Strategy Guide Reviews

A Strategy Guide for your Strategy Guides

I need to stop listening to podcasts

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No seriously, I do.

I listen to gaming podcasts during my morning bike rides. The constant talk helps take my mind off of the grueling path I force myself to go on almost every morning and it keeps me up to speed in the gaming world (not that my jobs with Kombo.com don’t do that as it is, but it’s nice to hear other opinions). Sometimes, the guys on the podcasts will go all fanboy for a game, and the talk gets me excited about it and I run out and buy it. So far, the podcast-sucker tactic has been successful. It was what made me give inFamous a chance, buy Muramasa: The Demon Blade, and more recently, pick up Uncharted 2.

Well, saying that about Uncharted 2 is a lie. As of today, thanks to the GameInformer podcast, I picked up Dragon Age: Origins today.

I am well aware of how weak this makes me, especially when considering that DA’s presence at E3 this year did not impress me at all. I edited quite a few frothing previews from that showing, and I didn’t get what they were all excited about. The story always intrigued me, but the game’s presentation seemed to be less than desirable. But I couldn’t help myself hearing three guys go all Lord of the Rings nerdy on the podcast about how great DA was. Then they compared it to Knights of the Old Republic and I was sold. That was the game that if I had had an Xbox back then, that game would have been on my shelf. I loved reading everything about it and lamented each day it didn’t come to the PS2.

So how in the world am I going to handle this game when I haven’t even found time to play Uncharted 2 in over a week and Assassin’s Creed 2 comes out next week? I have no idea, but I don’t want to get bogged down in the details. I mapped out which games I really want that are coming out next year (after next week, this year will be done for me, game-wise) and I think I have plenty of time to do it all. I don’t have another game on my list until February (And then two will release! Arrrgh!) so I think that’s enough time to complete 2 action games and get one RPG well underway.

Don’t ask how Final Fantasy X will enter in this mix, because I don’t have an answer. As long as I finish it before Final Fantasy XIII comes out, I’ll be happy. And if I don’t, I think Final Fantasy XIII will help me get over it.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade Strategy Guide Review

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Strategy Guide Review Policy:

My goal for these strategy guide reviews is not to discuss whether one needs the guide to complete the game. Every gamer has different strengths and skills, and one may need every bit of a guide, another may need to look up information for quick assistance once, and another may laugh at the idea of ever using a guide, even the online freebies. My goal is to determine whether the guide is 1) helpful in the first place, 2) does it encompass gamers who need hand-holding as well as those who need a quick reference and 3) how much information does it really have.

Review:

The guide is as short as the game (it takes about 10-12 hours to finish with both characters), so this review will follow suit. The guide is also as brightly and beautifully colored as the game (this review will, unfortunately, not follow suit), making it appear as more of an artbook than a strategy guide. Along with the beautiful artwork are explanations of the roots of the Japanese demonology that spawned all of the ideas for the enemies found in the game, which makes for a nice folklore and culture lesson.

Once you get back the art and history, the actual strategy guide begins. The gameplay is a bit repetitive, so the guide doesn’t exactly offer much in terms of a walkthrough. Instead, it focuses on the maps for each level, and offers a written description of the points the player should try to find, such as hidden hot springs, restaurants, and locales of traveling merchants.

The guide really shines in the boss strategies. It advises what the character’s level should be, what minimum-level swords the character should have in his/her possession, and then goes into the various attacks the boss will bring to the table, which is great for learning ahead of time what sword-breaking attacks to avoid. Similar-styled strategies are also provided for each enemy lair.

The back appendices have everything one would expect—item, accessory, food, swords (huge forging tree), and books—but also provides more detailed information about the enemy lairs as well as tips for accessories and better swordplay.

The one complaint I have about the book (okay, there are two because it has several typos) is the spoiler section in the back. It’s great that it explains how to achieve all three of each character’s endings, but it really wasn’t necessary to go into detail about each ending. At least it was kept in the very back.

Since the game is so minimalist in so many ways, this guide could have taken a minimalist approach, and instead, it did its best to beef up the information so that no stone would be left unturned. Combine this with its stellar organization and splashes of color and gorgeous artwork, and the end result is an excellent guide. Muramasa The Demon Blade Strategy Guide gets a 5/5.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Strategy Guide Review

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Strategy Guide Review Policy:

My goal for these strategy guide reviews is not to discuss whether one needs the guide to complete the game. Every gamer has different strengths and skills, and one may need every bit of a guide, another may need to look up information for quick assistance once, and another may laugh at the idea of ever using a guide, even the online freebies. My goal is to determine whether the guide is 1) helpful in the first place, 2) does it encompass gamers who need hand-holding as well as those who need a quick reference and 3) how much information does it really have.

Review:

The game Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days—which is not pronounced how any normal person would ever think—is divided up into 92 missions and 85 challenges. And ever so kindly, the guide is organized similarly. In the beefy walkthrough section, each mission and corresponding challenges are presented on the same page, so there’s only one place to look up the appropriate mission number for either feature. The game was not set up in the same way, so it was nice that the guide did not follow suit.

Since this game has so many similarities to Chain of Memories, I was initially worried that this guide would only be as good as that guide. That guide was helpful in card preparation for entering certain doors and for boss prep, but nothing else. Fortunately, this guide provides a wealth of information for both the missions and the boss prep. For example, it tells exactly how to achieve the 100% Mission Completion bonus for every mission, even if it means having to come back later when Roxas gets better abilities. It also suggests what panels to equip for each mission, which saves time from entering a mission unprepared, dying quickly, and forcing Roxas to start over.

The boss strategies provided are some of the best that I’ve come across in guides. It explains the boss’s abilities, combat techniques, and offers very specific strategies. One of the most detailed examples is the strategy for fighting the Infernal Engine in Mission 50.

Although running up and attacking the mouth is somewhat successful, this leaves Roxas extremely vulnerable to counterattack. Instead, stay away from the Infernal Engine and use Air Slides and Dodge Rolls to avoid missile attacks lobbed by the three Heartless dancing on its top. By remaining at medium range, you’ll incite the infernal engine into opening its mouth and firing its cannon. Block these shots with the right timing to send them flying up to the top, taking out one of the Heartless with each shot.

Without the Heartless on its top, the Infernal Engine may spit out a large crate. The crate soon breaks, spilling out several Soldiers. During this time, it is okay to attack the Infernal Engine directly. Lock on to the boss and attack its mouth, letting the Soldiers get cut apart in your back swings.

Also as equally detailed are the maps for each mission. They are so detailed in fact that I was initially confused by them at first, which I wouldn’t have been if I had simply read the handy map explanation at the start of the walkthrough. The maps accurately depict where every badge, mission gem (mission mode only), boss, item of interest, and Heartless can be found. This was most helpful in the Halloween Town missions, where all of the Heartless hide in random objects.

As expected with physical, book strategy guides, or really all Kingdom Hearts guides for that matter, this guide has massive information about all of the characters’ stats, weapons and abilities and all of the panels Roxas can obtain. Players can easily find out how to get any panel in the game, whether its from a mission, the Moogle shop, panel synthesis or from redeeming Challenge Sigils or Mission Crowns. In addition, the guide offers plenty of tips about panel selection and how to boost panel effects and abilities.

To sum up, this guide provides extensive mission explanations, boss strategies, character analyses, maps, and panel charts. In other words, it has everything a great guide needs. I really could find no faults with this guide, and believe me, that was difficult considering I didn’t like the game at all.

The Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Strategy Guide gets a 5/5.

Taking a detour with Uncharted 2

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I’ve been struggling this week with Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Okay, that’s a lie. I’ve been struggling with it ever since I finished its tutorial. But this week has been extra hard. Every mission feels the same, so that’s boring me, and I’ve gotten to the point of needing to level grind and I really don’t want to. In KH games of the past, if you needed to level grind, you just visited old worlds, or in the case of CoM, old floors. You ran around, fought enemies, went to a different area, rinse and repeat. But here, you have to repeat the entire mission. There’s no wandering around, searching for heartless to kill. No, you have to go through all the little tricks and fight the bosses.

The game tries to offer a more fun way of doing this by offering Mission Mode, so you can play and level up Roxas even if you use a different character. But you still have to do the same damn things. Fight the same bosses. You’re blocked from the same areas. Boring boring boring.

There’s a reason why I didn’t finish all the missions in Crisis Core. I got bored. And hello deja vu.

So it really wasn’t that hard to sway me to pick up a new game for now, at least until Assassin’s Creed 2 comes out in a couple of weeks. A couple of my friends have been going on and on about how awesome Uncharted 2 is, and after listening to my Kombo friends blather like little fanboys on their podcast about it, I caved. I was really, really nervous about it because I know it’s a third-person shooter, and I haven’t played any shooters since my disastrous attempts in the late 90s with Syphon Filter. But I figured that if I hated it, Shawn would like it, so it wouldn’t really be a money waster.

I really shouldn’t have worried too much.

I wish one of my friends had said that the shooting is practically identical to inFamous, because then I would have had no doubt in my mind. Although, so far I haven’t had to shoot much, just do the other thing I don’t like: be stealthy. Somehow though, with this game, I really didn’t mind it too much.

I’ve heard many people say that Uncharted 2 is like playing an action movie, but you don’t understand that until you try it. OMG am I believer now. I’m fairly certain my mouth was open the entire tutorial mode of the game as I was in awe of the graphics, the cut-scenes, the intensity of saving Drake, the voice acting…everything. And the dialogue is so hilarious! I haven’t laughed out loud while playing a game since Lost Odyssey.

After playing longer than I should have last night, I sent a PSN message to my friend, saying that I should just accept every recommendation he sends my way. He was right about inFamous and so far, he’s right about Uncharted 2. That means he’s probably also right about Mass Effect, so I should start that game too (but without the guide. I need a break!).

So yes, Uncharted 2 is in and KH is out for now. I will finish the game one day, but right now, we need a break from one another. I will still review the guide, as I have completed roughly 3/4 of the game, and the rest of the missions (I cheated and looked ahead) are exactly the same as all the other missions I have already done. Just harder. I doubt the guide’s approaches to any of these will change in comparison to what it has done so far.

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KH 358 blah blah who cares

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I’m almost finished with this game, and I’m so happy for numerous reasons. One, the game never really got that interesting. Every now and then, something would happen in the story where I would say, “Huh,” but then there wasn’t any real follow through. I’m guessing that when I beat the final boss there will be this huge revelation or some blah blah blah but I’m not sure I care.

For two, it is not comfortable to play this game for very long. I could play Phantom Hourglass for a few hours at a time, because it utilizes the stylus. You don’t need the stylus at all in this game, especially after you remove the touch function for the camera controls (which I highly, highly recommend) and after an hour of frantically pushing buttons to jump, attack, dodge/block, and glide, my hands freaking hurt. Not my thumbs, mind you, my hands. The rectangle frame just isn’t that ergonomic.

I plan on writing a “I guess I’m the only one who hates this game” piece over at Kombo whenever I finish the game, which I hope will either be at the end of this week or next. I guess I’m not in a huge hurry as I really have until November 17th to finish it, when Assassin’s Creed II releases. At the same time, I am in a hurry because I just want to get it over with.

I feel like I’ve had this attitude with a KH game before…oh yeah, it was about Chain of Memories, and hey, the games actually have a lot in common. Coincidence? HA!

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