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Enjoy the full version online at http://www.gamegirladvance.com/archives/2002/11/19/who_walkthrough.html
November 19, 2002
Who Walkthrough?
I've been playing the fantastic sad-future RPG Fallout for about three years now. It's got great writing, nice grim story, witty pop-culture references, great art, and a wildly non-linear world that consistently helps me lose track of my place in the narrative. So I was explaining to Jane where I was at this point, having restarted again: now deep in the Glow trying to recover some mutant spawn method data. And I finally confessed, guiltily, that I had been reading some walkthroughs to keep me on track. Guiltily? Because a real game player shouldn't need to read over someone else's steps to get through the game. Especially in a story-driven game, reading a walkthrough often gives away too much too fast, before you get to explore things and see them unfold properly. Or maybe a good game shouldn't demand that you seek outside assistance to unlock some extra-zany puzzle, or in the case of Fallout, I shouldn't have to read a user-published narrative of the game to remember where I should head next. But I am in the middle of six games, one of the decadent pleasures of a voracious consumer of media in the early 21st century. So maybe if I could train myself to work on only one at a time, I wouldn't need to read through someone else's experience, as I'd be too busy having my own. Still walkthroughs are an artform, and a booming exchange between players - "here's the secret stuff I found!" and all the rest of it on GameFAQs. Either way I want to see the span of this game, and I'd rather spend my time playing with purpose as opposed to wandering this particular world freely. I guess my patience for free-wandering in games has gone down some. Posted by justin at November 19, 2002 09:49 PMComments
What you say is true. But sometimes, game developpers exaggerate on the game board.. an example of it would be JediKnight 2.. I was a fan of the first installment and the second one is fabulous, but the SP was just so hard !! And I'm not talking about the AI or anything, but the puzzles ! Clearly I wasn't the only one having problems.. maybe I wasn't used to that. But, after reading the Walktroughs on the Net, I was like : Man !! I would have not thought of that ! Posted by: SpidahX on November 20, 2002 03:07 PMSometimes, you just have to consult the walkthroughs. Some games (read: any Lucas Arts point-and-click story game ala Day of the Tentacle or Grim Fandango) simply require walkthroughs. Honestly, the only two ways we would ever have guessed that we needed to combine a chicken with a pulley (yes, I speak of the legendary and original Monkey Island) was by consulting a hint guide or random guessing. Since random guessing leads to frustration and arguments, I'll take the hint guide any day. :) And I for one love online walkthroughs/ faqs/hintguides. GameFaqs is forever helping me recoup countless lost dollars on those damnable pay-per-minute phone hint-lines (again, might I point the guilty finger at Lucas Arts, whose hint on their hint line for solving the cog puzzle in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis was wrong) in the days before the advent of the internet. I know this isn't the case, but it would seem at times that games are almost designed to sell hint guides. Any game that has non-linear gameplay that then funnels you down into one choke-point of a puzzle that must be beaten before you can continue seems like it was designed to get people stuck. Combine that with the "incentive" deals that retailers such as Electronics Boutique and Game Stop (previously FuncoLand and Babbages) offer - usually x% off the hintguide if you buy it at the same time as the game - and you have a compelling argument. But yes, consulting the walkthrough is a slippery slope. I also like to go as long as humanly possible without consulting a walkthrough if I can, because once I "break the seal," every time I get even a little bit stuck I run to the crutch of the walkthrough. However, I figure if I get so absolutely stuck in the game, it wasn't designed right in that section, anyway. Posted by: Bowler on November 20, 2002 10:43 PMAs a recently converted gamer I have already consulted "walkthroughs". I see nothing wrong with getting some tips to make my gaming experience more enjoyable and less frustrating. I figure thats what there for, right? Posted by: Liz on November 22, 2002 09:18 AMJustin, Justin, Justin… I don’t think there is a right and wrong to the way someone plays a game (except for multiplayer cheating, but that’s another discussion). There’s a big difference between how a developer wants a gamer to play a game, and how gamers actually play games. The two are completely unrelated. I’m sure most developers want a paying customer to enjoy their game in any way possible, even if it means discarding the developer’s design. Sure a developer would love to hear that someone had just as much fun playing a game as they did, but as long as they have some fun it’s a success. What’s the purpose of a walkthrough? To help you get though a game. Sometimes you don’t need help. There are times when you do. Most of the time it’s because you’re not looking at the situation in the same manner as the developer. It can even break down to a difference in humor – a developer thinks it’s obvious to throw a hamster into a vat of slime, while you couldn’t bear to. I have a personal problem with single-player walkthroughs and cheats because they take away what I enjoy most in gaming – the mental challenge. Where’s the fun in figuring out a logic puzzle if you know the answer already? What’s challenging about finishing an FPS when you can’t die? I do say that these people need to be careful with their gaming – they could be ruining it for themselves. Some games just don’t work if you cheat. You can stroll through an adventure game in an hour if you use a walkthrough. FPS games are reduced to an afternoon if you’re invincible. Civilization/Master of Orion are way better if you don’t play on easiest. And you can forget about multiplayer if you’re used to walking over the computer. Enjoy games in whatever fashion suits you. It doesn’t matter how I or anyone else enjoys games. The best solution is simple: If you are stuck, ask a friend (preferably one who has already played the game, or, if someone like that isn't available, a friend who isn't interested in ever playing the game) to read the walkthrough and tell you what you need to know. That way you:
Posted by: antares on November 23, 2002 11:35 AM antares' best solution reminds me of the on-line invisiclues which came with Infocom's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". They were comprised of many common questions (hierarchically organized), each of which was "answered" by a series of decreasingly vague hints. If you needed to, you could drill down and get it to explain everything. Even if you didn't need to, I seem to recall that they were entertaining enough in their own right to make you want to read them all the way through -- truly an art form. Posted by: Dave on November 23, 2002 03:35 PMI only consulted a walkthrough for a Lucas Arts adventure once (don't remember for which game) and kicked my butt for days afterwards because in the end it destroyed the gaming experience for me. I just didn't feel the same satisfaction as if I had completed the game all by myself. Lucas Arts adventures were typically very well designed and you could solve them on your own after you had adjusted to their kind of puzzle-humor. A fact that only made me feel worse for using a walkthrough... There are games where I don't mind consulting GameFaqs though. Tactics Ogre for example. I just don't want to spend days finding out how to transform one of my soldiers into an angel. For that kind of stuff I consult FAQs. I'm sure other people like this part of the game but for me the rest of the game is more important... Posted by: Esther on November 25, 2002 06:45 PMJeez. Using a walkthrough for Fallout... =) I approve of Walkthroughs in some instances, but I feel it ruins the whole Fallout experience. I should know... heh... it's my favorite game ever, and I've played it (and Fallout 2) over and over again, beating the game in as many different manners as possible. (You know, it's possible to beat the original Fallout without firing a single shot?) Well, it's your own way of enjoying the game, I suppose. I highly disapprove of cheating or using Walkthroughs unless you've beaten the game before in RPGs. =( I find it much more enjoyable to find out for myself. =) However, Fallout Tactics... cheat all you want. It's not even an RPG... Posted by: Johann on November 29, 2002 10:37 AM
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