Poll: Do you use walkthroughs to help you during a game?

[mshcherbatskaya]

I do it whenever I get stuck, but since my definition of stuck also includes "irritated", "impatient", and "bored of this puzzle after poking at it for 45 seconds," I tend to use walkthroughs a lot.

Sometimes, I will walkthrough the first level or two of a game, just because I feel like I'm not really getting the internal logic of the game. Then, once the lightbulb goes on in my dim little head, I go all the way back to the beginning and start over, playing without reference to the walkthrough unless I get stuck, and by stuck, I mean really can't figure something out. Most often this is because I'm just flat missing some visual cue. My vision is probably no better or worse than most people with glasses, but I'm not very good at looking.

 

[pleb]

some games are hard and u just need a walkthrough but i have recently bought assassighns creed and u dont need a walkthrough because it explains it self like so go to a guy to give u a mission climb a TOWER and then u notice everything and then u just and stab the annoying person after a long chase and the run around from about 100 guards just because u walk past them and its as easy as tht really. put i have to say its a bloody good game to piss around on.

 

[lokust2001]

No.
Perhaps it's just the belief I've always been imprinted with, but i feel that cheating at any game; be it using a walk through, or cheat codes is basically cheating yourself out of the sense of achievement you'll feel when you finally crack it.
Cheating at games is like rigging the cards in solitaire. Sure you "win" but who cares.

Cheating's only O.K when it's to get ahead academically/financially.

 

[DownOnTheUpside]

Yes but only for 3 games I've ever played... For Metroid Prime you HAVE to have walkthroughs in order to know what's up.

The other game was The Darkness... And that was just to do all the side missions.

 

[EnzoHonda]

I use walkthroughs for adventure games when I start getting annoyed. I also use them for character creation in RPGs. I hate making I guy I think is strong and cool, then discovering he can't fight his way out of a wet paper bag.

 

[scoobyduped]

Not unless I'm really really stuck and frustrated about it. Of course, if that happens, I'm equally likely to move on to another game.

 

[Seldon2639]

It depends on the game. If it combines non-linear gameplay with a linear plot (so becomes unbelievably finicky about what I do, how I do it, and when), like Metal Gear Solid, I'll end up using a guide. If it's truly open-ended, I won't, and if it's linear, there's no need.

 

[soul_rune1984]

Yes I use walkthroughs, so that I can get all the side quests and for battle tactics when I run into a boss that is particularly annoying. (fought the thing five to ten times and am about to smash the controller/keyboard through the screen annoying)

 

[Cameoflage]

I do when I get stuck (although I have a rather low threshold for how much looking/trial-and-error I'm willing to try before it becomes "stuck"), but I always feel guilty for doing that instead of figuring it out myself, especially - although not exclusively - on the first playthrough.

 

[Vinnn]

If ever you are up for some learning, read the research (yes, research) into the monster breeding in Monster Rancher. Techmo have implemented such an advanced and unprecedented method, that game is simply amazing. But, due to the detail, you really do need a walkthrough for some parts, and dont get me started on Final Fantasy.

 

[tiredinnuendo]

There are some games where you basically require the walkthrough (See: Getting Knights of the Round), and I don't play those games, because that's bad game design.

That said, once I've beaten a game, I'll often consult a walkthrough to see what I didn't see, though it really depends on the game. With something like Mass Effect, I checked the walkthrough after two playthroughs, to see if there were any quests I'd missed.

With VtM:B, I was playing more of a "role" than a "game", and it took me several playthroughs just to get to the point where I'd had characters that had been willing to do all the different quests. After that though, I jumped on the walkthrough to figure out what that damn blurry nosferatu photo was for in that TV guy's room. Turns out it was just flavor. Figures.

- J

 

[vun]

Sometimes, if I'm stuck or want to get the most out of it as I rarely play a game twice.

 

[squid5580]

Yes I use them when I am stuck or attempting to do a sidequest or something. Every so often when I hit the 80+ hour mark I'll use a walkthrough (usually due to frustration and wanting to see the end of the game).

 

[werepossum]

I do it whenever I get stuck, but since my definition of stuck also includes "irritated", "impatient", and "bored of this puzzle after poking at it for 45 seconds," I tend to use walkthroughs a lot.

Sometimes, I will walkthrough the first level or two of a game, just because I feel like I'm not really getting the internal logic of the game. Then, once the lightbulb goes on in my dim little head, I go all the way back to the beginning and start over, playing without reference to the walkthrough unless I get stuck, and by stuck, I mean really can't figure something out. Most often this is because I'm just flat missing some visual cue. My vision is probably no better or worse than most people with glasses, but I'm not very good at looking.

I can identify with that. My wife plays those item hunt games and notices everything; I notice nothing. Our office manager was telling me what colors she had selected for a corridor at work and used the term "the mauve wall." I had to laugh and remind her I'm a straight male; I've walked that corridor for fifteen years and have no clue what color it is painted, or that the two walls are different colors (WTF?), or what color mauve is.

 

[The Potato Lord]

I use them when i get stuck on a game when messing around with the problem isn't fun and always when it boils down to Trial-and-error boss battles where if you don't do every part right you have to start all over again. and for Item lists and quest lists in most of them.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Barely, and only for some small details, like potion recipes for "The Witcher" - no major things, unless it is my last resort (like, "Horshoe and Oyster locations" for GTA).

 

[tthor]

if i get stuck on part of a game for a while,like in Final Fantasy or LoZ, i will usually glance at a walkthrough to just help me with that part

 

[Logan Westbrook]

Like many of the other posters, I only use them when I'm totally stuck.

 

[Girlysprite]

Yes, when stuck in puzzles or to find tactics when I find an endboss hard to beat.

I also sometimes use strategy guides for character building and stuff of that sort, but I think it doesn't exactly count as walkthrough.

 

[Meshakhad_v1legacy]

For Half-Life 2. I only used the walkthrough when I got stumped.