Do you still use Guide Books to this day despite gaming media has ways of guiding gamers?

Back when the internet was still weak, back before social media took off like a rocket. Game guide books were among the best thing for gamers who got stuck on a level or anything difficult to proceed and depending on the actual game, a guide book came in handy for the player. Only time I'll go out of my way and buy a guide book is for the Pokemon main games that I prefer reading over going to places online like serebii.net.

I rarely nowadays use any guide books, do you still use any? (Almost bought a guide book for Elden Ring)

When I was in primary school, my best friend had a playstation. He got an obscure game called azure dreams and invited me to play it in a sleep over.

We had an amazing time, and the following week he printed a guidebook and I went to his house again to play.

I also have memories of playing baldurs gate 2 and toying with the guide book that came with the box (I remember it having a very European Spanish translation that I did not like hahaha)

Nowadays, I never use guidebooks, because I only buy digital. I have fond memories of them though. 😊

Don't like to use guides unless I'm going for 100% & find it difficult to find certain things on my own, plus will only do so after already experiencing the game heavily my own way blind. I have a lot of fun playing a game my way, not chasing metas like a tryhard.

Online guides are usually my go-to when I go for clean-up. The gaming community high in large has always had talented people making great guides, but if I ever saw a hard copy for one, with a game I'm a fan of, I will buy them.

I collect Official Monster Guides for Monster Hunter for example_

However I very rarely if ever read them for meta gaming reasoning, I love the concept art, and other neat knowledge about the games monsters.

Nah, seems kind of pointless now.

Though TBH those old guides were pretty great, often done in conjunction with the developer.

There's a lot of crap online but it's a lot easier and faster to find an appropriate guide. I mean 20+ years ago we wouldn't have a guide on how to make a super-specific min/max meta build for your lich cruoromancer in Pathfinder.

Nope. If I'm stuck or want more info on something I check Reddit or Steam forums. Sad, used to check here back in the day. Could get a response in a few minutes.

I tend to hop on Gamefaq, mostly for older games.

Most modern games are designed for people without brains, not much to learn.

@davillain: i remember the first guidebook I ever got was for ocarina of time. Because I couldn't get past water temple. As a kid it was a cool thing to have. I think I had one for Kingdom hearts as well. Guidebooks in physical form I think are cool. I haven't gotten far in elden ring, I might get a guidebook for it, might motivate me to play it.

Last guide book I had was for Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty for PS2 mainly for the dog tags. I haven't bought a guide book since then as online guides are available for free even videos on YouTube.

If I find them out in the wild, I buy them. Even use them on the occasion if I don't have internet.

I still love and enjoy the old Prima or any glossy papered guide books for vidoegames.

I used to have a prima guide guide book for old Resident Evil 2, but some pages got loose and fell out.

I also still have the old guide book for Super Mario RPG Legend of the Seven Stars and I would always have that close by and handy when playing Super Mario RPG.

i remember like 10 years ago or little less, that Walmart they would have tons of new guide boois for games like Diablo II and the Halo games etc

I have never used a guidebook for any game ever, or felt like I ever needed to.

If I get stuck for a longer time on something, I either stop playing if I consider the reason I'm stuck to be shit, or check for the solution online. If I want to know what the best build or weapon or whatever is, casually skim through some random guide online.

Playing a game myself is infinitely more rewarding than just copying someone else's setup or just going with the meta.

No, I use youtube walkthroughs.

Haven's since the N64 das.