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[sublimit]

(some of my favorite guides in my collection)

So i realized that the only Strategy Guide publisher that remains alive is Future Press and they also seem to be taking it very slow (but their quality is still very high).

I don't have a huge collection of Strategy Guides but those that i have i still love them even if some weren't as good as others. I understand that for many people it's just more fast and more convenient to search for guides or videos on their smartphones and tablets but for me nothing beats browsing and reading a book with screenshots,maps and artwork while drinking a cup of coffee.

Anyone else feels the same? Also feel free to post photos from your collection.

 

[TexMex]

Absolutely. They rarely serve any practical purpose these days, just companion pieces that I'll buy if I like the game enough. I still love the stuff that Future Press puts out.

 

[Tschumi]

i remember using some nintendo gamer magazine to get through fairly large bits of legend of zelda the wind waker... good times

 

[StormCell]

I do miss a good strategy guide. This is probably just my age showing, but there's something special, almost magical, about the permanence a physical guide (a book) and the quality and care that comes with publishing it. It's about more than text and screenshots. Often times, strategy guides come packed with illustrations and special details that are either hard to find in the game or can only be found in the guide. This is certainly the case with most Pokemon guides where some info is only available there (ie. on a certain day in a certain area something happens).

By comparison, I find the guides provided by IGN and the like to just be volunteer-grade filler content. I really mean no disrespect by this comment because that was me earning some money on the side back in college too. I know how it is to have an assignment and need to press out all that content under a deadline. Old strategy guides feel less like somebody's assignment and more like some team's project.

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

I feel like everyone has that OG Dark Souls guide shown in the OP pic. Good times.

 

[Clarissa]

I love my SoulCalibur 5 guide by Future Press so much! It's like treasure!

 

[Javthusiast]

Not really. Barely needed them in the past and certainly now am never interested to 100% games that would really require such a guide.

 

[ethomaz]

I don't like to use them to be fair.

I remember being stuck in Zelda: ALTP, Final Fantasy VI and Super Mario RPG for days because I could not understand what I had to do (imagine a 7-9 years old trying to play English games).... it was awesome.

So I never used these guides in fear of lose that feeling.

Late and older I played Resident Evil and everything... all the puzzles were done by myself so it took months to finish it (most because I did not have a memory card so I had to start from zero every time).

I do like games puzzles... that makes me put more effort to play them.

Today games are too easy to need a guide imo... there is no puzzle that really makes you get stuck in that part... it is very straight experience with simple puzzles with a lot of hints.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

To some extent. I don’t miss paying for help but the art and extras in those guides really contributed to the games and their atmosphere. It’s nice to have a physical print copy sometimes.

 

[Mihos]

I would look through them after I have already beaten the game to see all the stuff I missed.

 

[jaysius]

Nope, there’s always been gamefaqs, if not that then some random site online.

 

[ethomaz]

People talking about books...

I do miss a lot the mini-book with all the game info that comes with games in old days.
I have the Secret of Mana one intact even today.... it is several pages.

It is sad how poor the physical media is today.
And digital media won't ever match what physical had.

 

[Fbh]

Not really. Looking up stuff online is usually quicker and more convenient.

I do slightly miss the times of Guides though. Before the widespread internet when everything about a game wasn't instantly known, trading tips and secrets with your friends and all that.

 

[Warnen]

Nope, got a phone.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Bought a few back in the days but honestly can‘t remember ever acutually using one. Why? Finding answers on the internet is loads faster and easier. Perhaps before the internet....

 

[DESTROYA]

Yes and just gaming magazines in general, I’m like you OP there is something about it that I really appreciated

 

[Bolivar687]

I love having them for the artwork and just reading any commentary the authors can provide. The MGSV and Witcher 3 ones are really great but I haven't gotten one since.

 

[J-Roderton]

Oh yeah. Last two I bought were Dark Souls and Starcraft 2. That hardcover one for Dark Souls is awesome. Definitely keeping it in my collection. I read that thing back to back a few times when I decided to play DS years ago.

 

[Damigos]

They were never useful, but i liked them a lot for collection purposes, reference and art

 

[AJUMP23]

I have all my NES and Super Nintedo strategy guides that came with my Nintendo Powere subscriptions. They are great.

 

[TheContact]

I really do, that and printed gaming magazines. I know you can see it all on your ipad/computer but it's not the same. I kept all my old strategy guides, I still flip through them from time to time.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Loved leafing through them after beating a game and seeing what I missed. Great fun.

 

[turtlepowa]

I remember the free Nintendo hotline and when the lady tried to explain me Zangief's piledriver. Thanks for reminding me that i'm old....

 

[Fart Knight]

Gamefaqs bitch!

 

[xellos2099alpha]

Guide is a relic from another time. Then again we got absolute gem like Lunar eternal blue hard cover guide but we also have turd like Final Fantasy XI guide where ti state war/whm is a good combo.

 

[Hnjohngalt]

The Disgaea Strat Guides were awesome on tips to max out characters. The Final Fantasy and dragonquest guides were always full of extra art. Really miss those type of guides.

 

[WalterSobchak]

I love me some strategy guides . I also have that Bloodborne hardcover in the OP . Looking at Ebay prices and it is worth saving. I hope Futurepress doesn't stop making them anytime soon.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

No. Expensive paper weights made, themselves, out of overpriced paper.

I miss GameFAQs-style guides, but purely from nostalgia. I somewhat lament that guides exist at all, takes away from being able to explore a game organically.

 

[TexMex]

No. Expensive paper weights made, themselves, out of overpriced paper.

I miss GameFAQs-style guides, but purely from nostalgia. I somewhat lament that guides exist at all, takes away from being able to explore a game organically.

It doesn't take that ability away from you at all.

 

[teezzy]

I still have a couple BradyGames lying around here which weren't wrecked in my recent basement flood

Dragon Quest 8 and The Third Birthday

If I find em cheap, I'm always on the lookout for cheapos at garage sales and the like for games I own

 

[Cert.in.Death]

It doesn't take that ability away from you at all.

Definitely can, especially when you’re drunk on trophs and cheevos.

 

[MrS]

Absolutely. They rarely serve any practical purpose these days, just companion pieces that I'll buy if I like the game enough. I still love the stuff that Future Press puts out.

My body is ready for that Future Press Elden Ring book

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

No. In fact in my past there were not that widespread at all. We did have some guides for NES though, but most of the time you learnt everything yourself or your friend could come to show off his "new skills" lol

 

[DGrayson]

I loved them at the time. Used to spend hours pouring over them. But once gamefaqs came around, AND due to the Final Fantasy IX official Guide disaster, I basically stopped buying them.

 

[John Day]

Used to buy them, but not really use them. Some were very cool, some were very barebones.

 

[John Day]

I loved them at the time. Used to spend hours pouring over them. But once gamefaqs came around, AND due to the Final Fantasy IX official Guide disaster, I basically stopped buying them.

Man! That FF IX and PlayOnline bullshit was next level chicanery!

 

[Foamy]

Kind of. I remember I was hard-core into Battlefield 3 and I would read the guide and study the maps over and over.

 

[Krappadizzle]

I don't miss them in the sense that I use them anymore, but they are fun to go back and look at.

When moving across country I had a bunch of shit burn up in a warehouse fire.

2 of those things that I never replaced are:

and

The Grim Fandango guide was awesome because it tries to give you hints before it does an answer so it gives you a bit of leeway in figuring it out yourself unless you just go to the answers.

Was another cool one as it reads like a book as opposed to a guide. For example it'd say shit like: "Alan felt a sneaking suspicion that the lights had to have a way to be powered on. He then notices the red cord and follows it." instead of "go to the back of the building following the red cord and turn on the generator." It really kept with the themes of the game and I appreciated that.

 

[sublimit]

I loved them at the time. Used to spend hours pouring over them. But once gamefaqs came around, AND due to the Final Fantasy IX official Guide disaster, I basically stopped buying them.

Man! That FF IX and PlayOnline bullshit was next level chicanery!

What happened with the FFIX guide?

 

[V4skunk]

I got the Bloodborne one.
Its even worth £50 used.

 

[TexMex]

Definitely can, especially when you’re drunk on trophs and cheevos.

Not for you personally I meant. Who cares what someone else does with their games, doesn't change your experience. Doesn't matter to me if someone wants to cheat from minute one, play however it best fits for you.

My body is ready for that Future Press Elden Ring book

Amen. Now that Prima isn't around anymore to rob us of it like they did the Dark Souls 3 guide.

 

[RokkanStoned]

I do miss good strategy guides or even good manuals for games. It's not like I even use them on the first playthrough nor that you're dependent on using them as the info is widely available. However, they feel invaluable as a nostalgic relic. The presentation also makes for cozy reading than sitting in front of your computer. Best is if it includes interviews, artwork and lore bits as well, perhaps even something from behind the development.

 

[DGrayson]

What happened with the FFIX guide?

It was just when the internet was taking off and being more mainstream. Normally the Brady Guides were the official guides for FFVII and FFVIII and were complete and awesome.

So I grabbed the official guide for FFIX from Brady and it seemed a bit thinner but I didnt think about it. When I got home I realized that half the guide was online on some Square website they were pushing called PlayOnline or something. So you would get to a boss or a secret part and it would just say "Do you want to know the strategy to beat this boss, go to PlayOnline!"

Fuck that shit I was pissed!

 

[TexMex]

I do miss good strategy guides or even good manuals for games.

Definitely miss a good manual. I brought the one for FF7 to school all the time. Thing was like 80 pages long and beautiful.

 

[TexMex]

It was just when the internet was taking off and being more mainstream. Normally the Brady Guides were the official guides for FFVII and FFVIII and were complete and awesome.

So I grabbed the official guide for FFIX from Brady and it seemed a bit thinner but I didnt think about it. When I got home I realized that half the guide was online on some Square website they were pushing called PlayOnline or something. So you would get to a boss or a secret part and it would just say "Do you want to know the strategy to beat this boss, go to PlayOnline!"

Fuck that shit I was pissed!

I still have mine. It was such a brazenly shitty move. Made especially worse because of, as you said, the 7/8 guides being so fantastic.

 

[JayK47]

A little bit. Mostly for Bethesda games when they used to make single player RPGs.

I really miss instruction manuals.

 

[DGrayson]

I still have mine. It was such a brazenly shitty move. Made especially worse because of, as you said, the 7/8 guides being so fantastic.

I think I sold mine on ebay a couple years ago when i sold my gaming collection.

 

[Krappadizzle]

I think I sold mine on ebay a couple years ago when i sold my gaming collection.

------------------------------------------------------

I've found myself over the years going from Strategy Guides to Art Books and I think it scratches the same itch while also providing something a little more reasonable to leave on a coffee table.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Guides can still be on the table but I’m all for YouTube play throughs

 

[zeorhymer]

I miss the ones with concept art on them. Not the trashy Prima guides.