Legend of Zelda Collector’s Edition Boxed Set Unboxing

November 26, 2013 By Keri Honea 2 Comments

As soon as I heard Prima Games announce they were selling a boxed set of collector’s editions of The Legend of Zelda strategy guides, I was all over that preorder faster than either of my next-gen consoles. While I may own a couple of these strategy guides already, I had zero problems purchasing them again with a few collector’s editions that had never been released before.

Without further adieu, here is what you can find in this monstrous boxed set of boxed sets.

I’m going to need more reinforced bookshelves.

Pokémon X and Y: The Official Kalos Region Strategy Guide Review

November 26, 2013 By Chris Nitz Leave a Comment

Pokémon is one of those franchises that seems to have been around for as long as I have been a gamer. I can still remember the first time I played Pokémon Blue on my Game Boy. Fast forward several years and I find I am reliving that same excitement again with Pokémon X. Sadly, where the game invokes fond memories of years past, the strategy guide sparks emotions of irritation.

As I have not played a game in this series in something ridiculous like ten years, I spent a bit of time with the beginning of the guide. Here the basics of the various capture balls, training, new touchscreen controls, and battle systems are covered. There is quite a bit of info here that helped ease me back into this fantastic world.

Wait, where is the phone directory of Pokémon?

Once I was comfortable that I had a grasp of the complexities that this game contains, it was off to embark on the main story and this is where the guide excels. Those who are looking for an optimal route to becoming a Pokémon Master will find a generous amount of maps thanks to the dust jacket, two-page spread in the beginning of the book, and a pull out map. This does make navigation fairly painless and gave me no excuse as to not know where I was going next.

I found the various routes and cities detailed enough to tackle with a bit of planning. The different Trainer Battles were certainly easier as their Pokémon were clearly on display so I knew what to expect before deciding to take on a fight. It almost felt like cheating as I was able to plan, and level a specific party composition to conquer the more difficult duels.

The road to masterhood fills the bulk of this guide with the last few pages going to things such as super training, photo points, restaurants, and berry farming. These give players some good info for when they need a break and want to tackle a few of the other aspects of the game.

Now to touch on the things that really drag this guide down, such as a complete lack of post-game content. Those who realize there is more to this game than just becoming the supreme master will need to turn to other sources for things like collecting unique Pokémon, special unlocks, or mystical places to explore. As these tend to make up a fair amount of time, their lack from this guide is fairly disappointing.

One of the hardest bits to swallow is the complete lack of a Pokédex. Players wanting that info, along with the missing post game substance mentioned above, need to acquire a different guide. While I can appreciate these guides being under $20 USD/guide, that equates to having to lug around two books while traveling, navigating two books while playing, and twice the inconvenience. To me, this is just unacceptable when you realize that prior Pokémon guides included this information. This is further compounded by the lack of information on legendary or special Pokémon or any real meat to Mega Evolutions. As these all play a role in even just the basic experience of the game, this lack of content is hard to swallow.

Well, that makes life a tad easier.

Finally, a minor nitpick is that this is a smaller form factor guide. While I appreciate this as it packs into bags a lot easier, it also means the book does not lay flat while I was using it. This made for some awkward yoga positions while playing and trying to use the guide. When you’re playing in four to six hour stretches, this becomes a major drag.

This guide is great for the main story walkthrough and getting old players, like myself, caught up and primed for hundreds of hours of gameplay. However, this book is only half completed and needs a secondary purchase to be truly useful, and is thus receiving a rating to reflect this blatant money grab. Maybe we will see a better, more comprehensive, guide come out down the road, but as of right now, skip this and use Dr. Google to get ya through this complex game.

SGR Rating 2/5

Author: The Pokémon Company International
Publisher: Prima Games
Editions Available: Hardcover and Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Strategy Guide Review

November 13, 2013 By Keri Honea 1 Comment

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is one of the most fun LEGO games I have honestly ever played. The hub worlds are massive, the dialogue is hysterical, and the gameplay is so fun, you kind of forget how repetitive the game really is. The co-op is awful, but that’s a story for another day. Since it is a LEGO game, it has a metric ton of collectibles, in both the main game and in the hubs. As such, the strategy guide needs to be heavily detailed and accommodating for all of these collectibles, as playing the game in of itself is not that difficult. I am very sad to say that the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes strategy guide has too many typos, errors, missing information, and completely inaccurate information for it to be recommended one hundred percent.

LEGO guides in the past have always been set up with a main walkthrough for the story that contains information on finding all of the collectibles, even on freeplay. In this manner, everything about the main campaign is all in one place, so if you miss something in the story, you can easily find it as you run through again. Also, if you get stuck in free play, you see the story walkthrough hints to remind you how to get through a certain area once more. The LEGO Marvel Super Heroes strategy guide breaks these strategies up. The story is in one section, and the free play is in another. The strategy guide could have been so much more concise if it was all bunched together. Plus, it would have prevented additional page flipping as I had to remind myself what random thing I needed to build/trigger that I wasn’t seeing this time around.

Missing A5…

In regards to finding these collectibles, the maps provided are almost more important than the information on how to get a mini-kit or rescue Stan Lee. A few maps had collectibles swapped from their actual locations, and one map left off one mini-kit location completely. It wouldn’t have been as big of a deal if this particular mini-kit didn’t require players to destroy a certain number of items in the level in order to unlock the mini-kit. The locations of each of these breakable items were not listed in the written portion, so the maps have to be reliable for these. At least in this one situation, the breakable items were easy to find, but that’s still no excuse.

Then sadly, there is all of the inaccurate information. Some of the stud requirements for achieving True Believer status were completely wrong (sometimes by 10,000 studs), the Achievement/Trophy list has Trophies that do not exist and is missing Trophies that do exist, and there were a large number of typos in the walkthroughs and even in the design of the guide itself (two level 12s).

When it comes to hunting down those gold bricks, character tokens, red bricks, and wayward Stan Lees in Peril in the hubs, the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes strategy guide is spot on. Thank God it is too, because I do not have the patience to hunt down all 200 of the missions you need to unlock everything else. Plus, Stan Lee moves constantly. You save him in one area, he gets in trouble somewhere else. The strategy guide paints a nice path of where Stan Lee will go next. The missions in the hubs are crafted in the same way; you must complete a particular one to unlock another. With the strategy guide, I was able to plot out exactly where I was going to go with both the missions and Stan Lee so I could get through it in the most efficient manner possible.

The back half of the strategy guide is for the handheld version of the game, which is a completely different game in both format and gameplay. Each level is built upon a set of challenges, some of which you can do the first time through and some are better saved for free play. The strategy guide provided fantastic tips for beating each challenge, and it pretty much saved my Vita from being tossed across the room. The handheld version is definitely not as intuitive as the console, and I never would have gotten past the second level without it.

This is the only checklist I didn’t mark up.

The best part(s) of the strategy guide by far are the checklists. The checklists provide the best way to track exactly which gold bricks you have unlocked in the hubs, which Stan Lees have been saved, which character tokens you have found, etc., etc., etc. I normally hate writing in books, but you better believe I used my pen to mark off the gold bricks I found with each hub excursion.

The LEGO Marvel Super Heroes strategy guide is a mixed bag, and I really tossed and turned over what rating to give it. The inaccurate information disappoints me greatly, but it’s not enough to completely mar everything else the strategy guide does really well. Just be prepared to use the code inside to unlock the e-guide from Prima Games so you can get a bit more accurate info when needed.

SGR Rating: 3.5/5

Authors: Michael Knight and Nick von Esmarch
Publisher: Prima Games
Editions Available: Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

Battlefield 4 Strategy Guide Giveaway

October 30, 2013 By Keri Honea 1 Comment

In back to back weeks, have two huge multiplayer shooters releasing. Oh sure, they have single-player campaigns, but we all know why people really play these games–to shoot their friends and strangers. In the case of Battlefield, it’s to knife a newbie in the back. (I’m not bitter about that steep learning curve or anything.) If you’re not as bitter as I am and are planning to play Battlefield 4, then why not win the Battlefield 4 strategy guide to have an up on camping veterans?

The Battlefield 4 FreeGuideFriday is open up to both Twitter followers and Facebook page fans. You still have to be a US resident, though. If you happen to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, then you can enter on both places have two entries! Winner will be picked on Friday and will be notified via DM on Twitter or private message on Facebook.

In addition, if you want extra entries, all you have to do is donate $10 to my Extra Life fundraiser and you’ll get an additional entry per $10 you donate. Also, every $10 you donate will also put you in the running for a strategy guide of your choice! Just be sure to leave a little SGR comment about which guide you’re wanting so I know which contest to enter you in or if you want to be in both!

Ready to read the rules before entering? They’re a little different this week, so I’ll know if you’re reading!

Twitter Contest Entries

Follow both @strategyreviews AND @primagames on Twitter.
Tweet what you want the Battlefield 4 strategy guide from @primagames to do for you. This can be something as simple as find all of the collectibles or how to best customize a soldier for your type of multiplayer gameplay. Be sure to mention both @strategyreviews and the #FreeGuideFriday hashtag.

Facebook Contest Entries

On the SGR Facebook page post announcing this contest (hint: it has a link to this article), leave a comment saying what you want the Battlefield 4 strategy guide to do to help you play the game.
In your comment, be sure to end the comment with the #FreeGuideFriday hashtag (for whatever reason FB has hashtags now).

One winner will be selected randomly from both pools of entries, so if you’re a fan/follower of both accounts, then definitely enter in both places! Winner will be chosen around noonish on Friday, so be on the lookout on both Twitter and Facebook!

Prima Games Wants to Push eGuides on the Consoles Themselves

October 24, 2013 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

Follow Fernando Bueno on Twitter @R3D_STAR

If you follow Prima Games on Twitter or Facebook, then you know they’ve been gearing up for a huge website relaunch that will go into effect today. In an interview with GameIndustry.biz, EIC Fernando Bueno talked about how Prima has had great success with their eGuides as well as their print, and their goal is make their eGuides as accessible as possible, including making them accessible on the next-gen consoles themselves.

“The eGuides, launching with the new site, will be a truly premium experience – whether on tablet, desktop, phone, or a next-gen console like the Xbox One,” Bueno said.

“By making all of PrimaGames.com responsive even on console browsers, we’re making sure that gamers on the next-gen (including PS4) won’t have to entirely disrupt their gaming session to get answers. We’ll be there the moment they have questions,” he emphasized.

So how crazy convenient would that be? Microsoft has already said that you can run two apps at once with the Xbox One, so you can Skype while playing a game. How easy would it be to run a strategy guide in the second window to instantly look up something?

However, Bueno did stress that the print guides I personally know and love will not be going away with this transition.

“We’re very hard at work at creating some of the best print guides we’ve made in years. I think that one of the things our customers have come to expect from Prima is that we’ll continue to create beautiful, highly collectible hardcover books like our Ni No Kuni guide earlier this year. I think that’s a fantastic example of how we’re integrating all aspects of our business and not carving anything up,” he said. “We don’t see our business as print books, apps, and the website – we see it as one unified user experience where a customer can buy a print product and count on the digital experience to get them through every boss battle.”

Of course I’m thrilled that print isn’t going away, but I can’t wait to see this type of eGuide in action either. Will you still be into books as I am, or do you prefer the digital format?

SGR Rating 2/5

SGR Rating: 3.5/5

Twitter Contest Entries

Facebook Contest Entries

Friends of SGR

Top Posts & Pages