Do You Use Guides?

[KeyranSolo]

I have this thing about Final Fantasy, where I have to do everything possible in each game, you know --- gain every ultimate weapon, reach level 99, finish every side-quest, etc, in a way I find by doing these things, I "100%" each game and feel like I have done everything possible, and I often use the official guides to do this, or GameFaqs for the Final Fantasy games with no official guide available.

But before doing that, I like to finish each game without guides, just going through the games as normal, and the second time around, I use guides to help me master each game. Do you do the same, or do I have some form of Final Fantasy OCD where I HAVE to do everything?

[ViviMasterMage]

Nope unless I have Final Fantasy OCD too. I do exactly what you do, complete it without the guide and then get everything using a guide, I use the guide the second time because sometimes they tell you what's gonna happen in the game ruining the storyline for you. Do you search for bosses Hp to help you beat them or their weaknesses?

[KeyranSolo]

Nah I usually know how to kill all the bosses/enemies on my own, the main reason I use guides is to get everything.

[ViviMasterMage]

I do too. The only time I search how to beat a boss is when its optional, Ruby weapon, Emerald weapon ect...
Really you need a guide to fight these kinds of bosses or EXTREME luck. I have beaten Ruby and Emerald weapon but If I didn't have a guide for it I would of never had beaten them.

Have you beaten them and/or used a guide for it?

[KeyranSolo]

Oh I see, yeah on rare occasions, I do use guides in aid of me beating tough bosses, such as Emerald and Ruby, but I did beat Emerald by myself using my own wits . Ruby was a different story, I had to use a guide...

[Xanatos]

First I beat the game on my own, then I use a guide to see what I missed. I cant imagine how can someone use a guide when they play a game for the first time?
How can someone enjoy playing like that, where is challenge in that? Many times I have been in temptation to use a guide but I'm stubborn, I'll rather think how to solve something than use a guide.

[Rocky]

I don't see the point of using a guide on a game I am playing through the very first time. I don't want to have the story line spoiled for me, or have tips and tricks telling me how to play through a game; half the fun for me is to figure things out on my own and invent my own strategies on how to beast through a game. Once I beat it however, then it's free reign to all kinds of strategy guides and whatnot. Most of the time I will never make a multiple playthrough on a game unless there is some incentive to do so, or if the game is just hella addicting (I swear Nippon Ichi Software company sprinkles crack on their CDs, fuuuuuuu), but if I end up liking the game, I may go and try to beat it again, either rushing through the story underleveled and exploiting bosses, or just being an elitest and completeing everything on it.

[Icemaush]

Yeah, when I play a game I usually just run through it quickly to get the gist of things, then I'll start again and do everything I can. I very rarely use guides unless I'm gonna replay using one of those challenge guides or something.

I tend to get bored and give up halfway through when I use guides though, lol.

[LokentheWolf]

I use guides only later after I've beaten a game. It's nice to know the locations or easter eggs you missed, find out interesting facts from the game developers. And do things you wanted to do at first. I mean like re-doing Cloud's dress up part, I'd gotten him chosen the first time but after a couple of years not playing VII, I needed to remeber how to get that scean to show my girlfriend. So yeah Im not ashamed to admit that I've used guides.

[Freya]

I'm not the kind of person who wants to have EVERYTHING in a game. So I wouldn't use a guide for that.
But I use it sometimes when I really don't know where I have to go. For example in FFVII I had my personal guide. A friend of mine always helped me out when I needed help. It wasn't that often, but sometimes I really get stuck and then there has to be a guide because I don't want to search the whole game for hours just to know where I have to go. xD"

[loaf]

The very first Guide I ever got was Ocarina of Time...after I beat the game about 5 times lol. Got it to actually just read lol.

2nd guide I bought was FFX...I was trying to get it about half way through the game but that failed and I finally got the guide AFTER I beat the game (same day I beat it too lol). Used it for weapons and such.

I have sometimes used online guides for games I just want to rush through to learn the story.

[RamesesII]

The only ever guide i have is for FFX-2 and i have hardly used it i only bought it because i was getting stuck and needed a bit of help that and it was on special. I borrowed a guide for FFX but i found it to tedious to do everything in the book and i was already a fair way through it before i was lent the guide but in general i usually don't use guides because it defeats the purpose of choosing you own game style and you way to play Final Fantasy when all you do is follow the guide.

[Fate]

Whenever I first buy games, I look around to see if there is a guide for me to buy. However, I don't use it that much, only when I'm really, really stuck. It takes some fun out of knowing what's next, so that's a minus.

The first time that I go through a game, I don't use a guide for the sole reason that it's my first time. I can afford to forget important things, because I always go through and play it a second time. There's no need for perfection the first time. I just want to enjoy the game as much as I can without having to worry about things.

After I'm done with my first playthrough, then I use the guide to see what I miss so that I can get it. Usually, whenever I look at the guide, I realize that I've missed a whole bunch of stuff, which makes me excited about going through the game one more time to get them. If I had used the game to get everything, I might not have gone through a second time.

Still, I don't follow them exactly. For example, I take into consideration what advice they give you on certain bosses and stuff, but I like to think of my own strategy to fight them. It makes things more fun. Plus, my strategies are more effective than theirs, anyway, most of the time.

[Kilala]

I never touch a guide the first time I play. Maybe even the first couple of times even... However despite this statement for Final Fantasy I do tend to purchase the strategy guides. Not for the purpose of help but because it's related to the series.
I like to browse through the pics (I know this sounds juvenile) and just slot it in with the matching game. Maybe that even sounds slightly OCD but hey whatever pleases me right?

However for something like FFX-2 I did use it occasionally to get the infamous 100%. So yeah that's pretty much my story.

[Dodie16]

I try not to use guides, but if I get stuck and there is no possible way for me to figure it out on my own, then I will use the internet. Oh, I did buy the Ocarina of Time guide, but that was because I was a huge Zelda freak when OOT came out, and I wanted to use it to copy all the characters out of it and into my artbook.

[Arch]

See im like you with that mind set but i never fall through in getting everything in games never have and hopefully i will be tht determined sometime soon

but i love strategy guides for all the extra info you get and idk y but everytime i get a game ESPECIALLY Final Fantasy,i have to read every characters bio before i play the game,It annoys me if i dont know any info on any of the chraracters when i start playing

So yess i do if i can afford them lol

[-Balthier-]

I only use guides if I really need to,if not then there is no point.Of course if I missed something,I may end up using the guides to find out what to do next and so on and so on.I only use them when its an emergency

[Naedeane Boulter]

Only to get all the weapons

[DragonHeart]

There's pretty much only one reason I would use a guide on my first playthrough of a game, and that's when I get lost. It's not an 'if', I have terrible navigational skills. XD However, I try very hard not to use a guide if at all possible until after I've gone through the game the first time. As has been mentioned upthread, one of the best parts of playing a new game is figuring out how to take down bosses and such yourself. It's not half as satisfying if you already know all the tricks.

Besides which, I've found getting lost can actually be beneficial. Wandering around trying to find where to go often results in extra levels and that certainly is never a bad thing. It just sucks on the second play cause I won't get lost so I'll be at a lower level and the boss will be harder, hah. S'all good though, it's more fun using tactics to win than just sheer brute force, imo.

~DragonHeart~

[Fayt.]

I only consult guides when I'm stuck, I desperately try to avoid guides on a first playthrough. I want to enjoy the challenge of it all myself, without help of finding better weapons early etc.

However if I find the game to extremely enjoyable, like Final Fantasy X I ended up checking out guides after I had completed it to help find ultimate weapons etc on a replay. Just to help out with a full completion of the game.

[Silver Spyro]

Sometimes. For example: On Echoes of time (Crystal chronicles) I used a walkthrough on the last level before the last boss, Because I got stuck in one of the puzzles. Now I restarted and I haven't used one yet.

[Meigumi]

I never use guides. Well, I only used an Ateller Iris 2 guide.

But specifically, I never used a guide relating to final fantasy. Never have, and probably never will.

Because it has spoilers, and I always read every last letter of every book, though I never do it often.

[Yesha]

On my second pLaythrough, I use guides, so that, the things I forgot to get or scenes I haven't seen on my first pLaythrough.. can be compLeted.. :-)

[rydia123]

i use the guide after i beat the game once

once i beat the game without it
i feel like its fair game to use it
just to get all the stuff i missed

[Midnight Panda]

on my first playthrough i dont use guides because it takes all the fun out of the game, on my second or third time through i might use guides only if i can find them, or if not ill make my own guide (HAHA jk)

[SacredAngel13]

yup i do used it..but only in FFXII. coz it's hard, also i was a newbie to FF when i played this game. that's why i used it.

[Dean Winchester]

Only when i get stuck or can't remember where to find a certain item, weapon,etc. Then i use a guide, either that or ask someone that knows more about what game i'm playing than i do.

[Milkpea]

I fall in the same camp as most people here. I play first without a guide using websites only if I'm totally stuck and frustrated. I then buy the guide and play again at a leisurely pace and complete everything.

[TheAnitaAttack]

I use guides for the game i have. Its mostly for where i need to go and do and what to expect before boss battles. But i don't go overboard with it.