Strategy Guide Reviews

A Strategy Guide for your Strategy Guides

Tales of Xillia 2 Strategy Guide Review

By Leave a Comment

talesxilia2-ratingI’ve heard a lot of great things about the Tales series, and that holds true for Tales of Xillia 2. This is a series that many love and adore, and it is finally making its way to the United States. When I beat the game, I understood why this is so popular. Complimenting this solid game is the Tales of Xilia 2 strategy guide by Prima Games. Yup, you’re gonna want this add-on!

Considering this is a JRPG, and I’ve also never played a Tales game, I spent a hefty amount of time with the game basics section. Between the cat dispatching, crazy combat, and even how various choices change the game, there is a fair amount to take in. The game itself does okay at breaking in new players, but I was extremely thankful I could go back to the guide and read a bit more detail on anything I was left questioning. This was especially true in those moments where the memory got a bit weak.

Before hitting the main story walkthrough, the strategy guide goes into some immense detail on the characters. This is a lot more than just plain backstory or a grid of miscellaneous stats. Sure, there is an overview which gives vital info for quick reference, but I found things such as the tactics and recommended combos to prove the most beneficial. If there is a specific character that is giving you trouble, chances are this might give you some pointers to make gaming life just a smidge easier. I know it did for me!

Is this where I connect the dots?

Is this where I connect the dots?

The walkthrough and side quest sections are, well, bursting with content. Each chapter comes with maps that are simple enough to quickly glance at and utilize. Yes, the maps even include all the locations of the cats, thus making it easier to snag all 100 of those friggin furballs.

It is also nice to have each new areas enemies detailed per location, instead of just one massive index in the back. This made it much easier to plan how to tackle new places and not be totally blind going in. I do wish there was more detail on the boss fights. Some of the bigger boss battles have just enough info provided  to make the battle not entirely controller smashingly frustrating, but some of the bosses only get a paragraph. I found myself asking for more detail in this regard more than once.

Also, if you’re a side quest junkie, there is plenty of love given to that section. It follows the same flow as the main walkthrough, and I found it pretty painless to jump from main story to side quest with the guide. There is a lot to do, so plan on doing a good bit of reading.

Finishing off the guide are sections dedicated to Item Data, Shop Data, and Trophies/Titles/Skits. Anyone that loves Excel will totally dig these sections. I liked how the author broke down the various items so that it was easier to find a specific piece of armor or consumable. There is just so much, it can take a minute or two of page flipping to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Now for the one area I skipped over, and that is the character story section. While I deeply appreciated this, I became turned off by the spoilers. The layout doesn’t change from the main walkthrough/side quest chapters. However, it was too easy to stumble upon a spoiler as to what was going to happen next. While this was still a useful section, it highlights one of my only gripes with the guide: spoilers.

Let me be fair and say that almost every strategy guide, outside of the racing and fighting games, contains spoilers of some sort. It’s just the nature of the beast. Sometimes I read what I need to do next and continue to read ahead a bit, and that is my fault. I am asking for spoilers with this action. However, this guide moves from one place to another, often right on the same page. There were a few times that it was far too easy for me to read a paragraph on what I needed to do at a specific point and run into a spoiler of how the story progresses. While most of the spoilers can be avoided with some effort, it just sucks that they are there and so easily stumbled upon.

You had one job, printing press!

You had one job, printing press!

One other gripe, and it might just be my guide, but I had some pages which clearly slid around during printing. Thankfully these were towards the end, and only a handful of pages. However, with the guide being so nice, having badly inked pages hurts. I hope this is a rare coincidence and not indicative of an entire run.

There are two things that caught me by surprise with the guide. The first is the letter from Hideo Baba at the beginning. I know that getting this game to various countries was a lot of hard work, and seeing the producer take some time to thank fans for all their support is a splendid touch here.

The second item that caught my attention was the Q&A with Hideo Baba. This gave me some great insight into the history of the series, as well as why the game was the way it was. It’s a wonderful look into some of the thought process that goes into designing a game. This is a short read and well worth the time.

Despite the spoilers and bad printing on a few pages, I loved the Tales of Xilia 2 strategy guide. It made my first foray into a Tales game completely enjoyable. This is one of those strategy guides that when you go to buy the game, just do yourself a favor and buy this along with it. Heck, it even looks pretty to boot.

SGR Rating 4.5/5

Authors: Howard Grossman
Publisher: Prima Games
Editions Available: Hardcover
Acquired via Publisher

Minecraft Strategy Guide Review

By Leave a Comment

minecraft-ratingOh Minecraft, you crazy addicting game. I remember when I jumped into this game it was still in beta and I paid $20 just for the notion of never having to pay another dime for future updates. Several years later, I’ve built more homes, dug so many tunnels, killed countless creeps and zombies, and even traversed the Nether. With so much time behind this game, it struck me odd to see that BradyGames was making a Minecraft strategy guide. Curious, I took on the review.

Now, I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve logged with this game, but to handle the review I made a new world and relied solely on the guide to get me through my battle of hunger and home construction. The guide starts with a nice introduction to what the heck Minecraft is and how do players get started with their first world. As the console, pocket, and PC versions differ, the authors include how they vary from one another. For anyone who is new to this game, take the time to read this intro section as it’ll do a lot to help make that first jaunt into the randomly generated world that much easier.

I'm gonna need more coal.

I’m gonna need more coal.

The guide then moves into 12 goals, starting with the basics of making that all important first wooden axe. I dug the goals, and they are fairly standard to what I’ve been doing over the years. The one hitch to having the goals flow smoothly is that the world that the game generates is not always so cooperative. For example, finding coal isn’t always as easy as one might think. However, completing the goals the authors provided is a great way to build a basic home, start a rudimentary mine, and keep yourself fed and geared for survival.

Obviously, this would be a terrible guide if it just stopped after 22 pages and left readers on their own with all the nuances of the game. This is where the next section of the guide comes in. Everything from the basics of crafting, the inner workings of farms, and even how to create a Nether Portal receive serious attention. There is a lot of knowledge dropping here, so be prepared to spend a bit of time reading up on something as mundane as how weather affects your crops. Anyone that plans to take on the hardcore survival mode should definitely study this chunk of the guide.

From there, the guide moves into all the tools, resources, and consumables that players will find scattered about the world. This is where readers find out how to make things like an enchanting table, dyed wool, or even a jukebox. Heck, anyone that wants to make a cake will find the recipe here as well. This reads more of an encyclopedia than a simple step-by-step of how to make items. I found that this is the section I spent the most time in. The layout is easy enough to navigate, but be prepared to thumb through a fair amount of pages as doing something as simple as making a cake requires several steps and items.

Spreadsheets, we all love a good spreadsheet!

Spreadsheets, we all love a good spreadsheet!

Right after readers find out how to build armor and weapons, they are greeted with all the creatures and monsters that roam the world. What I liked most is that this area is that it begins with a quick reference list giving pertinent info. This quick list is followed by more detailed breakdowns. Take the time to read the details as there is some good secrets, such as dyeing a sheep is easier than dyeing the wool, scattered about. These nuggets of goodness don’t show up in the little charts, but rather the descriptions.

This guide does a great job of getting new players acclimated to the world. While navigating the pages to find that one item you need is cumbersome, the amount of info and detail is rock solid. However, a good wiki or fan page is also of the essence as Minecraft is a game that continues to grow and evolve. If you are looking to dive into this crazy addictive game, this guide is well worth snagging as it’ll certainly help you survive those first few cold and lonely nights.

SGR Rating 3/5

Authors: Michael Lummis, Christopher Burton, Kathleen Pleet
Publisher: BradyGames
Editions Available: Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

Ultra Street Fighter IV Strategy Guide Review

By 4 Comments

Ultra Street Fighter IV strategy guide reviewOh Ultra Street Fighter IV, you are such a guilty pleasure. Not only do I love to play you, but I also watch you religiously when you show up on the Team Spooky Twitch.TV channel. I love your improvements, yet I hate my weak skillz. Even BradyGames can’t help improve my noob level reaction times.

That’s right, I’m back with another fighting game strategy guide review. The funny thing about this one is that BradyGames went full on beast mode and called this the Official Bible for USFIV. I took this as a challenge and put that title to the test.

The Ultra Street Fighter IV strategy guide gets right to the point. It starts with 35-pages of terminology. If you have no idea what chip damage, FADC, frames, fishing, or shenanigans are, this section is for you. Even if you know a fair amount of the lingo behind this game, browse through it as there might be terms you’ve heard but didn’t know how they translated to the game. This section is especially useful if you watch Ultra Street Fighter IV streams. Reading this section is something you can easily do while drinking coffee or chowing down on lunch.

Love that data!

Love that data!

Once the glossary ends, it dives right into the characters. Each character begins with a small chart giving vitals such as life, jump distance, and various ratings. It also contains images of the character standing, crouching, jumping, and costumes available. The meat of the section then kicks in with an impressive breakdown of moves. Pictures and data regarding hits, block levels, startup, and more are nicely laid out.

The guide goes into great detail when it comes to throws, unique attacks, special moves, and ultra/super moves. If you ever wondered how to block an attack or frame cancel a move and punish your opponent, this guide has you covered. Rounding off the characters is a pro/con list followed by a bit of advice on how to play them in the close/mid/long ranges. The last bits of details are the common combo strings and how they work.

What I loved the most about the character breakdowns is that the characters, say Dhalsim, which have been through several revisions, the guide details the revisions from game to game. So in this example, Dhalsim had a hefty amount of tuning between Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV. These details even include the changes Arcade Edition received with the 2012 Update. This is extremely helpful as USFIV now lets you choose which edition of the game your character will fight at. Yes, this means vanilla Sagat can now take on AE Bison. I so dug that the authors took the time to put this in here.

That is pretty much the whole guide. I decided I would try something new with this review as well. Summer Jam happened not too long ago, and I was curious how this guide would hold up as a supplement to my stream watching. When the players picked their characters, I’d pick one and go to that character in the guide. I must say, the guide and all of its glorious info made for a much deeper appreciation of what the pros were doing and just how much understanding of the game they have. I will most likely do this again as it made for a great stream watching experience.

So much reading. So much goodness.

So much reading. So much goodness.

I chuckled when I first saw that BradyGames had the cojones to put the word “Bible” on the cover. Well, they certainly produced a guide worthy of the title. The amount of data this guide has might not help your reaction times, but it will most definitely give you a greater understanding of how to operate your beloved characters while aiding you to finally figure out how to beat those characters you are weak against.

I highly recommend this guide. I’d also recommend snagging the frame data app as while the guide can help with combos and the like, it cannot be updated with patches. The app and the guide are a must for any Ultra Street Fighter IV fan.

SGR Rating 4.5/5

Authors: Joe Epstein, Adam Deats, Arthur Williams, Long “ShadyK” Tran, Duncan Tonningsen
Publisher: BradyGames
Editions Available: Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

Mario Kart 8 Strategy Guide Review

By Leave a Comment

Mario Kart 8 strategy guide reviewIf there is one game worth putting a Wii U on the “Must Buy List”, I’d have to admit that Mario Kart 8 is that game. The amount of fun I am having with this title is ridiculous. Heck, it even brought on a rash of Luigi Death Stare videos. For kart racing fans new and old that, it’s time to practice your best drifting skills while checking out the Mario Kart 8 strategy guide from Prima Games.

They're so cute when they're young!

They’re so cute when they’re young!

The guide starts with all the basics, and this is one stop everyone will want to take as the controller breakdown is here. This game allows for five different control schemes on three controllers, which can be daunting if you’re trying to figure out which setup is best for you. After that, it is all about the mechanics of the courses. Things such as boosting, gliding, the new hover mode, and item descriptions find blurbs here. What really impresses me are the charts detailing what the chances are of acquiring a specific item depending on race position and game mode. This is something I still come back to study as I try to work on my online score.

Once the basics are done, it’s onto the racers, karts, and kart customizations. Characters have small descriptions that give readers an idea of how that person will behave on the track. This also includes all the unlockable drivers. No Stig wannabe is complete without a killer ride, and this is where the kart area comes into play. I enjoyed seeing all the options I would have available, and it made me want to play more just so I could unlock a specific tire to go with my Wild Wiggler kart body. Of course all the bodies, tires, and gliders contain stats on where they excel and where they lack in performance or handling. If nothing else, this is just a fun area to look at and play master designer while eating a bowl of cereal.

The bulk of the guide goes into the races themselves. Tracks are broken down by cup and then by new or old course. Each stage begins with details on what to watch out for, such as no guardrails or obstructions on the road. Complimenting this is a suggestion on what the best racer and kart setup is. From there the track is then handled by Grand Prix more or Time Trial mode, both with correlating maps depicting the changes based on mode.

But Shy Guy is sooooo much better!

But Shy Guy is sooooo much better!

This is the area readers will want to pay attention to the small snippets of info. Those that are having a difficult time beating a specific stage will find where shortcuts are hidden, where the best points to boost are, and if it is worthwhile to glide a long distance or just land quickly to obtain a coin or item box. While nothing a book says can improve skills on the track, it is nice to see where the shortcuts are so I don’t look like a fool bouncing off something that I thought was an advantage, but was merely a fence….or worse, the ledge to the pit of doom.

The last few pages go to the battle mode and the maps correlating with it. Those who want to collect every stamp the game has to offer will also find a full list of those so you can keep track of what is left to collect.

My biggest issue with the Mario Kart 8 strategy guide is the navigation of it. I find it would have been useful to color code the sides of the pages to match what cup they were focused on. I spent too much time flopping around trying to find a specific cup, and then hunting down the track on top of that. It’s a small gripe, but one that would have made things easier on the reader.

To those who are just starting to consider jumping into this fun racing world, well, just buy the Mario Kart 8 strategy guide. Sure, your spot on the leaderboard will still depend on your ability to master the fundamentals, but you’ll be well ahead of the curve in knowing each track and how to tackle it. Even if it is as simple as picking the suggested character for a course while you unlock everything, this guide is well worth the investment. I think it’s time I go give more people that Luigi Death Stare!

SGR Rating 3.5/5

Author: Alexander Musa
Publisher: Prima Games
Editions Available: Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

Monday Gaming Diary: Luigi Needs Anger Management Classes

By Leave a Comment

luigi-death-stare

No, you’re not hallucinating when you see the diary for this week is not by Keri. Keri is probably trying to calm down before she starts the madness that is E3. I’m sure she will have a blast and accomplish many great things, but that doesn’t diminish my envy. I am looking forward to an abundance of text messages about games I want to see, but enough about her!

I recently picked up Mario Kart 8. I mean, the Wii U receives so few titles that when something as hype as this is drops, it is almost an instant must buy. I was cautious and so I watched a few of the launch party streams on Twitch before I bought the game, which is becoming a new trend for me. I can honestly say, this is some of the most fun I have had in this series. It’s bright, it’s colorful, there is FINALLY a way to combat that friggin blue shell of epic frustration, and it is just a darn good time.

There is one thing about the game that is a bit disturbing, and that is the recent discovery that Luigi has some serious anger issues. Just jump on Twitter and search for #LuigiDeathStare and be prepared for loads of videos and memes revolving around the look that Luigi gives after he destroys someone with an item. It is almost freaky to see the fun loving plumber of my past sport a look that would scare the likes of Hannibal Lecter. I know it is the year of Luigi and all, but should Mario be concerned for his safety?

The fact that this is now a trend on social media proves a solid point. The point is that Mario Kart 8 is one game that has managed to numb some of the complaining and hate on the Internet and replaced it with excitement. It has been a long time since I’ve seen people have this much fun with a game, and it is a welcome change. Sure, us Wii U fans might be small in number, but we also have a blast with our games! Wait, is that my Wii U turning itself on? I MUST PLAY MORE!

Top Posts & Pages