Do you actively avoid walkthroughs some or all of the time?

[StaceyPowers]

In another thread, someone mentioned they thought it’d be rare to miss certain details of a game’s mechanics unless one actively avoids walkthroughs. I actually do actively avoid them in most circumstances, but it never occurred to me this might be odd. Who else does this?

[Shagger]

I followed a walkthrough published in a magazine for Zelda OOT and I will never make that mistake again, at least not for a first playthrough. I won't say it ruined the game, but it did take something away. I will look stuff up if I get truly stuck or of things get cryptic, but I try to avoid walkthroughs and they they serve me as a last resort.

[The Blackangel]

I concur with @Shagger on this. If I can, I avoid walkthroughs and guides as much ad possible. If I do use one, it’s usually just for reference. Like seeing what some items refine to in FF8. I did have to have a guide for a certain part at the end of disc one. It’s so damn cryptic and hidden that no gamer is going to figure it out without help. That was part of the reason why it didn’t do very well. With games like RDR2, we have a guide, but don’t use it but rarely. We don’t use it for quests, but as a reference manual. We do our own discovering, and to us, that makes the game immensely more enjoyable. I would rather earn it than have it handed to me. Having everything handed to you defeats the purpose of the game in my opinion. 

[killamch89]

I avoid walkthroughs because I don't want it to spoil the enjoyment of figuring out everything on my own. All you'll be doing is playing the game someone else did and using their strategies for approaching situations in-game which will get boring very quickly.

[Akun]

I love using walkthroughs because I'm lazy when it comes to replaying the game to figure out the challenging mechanic of the gameplay. Most times, when I avoid using a walkthrough is only when the gameplay isn't challenging, and the story is a bigger focus of the game. But for RPGs especially, I always use a walkthrough because I lack the patience to figure out "the perfect build." Just tell me how to win and let me enjoy the game, thank you.

[Empire]

walkthroughs are good, I mean why not do it 🙂 Spending that amount of money on a game to do not able to do walkthroughs.. I want my money worth. Without a walkthrough I would have never completed Dark Souls, or at least not fully enjoyed it. I may have been able to force myself through the content at a slow rate, but when I played without a walkthrough I just felt like I was missing so much, items, entire areas (Ash Lake, for instance), etc.

[Akun]

I remember the old Prima Games walkthroughs. Those were so great. They felt like tour guides for a new foreign country you're unfamiliar with. Same with RPGs and open world games IMO. Some folks are more adventurous and want to explore the worlds on their own, but others prefer a guide to show all the highlights and collectibles and hidden gems you might have missed (gems you missed and thus wasting your money because you never got the full value of what you paid for from the game).

Edited October 1, 2022 by Akun

[NightmareFarm]

I only click on them when i'm stuck. Searching up walkthroughs can increase the chances of a video popping up in your algorithm which spoils the game. 

Edited October 1, 2022 by NightmareFarm

[Grungie]

Sometimes I’m just being super lazy. Other times I try and just say “fuck it”.

I use them for old JRPG’s, because it wasn’t unusual for them to not give you direction after a certain point. It was common with when you got a ship or flight. There are a few that tell you where to go, but there’s no fucking map.

So I also never had this “spiritual connection” with video games to where I get some weird feeling for using a walkthrough,

[Justin11]

If I'm a newcomer to the game, definitely I'll need a guide to walk me through to master the game quests and background. But in the case of a popular game, I don't need any walkthrough since I've already mastered it's previous editions before the sequel. 

[The Blackangel]

I still use a guide to get through the water temple in Zelda OoT. That temple is so vast and such a maze that after more than 20 years, I still can't find my way around by memory. Add in having to change the damn water levels and your boots all the damn time, that makes it worse than any other temple. It is all but impossible. For the rest of the game, I have no problem. They're easy as hell. It's just that damn water temple that causes me to break out the guide.

[Crazycrab]

1 hour ago, The Blackangel said:

I still use a guide to get through the water temple in Zelda OoT. That temple is so vast and such a maze that after more than 20 years, I still can't find my way around by memory. Add in having to change the damn water levels and your boots all the damn time, that makes it worse than any other temple. It is all but impossible. For the rest of the game, I have no problem. They're easy as hell. It's just that damn water temple that causes me to break out the guide.

 

I've heard endless complaints about the Water Temple in OoT and at risk of pissing some people of, I've never seen what all the fuss is about.  By my recollection all you really have to do is sink to bottom, explore every accessible room, raise the water level, rinse and repeat.  Sure you are punished with some pain in the ass backtracking if you miss something but if you just follow that pattern that won't happen.  I always remember the Spirit Temple being more complicated and the Shadow Temple being more of a mindfuck, I mean the final boos is literally a bongo playing penis with disembodied hands!

[The Blackangel]

I'm just the opposite. The shadow and spirit temples are extremely easy. The spirit temple is actually my favorite temple in the game. As for pissing anyone off, fuck em. Everyone has different capabilities, experiences, and play styles. You find the water temple easy. Awesome! I find it a major bitch, especially since I'm trying to get all the gold skulltulas as well. As for the bongo playing penis, that's one trick I hope no man has. I would turn and run if a guy was doing that. especially if two appendages suddenly appeared. My thought on that:

GENITAL WARTS FROM HELL

[Grungie]

3 hours ago, Crazycrab said:

 

I've heard endless complaints about the Water Temple in OoT and at risk of pissing some people of, I've never seen what all the fuss is about.  By my recollection all you really have to do is sink to bottom, explore every accessible room, raise the water level, rinse and repeat.  Sure you are punished with some pain in the ass backtracking if you miss something but if you just follow that pattern that won't happen.  I always remember the Spirit Temple being more complicated and the Shadow Temple being more of a mindfuck, I mean the final boos is literally a bongo playing penis with disembodied hands!

Tbh, I feel like people tend to misuse terminology with the Water Temple. It’s tedious, and not hard. You are just restricted access to rooms because of either the water level, lack of keys, or the lack of the long shot. It’s not like it takes skill to raise/lower the water level, or just come back with a key or long shot.

I always see people calling anything that takes longer than usual as hard, despite it not really taking effort.

I can beat the Water Temple without a guide as I use the same tactic you do, but some of the backtracking is a pain, but that doesn’t make it difficult. The part that throws people off is the chest with the key in the basement of the central tower people easily forget about.

[Justin11]

When you can easily walkthrough a video game , doesn't mean it will go that way for another. I am not fast when it comes to learning a new video game, I love following the path of walkthroughs to guide me master some certain areas of the game.