Strategy Guides & Online Walkthroughs

[Dagger Dias]

Back in the day, gamers didn't have the luxury of logging onto youtube for a video walkthrough to spoil the entire game for them. In some cases they didn't even have a strategy guide to flip through. In some cases, magazines would provide a few strategies here and there, but for the most part you had to use your brain to figure out the strategies on your own. I for one continue to miss the good old days. I have a large collection of strategy guides games both old and new. I keep them for the novelty, I don't always need them.


So here are some discussion questions:


1. Do you like to use strategy guides or online walkthroughs when playing games? Why or why not?

2. What do you think the impact online walkthroughs would have had if as many of them existed back in the NES and SNES era as there are now?


I personally like to use the guides for a second or third playthrough when I am trying to achieve 100% completion to know that I don't miss anything. I also sometimes spoil ahead of time what the final event of the game will be (through the guide) so that I know when it's time to power my characters up to extremely high levels for an epic final battle. I do like playing without the guides otherwise in a first run with the game because that way I can get through it on my own and have a larger sense of accomplishment. If youtube videos existed back then, the games from that era would have been viewed as less difficult, as everyone would know through the videos how to defeat each boss or solve each puzzle. The absence of online walkthroughs helped build the legacy that old games have left behind.

What do you guys think? Discuss!

 

[Fizzy]

1. Do you like to use strategy guides or online walkthroughs when playing games? Why or why not?

Depends on the game. Occasionally, I will check some guides out if i'm looking for hidden weapons in a game like FFX. I'll also check them out if I hop on Shadow of the Colossus and want to down a Colossus fast. I'll look online for their locations and weak-spots. Other than that, I never really look at guides while playing an actual RPG. It takes away from the feeling of the entire game. I feel much more satisfied with myself is I beat a game legit than with help. I fucking beat Golden Sun with no help. That shit was tough.

2. What do you think the impact online walkthroughs would have had if as many of them existed back in the NES and SNES era as there are now?

Not sure really. Most games on those systems really didn't need the help of guides to beat. Games like Super Mario Bros, and one of the harder ones in battletoads didn't need a walkthrough for them, just skill. It wouldn't be nearly as needed or used as games from this day and age.

 

[Sean Valjean]

1. Do you like to use strategy guides or online walkthroughs when playing games? Why or why not?

On the first playthrough, not at all. Ever. I could be stuck on something for hours but I refuse to look it up. It's personal pride because I want the satisfaction of figuring it out something for myself. If I hit a roadblock, I take a break for a bit and then come back to it later only to solve whatever I was stuck on immediately. Plus I don't want to risk seeing any spoilers.

I will, however, use a walkthrough the second or third playthrough to find secrets and other goodies I missed the first time around.

2. What do you think the impact online walkthroughs would have had if as many of them existed back in the NES and SNES era as there are now?

Probably a lot less broken controllers/TV monitors. Though there were some magazines that had hints and tips like Nintendo Power, methods and secrets for a game were spread primarily through word-of-mouth. The 8-bit era is notorious for the maddening difficulty many of it's game had and to conquer them was the ultimate achievement. While you wouldn't HAVE to look at a guide in order to win, many a gamer would give in and that part of the era would be gone.

And honestly, that made the secrets feel that much more, well, secret-y. For example, take the Reptile secret fight from the original Mortal Kombat. His existence was based on a few people who said they'd seen him but no one knew for sure. There were all sorts of supposed methods to make him appear and only a lucky few managed to uncover him. He had reached almost mythical status. Had the internet been the what it is now back then, that would've been all over the place in a week and everyone would have done it. Sure, it would mean that everyone would get to experience such an awesome character but it wouldn't feel quite as special.

 

[SorgFamily]

I don't really use guides and I completely forget about them at times. I'll run into a problem and sit there stumped and give up. A couple days later I'll come back to it and eventually figure it out. On hte off chance that I'm thinking a guide would make this so much easier I'll use one. Things like finding the artifacts for the archeologist in Fable 2, I'll use a guide. Because I'm no good with the kind of clues they give and it has nothing to do with the main story (so far at least, finally playing through the game, never have) I don't mind using a guide. Now if it was instrumental in winning the game, I'd find them on my own because it would be so much sweeter than using a guide to win a game.

 

[Muffin Top Merkley]

I've only ever used strategy guides or online walktroughs after I have completed the game entirely on my own.

I've only really used them for collecting objects in a game, like feathers & flags in Assassin's Creed games, and I don't believe I have ever used them to direct me through a level or puzzle.

Guides and Walkthroughs are obviously helpful, and I have no issues with someone using them if that is how they enjoy playing a game. If having a guide beside them makes the player feel added comfort playing the game, then all the power to them, it's just now how I complete games on my first playthrough.

To each their own, I suppose.