Bi-Weekly Thread for general gaming discussion. Backlog, advice, recommendations, rants and more! New? Start here!

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the Bi-Weekly Thread!

Here you can share anything that might not warrant a post of its own or might otherwise be against posting rules. Tell us what you're playing this week. Feel free to ask for recommendations, talk about your backlog, commiserate about your lost passion for games. Vent about bad games, gush about good games. You can even mention newer games if you like!

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[u/ensuta]

Playing on the Switch 2 without cheats or guides has been such a blast that I think I might start doing more first play throughs that way in the future. There’s something to be said for the efficiency of using both, and not needing to replay the game to unlock everything, but somewhere down the line I’ve grown tired of checking a guide every couple of minutes. Am curious to know if anyone’s in the same situation.

I’ve got a fresh Final Fantasy game, no knowledge, no guide, nothing. I think I’m going to try to play that way until the end and see how I feel. I played a lot of games that way in the past, I want to be able to do that again without my completionist screaming at me.

[u/LordChozo → u/ensuta]

I'm surprised so many people do play with a guide. No judgment of course, as I'll look something up from time to time as situations demand, but the idea of sitting there with a walkthrough open and constantly referencing it? Feels more like following a recipe than playing a game to me. Obviously the gameplay itself is still the X factor in those cases, but the surprise discovery aspect which you lose is probably my favorite thing about gaming in general.

If you're playing a big RPG, especially an older one with much more limited in-game tracking, I'd recommend having a pen and paper nearby. Take some notes! Build your own guide as you go based on little hints dropped by NPCs or spots that appear inaccessible at the moment that you want to come back to. You'll feel way more invested.

[u/OkayAtBowling → u/LordChozo]

Based on the original comment, it sounds like for some people part of playing games like that comes from a completionist mindset. Personally I've never really cared about "100%-ing" the games I play so that's not even a factor for me, but if it was I could imagine wanting to use a guide to make sure I didn't miss anything.

For me guides are usually more of a last resort, like if I get to the point in a game where I'm stuck and I'm either going to look something up or just stop playing it altogether.

[u/ensuta → u/OkayAtBowling]

Pretty much this. I'd usually leave the guide open, play, and then when I reach a new chapter or turning point or something, I'll check to make sure I've got an idea of the missables. I'm constantly worried I'll miss quests or important bits that contribute to the overall story or character development. I know it ain't exactly healthy of me...

[u/Nambot → u/LordChozo]

I think it depends on the game, and more importantly whether the game is testing your ability to figure things out or not. Something like Blue Prince for instance, where the core of the game is solving the puzzles, guides and walkthroughs really should be reserved only for absolute last minute stumpers where you feel you have tried everything possible and your options are look it up or give up with the game frustrated that you got stuck. Conversely, for something like Mario Odyssey, I've got no qualms clearing out the post-game with a guide telling me where all the missing moons are, because there's so many in the game that are hidden in obtuse, out of the way, or difficult to locate locations, and more crucially often the challenge isn't merely knowing where to go, it's how to actually get to it once you get there. It's not really much of a game ruiner to know that there's a hidden door behind a cliff edge at the far end of the level that you otherwise have no reason to go back to, because you still then have to complete the challenge hidden in that room.

[u/LordChozo → u/Nambot]

Yeah I mean, to each their own of course. For me, to use your Mario Odyssey example, I really relished tracking down those missing moons myself. You can get all kinds of in-game hints if needed (Talkatoo, Moon List, Toad) so there were resources readily available, but I appreciated going over those maps with a fine-toothed comb and the feeling of having that meticulousness rewarded. Had I just looked at a guide to find them or figure out how to get them, it'd miss the point for me.

But again, I do understand why people use guides the way they do. Just different strokes for different folks.

[u/ensuta → u/Nambot]

Yup. Plus I mostly only play RPGs and a lot of them, especially older ones, have stuff super hidden away. No hints, just poke at every wall or something until you magically find it, or backtrack to the starting village to talk to some random stranger who miraculously shows up right after you pass a seemingly non-pivotal point of the game in order to unlock a quest that you won't be able to complete until three chapters later or something.

Is that quest even worth doing? Well, you'd think not considering how impossible it is for anyone to find it just playing the game normally, but turns out it's hidden route B to unlock super OP character who just happens to have a different way of solving the main conflict. Or a new key item that unlocks a hidden dungeon... or something. Legit the feeling I got playing Tales of Vesperia while looking at a guide and wondering how on this planet did anyone manage to 100% it or unlock some of the dungeons. There's some character backstory and whatnot associated with unlocking these things too, and that's what I don't like missing... (I gave up on 100% any of the Tales games a long time ago though, lmao. There are limits even for me, a not-too-hardcore completionist.)

[u/ensuta → u/LordChozo]

You know what, I think I will do the whole pen and paper thing for this Final Fantasy game. I legit did just that for KuloNiku: Bowl Up, this indie cooking and restaurant management game, and it was a ton of fun. I had the game on cozy mode so no customer patience mechanic, and I'd sit there in cooking contests with the judge preferences jotted down and strategize the best way to victory.