel as well. I know it’s not as loved, but I’m still really curious. It can’t be worse than Lightning Returns.
I am a huge fan of the inFamous games, and their strategy guides played no small part in developing that love. The next title in the series, inFamous: Second Son releases in just two weeks, and there’s no strategy guide in sight. I’m unbelievably pumped for this game on the PlayStation 4, so this sad fact about a lack of a strategy guide will not deter my purchase. I’m just gravely disappointed and I’m curious why one will not be written, especially since there have been guides for the first two. I’d wonder the same thing if a Final Fantasy game was ever released without out.
I’ve double-checked all announcements from BradyGames, Prima Games, and I’ve scoured both Amazon and Gamestop’s online markets. Nothing. Zip. Nada. This makes me think that European companies such as Piggyback and FuturePress won’t be producing one either, but I need to check with my contacts there first. FuturePress created the first one, so this is a possibility.
A couple of E3s ago, I talked to a few strategy guide companies about their lack of strategy guides for handhelds, and they all said the same thing–many retail stores aren’t interested in selling strategy guides for handhelds. If they can’t get stores to buy their books to sell, they aren’t going to publish a book. I wonder if this is the same case for the new generation of consoles.
Thus far, the only new-gen exclusive game that has a strategy guide is Dead Rising 3. Killzone: Shadow Fall, a game that could have used a strategy guide, particularly near the end, did not have one, even though every Killzone game in the past (save the PSP game) has had one. I don’t have the sales figures in front of me, but it wouldn’t surprise me if strategy guides for Dead Rising 3 didn’t sell well because the game didn’t sell that well. Did that experiment put a hold on future strategy guides for next-gen games?
I understand that with a new generation of consoles, many developers and publishers (of games and guides) don’t want to embrace a console with guns a-blazing on the off-chance that something fails. It’s good financial sense to dip your toes in the water first and find out for yourself if the water is fine. All the same, it makes me sad that games of popular franchises that traditionally have had strategy guides get sacrificed first.
I had honestly hoped that at the very least, since the PlayStation 4 had an amazing console launch that we’d see strategy guides for the PS4-exclusive games.
I completely missed the PlayStation One era of video games, so that means I never played this beloved Castlevania game. About 3-4 years ago, Matt Green of PresstheButtons.com challenged me to a few of his favorite games, and I reciprocated. We only completed one challenge each, but one of the challenges to me was to play Symphony of the Night. After I bought it from the PSN, naturally my next step was to find a copy of the strategy guide. I knew there had to be one.
I only got to the first boss and I determined the game really wasn’t for me. I’d like to try again some day, and at least I have the guide to hold my hand.
Baten Kaitos had a really interesting premise and a fun twist on using cards to dictate your combat strategy, but it’s another I never finished. I think I got to the second disc when I realized I couldn’t take the card system any longer. I have a feeling it had something to do with my milk cards going sour yet again.