BradyGames got mogged here

>>11859608 (OP)
Shit, that's some kino art. Kudos to whoever got hired for that gig.

>>11859608 (OP)
This is a really great guide and makes an honest effort at avoiding spoilers though it kind of leaves you hanging at the end. I remember getting the gold chocobo by following the guide.

This fucker is beefy, though.

>>11859608 (OP)
>>11859679

How can it lead you through the game and every secret without revealing the plot?
Just showingthe maps and locations and where things are without context?

What's the point of guidebook?

Discover and experiment by yourself

It's not big deal if you don't 100% a game

>>11859765
Fun to read. Also if you had siblings/friends to play with they can flip through the book and find something cool to go do in the game.

>>11859765
It felt kinda validating like there were other protagonists living in your world who know as much, or more about games than you do.

>>11859608 (OP)
That's the guide my aunt bought me. I had a lot of fun playing the game with that guide. I don't usually use guides to play games. In fact that might be the only time I've ever played a game with a guide. I still don't know how I should feel about it. Other than I had a lot of fun.

How common were unofficial guides with actual sovl and art in them at this point? I just remember magazines with weird bootleg looking Links.

>>11859820
Pretty rare. I think Resident Evil and Silent Hill games had some good unofficial guides.

>>11859718
A challenger appears

>>11859757
I mean, it's been a while since I read it but I remember there were no screenshots or descriptions of Aeris's death. No "well now that Aeris has permanently left your party, you're going to be lacking in healing abilities" type comments. Even the foreword of the guide has the author lamenting a Phantasy Star II guide he had read was chock full of intentional spoilers. Yeah it has maps and enemies and whatnot but it doesn't go into a bunch of detail regarding the plot.

>>11859757
>>11859850
NTA
I never read ahead. I let the guide help find everything my OCD demanded I find. I never lost interest or felt like I was outright cheating during my playthrough. I figured out on my own how to beat Emerald Weapon the long way. I did not beat Ruby. And I did beat the game. And the guide did not let me know that the end boss fight was nothing so I grinded for hours and hours for nothing. Which then fucked my ability to beat FF8.

>>11859765
kys zoomie

>>11859608 (OP)
I like that they call Aerith by her proper name.

>>11859608 (OP)
I still have the poster

>>11859718
This guide fucking lied about how to get a golden chocobo

>>11859915
The idea that it's impossible to beat FF8 unless you're the lowest level possible is such a meme.

>>11859608 (OP)
>>11860012
Doesn't this guide spend an entire page talking about the Test Zero enemy because it was playing the Japanese version instead of the American one?

>>11859608 (OP)
my dad knew someone who owned this and asked them if he could borrow it for me. i got to use this for a month or so until the guy asked for it back. really cool i had that chance.

>>11860308
That's so cool

non official guides are always cool.

my brother would always buy guides with rpgs. i hated that on a first playthru. just do it blind knowing you will miss tons of stuff, then use the guide on the 2nd playthru.

>>11859765
The point is to read about games you want to play when you can't actually play them because you're not at home, parents took away the console, etc.

>>11859765
A lot of official artwork in them, this was long before "artbooks" for games were a thing, at least available in the West

>>11860405
I have a copy of the first Japanese release, might have to try this during a replay.

>>11860179
How so? It looks accurate to me.

>>11859765
The point of them was to guide you through a game. Before you could just google stuff whenever you got stuck in a game, you'd have to read through a guidebook instead.

>>11861426
I take it you don't know what a rhetorical question is.

>>11861453
Your post implied you thought the only reason was for 100% completion.

>>11860012
I dont see her proper name in this image, its entirely in english

>>11859608 (OP)
Versus Books made great shit. Their Ocarina and Majora guides were sick as hell, I used to bring them to school just to look through them during reading time.
BradyGames guides were consistently shit.

>>11861536
Wasn't my post yet it was clear to me that he was making a point about figuring things out for yourself. It's called having reading comprehension.

>>11859608 (OP)
>mogged
Better than getting Chocoboed

>>11861637
And guides exist for those who cannot figure it out.

>>11859784
This is literally it. I forgot how fun it was to just say, “ok dude try doing this” and it works. But that was 1999. Plus it’s just um fun

>>11860291
What? I'm saying you have to grind to beat FF8. I had no problems with my playthrough with FF8 until I got to the final boss. I could not get through all the final forms.
They did a complete 180 from FF7.

>>11861323
>the first Japanese release
Which one is that? I have a Japanese copy, but I don't know what version. Other than it's not a greatest hits or whatever. I do have an original BioHazard and that's cool as shit.

>>11859608 (OP)
Never seen that pic before. Cover artist literally brought my mind to life. I want the whole cast like that now

>>11859765
The pictures are fun to look at, especially if there's official art or unofficial art as good as the OP pic(rare).
One of the first times Ken Sugimori's Pokemon art was published ever, and definitely the first art the public saw of many pokemon ever, was in a Japan-only guide. It also detailed a lot of lore and pokedex entries that couldn't fit into the game.

this thing was so bad that it literally made me stop playing the game entirely

>>11861536
Versus was a great guide for 100% completion. I remember I had an online FAQ made by shadow411 saved in my hardrive (an idea that was a predecessor to sticky threads at GameFAGS for people who didn't want to read entire walkthroughts and just dig for the most critical information at forums) and I was perplexed to find that Versus guide had all that information. Crazy how a non-sanctioned guide by Squaresoft and written before the game was even released had everything. I think it only probably missed the prizes and rewards from Fort Connor.

>>11862616
>2000
>most homes have 1 internet connected PC that's probably not even in the same room as the gaming consoles
>"just get up every 3 minutes, connect to AOL, go to this website, and type in this code!"
I think I just ended up printing out an entire guide from GameFAQs instead.

>>11861869
Yeah some of my fondest retro gaming memories is playing singleplayer games with friends and passing the controller back and forth with or without a guide. The person not playing would read the manual for anything we missed, one person might be better at bosses and the other puzzles, pause the game and read gaming mags together etc. It was a fun way to play games I miss it.

>>11861882
There was a rerelease on PS1 in Japan called FFVII: International Edition. That's because the original Japanese release did not contain Emerald Weapon, Ruby Weapon, and the flashback cutscene showing Zack and Cloud getting to Midgar before the opening of the game. Those were added to the American/European release first.

>>11862930
I didn't know about all that. I had never seen that cutscene before. I'm pretty sure my copy is the International Edition.

>>11859608 (OP)
K I N O
I
N
O

ULTRASOVL

>>11863539
Those big full tits...

>>11862930
International also has the longer Supernova animation, as well as the extended FMV of the Weapons leaving the Northern Crater. The iconic shot of Tifa falling over? Not in the first Japanese release.

>>11863539
if this was the poster it was worth the price for it alone.

>>11863539
Was this for the book or is it official art? It looks great. Versus was really the GOAT.

>>11863157
I never saw that cutscene either, its pretty secret

>>11863539
Imagine how many bedrooms this poster has been hung in

>>11859765
These books tended to have extra art and background info. Ffvii had like character bios and stuff which was neat. It was also useful pre-internet to check if you got stuck

>>11863539
Fucking magical

>>11863539
Where's Cid?

>>11860012
Her name is Aeris though. Or are you talking about the non canonical kingdom hearts games?

>>11865984
https://youtu.be/WfYyBp4Ln2s