So I just wrapped up Batman: Arkham Asylum and only needed help on 3 of the 240 riddler challenges. I was extremely proud of the percentage of them that I found without aid. Which brings me to my point of argument...
What are your feelings on using guides, either ones that you purchase or free guides online? I rarely use them for missions, unless I am really stuck, and I rarely purchase them anymore. Depending on the game, I might purchase a full guide, such as for Oblivion or Dragon Age. But usually, if you wait a couple weeks, there will be numerous achievement and easter egg and super secret guides online for free.
Personally, I don't want to search 3 large cities for 100 feathers in Assassin's Creed II so I find some maps online, print them out, and viola, I can find all the feathers!
Gamers seem as split on guides as they do on PS3 vs. XBOX360. Are guides wrong? Do they take away from accomplishment and bragging rights or do they merely eliminate long searches?
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From a retailers perspective, guides are quickly falling to the fringes. Most of the time, people that buy them are usually getting them to complete a collection, or they really are just stupid. Most of the information found in the strategy guides are on the internet. Depending on where you find them online, some of them are interactive as well, allowing you to search and edit, and copy and paste what you need at will.
ReplyDeleteI think it cheapens the value of a lot of the achievements (but not all!) If the impressive nature of the achievements is to find all of a particular item that are hidden throughout a large are, the challenge itself lies in simply finding them. In Batman though, the game provides you with maps, locating the secrets, so the challenge becomes about using your brain to solve the puzzles. Although a strategy guide might help speed up the process for both examples, the way the guide skips the "meat" of the achievement is very different.
I remember the joy of knowing I thoroughly gave it to a game, without any help at all. I think the purest of those experiences was Super Mario World. I didn't have many friends, and I didn't have a guide or the internet, but I knew when I had finished everything. Years down the road, I now know that I did, and I have loads of satisfaction.
Personally i think guides are technically cheating, yes u're still performing the task of collecting/solving or watever but all u're doing is following instructions...so yes to answer your question i'd say it does take away the sense of achievement, unless in the rare example that it still takes a high degree of skill to complete the instructions or such (Mile High Club in COD4 anyon?..i tired so many times to do that mission on Veteran but i had to look on Youtube to see exatly the best route/method but i still feel like it took a degree of skill to complete).
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you mentioned Batman AA tho, usually with these collective type achievements i completely steer clear, hate grinding out achievements like that but with AA, i got totally obsessed with the Riddlers challenges and really enjoyed collecting and solving them, by far the most creative collectiong type achievmenet experienced. AC2 and it's feathers...well personally i couldnt care less about completing that one, i did however like how by collecting them there was more than just an acheievement as a reward, which is why i picked up a few on my travels but didnt go out my way.
My personal policy is that my first time through a game, I will not use a guide, be it a paper guide or an FAQ on the internet. If I go back for another playthrough or for extra/hidden stuff, I will definitely use a guide if I have to.
ReplyDeletePersonally, it comes down to the game I'm playing and my seriousness about the game as to whether or not I use a guide.
ReplyDeleteIf it's a game like XMen Origins Wolverine I'll use guides throughout the whole game to get achievements, but something like Mass Effect 2 absolutely not because overall it would cheapen the experience for me.
There's only one company that I will buy the guides for their games for and that's Bethesda. Anytime I purchase an Elder Scrolls or Fallout game you can bet that the guide will be bought as well. I NEVER use this as a way to cheat, but as more of an "extras" section like a DVD. I read about the different character types and weapons. Armor and magic. The guide for Oblivion was especially helpful when deciding whether or not to become a vampire.
It's all game to game for me I guess. It's also amazingly good toilet material...if you're in to that kind of thing....
LMAO! Yeah... I've spent a good many hours reading guides on the toilet...
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