Let’s face it: you can’t play a JRPG without its strategy guide. There’s no way you can get every single hidden item and ultimate weapons without the darn book, unless you don’t really care about getting everything. But sometimes, it’s not about the treasures that are at stakes – it’s the ending.
In the last few years, JRPGs have evolved from simple, straightforward fight, loot, and save the world games to a Byzantine maze. Long gone were the days you receive a friendly tip from a classmate or cousin telling you where the Final Weapon is hidden. Nowadays without the aid of a trusty strategy guide or gamefaq.com, it’s getting harder and harder to achieve 100% completion. Worse, some JRPGs like Suikoden have multiple endings which made the strategy guide an even more crucial component in your quest for success.
Sadly, the content of current strategy guides…for lack of better word, sucks. My first taste of betrayal occurred when I was playing Suikoden V. Excited at the prospect of recruiting all 108 characters with the help of my trusty strategy guide, I ended up recruiting only 80+! That meant that my character’s girlfriend must die to save the world! I was pissed off. Seventy hours of gaming went down the toilet. If Frodo gets backstabbed by Samwise Gamgee, he will understand how I felt.
As games became more and more lavish, it seems like strategy guides are heading in that same direction: publishers seemed to be more focused on throwing in the fancy artwork and other numerous bells and whistles instead of the writing. Maybe they are feeling the pressure from Gamefaqs.com and this is the only way publishers can compete – by prettifying the package and turning a strategy guide into a collectible item. However, giving gamers really asinine writing and gibberish directions is not the way to go. For the sake of the publishing industry, I hope that publishers can find a balance between quality writing and pretty packages.
I will still continue to buy strategy guides using the same reason why I still read books and not online versions – nothing can beat the feel and weight of a real book. But in the meantime, I’ll scout around Amazon’s reviews before buying one.
What do you guys think? Am I still stuck in the dinosaur age or are there gamers out there who still buy strategy guides? If so, which strategy guide was a total waste of your money? Do tell. I eagerly await all the horror stories.
