Yeah, I generally tend to use guides if I get stuck (which is way more often than I like to admit). However, I'll use them only after trying to solve the puzzle or the problem myself. I also like to look and see if there are unlockables for certain games, but I try to avoid anything spoiler-ish.
Tireyo643 said: I sometimes use guides when I'm stuck on a certain part in a game. Yeah, definitely. Most games ... [more]
I have a lot of trouble with Starfox Adventures for the Gamecube, and I do have a guide!! It actually could not help me in anyway, because I was certainly stuck. I lost my memory card for the Gamecube and I'm soo sad!! I can't go back and play the game. :(
If the game is not known for it's storyline, or i'm on a non storyline part of the game (such as a frustrating puzzle) I usually find that unless I have specifically set down to play a puzzle/etc game, then getting stuck frustrates me instead of adding to the experience. So yeah I use guides on a lot of RPG puzzles etc.
Usually i turns out I was clicking on the wrong thing, or had attempted the solution anyway, just in a slightly off fashion.
Aside from that, I might look up some tips against difficult enemies or bosses for action type games, but I havn't needed to do that in a long ass time, i'm pretty decent at fighters/action games.
I buy a lot of guides for the artwork though, Half Life 2 and Fallout 3 LE guides being prime examples.
On puzzle games yep. Used to use one on Ocarina of Time, and recently Hotel Dusk for the DS. Now-a-days though, games are very linear and have objective markers, so there is really no need for them aside from collectibles in some games (Like the Pigeons in GTA4)
I use guides for games like Fallout 3 (I use Giant Bomb's own, awesome production, the Fallout 3 MegaGuide). Other than that, not much. I used to use them much more frequently with games like Super Mario 64 but nowadays I don't need them as much.
Not on puzzles, because that would ruin the whole experience, but If i am stuck on one part of the game and havent been able to progress, i will most definately use a guide so that it doesn't lose its fun factor.
I'm the type of person who watches video guides to find all the collectibles in a game. And that is something I am not ashamed of! (Maybe a little ashamed...)
@Fr0Br0: I'm like that as well. I usually have both a video guide and a text guide up in case one of them confuses me (although the video guide is usually the most helpful)
If I am really stuck and just can't get past something and have beaten my head against the wall on it in every way I can think of and it's still not working then I break down and use a guide or FAQ.
Almost exclusively in RPGs. That's the only game you really need them. For the most part the only guides I use are user-made and help find collectibles.
I kind of have this problem in games where I'm addicted to doing everything just right, probably related to OCD. Interestingly enough, I don't use it that much for JRPGs, but I do for CRPGs like Fallout 1/2. Probably the worst instance of this is that I use guides in Zelda games. I mean to the fucking letter, once I look at the guide, I can't stop. In Majora's Mask, I was pausing the game to check the next room of the dungeon every few minutes. It doesn't help that Zelda games have so many collectibles. I'd have to say, it sort of ruins the experience of the game, but I just have to live with it. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment to look at Link with 20 hearts and the Great Fairy's Sword though.
As a rule no. But I got my copy of Demon's Souls in the mail and started playing it this morning. I dont have a lot of experience playing games in Japanese. I am going alright without it but I am thinking an English walkthrough will help me with this game greatly.
Well, it depends on the game, but my standard answer is "hell yeah!" I don't see a point to them in FPS games or driving games other than to know what needs to be done to unlock cars, maps/tracks, weapons, etc...but, I use them all the time in RPGs. If I can solve a puzzle or complete a quest without help, goody for me, but if get stuck, lost, or die a lot in a boss battle, then I search the game faqs for work-arounds. I'm not going to waste a lot of time, pounding my head against the wall so I can continue the storyline. I scan for what is specifically troubling me and read only that part to be able to proceed.
There is another reason I use guides in RPGs. I sometimes use them to help me maximise my character. Now, I don't follow suggested skill assignment faqs to a tee. But, I do like to know what skills are the most beneficial and which are mostly window dressing. I look up good weapons to try and acquire and where they can be found. Plus, there is the all important map. For some reason, RPGs never have really good in game maps where everything is labeled and tells you what can be bought in that city. I need those reminders because I get lost too easily and having to jump from town to town to look for a special item is a waste of time for me.
I use guides to help maintain the flow of the game and that keeps up the level of fun.
If a game has a shit ton of content, Ill go through a guide to see what kind of extra stuff I may have missed out on, and what might be interesting to take a look at.
I used to have a major addiction to buying strategy guides. I would get one for almost every new game that I bought. Then last fall when I bought the Dead Space guide I kinda realized it was pretty useless for that type of game. So, now I restrict myself to buying guides for RPGs and big action games. Things like Grand Theft Auto where there are a ton of things hidden all over the place in an open world.
However, I almost always have the gamefaqs page open to the game I'm playing at that moment. Just in case I do get stuck.
Only for the extra side stuff in a game. The things that would be rather impossible to find out on your own. Like in FF12, the best weapon in the game is only obtained if you do not open certain chests throughout the story. Without a guide telling you what chests not to open you'd be screwed.
Edit: Oh and the 4 percent who say they do not ,are liars.
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