Dark Souls II Strategy Guide Review

May 13, 2014 By Chris Nitz Leave a Comment

My love for the Dark Souls franchise runs deep. The amount of hours I have logged farming materials while racking up countless deaths all while getting lost in the beauty of these games is ridiculous. Thankfully, Future press is here to make life easier in this brutal world. They rocked the first Dark Souls strategy guide, and they repeated that greatness with their Dark Souls II strategy guide.

The strategy guide starts with the game basics, and this is not something that even veterans of the series will want to skip. Dark Souls II brought in some new mechanics as well as modifying some of the more basic controls. This section goes into great depth about stats, classes, online play, and even some New Game+ planning tips. Seriously, this does make character development that much easier, especially for those players looking to dive into NG+.

So simple and yet so useful!

From here, the guide goes into the walkthrough of the game. This area will inundate readers with a massive amount of information and handy tips. Each new area begins with a difficulty rating and suggested level. This alone stopped me from exploring too deep into places I had no right in going with my noob destroyer of evil. There are also maps, enemies, and important items referenced right at the start. It makes navigation, both in the game and in the strategy guide, much easier.

Once I dove into the actual coverage for each zone, I found a copious amount of information. Numbers on the various maps correlate to paragraphs explaining tactics for handling certain enemies or cluing me into world events or ambushes setup around the next corner. While Future Press could not save my terrible dodging or parrying skills, they managed to help keep my frustration levels to a minimum, which probably led to fewer broken controllers.

One big change from the first Dark Souls guide is that enemies now show up at the end of their corresponding location as opposed to a big section in the back. Every baddie has a brief bit of history followed by strategies on how to kill it. Rounding this out is a table that shows hit points, souls, item drops, and if the enemy will respawn or not. While I like a big index of enemies, this new layout feels more organic and makes for a lot less page flipping when researching new areas.

For me, the best part of the walkthrough is the boss battle details. These are far more than just the basic watch for this and attack here. Every boss battle contains a crazy amount of in-depth details of the battle. All the attacks the boss can make comes with a blurb describing what it does, how to notice it, how to avoid it, and what might come next. Wrapping all this up is an overall strategy that helps sum up the one to two pages of information and general tactics on how to approach this difficult impasses. This is something I studied long and hard before attempting these brutal fights.

Up next are the chapters detailing equipment, magic, and items. I spent a good chunk of time just reading about various weapons and how to obtain them or what the benefits were from upgrading. Every weapon and armor piece comes with a small description, stats, repair costs, and what materials players need to reinforce it. It also includes a handy picture so readers know what the item looks like. There are many things to find and use in this game, so be prepared to spend a good amount of time just trying to find the right armor and weapon combo to make life that much easier.

SO MUCH INFO!!

Closing out the strategy guide is the extras area. This is not just where to find Easter Eggs or a listing of achievements. No, this area dives into the lore or NPCs, invaders and how to vanquish them, trophies/achievements and how to actually obtain the harder ones, and a great section on the Covenants. For players looking for game history, this is where you will find it.

As was the case with the original Dark Souls guide, this is not something that is going to hold your hand and tell you exactly what to do next. This game is insanely open for exploration, and so the strategy guide is more like an encyclopedia. I found the index was my best friend as I hopped from area to area to grind souls or farm items. I must also caution that this is not something one quickly glances at for tips. I would sit at a bonfire, read what I needed, and then jump into the game. Consider this something you use to study for an exam, not something you quickly glance at and put back down.

I cannot recommend this guide enough. Yes, this does require readers to spend some time digesting the vast amount of information that it provides. However, that time spent researching will easily make life that much better, aaaand probably save a broken controller or two. Now, I have some titanite to go farm.

SGR Rating 4.5/5

Authors: Bruce Byrne, Franz von Eisenheim, Lucas Hofstatter, Marcus Sanders (ENB), Moe Murad, Usman Niazi, Wil Murray
Publisher: Future Press
Distributor: BradyGames
Editions Available: Collector’s Edition
Acquired via Distributor

One-a-Wednesday: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

April 9, 2014 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

With this week’s strategy guide of the week, I wanted to show off my absolute favorite strategy guide from Future Press, the collector’s edition of the Deus Ex: Human Revolution strategy guide.

We all know how much I suck at and loathe stealth, something I’ve gone on and on about to almost nausea-inducing proportions. If it wasn’t for this strategy guide, I know I wouldn’t have loved this game half as much as I did, let alone complete it.

The hard cover for this one was quite stunning as well.

Dark Souls 2 Strategy Guide Confirmed!

January 21, 2014 By Keri Honea 5 Comments

Future Press has been sadly quiet for a long time now. I was honestly afraid they weren’t in the strategy guide business anymore, but a lovely Facebook update put all those fears to rest. In fact, they announced that they are responsible for the sequel to one of the most popular strategy guides in existence, the Dark Souls 2 strategy guide.

We’re finally able to announce the official guide to Dark Souls II. We’ve been working, and dying, for a while now, trying to make it even better than the first one. That may be a tall order, but we’ve enlisted the help of top Dark Souls players Marcus (aka EpicNameBro) and Franz (aka A German Spy) in our quest to uncover everything. We’re almost there!

If you are thinking of picking up this guide at all, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to preorder it. The strategy guides for the first Dark Souls sold out within days of the game’s release, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this guide sold out before the game released.

Soul Calibur V Strategy Guide Review

June 12, 2012 By Chris Nitz Leave a Comment

Soul Calibur is a series near and dear to my heart due to spending countless hours playing the first game on my Dreamcast with a college buddy of mine. We once sat there kicking the snot out of one another for three hours straight, and we loved every minute of it. Fast forward a few years and Soul Calibur V improves on the original formula while bringing back that hook that was so addicting all those years ago.

Future Press must also love this series because they made a small bible to help players become the master of duck, dodge, and stab. Their Soul Calibur V strategy guide is friggin impressive to say the least. The amount of work that went into this book shows the moment you peel the cellophane off and crack the spine.

So much detail!

The first three chapters are dedicated to how to play the game and the abundance of mechanics contained within it. That is 91 pages of learning about things like the difference between a crouching throw and air throw, character fighting styles, stance transitions, just guard, evasion, and a bounty of other useful information. I took my time with these sections because they helped me develop strategies for the different characters I enjoy playing. These also helped me acquire a deeper understanding of just how complex the fighting system in this game has become over the last few years.

The Game Modes section was particularly useful due to it breaking down strategies for each character. Following this up is a key attack blurb that pretty much defines the character. The coverage of the Story Mode provides a good idea of how to handle every chapter without chucking the controller across the room in frustration. Heck, even the Character Creation section goes into great depth on how something as simple as stickers work and how players can utilize them to further customize player made characters. Seriously, prepare to spend a great deal of time in the first 100 pages of this guide!

The VS Play chapter is where most will spend their time, as this is where Future Press dives into each character in massive detail. It even begins with a few pages on how to use the section as well as defining the terms used throughout. Each character starts with a small blurb about who they are, overview of their fighting styles and where they excel versus where they are weakest. From there each attack/stance/throw/combo gets the meticulous detail treatment. Anyone that wants to know if the Hwu Dye maneuver is worth executing for Leixia will find plenty of insight in this guide.

Besides all the info on moves, Future Press tackles both offensive and defensive strategies. Following this is brief blurbs on how to fight against the character, like letting readers know that Leixia struggles in mid-long range. This is a beautiful piece of info for those that spend any amount of time battling other players online or want to tackle the game at higher difficulty settings. Finally, each character section is followed up with a chart that shows every command and its damage, impact, hit, and property. This is a no frills chart that makes for a fantastic quick reference guide.

Two of the most useful pages in the guide

The last portion of the guide goes to all the extras of the game. Unlockable characters, achievements/trophies, character profiles, equipment and titles all find a home here. The unlocked characters are not as detailed as those of the main game are, but there is still a nice amount of info in here.

The guide does falter in a few places however. One of the biggest letdowns is that the cover art for this book is simple yet elegant, but that does not carry through the rest of the guide. There are a few pieces of art scattered about the pages, but this feels more like a textbook than something dedicated to a video game. Where other guides bring in elements of the game to help make it feel as though the guide is part of the game, this feels more like something one would use to cram before an 8AM exam. It is a bit of a lost opportunity to show off some of the fine artwork this series has.

Continuing with that textbook feel, this is not a light reading type of guide. This is going to be something that gamers sit down with, read, digest, try out the newly acquired info, and come back to in order to verify various aspects of the digested knowledge. Let’s face it, 480 pages of combos, blocks, and moves is a lot to dig into and make proficient use of. You are warned now.

Despite a lack of continuity between guide and game, along with a massive amount of reading, this sets a high standard for fighting game strategy guides. The lack of artwork is forgivable when one realizes useful items such as a quick reference chart of moves replace the missing eye candy. It also looks damn good sitting on a coffee table. Anyone new to the Soul Calibur franchise need this book, veterans will find it rather useful too.

SGR Rating 4/5

Publisher: Future Press
Editions Available: Hardcover
Acquired via Publisher

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Strategy Guide Review

May 24, 2012 By Keri Honea 2 Comments

If you’ve played Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning for five minutes after the prologue, then you’re well aware of how massively huge this game is. You literally cannot take two or three steps without some NPC asking for help. Even if you have no interest in sidequesting your heart out, you may take part in the Faction quests. It’s insane and overwhelming, especially to someone like me who can’t resist sidequests. What’s even more overwhelming is the fact that you as a player can completely forge your character’s destiny. Want to be a mage? No problem. Have you changed your mind? No problem! Want to be good? You can. Want to be evil? You can do that too. The world of Amalur is at your whim, and it’s really up to you to determine how you will play. And really, this is the dichotomy that the strategy guide for Reckoning has to face. While it does its best with guiding players through the mire of sidequests and main missions, it kind of feels like it “gives up” when it comes to effectively providing strategies for the boss fights.

The Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning strategy guide does do one thing very well, and that is how it organizes the overwhelming mass that is Amalur. The walkthroughs are broken up into three sections: Area Guide, Main Quests, and Faction Quests. This layout could be good or bad, depending on the player. If you decide to do everything at once, then you’ll have a lot of flipping back and forth. For example, if you’re traveling toward the next point in the Main Quest and run into a sidequest or six, and you drop what you’re doing to immediately focus on these quests, you’re going to give your fingers a workout. Combine a Main Quest with a Faction Quest and sidequests…you get the idea.

Can't ask for a better page layout than this.

However, if you take things a bit at a time, you’ll really see the perfection in this guide layout. For instance, if you choose to join a Faction and focus just on those quests, then you can fast travel to any area you unlocked while performing those quests and use the Area Guide portion to complete all sidequests in that area. This method is far more efficient, and it honestly helps the game become less overwhelming as well as distracting. My biggest problem with the game was that I would get so sidetracked by so many quests that I would forget what I was doing in the main storyline.

It helps that the page layouts for each of the walkthrough sections were absolutely flawless as well. I really can’t ask for anything better when it comes to page design for strategy guides. Maps that are well marked with easy-to-find legends? Check. Screenshots that accurately depict what the written portion is saying? Check. Written walkthrough is broken up in clearly defined sections that easy to discern your character’s progress? Check. For the latter, this guide went one step further. If you can see from the scan above, each section is labeled with a number and reference to a particular map. From there, the user can pick out exactly where they are on the map that is conveniently placed above or near the written content. I was never confused about where I was or where I should be seeing what. It is positively brilliant.

In terms of the strategy guide providing accurate information as to what is going on and what to expect in upcoming battles, it succeeds. In terms of providing strategies for defeating bosses, it lacks. My picking on this isn’t entirely fair, I admit, as the game gives players so much freedom in how they choose their combat and defense. However, I wish the guide had given some direction, such as listing boss weaknesses to particular magic or weaponry. It starts off offering direction in the beginning, which is most likely due to the character having very few powers early on, but then it fizzles out. At least the boss fights are rarely hard, especially if you have plenty of potions at your disposal.

One feature I really, really enjoyed in the book was the History of Amalur section in the back. Over 20 pages spans the 1000-year history of Amalur, complete with mythology and concept art. I love reading the history behind fantasy, so I ate that up with glee.

Overall, I do highly recommend the strategy guide, especially if you are a completionist. The Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning strategy guide literally leaves no stone unturned, whether the stones are sidequests or collectible lore stones. It’s the perfect companion to something as massive as Reckoning. It’s also so pretty on the outside and inside, it makes a damn fine coffee table book.

SGR Rating: 4/5

Authors: Bruce Byrne, Govindpal Karra, Philip Mackenzie, Saurian Dash, and Usman Niazi
Publisher: Future Press
Editions available: Hardcover
Acquired via Publisher

SGR Rating 4.5/5

SGR Rating 4/5

SGR Rating: 4/5

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