5 comments about EverQuest II (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. I'm sorry that some people feel Prima has ruined the startegy guide industry but I think that of all their guides this one is perhaps one of the best, not the worst. I don't see how anyone could look at this guide and think it wasn't made by people who love videogames, and who love EQ.
   
   I recently purchased the eguide version for $10 at the official Prima site. It's the exact same thing as the print guide, in PDF format. All 336 pages. So that is what I'm basing this review on right now because the content is identical for the most part.
   
   First, although there is a large section dedicated to "the basics" a lot of the information will still be extremely helpful to new EQ or MMO players. Not all of us have been playing EQ Live for the last five years. EQ2 was my first foray into the world of MMO's, personally. There are many things in the basic sections of the guide that give a lot of insight into the game mechanics and fundamental ways in which things work, like the economy, crafting, magic, armor, classes, jargon, and so forth. Yes, you could figure out most of this on your own but for someone who only has a couple hours a night to play, this guide speeds up the learning process and makes the play time more enjoyable - and that's what really important. I don't really feel that it destroys the magic of the game in any way - in fact it increases it, by removing some of the hampering frustrations/confusions due to details left out of the manual.
   
   Second, and more importantly, the quest listings are extensive and well documented, and well laid out. The guide only goes to level 30 (by which point we'd hope most players get a grip and are comfortable on their own anyhow). It isn't trying to direct players if they don't want to be directed, it's simply pointing them in the right direction if they (like me and most people who work for a living) don't have the six hours a night to pour into the game looking for obscure NPC's and locations using the game's subpar journal/map/waypoint feature.
   
   I give it four out of five because of course it isn't perfect. There are some mistakes and the print guide will certainly have more, but I suspect the publishing delay is an attempt to make sure the print version is as up to date as it can be. Yes, if you buy the guide six months from now there will be many discrepancies - but my bet is that most people buying the guide are buying it NOW specifically for that reason - they want to get ahead early and while it's accurate. Also, it would have been nice if the quests had been laid out in order of difficulty for each section, rather than simply alphabetized. This would have made it easier to do the easy ones first, gain the experience, and then move on to the harder ones. Yes, you can use the game's journal to tell which will be difficult, but if the guide had done that it would have made it that much more intuitive.
   
   Overall a really great effort and Prima should be proud of having taken on such a massive project and getting it done more or less right. I'd recommened this guide to any player who wants the most from EQ2; it's an entirely new game and whether you're familiar or not with the original this guide will help you out a lot.



2. It seems that Prima guides have definately turned a corner in a good direction. I played EQ a long time ago, but had moved on to other games in between. It was very helpful to have this guide so I could find my way around quickly and easily. I only play for a couple hours a night, and the guide really does help me maximize that time. Maybe they'll come out with an expanded guide that goes past lvl 30. ;)



3. "EverQuest II: Prima Official Game Guide" is one of the best commercial guides I have ever seen.
   
   I find most guidebooks, and especially those from Prima, very poor. They are inaccurate and seem to condescend to the reader. Online guides, fan sites and forums always seem to have better content and be more up-to-date. I received this - a gift from my wife who knew how excited I was to start playing Everquest II - with about the same enthusiasm as receiving a bar of soap. (She thought it was a comic book set in an everquest genre.)
   
   I was pleasantly surprised how good the guide has been. The book has been very helpful in getting up and running in the game. Everquest II is very complicated and a bit daunting to start playing especially as I only play a few hours a week. The maps are especially helpful in getting oriented.
   
   Yes, all guidebooks are spoilers, but while there are a lot of quest walk-throughs there are plenty more to discover. Also, the guide doesn't have much content for characters over the mid 20's - leaving a lot of game for you to discover.
   
   I think the guide really helped get my head "into" the game.



4. This guide is easily the best investment any EQ2 gamer can make. On the whole I tend to find Prima's guides to be slightly awkward and unattractive. But this is definitely the exception to the rule. I only wished I had this guide by my side weeks before when I was wasting hours upon hours finding my way around in this massive world and calling for help constantly for the location of stores and NPC's. A good section of the beginning of this book is a beginners guide and a walkthrough of the newbie Isle of Refuge. Any old EQ gamer won't really find anything new or helpful here. In fact, anyone not entirely new to MMO's could probably do without those pages.
   
   However, the rest of the book is absolutley essential. The maps are very accurate (for now at least, until SOE decides to make changes) and the Spell lists and Armor/Weapons charts are top notch. This guide has raised my game immensely. I'm completeing quests quicker and I'm leveling faster.
   
   From a standpoint of style, this guide is above and beyond any other that's on the market today... including Prima's other guides. In fact, I was considering picking up the matrix Online to try out, but after seeing how relatively unattractive and uninteresting the Prima book had presented it, I decided not to.
   
   This guide is well designed and laid out, and easy to read, not to mention one of the best looking guides to come from Prima in years. For the folks at Prima, give your EQ2 team a big 'Thank You' and tell your other teams to get on the ball.



5. This is an excellent companion for anyone starting EQ2. Maps, quests, and much more useful reference info is included. Unlike the old guides I'd seen for EQ1, the maps are actually useful and include where to find certain mobs and NPCs. Although Sony has historically been difficult in allowing print books to be published with maps of Everquest zones, it looks as if they've lightened up on their requirements, giving the player customers actual useful information for a change. Also, the book is extremely well organized and written making it a constantly consulted desk fixture.
   
   This book won't be as much use to you if you're above level 25-30 and looking for help in finding your way around new zones. Let's hope they continue the trend and make another guide for the higher level players.

5 comments about Xenogears Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Strategy Guides).

1. Some strategy guides are vague and are a waste of money. They leave a gamer wondering where exactly to find an item or a location, learn a certain ability, or how to defeat an enemy. The Xenogears Strategy Guide blew these flawed strategy guides out of the water and proved that there are guides with all the answers to your questions! I strongly recommend this to anyone that owns Xenogears!



2. This is a lot like other walkthroughs that I have used before, it is easy to go through and understand and makes it extremely beneficial for a player to have. It may not be the best for the first time playing through the game because of some of the spoilers that it has throughout (mainly screen caps of the anime sceens), but I would highly recomend it to anyone



3. There are online walkthroughs available that are more helpful than this guide. However, this is a must-have for those who love to collect video game strategy guides. Personally, I liked the artwork. Also, the guide is made of quality materials, unlike more recent strategy guides. The cover and the pages seem to be made of thicker paper. I highly recommend this for those who loved Xenogears.



4. I'm probably the only one here who is going write a review bashing on this guide for it's quality. I don't mind the plot spoilers in the guide because...well it's a guide. Every guide has spoilers (and yes I actually DID get my hands on an FFVII guide by VERSUS BOOKS so don't tell me "well you should see THAT guide" I KNOW, but even that one had a few spoilers...just not plot spoilers).

   A guide is meant to do just that guide you. The reason I gave it a three was because the guide misses a lot of secrets, the bestiary lacks and there are no maps in the walkthrough.

   Let me start off by saying this, at least we can all agree on this, Maps are ESSENTIAL to a strategy guide and ESPECIALLY RPG guides. That goes without saying and for that I couldn't let the guide come within a mile of five stars. Second, a guide should NEVER spoil the ending. Plot I'm okay with but the ending is the whole reason you play a game in the first place. Sure it's no fun when you know the plot but if you know how the game ends then that just plain stinks! So I don't mind the plot spoilers but the fact of the ending being spoiled really made me mad.

   The walkthrough is dim too. The screens are blurry and out of context and the content that the guide contains is not always clear. The directions they give you in dungeons are only going to help you in getting lost. The bestiary doesn't detail a monsters weakness instead the only good thing we really get is how much HP they have.

   So in short, the guide isn't the best buy for you. It has a complete walkthrough and it actually isn't all that bad. Boss strategies are nice and you get the general idea of what they're telling you to do. But again, I didn't give this guide a considerably low score for the plot spoilers. I never actually even read the plot spoilers since I was using the guide as a reference book and not a magazine.




5. For a new company this is a great way to start out by never over rating an item for sale. I can say I am happy with my purchase,since it was in better condition than what I percieved.

5 comments about Final Fantasy Tactics (Prima's Official Strategy Guide).

1. ...because I think that the strategy guide is quite useful. You would have to be a buffoon to need actual STRATEGIES to win the battles - this is not the intended purpose. However, knowing that the marquis has an entire complement of Genji armor, which otherwise cannot be found, makes the gaming experience much more enjoyable. Also, knowing WHERE to find Cloud's materia blade, without which he cannot perform any special attacks, is quite nice. I guess I COULD complain that Square put these things into the game in order to get us to buy strategy guides, but hey, that's not a complaint against the GUIDE, right?
   All in all, I found the guide useful, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get everything possible out of the game. However, if you need the guide simply to get through the battles, well, maybe you should switch to another game, like Candy Land.



2. I got the stratagy guide almost the earliest day possible. I hope to do business with this person in the future.



3. Final Fantasy Tactics is a game where you have to use tactics. You have to THINK. You can't expect a book to do your thinking for you. The guide's strategies are a joke anyway.
   WHat is usefule, however, is some of the job descriptions and the other million details you want for a perfect file. However, be warned--there are many inaccuracies and errors. Besides, you usually find better information on the net anyhow.

   Buy it if you're a die-hard FFT fan, too dumb to think of a good strategy, too lazy to bother yourself to think, or don't have internet access (then why are you here? hmm...). Otherwise, you don't really need color maps and fancy fonts, now do you?




4. Very Good Nobulaks.......om kotomou mato nu!!!! mamatai ko dogo?? patazon kui ziau doino... bantaton katatanak...



5. This is a pretty good strategy guide. I had already beaten the game once before I actually bought this guide of Amazon for 10 bucks. When I played the game the 2nd time using the strategy guide, it helped me find secrets and other things that I had no idea about before. It also has a very useful appendix that lists all the Armour you can buy, all the monsters, missions, etc. Along with a very useful description of each of the 20 Job classes.

2 comments about Virtua Fighter 5 (Xbox 360 and PS3) Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

1. This is a fairly thick book that is packed with moves and combos.... but there's so much text that there isn't a whole lot of that cool exclusive artwork. There aren't many visual aids to the moves either. It's a great reference book--just don't expect anything pretty.



2. iT WONDERFUL ITEM AND LOVE TO BUY ANOTHER ONE FOR MY FRIEND BECAUSE HE LIKES IT TOO. A+

2 comments about Enchanted Arms (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. Does exactly what you expect. Tells you all of the secret locations of golems etc and is well written. A must if you have the game to get the full potential of Enchanted Arms.



2. I bought this guide weeks ago and still using it to play EM.My POV is that it is not the best game guide and falls into mediocre cateogry. It provides all the basics stuffs but some important ones are missing such as map for certain areas. The explanations are not thorough as well makes me have to figure out things by myself at certain points playing the game. However, it is just my POV.If you like EM, buy it and if you don't, well don't. Cheers

3 comments about Tales of Legendia Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames) (Bradygames).

1. BradyGAMES learned from their mistake with the Tales of Symphonia guide. The Tales of Legendia guide is helpful, detailed, and makes it a point to cover as much as possible.
   
   The guide begins with the game basics. If you're pretty new to the game, or the Tales series, the game basics will help you get on your feet and keep you from falling over. It's brutally detailed (perhaps too detailed at times). Giving you the low down from the basic controls, to the complexity of the battle system. By helping you get to know the battle system I'm not kidding. They even go as far as to show you how to get the best Grade possible!
   
   After the exhaustive game basics, we get into the characters section. Here the guide gives you the low-down on every character. All the different Eres they use, Compound Eres and all the titles they can amount to. They do this for each and every character.
   
   Afterwards we get to the walkthrough, which has shown the most improvement over the Tales of Symphonia guide. Let me first tell you that there actually ARE maps. They're pretty detailed maps too, and they're very easy to use. The walkthrough is divided into chapters. For each subsection in a chapter, there's a an objectives list. Not only do they tell you what you need to do, but they point out on the map where it is you're going to do it. The guide also has some good overall puzzle solutions and strategies. The boss strategies aren't so bad either, they work well at leading you to victory. It's also nice to see that when entering a new area they actually told you what enemies are there and they provided an HP statistic as well as weaknesses. The walkthrough is easy to use, gets to the point (most times, they do have a tendency to say things like, "There are a few story events that take place..." which is, of course something a guide shouldn't have to tell us). If you're someone who doesn't like spoilers, this guide doesn't spoil the story for you. It's a guide that tells you what to do, but is still willing to let you cross the street on your own.
   
   After the walkthrough we get into the character quests section. This section is, by and large, laid out exactly as the walkthrough. In fact, it's more or less a continuation of the walkthrough.
   
   Tales of Legendia has a ton of sidequests and this guide will help you out on all of them. While the guide doesn't really do a fantastic job of telling you just WHEN the quest is availible, it does a pretty good job giving you a basic overview of how to do it. So I forgave it in this sense.
   
   The Bestiary is where I have one of my first major gripes with the guide. If you decide to use the bestiary, there's a lot of page flipping involved. The bestiary is grouped by a monsters families. Which means it's alright when you know where to find the family, but if you don't... there's a lot of flipping to be done. The guide calls out the families at least, which is good (unlike other guides that sort of umm... forget). However, I could've been more productive with it had it been in alphabetical order.
   
   After the bestiary you've got all those appendices. Items lists, Recipes, customization and even characters skits and how to get them. They're really good overall (especially the recipes).
   
   If you're skeptical about buying this guide because of how terrible the Tales of Symphonia guide was (if you need a reminder, just check out the reviews), allow me to dispel any fear of this being a bad guide. For what it's worth, it's a good guide. It's helpful. The only REALLY big issue I had with it was that in all the detail and careful attention they gave the walkthrough and other areas... they didn't include a world map. An RPG guide does needs a world map. In a game as big as Tales of Legendia, a world map would've been very helpful. Overall, though, I was much more impressed with this guide than I thought I would be. So if you're having trouble with Tales of Legendia, grab this guide. It'll help you in the long run.



2. The Guide helped me play and enjoy the game! I hate getting stuck in a game, not knowing what to do next! This game guide helped me get past these spots!



3. This book helped me to get all the extras in the game and see all the scenes. It makes the game fun and easy for the most inexperienced and tells the best moves to use on bosses and different enemies.

5 comments about Heroes of Might and Magic V (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. Don't buy this. There's more accurate information online about HOMM5. This is the poorest Game Guide I've ever bought.



2. Overall the book is useful, but like most of Prima's game guides it is a mass of errors and typos. They really ought to consider hiring an editor.



3. With a complex game like Heroes you want some good fold out tables and charts of the different troop-types and heroes. You dont get that. The entire book is in black and white. Most of the guide is simply a walkthrough of the Campaign missions. Bleh. That would have been fine to include that but fans of this game want tables and charts in a readable format. Very unfortunate how bad this "guide" is. I regret buying it.



4. The game looks nice but except from the graphics nothing else has been changed from the previous version.You should by this game only if you missed playing heroes but do not expect much from it.



5. I read the reviews here and hesitated to buy this guide. So I went into a game store and looked at it in person. It had everything I expected it to have: monster descriptions, spell descriptions, ability descriptions, campaign walkthroughs, and even some stuff I didn't expect, like what all the "Week of..."s meant.
   
   It's certainly a grand improvement on what the game's rulebook gives you. Now I know in mechanical terms what items like "Battle Dive" and "Shield Bash" mean, and can use them properly--not hit a button and not know how the outcome was determined.
   
   I still don't know what a Crystal Dragon is yet, but maybe it will turn up. :)

3 comments about Battlestations Midway (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. This guide gives you details on all the ships and subs and how to win



2. Make sure your computer meets the specifications of the program before you buy it. My video card didn't, I can't play it and I am stuck with it.



3. This publication is a useful and helpful guide to play the game of Midway.

4 comments about Sound Forge 8 Power!: The Official Guide (Power!).

1. The book really helps in making Sound Forge easier to grasp. It is a very deep program, and Scott opens all the layers just as he does with all his books!



2. As a voice over narrator I need the best sound quality I can find and Sound Forge is it. And to navigate this application, Scott Garrigus' book is a lucid guide, showing the way way this product works best. There's no better guide. Charlie Jacobs



3. It really wasn't what I expected. It's geared more for the music editor. I edit audio interviews and it really didn't discuss the major things I am interested in--eliminating distortion, mixing sounds, etc. Very complex.



4. If you are starting or even you are an expert with sound, this is a very nice an helpful book to be always with you.Very comprehensive guide, will introduce you in the art of making music using Sound Forge.
   So add it right now in your shopping cart....you won't regret it.

4 comments about Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance Official Strategy Guide.

1. I used to love the old MK pocket guides and was a little disappointed when they went the way of the 8 track tape. After picking up the new MK/DA strategy guide by BradyGames, I can see why this one in particular wasn't a pocket-sized guide. It would have been the size of a Stephen King paperback (and the full size, full color artwork would have been reduced to a CD cover). BG has crammed everything you could think of and more in this wonderful guidebook. It's broken down into how to use the guide; terms of kombat; kombat basics (for XB, GC, and PS2); fighting styles (each character has 3); konquest; kombatants (available, unlockable, and secret); chronology of MK (shouldn't that be kronology or something?); a 20 page art gallery (don't worry though, as all 144 pages are covered with cool art work); 4 pages for the Krypt; and kombat trivia (with answers). Even though I was about halfway through the game, I still had to add this awesome book to my MK collection. Who knows, I might need it down the stretch.



2. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is probably the best fighting game out there. However, when I bought the guide, I realized that it was exactly the same info that could be found in the character's Konquest mode, and by pausing any game and bringing up the character's moves. The guide only adds a few combos, and it never covers any character's fighting styles very well.

   For instance, looking at Johnny Cage, even though it says "he works very well in all of his fighting styles," they only go into small detail on Jeet Kune Do. With Shang Tsung, they only really explain two of his fighting styles. No matter the character, the guide actually tells the player to stay in one fighting style! This is extremely boring, and a bad idea, considering the fact that each style has some merit. It's obvious when you read it that the author didn't spend a whole lot of time with most of the characters. After reading storylines like Johnny Cage's, which explains he never died in the MK storyline, only in one of his movies (this was done to quiet some fan-boys [mad] that he was still around. Next up should be explaining to them that Scorpion's been dead in every game...), the author still says something about him being ressurrected (for this game), again. This is one of the many, many over-sights in the guide, and it shows the author's over-looking of details.

   When you play MK:DA, each character has three different fighting styles, usually 2 hand-to-hand styles and one weapon style. The fun is switching between them to confuse your opponent, and accessing the different moves in each style. Where this guide fails is describing each style's strengths and weaknesses. The guide only touches on select styles, and usually doesn't give enough info on these. If the guide would've had a few more pages per character, this might have fixed the problem. As it stands, the guide is almost useless. It promises on the back to reveal "Krypt secrets," but no, you have to buy a seperate, "Krypt Pocket Kodes" book to find out what's in the Krypt--the book doesn't even touch on it, therefore lying to the potential customer. (The Krypt is a huge "graveyard" which allows a player to sapend earning "Koins" from battle on the 675 or so "koffins" in the game, which contain secrets like alternate costumes, hidden characters like Kitana and Reptile, etc.)

   After all is said and done, this guide doesn't really cover anything that isn't already available in the game, but it does make this info readily available. For hardcore MK fans, or people who hate pausing the game constantly only, otherwise it's pretty worthless.




3. Mortal Kombat:DA is a fine game with all new characters and graphics that r fantastic on xbox but not on ps2 or gamecube {and i'm not just saying that cause i hate the ngc or ps2 cause i own all 3 and have experience with them] But is a strategy guide really needed the game's isn't even difficult and u already have their moves list on an especially easy to follow menu , so i dont think it's needed but saying that it is useful for fatalities which r cool but not as cool as mk1 and mk2 . And is there any way to do friend ships cause they were cool especially Lui kang's disco inferno and thats true as well MK:DA doesn't have good fighters in like Shao Kahn and Lui Kang and Sub zero looks worse than ever as well as Raiden who Looks powerless just like KUng Lao and reptile as well . So in conclusion guide is ok but only for fatalities , MK:DA is good but NOT AS GOOD as MK1 and MK2 which were fantastic on arcade and snes but hard to play on megadrive.
   Thank u for reading and good night



4. This guide is crammed full of everything you need.
   
   True, the game is pretty much self-explanitory, but the guide is definitely still worthwhile (not to mention the artwork). You get cheats, secrets, some moves you've never thought of, and more. So I agree with the other reviewer - I give it 4.5 stars.