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[cornonthecrobb]

hey all,

how many of us wish that good old fashioned hardback gaming strate!gy guides would make a return.

I started collecting them again this year buying some easy to get ones and some not so easy. The mario odyssey one was particularly hard to get my hands on.

I'm hoping for a solid tears of the kingdom one too

 

[Efren is G.O.A.T.]

I love them as well and have a few still.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I had forgotten how basic the explanations were on some of the older guides. There’s a large photo and a description of what to do. I was going through my Mario 64 and Zelda OOT guides the other day.

 

[WoJ]

I have the guides for Final Fantasy VII through 10. Still keep them because I love them.

 

[fart town usa]

Yea, guides are awesome. I only own one now but it's a banger, Silent Hill: Homecoming (PS3). I love all the concept art and other things that would fill the pages.

I actually typed up a guide for the Japanese version of Deep Fear last week. I need to capture screens though and add some flavor to it. Just something to do for the fun of it, never made a guide before.

 

[lefty1117]

I used to love them but it feels like gaming moves too fast nowadays. Especially with the patching and live service culture ... for half these games, the guides would be out of date within a year.

 

[Naked Lunch]

The best guides of all time are the Versus Street Fighter Alpha 2 and FFVII guides. I still have the Alpha 2 one.
The Alpha one is loaded with tons of artwork and sketches from development - as well as real deal combos and strats from arcade heads of the time. Just amazing.
Looks like the SFA2 one goes for $100 on ebay and theres one posting of the FFVII one for $6,000 - hilarious.

 

[Supple]

I currently only collect FromSoftware game guides published by Future Press.

 

[TexMex]

I currently only collect FromSoftware game guides published by Future Press.

Yep, Future Press still making them and they’ve always been the best guides around. I have them all, Portal 2 to present. They take forever to come out but the quality is undeniable.

To answer OP, yeah I miss all guides. I’ve been buying some old favorites a lot recently. I don’t use them for any practical purposes of course I just treat them as companion pieces to some of my favorite games that are fun to flip through.

 

[marcincz]

hey all,

how many of us wish that good old fashioned hardback gaming strate!gy guides would make a return.

I started collecting them again this year buying some easy to get ones and some not so easy. The mario odyssey one was particularly hard to get my hands on.

I'm hoping for a solid tears of the kingdom one too

Last Zelda - BoTW has very nice guide, so next part probably receive, too. I am looking forward to this guide.

Recently was released great guide to Horizon FW.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

Don't miss the big Elden Ring one !

 

[cornonthecrobb]

Don't miss the big Elden Ring one !

I have it lol. waiting on volume 2 now

 

[jshackles]

I've still got a pretty sizable collection of these. The fun part is that now most of these games are "retro" and getting Retro Achievements. Like, recently I started a save on Dragon Quest IX for the DS, and pulled out the giant BradyGames guide I have. So fun to just look through!

 

[Kuranghi]

I kind of collect Piggyback Guides which seem to me to be some of best out there, this is my small collection + some random guides for games they didn't do:

These are the two (2) TPP covers:

The Piggyback guides I have are:

* MGS 2
* MGS 3
* MGS 4
* MGS V standard hardback + the alternative cover variant hardback (CE? Probably not, just a retailer exclusive cover I think)
* BotW CE hardback (which is same as normal release, just fancier cover afaik)
* BotW Expanded Edition (with DLC guides and corrections/improvements to the original release)
* Cyberpunk 2077
* RDR 2

I thought about buying the Deluxe Edition of the BotW guide just to have the whole set (I still wouldn't have the original hardback but as I said above its just an alternative cover and doesn't look as good imo), its large size and has cool Sheikah art on it but its too expensive 2nd hand for a sealed one so I said fuck it.

The MGS V one is controversial because it doesn't contain guides for some missions/end game stuff because they were asked not to put it in my Konami/the dev team, but I don't think its a big deal and what is there is sublime. It has excellent information and a map of every mission where you can see the start points of human targets and enemies vehicles so you can do fun things like chopper in right where they start or mainline it to those locations and break the scripting for the mission by fultoning vehicles before enemies get in them... except the game is extremely well designed so they account for you doing that and add new dialogue and reactions and everything.

For example if you start the mission Lingua Franca with D-Walker and sprint (ie haul ass on its wheels) across the marsh to the left of the start point in just the right arc you can get to the jeep the interrogator drives and fulton it and he does a shock reaction and jogs around his route instead, which is pretty funny in itself, but also gives you plenty of time to go and fulton the Viscount and still get to the "underground pit" prisoner interrogation and complete the side objective to get an S Rank that way.

Tbf just speedrunning the main objectives with prior knowledge (ie going straight to the Viscount and fultoning him) will let you finish the missions and the sheer speed you've completed it will give you an S Rank even if you used Reflex Mode and missed all side objectives anyway, but its fun to do "perfect" objective runs anyway.

edit - Oh arses thats the uncropped version, oh well enjoy my uncle birthday card as well lol

 

[EverydayBeast]

So happy I still have my ocarina of time and Majoras mask guides.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

I’ll take a picture of the ones I own in a bit.

 

[Knightime_X]

This was the first time I started to have trust issues with strategy guides.
The entire point of buying this guide was to NOT need the internet.

 

[WoJ]

This was the first time I started to have trust issues with strategy guides.
The entire point of buying this guide was to NOT need the internet.

Yeah this one totally sucked and was a rip off, I remember being so pissed back in the day that pretty much all of the details were trapped on the website and not in the book itself.

 

[marcincz]

I kind of collect Piggyback Guides which seem to me to be some of best out there, this is my small collection + some random guides for games they didn't do:

The Piggyback guides I have are:

* MGS 2
* MGS 3
* MGS 4
* MGS V standard hardback + the alternative cover variant hardback (CE? Probably not, just a retailer exclusive cover I think)
* BotW CE hardback (which is same as normal release, just fancier cover afaik)
* BotW Expanded Edition (with DLC guides and corrections/improvements to the original release)
* Cyberpunk 2077
* RDR 2

I thought about buying the Deluxe Edition of the BotW guide just to have the whole set (I still wouldn't have the original hardback but as I said above its just an alternative cover and doesn't look as good imo), its large size and has cool Sheikah art on it but its too expensive 2nd hand for a sealed one so I said fuck it.

The MGS V one is controversial because it doesn't contain guides for some missions/end game stuff because they were asked not to put it in my Konami/the dev team, but I don't think its a big deal and what is there is sublime. It has excellent information and a map of every mission where you can see the start points of human targets and enemies vehicles so you can do fun things like chopper in right where they start or mainline it to those locations and break the scripting for the mission by fultoning vehicles before enemies get in them... except the game is extremely well designed so they account for you doing that and add new dialogue and reactions and everything.

For example if you start the mission Lingua Franca with D-Walker and sprint (ie haul ass on its wheels) across the marsh to the left of the start point in just the right arc you can get to the jeep the interrogator drives and fulton it and he does a shock reaction and jogs around his route instead, which is pretty funny in itself, but also gives you plenty of time to go and fulton the Viscount and still get to the "underground pit" prisoner interrogation and complete the side objective to get an S Rank that way.

Tbf just speedrunning the main objectives with prior knowledge (ie going straight to the Viscount and fultoning him) will let you finish the missions and the sheer speed you've completed it will give you an S Rank even if you used Reflex Mode and missed all side objectives anyway, but its fun to do "perfect" objective runs anyway.

edit - Oh arses thats the uncropped version, oh well enjoy my uncle birthday card as well lol

Nice collection.
Haven't got idea, GoW receive a guide.

 

[jshackles]

The GOAT guide has to be the Nintendo Power Earthbound guide, which was packaged with the game itself in North America

I've also really enjoyed the unofficial followup guide for Mother 3 that can still be got on Fangamer

MOTHER 3 Handbook - Fangamer

The labor of love which launched Fangamer in 2008 is now available for purchase once again: our 272-page English language hardcover player’s guide to the world of MOTHER 3. Foil-stamped, synthetic cloth case binding (with a black satin bookmark built in) "Pork Army" dust jacket which doubles as...

www.fangamer.com

 

[Havoc2049]

I have a large collection of strategy guides, ranging from the 80's and up to the Cyberpunk 2077 deluxe hardback guide. I have all the Halo strategy guides, a bunch of OG Xbox guides and various RPG strategy guides. I have a cool Ultima Age of Enlightment Trilogy (Ultima IV, V & VI) strategy guide that is written like an adventures journal and probably worth big bucks these days. Maybe I'll take some pics when I get home.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

The best guides of all time are the Versus Street Fighter Alpha 2 and FFVII guides. I still have the Alpha 2 one.
The Alpha one is loaded with tons of artwork and sketches from development - as well as real deal combos and strats from arcade heads of the time. Just amazing.
Looks like the SFA2 one goes for $100 on ebay and theres one posting of the FFVII one for $6,000 - hilarious.

Is that actually a good FFVII guide or is it just worth a lot of money? I plan on going through FFVII again soon and using a (scanned!) strategy guide would be a lot of fun. I've only ever used the Kao Megura one from GameFaqs back in the day, so I don't know anything about what the retail guides are like.

 

[Mercador]

I sold a lot of mine for ~20$ each one a few years ago, perhaps I should had kept them. I still have those nice Dark Souls one and a few Tactics games.

 

[Naked Lunch]

Is that actually a good FFVII guide or is it just worth a lot of money? I plan on going through FFVII again soon and using a (scanned!) strategy guide would be a lot of fun. I've only ever used the Kao Megura one from GameFaqs back in the day, so I don't know anything about what the retail guides are like.

From my memory the FFVII one was fantastic and had great visual layouts. There are scans of the entire thing online.
The FFVII might be the single most sought after classic strategy guide out there - as evidence of the ebay listings.
I only owned the SFA2 one - my friend had the FFVII one.

Those Versus guides at that time were head and shoulders above the competition.
I have a Brady games (? I think thats what its called) FFVII guide and that thing sucks.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

The oldest one I have. I got a lot of use out of it!

 

[Esca]

Only guides i every bought were for fighting games to have the moves list infront of me otherwise i felt like why ruin the fun of figuring it out for myself

 

[Deerock71]

I had forgotten how basic the explanations were on some of the older guides. There’s a large photo and a description of what to do. I was going through my Mario 64 and Zelda OOT guides the other day.

I have an original for Majora's Mask still in pretty good condition. I'm starting to wonder what it might go for...

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Hopefully be able to see what there is, if you need any clarifications please let me know.

 

[-Zelda-]

They were so much easier to find what I needed in a game, rather than having to read some wall of text file at gamefaqs or similar. A small paragraph followed by a full color image goes a long way. I wish companies still put them out.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

guides are cool if they have unique art or behinds the scenes info... otherwise, i dont need or want a book to tell me how to play a game.

 

[The Stig]

theyre still out there.

I got this one for RDR2. full color, glossy. lovely.

 

[Havoc2049]

My Ultima IV, V & VI strategy guide, games and the two novels that accompanied the trilogy. Cool factoid, the strategy guide was co-authored by Caroline Spector, Warren Spector's wife.

My oldest strategy guide.

The Halo Collection. I mainly bought these to memorize the multiplayer maps and the lore. Two CE guides: one for the XB version and one for PC. Halo Infinite didn't have a strategy guide. This made me realize I don't have the guide for Halo Wars 2, but eBay just rectified that.

 

[MagnesD3]

I'm considering getting a majoras mask one to help with the side quests since the n64 versions menu is so poorly cluttered

 

[Brock2621]

The best guides of all time are the Versus Street Fighter Alpha 2 and FFVII guides. I still have the Alpha 2 one.
The Alpha one is loaded with tons of artwork and sketches from development - as well as real deal combos and strats from arcade heads of the time. Just amazing.
Looks like the SFA2 one goes for $100 on ebay and theres one posting of the FFVII one for $6,000 - hilarious.

I have this FFVII guide and use it during my playthroughs once every 2 years or so

 

[Brock2621]

This was the first time I started to have trust issues with strategy guides.
The entire point of buying this guide was to NOT need the internet.

Just tried to use this last year and absolutely hot garbage! Constantly telling me to go online to a (now dead) website to get the answers.

 

[jshackles]

Just tried to use this last year and absolutely hot garbage! Constantly telling me to go online to a (now dead) website to get the answers.

The site was backed up and is alive and well (and works on modern browsers, no flash required!) at

Final Fantasy IX Guide

www.ff9guide.com

They also reprinted the guide in 2015 (as part of a hardcover set with 7 and 8), and removed all the PlayOnline references while adding the actual information to the guide itself. Shit's pricey though.

FINAL FANTASY Box Set (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX): Prima Games: 9781101898048: Amazon.com: Books

FINAL FANTASY Box Set (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX) [Prima Games] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. FINAL FANTASY Box Set (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX)

www.amazon.com

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

This was the first time I started to have trust issues with strategy guides.
The entire point of buying this guide was to NOT need the internet.

LOL man Square really tried to push that PlayOnline shit hard for a while. Even FFX was going to have some PlayOnline features but they got scrapped.

 

[Brock2621]

The site was backed up and is alive and well (and works on modern browsers, no flash required!) at

Final Fantasy IX Guide

www.ff9guide.com

They also reprinted the guide in 2015 (as part of a hardcover set with 7 and 8), and removed all the PlayOnline references while adding the actual information to the guide itself. Shit's pricey though.

FINAL FANTASY Box Set (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX): Prima Games: 9781101898048: Amazon.com: Books

FINAL FANTASY Box Set (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX) [Prima Games] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. FINAL FANTASY Box Set (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX)

www.amazon.com

Bruh…. $800!? Lol

But I really do appreciate the link. I’ll be using that for sure on my next playthrough.

 

[jshackles]

Bruh…. $800!? Lol

But I really do appreciate the link. I’ll be using that for sure on my next playthrough.

That's for a new copy, but yeah people be crazy. There's a used one on that Amazon link for $300, and also ones like this pop up on eBay every now and again:

Final Fantasy Box Set (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX) : Official Game Guides by Prima Games Staff (2015, Hardcover) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Final Fantasy Box Set (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX) : Official Game Guides by Prima Games Staff (2015, Hardcover) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

$300 makes it about $100 per guide. Still ridiculous.

 

[DryvBy]

I still have my Age of Empires II and Diablo II guides, along with a bunch of random stuff that I never used.

I bought them to read when I got grounded as a teenager.

 

[vodka-bull]

Almost forgot them lol. I had a lot of guides back in the day when gaming was just something else. Playing a big fat RPG with the help of an actual book on a 55cm TV without any internet, just you, the console, the game, the guide and hopefully no bedtime, it was awesome. And now I’m old and I’d love to be able to go to bed before 11PM.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

That's for a new copy, but yeah people be crazy. There's a used one on that Amazon link for $300, and also ones like this pop up on eBay every now and again:

Final Fantasy Box Set (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX) : Official Game Guides by Prima Games Staff (2015, Hardcover) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Final Fantasy Box Set (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX) : Official Game Guides by Prima Games Staff (2015, Hardcover) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

$300 makes it about $100 per guide. Still ridiculous.

It is ridiculous. Which is why it’s still sitting there unsold.

 

[DGrayson]

This was the first time I started to have trust issues with strategy guides.
The entire point of buying this guide was to NOT need the internet.

YUP!!! Exactly when I stopped buying guides!

By then Gamefaqs was the place to go. I still love those text ASCII guides I used to print them at my college computer labs as we had free printing. Some of them were legit hilarious too.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Based off of that cover, I prefer the Euro / UK version to be honest.

 

[Companion Cube]

I loved FF8’s metallic cover.

 

[Art The Clown]

This thread brings back memories of looking through my Mortal Kombat 3 and Orcarina of Time guide.

 

[_Ex_]

guides are cool if they have unique art or behinds the scenes info... otherwise, i dont need or want a book to tell me how to play a game.

Agreed.

When I was a kid I thought strategy guides were for pussies. All these years later... I still do.
But I understand the nostalgia factor for the old guides that were well produced.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

YUP!!! Exactly when I stopped buying guides!

By then Gamefaqs was the place to go. I still love those text ASCII guides I used to print them at my college computer labs as we had free printing. Some of them were legit hilarious too.

Gamefaqs guides are like the wild west and vary so much in quality it is ridiculous - and even the "good" guides are all over the place. Been playing a lot of retro stuff and it is incredible how poorly some of them are written, how painful some of the humor is, and how flippant they are in spoiling stuff. It seems like 75% of the guides insist on retelling the story as part of the guide (meaning you will be constantly spoiled to the upcoming area as you read), but many of them also do stupid shit like "here you will meet the END BOSS that KILLS YOUR PARENTS later on! So pick up the potion next to him and..."

That said some of them are really good and actually quite funny. This is mostly just commenting on how I completely ignored or didn't even notice this stuff when I used it back in middle and high school... but reading this kind of stuff online in the late 90s was magic in itself so it was probably easy to overlook.

I still think it would be fun to write guides though, I keep saying this but maybe one of these days I will actually do it.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Only hint book I had was my bro or myself (I forget) bought this. Needed it in order to beat the game. Great read.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

guides are cool if they have unique art or behinds the scenes info... otherwise, i dont need or want a book to tell me how to play a game.

It’s not about “telling you how to play”.

For RPGs at least, they often have lots of missable stuff, side quests that have weird requirements to trigger and are difficult to keep track of, a huge bestiary each with their own strengths/weaknesses and loot you can get from drops/stealing/poaching, item creation that involves lots of ingredients acquired in different ways, and generally just lots of shit you’d never discover on your own.

There have been games that I’ve beaten, then checked out a guide and went back for a second play-through just to see all the stuff I missed.

Nowadays every single secret and game-breaking strategy is common knowledge on the internet within like 24 hours of a game’s release. It wasn’t always like that. You young whippersnappers don’t know how good you have it.