What is your personal stance on using guides, specially on /vr/ games?

I think is OK, I mean. You don't look down on someone for using a cookbook to make a meal.

Only if I own it physically.

>>3230446
I try to play as blindly as possible but if I get stuck for over 15 minutes I'll usually resort to one.

I don't have dozens of hours to blow on games anymore so I use them when I start getting frustrated.

I do to solve puzzles sometimes, and usually feel bad about it. I don't really play adventure games anymore cause the whole time I'm kinda rolling my eyes thinking why don't I just look up a guide.

Some games were intended for a time when the only thing competing for screen time on your TV was I love lucy reruns so people would sit there and punch every wall until they figured it out. Castlevania 2 is the best example I can think of for a game that was intended for people to spend an enormous amount of time figuring out, in a way that no longer works when you have a billion other games to play.

I usually hate this type of thinking but think about how many people don't finish games cause they're stuck. Especially with something very old that might have outdated puzzle design I figure it's better to peek in a walkthrough than let your save file sit unfinished forever

Sometimes guides can save poor design like when you have no idea where to go next.

>>3230446
When I was a little kid I would always buy the guidebook if it was available and follow it page by page even if the game wasn't hard. I still like collecting guidebooks to this day, in spite of the availability of internet guides.

Eventually I started trying to play games with as little help as possible, although I would still resort to a guide if I was stuck on something for a long time.

Now I'm in my mid-20s and I don't have a lot of time to spend stuck on a difficult or confusing part of a game, considering I have a lot of games I want to play and much less time to play them, so my policy is to go in blind and refer to a guide as soon as I get stuck.

I try to avoid them. I use a guide when the alternative is dropping the game.

However, I have found that a better strategy is to avoid games that require guides as I don't much like the feeling of having someone else do the legwork.

Looking at a guide for adventure games is the equivalent of using an invincibility cheat in action games.

>>3230446
I feel like physical guides are okay.

Whether it's a strategy guide or even just a map. Usually in that case it's just a quick reference when needed and I think it goes hand in hand with the "/vr/ experience". I'd even say bonus points to you if you do something like draw your own maps or take notes of some kind during a playthrough.

I think following guides online where you're walked step-by-step through the whole game is way too much though.

At that point I would argue that you didn't even play the game you just mechanically completed it, like that bot programmed to beat NES games, just following an instruction set through till the end.

>>3230541

This happened to me recently with Metal Gear for MSX. I went through the game just fine, even finding random secret paths thanks to OCDly punching every wall I see, but I got stuck real hard at the end of building 2. I ended up backtracking to the first building and found a few things I was missing, but then I got stuck again when I went back. Ended up looking a guide and I don't think I was gonna figure that out soon, I was required to get a rocket launcher from Jennifer using her frequency (which I noted down), but I had to call her at a single specific screen, which was the one you are given her coded number. I was trying to contact her on almost every room, so I guess I was eventually going to find her, maybe. But then I don't know if I was gonna figure out that I had to go back to the same room to find the rocket launcher after talking to her.
Also, I didn't know I was supposed to kill these Arnolds using 4 rockets either, and that I had to kill both of them to obtain card 7. I felt bad for looking up but otherwise I would have been stuck for hours.

TL;DR it's fine to look up a guide if you really think you've tried everything you can or you're spending too much time on it. But it still feels shitty.

First time = the only thing allowed is Bestiaries
2nd time: free game for all guides

I only use one when I'm becoming extremely agitated with an area, like an hour or two of messing around without progress, primarily due to me playing Rpg's so having that many random encounters results in me over leveling which ruins things. Or when I miss a crucial gameplay mechanic, I'll look it up so I more clearly understand to enhance the enjoyment. I never follow step by step guides though, that seems lame since you gain no enjoyment for discovering things yourself.

File: detective-conan-mechanical-temple-murder-case-game-boy-color-traducido-ingles_1_1998594.jpg (53KB, 400x507px) Image search: [Google]

53KB, 400x507px

What is the best DC game and why is it Mechanical Temple Murder?

Probably because it's the only one tangentially retro with a full translation.

I tried the PS1 ones and even liked some of those but language is a huge barrier if you want to enjoy them. Although it exponentially increases difficulty.

>>3230446
guides are the perfect way to turn playing a game into a chore. The moment you use a guide you aren't doing something in the game because your inner motivation tells you to, but because the guide tells you to.
They're also pretty awesome to rob you from any sense of accomplishment, and teach you that spending time to think, explore alternatives or otherwise be mentally creative, are bad things.

>>3230543
>when you have no idea where to go next
wherever you want to go. Or is your only motivation "because the game tells me to"?

>>3230547
>I don't have a lot of time
that's a choice, and a poor excuse.

>refer to a guide as soon as I get stuck
So you'll never experience the "aha!" moment when something clicks and you made progress. So what are you really playing at that point? Just going through the motions to see the credits. Might as well not bother playing. Pick your games, play them like games. Beats playing more games superficially.

The only time I've made a habbit of using a guide (and it's really not so much of a guide) is basically to figure out where to save the game or what a mechanic does, with some of the older RPGs some things are a little inconspicuous and can be hell if you don't get on top of them early.
Aside from that I rarely use them, I'd have to be stuck for hours to use one, I tend to enjoy the trial and error work it out strategy even if it is time consuming. not that there's anything wrong with using a guide, I just prefer not to

>>3230446
>tfw DC marathon RIGHT NOW
as for guides, I learned following them and investing in them for games I don't know destroys my interest. Hell, it erodes interest in games I DO know sometimes, depends on the game.

I can't say I never use them though, sometimes I just want to progress instead of fumble around forever (and these days it's an option) and in that case I may choose to specifically look one thing up at a time. Anything that saves my interest and keeps me from dropping a game due to feeling like it's time wasted.

>>3231473
How are these games? How do they play? I was just wondering how a DC game would play and I have no knowledge of any of them.

>>3231540
That's a little harsh if i may say so anon and a little cynical, if other people enjoy going through the motions I have no problems with that, they can do it all they like, doesn't effect my play through, some people play for story, some for a challenge; I like both really. Hell some people play exclusively for mechanics, point is you shouldn't hate on them because you think its poor form to use a guide.

>>3231560
who said anything about hate? I'm just saying people using guides like that are throwing away such a core part of a game, why bother playing that game? That anon thinks they're saving time, when in reality they're not playing the games. It's their choice to do that, but they should be aware of what's going on.

You might as well just watch a longplay instead of following a guide to play a game.

I recently used a walkthrough in Duke Nukem: Time to Kill on Playstation.

There's a level where you have to collect 3 crystals. I just could not find the last crystal. I looked it up, and apparently you were supposed to push a random dumpster from a specific side, and a secret path was revealed to the crystal. That's some mew-hiding-under-the-truck tier shit, just to progress the level.

File: rcdytfj.jpg (86KB, 589x800px) Image search: [Google]

86KB, 589x800px

>>3231549

>tfw DC marathon RIGHT NOW

how far in are you?

I'm a little lenient on using guides for retro games, because I often feel like the solution might just be some mechanic I don't know about because I don't have access to the manual.

>>3233045
you can (and should) look up almost every single /vr/ manual out there on the internet. They're mandatory reading when playing a /vr/ game, and they're pretty cool in general

>>3232858
I actually watched around the mid 500's (anime of course) a few years ago, now I'm watching as far as I can again. This moment I'm on 191, still sweet ass traditional media being used. I remember I dropped it where I did years ago because that's when Kogorou's voice changed...Did the original actor die or something?

>>3233684

Retired due age I think.

How you play is really you're own business, man.

I will say though I hate when a game has secrets that can only be found with a guide. I.E Any game that has a TRUE END path apparently.

File: Palm trees and 8.jpg (29KB, 397x321px) Image search: [Google]

29KB, 397x321px

I can't remember the time I lost at this puzzle, not event knowing this was the right screen. First time ever i remember needing a guide.

I only use guides for RPGs, they usually have TONS of missible stuff. Also some of them get really out of control with the level scaling and I like a heads up if killing the monsters are benefitting me or cucking me.

>>3230446
Do whatever you want.

I haven't read this thread, but I know there's a good chance people are in here pretending that Nintendo Power, usenet, or playground chat wasn't a thing just because they didn't have it as a child.

>>3231540
>having a full time 40 hour per week job is a choice to some people

Must be nice to have inherited your entire fortune on a silver platter.

>>3234672
You don't need to play through a game within a day

>>3234684
Nobody said you did? But if I only get 1 hour per night I want to make some kind of progress, not spend all 60 minutes bumping into every tile of wall clicking A to see if by some slim shot in the dark chance there is a secret passage there I missed.

>>3234701
>But if I only get 1 hour per night I want to make some kind of progress
that's your problem. Learn some patience

>not spend all 60 minutes bumping into every tile of wall clicking A to see if by some slim shot in the dark chance there is a secret passage there I missed
Now you've gone full retard

What you don't understand is what you end up playing is not the game, but a poor projection of it. You'll miss out on what makes the game work. Then again, your comment up there proves you're having a problem with the whole thinking thing, so the game's wasted on you anyway.

40 hours a week you can let your boss tell you what to do. It's only fair that 5 hours a week some book gets to tell you what to do.

If I'm stuck long enough that the game stops being fun then I'll use one.

>>3234773
>the game stops being fun
The threshold for that shifted dramatically down the last couple decades

>>3230446
I don't really care, if it's a really complicated game then go ahead. If it is relatively simple but has many endings (like a VN) I would recommend playing it through 2 or 3 three times without a guide. And then going back with a guide.

>>3234442
This motherfucking puzzle. There really is no other way to finish it than to use a guide.

Guides can suck the fun out of a game. I used to give a shit about 100%ing everything and would follow guides pretty closely, but eventually I realized there was no sense of exploration or discovery anymore.

Now I only use them as a last resort.

Avoid if possible, use if necesary.

>>3230446
Use a guide to solve a single problem every ten years.

I looked at a guide for sotn when I got the first bad ending.. I already had the rings but just never read the descriptions anyway, so it wouldn't have been a productive search until I just looked through the jewelry menu descriptions.

It's really just the question of "Am I trying to make this game an easier experience (ie: where to get crissaegrim/alucard sword) or am I going to spend several hours guessing this tiny detail when I have work tomorrow morning?"

i don't feel bad if the game makes me feel stupid as fuck

if you're using it because you're lazy you might as well just watch a playthrough on youtube

Only guides I'll use are when I want to avoid a "bad" end or if I get stuck on a puzzle.

>yfw Detective Conan has been going on for 20 years yet in universe less than 1 year has passed

>>3238414

Did Nobita of Doraemon ever grew up?

>>3234442
I needed a guide for the guide on this game.

I try to avoid guides on first playthroughs unless I get really stuck on something.

>>3234442

PTSD right there.