Strategy Guide Features Archives - Page 18 of 34

What Strategy Guide Would You Want from a Kickstarter Campaign?

February 16, 2012 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

Ever since Double Fine had such a huge success with their Kickstarter campaign, and Obsidian has sent out feelers about possibly doing their own campaign, I’ve been thinking about strategy guides I’d fund via Kickstarter.

There are a few video games out there that did not have official print guides published that I would love to own. Obviously, I played the game just fine without them, and I could just go online for the guides if I really needed help, but there’s something about having a guide for a game you truly enjoy. Not to mention, I find using print guides to be ten times more efficient than using guides online.

So what do I want? Here are what I would gladly fund in a Kickstarter campaign. (Hey BradyGames and Prima Games…please take note!)

LEGO Harry Potter Strategy Guide

Why there was never such a strategy guide created is beyond me, but the fact remains, if you want a guide for finding all of those damn collectibles–because there are a crap-ton–you will have to go online. And while I needed little assistance with other LEGO games, I have had a beast of a time with LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4. So, so many collectibles that for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get.

Or more importantly, I don’t have the time to figure them out.

Kingdom Hearts re:Coded Strategy Guide

I had zero problems finishing this game and unlocking all the hidden stuff, but that’s beside the point. The point is that I have strategy guides for all of the other Kingdom Hearts games and I feel like I’m missing a gargantuan hole in my collection. So yes, I admit this is purely because I’m a mad KH collector, and my addiction must be appeased.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss Strategy Guide

I have seen zero information on a guide for this upcoming Vita game. I’m sure that this Uncharted game is easier than most thanks to the touch screen, but come on…it’s tradition! And yes, it burns up the collector in me to not have one.

If there is one, will someone please announce it already. I hate being in the dark.

There are mine. What guides would you like to see made?

Top 5 Strategy Guides of 2011

January 4, 2012 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

Everyone else is writing up about their top 5 or top 10 video games from 2011, and I want to do the same, but hey, this is a strategy guide site! I can come up with the top 5 strategy guides from 2011 easily!

And with that fantastic intro, here we go!

5. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex games have always prided themselves on providing multiple methods of how to get through the game, and DXHR is probably the first one that actually does just that. It really is possible to fight your way through every level and it’s possible to sneak through every level. It’s also possible to change it up every level. This guide walks you through three possible methods to take with near flawlessness. The only problem I had with the guide was its page layout:

The problem with this style of maps in a guide like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, though, is that since there are literally three different walkthroughs for every section, logistics doesn’t allow each map to stay with each entire walkthrough.

As a result, sometimes you have to flip back and forth to see the specific locales that the walkthrough references. It doesn’t take away from the accuracy of the walkthroughs or the maps at all, but it does remove efficiency in quickly finding what you need to get back to the game, adds a bit of annoyance, and hinders the effectiveness of the guide’s layout.

But you know, for a guide to get me through a stealth game when I hate stealth without throwing a controller once, you know it’s a fantastic guide.

4. Portal 2

Portal 2 was probably the most perfect game this year. I have zero complaints about any of it, and the same went with the strategy guide.

One thing I really appreciated were the warnings/suggestions at the beginning of the single-player and co-op chapters, where it strongly urged players to only use the guide when they were stuck. I can’t recall any guide saying that, not even the original Portal strategy guide. Granted, the reason why people buy a strategy guide is for assistance, but it’s nice that the writers asked users to try to work out the puzzles on your own, because really, you won’t get the beauty of the game without trying on your own.

Thankfully, the rest of the Portal 2 strategy guide is great and doesn’t hide behind this suggestion to mask any deficiencies. The guide is divided by campaign, chapter, and then chamber. The start of every chamber has a clear map–multiple maps if the level has multiple areas–with marked orange and blue portal placements. Each placement is numbered to correspond with the numbered paragraphs in the walkthrough. So if you just look at the guide whenever you have a quick question, it’s extremely easy to find what you need within seconds.

My favorite part of this guide still to this day is its blue and orange cloth bookmarks that were included with the Collector’s Edition.

3. Uncharted 3

I know I haven’t reviewed this guide yet, but I can say it’s the best damn guide I’ve ever seen Prima Games publish and Piggyback Interactive write. I know that Piggyback and I have had not the best relationship, but they completely won me over with their guide for Uncharted 3.

I’ll put it this way: I found all 101 treasures during my first playthrough with no problems.

2. Skyrim

This is another guide I haven’t reviewed yet, and I really haven’t gotten that far in the game. Why? Because I can’t take three steps without stumbling onto another side quest! I had to close the guide so that I wouldn’t discover any others.

I am amazed that a guide could take on something as massive as Skyrim and be so damn accurate with everything. It has over 600 pages to prove it.

1. The 3rd Birthday

I wasn’t a fan of this game at all, but damn if it wasn’t the best strategy guide I have ever come across.

I honestly finished the game weeks ago, but I’ve had the hardest time sitting down to write a review for the guide because it was perfect. All I want to say is just that: it’s perfect. Perfect design, perfect advice, perfect organization. It’s really hard to elaborate on that, hence why it has taken me so long to write more than five words about it.

Every guide should follow The 3rd Birthday strategy guide’s structure. The first page of each mission has maps of the areas Aya will explore, all clearly marked with items, enemies, and exits. Each map is labeled as “Area #”, and then consequently in the walkthrough, each section marks which area Aya is in. It’s plainly easy to find exactly where you are at any given time. Also on this front page are a list of the mission’s Feats, which are sort of like the game’s Trophies–if the PSP had any Trophy support. The Feats are also mentioned again when the best time (or only time) Aya can accomplish them, and they are placed in clear, callout boxes so there is no risk of missing them.

This guide has become my personal bar that other guides measure against. It just goes to show you that you can make a stellar guide about any game, no matter how big, how hyped, or how mediocre.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations Strategy Guide Collector’s Edition: Why Should I Buy?

November 30, 2011 By Keri Honea 5 Comments

I’m a massive fan of the Assassin’s Creed series, and since I love the artwork so much, I’ve done my best to pick up all Collector’s Editions of the guides from the series. I picked up the latest AC game’s CE guide last night, and I have to say, unless you are a fan of the series to the point of being a collector, I cannot recommend buying this guide over the paperback edition.

Now, the CE has plenty of things that made me happy to see. For starters, I absolutely love the Subject 16 style of the front and back covers.

Assassin's Creed Revelations Collector's Edition strategy guide front cover

Assassin's Creed Revelations Collector's Edition strategy guide back cover

Zoom in on this one...you'll like the text.

The guide also has additional artwork in the back from Altair’s past, and the artwork depicts scenes that have never been disclosed in any of Altair’s games.

Assassin's Creed Revelations Collector's Edition strategy guide bonus

If you’re a multiplayer fanatic for the series, then you will like the other tangible bonus, which are individual, sturdy maps of all 9 multiplayer arenas. I only have five shown here, but there are four others on the backs of what are displayed here.

Lastly, there is a free code for Prima Games‘ interactive map, much like what they had for their Skyrim Collector’s Edition Guide. However, I have no idea where this code is. It was fairly easy to find in the Skyrim book, but I haven’t seen it in any of the usual places. I submitted a question to the publisher on Twitter, so as soon as I hear a response, I will update here. UPDATE: The good people at Prima Games pointed me toward the hidden code. If I had bothered to look at the back of every multiplayer map, I would have seen it plain as day.

So as you can see, there’s nothing really that enticing for anyone except diehard fans. After receiving the Uncharted 3 Collector’s Edition strategy guide, I’m a little disappointed in this one. I know I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes high for another OST inclusion, but I hoped since both guides were written by the same group, the bonuses would have been similar. But that’s okay. I’m still pleased with my purchase.

On a personal note, I took all of these photos with the fancy pants camera my brother-in-law loaned me to play with. Look better, yah?

Strategy Guide Advice: Including Collectibles in the Walkthroughs

November 23, 2011 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

See how Space Marine includes collectibles? All should do this.

I haven’t “submitted” a tip for future strategy guides in awhile, but while using the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary strategy guide this past week, an issue came up that spurned me into enough annoyance to proffer some advice to guide publishers. And here it is: if a game has collectibles–no matter how strange they may be–always include the collectibles locations with the walkthroughs.

Granted, this is the first time I’ve come across this issue. In the Halo Anniversary guide, none of the Skulls or Terminals are marked in the walkthroughs. If you want to collect them all, you’ll have to use an appendix in the back of the guide.

Newsflash: I should only use appendices for collectibles when I’m replaying something or if I need to find where a certain collectible is. When going through a game for the first time, I want to know where all the collectibles are instantly. I don’t want to flip back and forth to find them. Even just marking them on the chapter maps would be nice.

The whole point of having and using a strategy guide is to make gameplay more efficient for the gamer. Not including collectibles in the walkthroughs is a far cry from being efficient. It’s annoying, and if I wanted to use a guide like that, I’d rely strictly on online guides, which are typically set up that way.

Strategy guide publishers…please do not make this a new trend with print guides.

Skyrim Collector’s Edition Strategy Guide: Why Should I Buy?

November 16, 2011 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

Most likely due to the massive size of the Skyrim strategy guide, the Collector’s Edition doesn’t really offer much more than the paperback edition in terms of extras. The hard cover is gorgeous, no doubt. There are also two cloth bookmarks within, which are perfect for marking where you are in the main story and where you are in sidequests. The only extra content the CE provides is a download code for an interactive map:

The interactive world map includes over 150 location maps covering all 9 Hold cities. Each map shows the locations of every vendor, trainer, skill book, NPC, and unique item in the realm. You can toggle points of interest on and off and zoom in and out.

That said, I have to admit that I highly recommend splurging for the Collector’s Edition.

Why?

The guide is so massive to begin with, you might as well spend the extra $10 for a nice cover and included bookmarks. You may never use the interactive map, but you’ll never regret buying the beautiful hard cover. For a game like this, I can’t see a reason to NOT buy the CE over the paperback. If I could have gotten my hands on a copy of the Dark Souls strategy guides, I’m sure I would have recommended the same.