Do you use FAQ's to beat games?

[Ze_ro]

I have to admit that I often get stuck in games and have to resort to reading a FAQ to figure out how to get out of a specific predicament (Anyone who actually took the time to get ALL the DSS cards in Circle of the Moon without a FAQ is too hardcore for me)... but there's always a feeling of failure, like I should have stuck with it longer until I figured it out myself. What do you guys thing?

--Zero

[SegaTecToy]

Only when I'm really stuck. If I like a game I'll try to play it by myself but if it is only a filler in my collection or it is a real hellish puzzle (I'm not very good at these things) I will use a FAQ.

[IntvGene]

There's no way.. I don't have the time (or the patience) to devote myself to the games these days. So, once I am done beating it, I don't mind using a FAQ to gather up the extra goodies or whatnot. If it's a game I really love, I'll avoid doing it, but that hasn't happened in awhile.

I also have no problems using for some of the places where I am stuck, or when I am going through a game the second time, and want to get past an annoying puzzle, etc. They're definitely handy, and I don't worry about supposedly "cheating".

[NintendoMan]

I use them SOMETIMES. Only when I get really, really, really stuck!

[Kamisama]

I use FAQs when i get stuck, or when i think the game is good and i want to check for hidden stuff etc.

[Drexel923]

I try to get through everygame without looking at a guide...but there are usually places where I just can't figure something out after like 50 tries. If your really stuck, I don't think it ruins the game experience.

[gamergary]

Only when I get really stuck.

[Miguel_The_Machine]

I usually beat the game myself, there is no better feeling than finally beating the spot where your stuck in by figuring it out yourself without resorting to a FAQ, but I will use a FAQ to get all of the extra junk in the game.

[tynstar]

I only use them when I am really stuck or after I beat the game to get the extra good. I am not going to spend my hard earned money on a game and then cheat myself out of playing it by using a FAQ or hint book to play it.

[§ Gideon §]

Interesting. I wouldn't have commented if I weren't the only person so far who voted for "No. Never.". Well, that's just me, I guess.

[crazyjackcsa]

I view them almost like a cheat code, To get all of the extra stuff, I will use a faq, I will also use a faq if a game is what I call "being stupid", ie, really lame puzzle ala resident evil, or if I've faced off versus a boss without so much as dentiing him

[nesuser2]

Usually I will try for a bit before I pick up a guide or something. For instance, there were a few spots in Viewtiful Joe where no matter which trick I used, I couldn't get past it. And by trick I mean, the stuff that's already in the game. Most of the time I figured them out...probably 80% of them as there seem to be alot, and maybe even more than 80%. Sometimes I just want to keep plugging away at the game and getting slowed up from progress makes me feel like i'm wasting useful time since I don't have much to game anyways.

Also, I beat Simpsons Hit and Run on my xbox. Got all levels and missions beat, completed the levels to about 83% and kept pushing around the levels and finally pulled out some online FAQ's. If you've ever played that game, it's pretty hard to get to 100% on a level without some sort of help. There's always a trading card, wasp camera, or a gag hiding somewhere. To find these things alone would just take way too long when you've got 90-95% of them. You could spend hours looking around a level to find that last gag, which would amount to a week for me LOL FAQ for me!

[christianscott27]

its damn hard not to in many of todays titles. i'm at heart a guy who thinks he should be able to beat any game without help and mostly thats true. i'll spend hours roaming around a level before giving up but sometimes it just a matter of being practical. my latest game is indiana jones and emperors tomb, now only those who've played the game will know exactly what i'm talking about here. theres a point in I-Ching level where you have to cross over this bridge made up of rotating tiles, the tiles keep shifting and if you step on the wrong one you fall to your death. then you have to go back to the begining of the level and fight your way thru several other major challenges, not to mention the horrible PS2 load times! solving this puzzle thru trial and error would seriously take hours, to the FAQ i go. in short it was the time involved that sucked the fun out of the challenge, so in a way i feel more betrayed by the game designers than by myself...

man i gotta write a review of this game, i got some major love/hate issues with IJ-ET for ps2.

[Kejoriv]

It varies. I try not to. But, I am not going to spend hours roaming a huge level looking for a key. I have more important stuff to do. So, I use a faq.

[Simply Dave]

I only use them when I am really stuck. Otherwise, I try to stay away from them.

[GamecubeFreek]

I only use faqs when I am really stuck, like most of you. I really hate doing it though; it makes me feel cheap.

[Evil E]

I only use faqs when I get really stuck...which seems all too often!! It feels like I then have surrendered to the game, but it's better than getting so frustrated that I give up on it. Faqs serve a very useful tool when you get stuck in a game!

E.--

[briskbc]

Some of the games seemed to be engineered to require the purchase of a guide. Or for us cheapskates, using a FAQ. I will use one but, like many of you, only if I'm stuck. If I'm at a point where I can't go any further and the game stops being fun then I will use a FAQ. I always feel cheap about it though.

[Sylentwulf]

If I get stuck and it's just a matter of me wandering around completely lost or spending 15 seconds checking a gamefaq, I'll ALWAYS check the gamefaq. Personally, if I get lost in a game, I say it's poor game designing.

Or, If I'm on my second time through a game (rare that this happens) I'll use a walkthrough to try to get 100%, ala Final Fantasy games.

[ghostangelofcky]

I do but just for getting all the goodies for like metroid, final fantasy.
stuff like dat

[DigitalSpace]

I'm going to have to use an FAQ to get through Jurassic Park and Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts for the SNES.

I used a guide Game Informer printed in certain parts of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, for getting through certain missions I was having trouble with, and finding hidden packages.

[mezrabad]

If there's bump I need a little push over, I'll use a FAQ. EG, there was one hidden package in GTAIII that I just could not find. I wanted to have them all from Portland before moving on to the second area, so I FAQ'd it.

If the game is in a different language (Japanese or Korean) a FAQ is essential for me because I just gotta have some idea of what the heck is going on.

If it's an old game (ie text adventure) that I don't want to spend a week on, I'll use a FAQ/walkthrough/invisiclue but I usually ALWAYS regret it as I always feel "of course! crap, why didn't I see that?". If this happens enough, maybe I'll be conditioned not to use them.

[MonkeyWizard]

I have very little patience, so when I get stuck in a game I almost immediately use a FAQ. I'll also use a walkthrough if I've already finished a game, and I want to pick up all the little extras I missed the first time through.

[lym]

The only time I use a FAQ is when I get stuck. I don't understand when people use a FAQ for the whole game, that just spoils the enjoyment of playing the game.

[optic_85]

Usually i just use FAQ's when im playing a game in japanese, and i cant understand what im supposed to be doing. But every now and then when i get stuck i check out gamefaqs.com ......

[Aussie2B]

I agree with briskbc. Modern games are pretty much designed to force the player to purchase a strategy guide to find every secret. It's all about business. No sane gamer just casually playing through a game to enjoy it would discover such secrets. It's the kind of stuff that you have to either be a debugger to discover or play obsessively. Ever notice how the official strategy guides always thank the developers for providing info on the game? It's because even they don't take the effort to discover crazy secrets completely on their own. That's why you really gotta respect some fan FAQ writers. In some cases, they have to tediously play through a game in order to discover everything (I know I've been there).

I feel no remorse for using FAQs for that kind of stuff, and sometimes, when I'm not especially in love with a game, I'll use FAQs to get past parts when I'm really stuck because I don't care to waste time being stuck in the game.

Overall, I much prefer to write FAQs than use them. Sometimes I use my own FAQs when I forget stuff. o_O

[whoisKeel]

I try to always read a faq completely before even buying the game. This way i know whether or not it is gonna be a hard game. If it is hard, I won't even consider playing it. No good games are ever challenging, as challenge only takes away from the fun of gaming. :|

[Aussie2B]

I hope you're joking. o_O I love a good challenge, and if I hear that a game is difficult (but not from play control or otherwise poor design), that gives me MORE incentive to get it. In most of my favorite games I've spent a lot of time dying and cursing at the game. In fact, I feel cheated and ripped off if I beat a game too quickly and easily. I expect to die at least a few times.

[lym]

I try to always read a faq completely before even buying the game. This way i know whether or not it is gonna be a hard game. If it is hard, I won't even consider playing it. No good games are ever challenging, as challenge only takes away from the fun of gaming. :|

Whats the point in buying a easy game? It just won't be worth the money you bought it for and won't last as long. I like to get my money from a game, I don't want to last a day and then probably never play it again because it was soooo easy. I want it to last a good few days or weeks.

[Jasoco]

Only when I get really stuck as well. If the game is worth playing by myself, I only read what will help me get past an impossible part. Usually it turns out to be something obvious that I could have done myself if I had used my head. Whatever.

Thank God for GameFaq's.

[Dr. Morbis]

I try to always read a faq completely before even buying the game. This way i know whether or not it is gonna be a hard game. If it is hard, I won't even consider playing it. No good games are ever challenging, as challenge only takes away from the fun of gaming.

I think that what you wrote is pretty much the credo of the current/modern gaming generation. It's also why I feel so disconnected from you "mainstream" gamers.

And it's also why I'll be a retrogamer for life.

[whoisKeel]

I try to always read a faq completely before even buying the game. This way i know whether or not it is gonna be a hard game. If it is hard, I won't even consider playing it. No good games are ever challenging, as challenge only takes away from the fun of gaming.

ok, just for the record that was sarcasm x_x

I was actually just thinking the other day about how there really aren't too many great titles that aren't challenging. Go ahead and compile your top 10 list right now and i bet you 9 out of 10 are hard as crap.


I think that what you wrote is pretty much the credo of the current/modern gaming generation. It's also why I feel so disconnected from you "mainstream" gamers.

And it's also why I'll be a retrogamer for life.

you're right :) although i wasn't really trying to make that point. but don't fear, there are still many good, hard games coming out...so long as you don't count percentage of the whole.

as for the faq question....i do tend to use them on older games like say megaman (so i know order to beat bosses in), but i always try to make it through newer games i've never played without them...and since i don't care to go through zelda/metroid types a second time...i've no need to collect every last item in the game (i think my earlier FF days burnt me out on that forever)