Do you use strategy guides for RPGs or not?

[Figure0fTragedy]

I'm sitting here playing Lunar: Silver Star on my Laseractive and I started to think, how many people use strategy guides regularly for RPG games? I tend not to. I'd rather just progress on my own and find everything in the game myself as I don't want the guide to spoil it for me. Though, sometimes if I am trying to hurry up and finish a game due to time constraints, I use a guide to help me along.

So, what do you usually do?

[mairsil]

The way games are made now (and I do believe that part of this is done to sell guides), you must use a guide to find everything. There is no way in hell that you could find that damn Zodiac Spear in FFXII unless you knew exactly how to get it before you even started the game.

[Oldgamingfart]

Indeed I recall using a (gameFAQ's) guide to find the remaining heart pieces in Zelda: Majora's Mask. I think they're useful for mopping up once you're about to finish the game, but can ruin the experience for anything more.

Having some sort of in-built game guide a la 'New Super Mario Bros Wii' is an interesting concept. At least that way the player can be punished slightly for using the feature (or rewarded for never touching it).

[alphagamer]

Initially I tackle all the games without a guide.

Then if I am stuck or want to get the extras I consult a guide.

[lkermel]

Same here, I usually consult a guide if I'm really stuck - I don't have much time to play games anymore and I can't afford to stay stuck in the same area for hours...
I also look at guide when I play japanese RPGs, I can ready some of the text but I sometimes get really lost...

[randyrandall]

I tend to use a guide if I get stuck.. but then by using it that once, it becomes a bit easier to just follow the guide. I often consult GameFAQs for little things.. I haven't got time to solve mysteries, I just want to play a game and progress fast!

[7Force]

I use guides for pretty much all games, maybe even too much.
Being stuck in a game just annoys me.

[alecjahn]

Yeah, I never use guides unless I realize I truely don't know what to do next and don't want to spend any more time figuring it out. I think of it as "I can either do this quickly or waste my time", at which point I open up GameFAQs and Ctrl+F what I need, then go back to gaming.

This happens a lot when I stop playing a game for any given reason, then pick up where I left-off months later, not remembering what the hell I was doing or what I did last...

OoT was one my brother and I took pride in not using a strat guide in, back in the day. Until it was time to find the last few golden scarab dude guys, where I broke (and eventually lost interest).

[pepharytheworm]

Anytime I have used a guide the whole time it ruins the game. If I get stuck and can't find a solution I check a online guide. But so I don't miss things I save before a town or dungeon, then after I complete that current part I check a guide to see If I missed something. If its an area where once you miss it, its gone I restart from my last save. Sometimes I will also check a guide to see how many items are in an area, but not where or what, That way at least I know I got them all.

[graphique]

I consider it a flaw in the game if there's stuff you couldn't reasonably guess without a guide/GameFAQs. I refuse to use them unless I'm really stuck, and even then I prefer trying to get a vague hint from a friend who's played the game (if possible) so as to avoid spoilers.

My latest gripe is from "Tales of Symphonia" for Gamecube, which I recently beat. For most of the game it blatantly shuts you down every time you try to wander off-script, and then at the very, very end of the game there's apparently a lot of off-script bonus sidequests you could have done, which I only found out by checking a FAQ. Come on.

[WanganRunner]

The way games are made now (and I do believe that part of this is done to sell guides), you must use a guide to find everything. There is no way in hell that you could find that damn Zodiac Spear in FFXII unless you knew exactly how to get it before you even started the game.

^^
This.

Imagine trying to luck into getting all the items for the Tournesol. It'd take a thousand hours.

Depends on the game though, I'd never use a guide for a Zelda title. They're designed to be played without one.

[MetalSlime]

I tend to use them for games that have a vast amount of secrets, or things that are easily missed (like rare item drops). I really like to play an RPG knowing I didn't miss out on any bit of elusive text, and that I've found and done everything the first time, since I rarely have time to replay it.

[Rabid Peanut-Butter]

For the most part, I go guideless and use GameFAQs if I'm stuck.

However, if a large part of the game is developing a team (Such as a Pokémon or Final Fantasy Tactics Advance) then I'll usually opt for the guide.

[skavenger216]

I only use a guide after beating the game once legitimately on my own, just ot go throu and replay and 100% the game. However, some stuff ive done without any guides ( 100% Final Fantasy X International, including beating penance, everything in FF7 without a guide). Of course i had a lot more free time back then, my plan with FF13 is to beat it, and then play it again with a guide so i can get all items/achievements