Using a guide for a game you've already beaten

[Torrasque]

So for the past couple weeks, I've been playing Majora's Mask. I randomly got the urge to start playing it one day (probably because I was listening to some Majora's Mask music on youtube...) and I have 3 of the temples beat and on my way to the 4th temple.
One thing that anyone who has played Majora's Mask can tell you is: this game has a LOT of things. There are the many details about each temple, what time you talk to people, how to get each mask, what each mask even is, where to go in each temple, etc.
This game has the most amount of things to do out of any Zelda game I have ever played. Twilight Princess comes close to rivaling it, but a lot of TP's things are 'extra' or lead into each other really nicely. Not only that, but TP doesn't have time constraints on just about every goddamn thing you do in the game.

So this brings me to my dilemma.
I've 100% beaten Majora's Mask once when I was 13 or something, and beaten it (non-100%) 3-4 times getting most of the masks. Its been a really long time since I last played it, and I've forgotten a lot of minor details: when to talk to Anju, how to trigger Kefei's part of the quest, what certain masks are, etc. I'd rather not waste time trying to remember things, and just actually play the damn game. For this reason, I'd like to use a guide.
Now, I'm not using the guide to do all the work for me, its mostly to just help me remember. I've already used it once in the skultula house to remember how to get those damned spiders out of the wall, just because I got sick of throwing bombs and arrows at it. All I had to do was read one line that said, "now in this room, make sure you grab bugs, you'll need three" and I knew right away what to do with them.
So I'm not using the guide to play the game for me, its just so I don't waste my own time.

My question to you is: should I feel bad for using a guide to help me 100% Majora's Mask?
And to help discussion along and expand this topic, do you feel bad using guides for games you have already beaten? (100% or not)

 

[Aariana]

My question to you is: should I feel bad for using a guide to help me 100% Majora's Mask?
And to help discussion along and expand this topic, do you feel bad using guides for games you have already beaten? (100% or not)

No, why should you feel bad for using a guide? As you said, you already beat it to 100% already, it's not like you're gaining some sort of unfair advantage or anything (not that I would think that of a person who did it in a single player game anyways).

For me, I have used guides for games such as Chrono Cross, where you can recruit different characters depending on your actions. When you first enter the main city, Termina, you are basically tossed into this quest that can go one of three ways. I found two of them easily enough on my first two playthroughs, but I had no clue how to do the third, so I looked at a guide. It didn't hurt anyone, and it meant that I was actually able to find and enjoy a story that I hadn't seen before instead of hunting around for hours not knowing what to do.

 

[Zhukov]

How dare you!

How fucking dare you!

Using a guide? Using a fucking guide?! In a single player game? Entirely for your own enjoyment?

Sir, mere words fail to express the true measure of my disgust. Hand over your HARDCORE GAMER[sup][sup]TM[/sup][/sup] badge and never show your despicable face around here ever again.

 

[DoPo]

My question to you is: should I feel bad for using a guide to help me 100% Majora's Mask?

Let me ask an expert

Spoiler: And the answer is...

Well, that settles that.

And to help discussion along and expand this topic, do you feel bad using guides for games you have already beaten? (100% or not)

Wait, why would I? I sometimes read walkthroughs before playing a game. Other times I read them as I play. And other times, still, I read them after I've completed a section, so I know what I missed there. Other times I don't read any. I haven't noticed change in how well I feel during either of these.

 

[feeback06]

I'm playing Majora's Mask for the first time currently and I couldn't imagine not using a guide for it.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

I feel no shame for using a guide for the Persona series. ONE screwup, an event on the wrong day, and you can kiss your 100% Links goodbye.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

No... I wouldn't feel bad for using a guide regardless of whether I've played the game before or it's my first time.
Especially RPGs, it's a genre that prides it's self in having a lot of stuff in the game. I don't even think an elephant could remember all the junk you can do in Skyrim for example.

When it comes down to it, people just don't have enough time or energy to remember how to clear a game 100% every play-through... I don't have enough time or energy to clear MOST games, let alone 100% of a game. So don't feel guilty.

 

[Folji]

If there's any way to genuinely miss out on something or other in the game because you didn't know it was there and don't have any way to go back and fix it, I'd bring a long a guide every single time. No shame in it, though I also know I wouldn't pay for a guide to a game either!

 

[Legion]

I probably cared some time ago, the same way that I used to stick with a game no matter how much it was pissing me off in order to beat it.

Nowadays I play games purely for the enjoyment, so if I am getting frustrated and stuck then I either quit it or use a guide to get me past the part that I am not enjoying.

I tend to have a "I don't have unlimited time, so if I am not enjoying this then there is no point to it" attitude when it comes to gaming now.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I don't think there's a religious "Thou shalt not use guides" commandment. Scratch that, I don't believe in a gaming religion of any sort, setting aside some codes of conduct in co-op/multiplayer. When you boil it down to single player, it's all about having fun whichever way. If you consider a game to be more satisfying on its own without using a guide, do that, and vice versa. I've personally used a lot of guides - for figuring out a puzzle in an adventure game, for replaying a game to its 100%, to avoid permanent screw ups, etc.

 

[burningdragoon]

You should only feel bad if your goal was to do it without a guide. Was that your goal? No? Then, no.

 

[ASnogarD]

How you complete or play single player games is up to you, you can cheat or use guides to your hearts content as it only effects your own play through of the game.

I use walk throughs for Final Fantasy VII + VIII + IX as its all too easy to get a few hours into the game and miss a huge chunk of the game if you miss the small side stuff.
You still need to actually battle the bosses and do the mini games so you still get the combat challenge... this way you get to enjoy the full story and have fun playing the game.

I suppose some arguments can be made for single player games with achievements linked to completing certain tasks, but I dont care and if you are going to brag about a achievement you gained via a cheat or guide then thats your problem to deal with.

 

[Miles Maldonado]

Given how much of a pain in the ass Warship Gunner 2 is with the locations of it's special parts and where you need to be, going to a guide after you've beat it is almost compulsory.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

When it comes to single player games using a guide either before or after beating the game could only potentially ruin your own experience so if you have no problem with it then by all means, go ahead.

 

[Ljs1121]

How dare you!

How fucking dare you!

Using a guide? Using a fucking guide?! In a single player game? Entirely for your own enjoyment?

Sir, mere words fail to express the true measure of my disgust. Hand over your HARDCORE GAMER[sup][sup]TM[/sup][/sup] badge and never show your despicable face around here ever again.

I love you more every single post you make.

On topic, you shouldn't feel bad. You've already beaten the game without a guide, no reason to beat yourself up over using one now.

 

[DoPo]

Especially RPGs, it's a genre that prides it's self in having a lot of stuff in the game. I don't even think an elephant could remember all the junk you can do in Skyrim for example.

Also, especially since RPGs some times use some kind of half-high half-dream logic to connect things together and a sane, rational person might not actually get it. Skyrim is a good example - the murder quest in Windhelm. You have to go, chase after clues and figure out who it was. Wow, it took me, like 5 minutes to figure it out. But yet, you have to actually collect the clues in the correct order otherwise things don't work. I managed to skil probably a third, if not half of the quest just because I didn't find evidence B which should let point me to evidence C but just got C instead. In the end there was no option to say who the killer was. I friggin had the incriminating evidence in me but, no-o-o, I can't use them because fuck using actual logic, apparently. I felt like I was in a Scooby Doo episode.

At a different point, I skipped half of Sangine's quest, on the other hand, by complete accident. And I found no rhyme or reason in what was happening. Yeah, when you have to read a guide in order to make sense of how you got the quest wrong (AND WHICH ONE WAS IT), there is something faulty in the chain of reasoning there.

 

[dimensional]

Dont see whats so bad about it guides can be used by anyone regardless if its single or multiplayer just because you use a guide in multiplayer it wont make you awesome all of a sudden and as for using one in singleplayer well seriously who cares its your game do what you want use a guide use cheats whatever as long as you get what you want out of it its all good.

I have found guides to make a game more enjoyable on occasion so I can get on with the game rather than wondering how the hell I get past this damn dungeon oh I see I have to stand in this particular spot with the sword equipped and swipe through the wall to hit an invisible switch (other weapons wont work) yes great design there secret of mana.

 

[Dragoon]

I have nothing against guides, even on the first playthrough for certain games. Especially JRPGs which usually have a ton of stuff in places you wouldn't even think of looking in, plus replaying them takes a lot of time so I'd prefer to get everything the first time.

 

[Fractral]

I feel no shame for using a guide for the Persona series. ONE screwup, an event on the wrong day, and you can kiss your 100% Links goodbye.

Good grief... I didn't even want to think about getting 100% links in persona 3. That seemed just too hard, and you have to do absolutely everything by the guide. No chance to just go with the flow of the game.

OT: There's never any shame in using a guide. How you play the game is up to you- nobody should be able to judge you for that. I frequently use guides for games I haven't played through, just because I don't want the frustration of failing or missing things.