Did anyone here ever pick up the Diamond/Pearl Official Strategy guide?

[Ashigaru]

Did anyone ever pick up this wad? I thought it was absolutely horrible. I looked back in my Emerald version guide (Which Btw, is A MUCH better game) and looked at the D/P guide. It was like trying to compare a brochure to J.K. Rowling's Goblet Of Fire. It knocked me off my rocker when I looked on the front and it says "OFFICIAL STRATEGY GUIDE" They neglected like, a million things that were way useful.

Such as.....

*A listing of every single species with a Location and list of TM/HM's possible to learn for each individual species.

*A page for EVERY SINGLE location in the game.

*How and where to get the super legendary mother of them all.

and a few other things that don't come to mind. When I checked it out, I was like: "WTF? I paid Fifteen bucks for this?!"


It's not worth buying. You can find everything you need for your game on the intarwebz. Just thought I should let people know so they're not wasting time and money buying a crappy guide. :'(

 

[Geoffrey]

That's only volume 1. Volume 2 will include Pokedex data and such.

 

[s|ush]

I have both volumes and I personally think that they are brilliant! I have found them very helpful when I have gotten a little confused in the tiredness of very early morning gaming. Both together are a very well thought out guide. Part to has the Pokedex, and post National Dex.

 

[I Like Corn]

Does Pokemon NEED a strategy guide? It's not really a "difficult" game.

And anyway, I don't understand how some people can play through a game step-by-step out of a strategy guide, or pull one out when something begins to feel challenging. How can a person enjoy that? If you want linear entertainment that doesn't require a bit of thought, why aren't you watching TV or a movie? It doesn't make sense to me.

 

[s|ush]

Ok well if I am honest, I just like to have the guides to games like that. Sorta makes a complete set if that makes sense. I also use the second volume, the Pokedex one, to help me sort out my team and their move sets

 

[I Like Corn]

I use Serebii.net. More resource for no cost, and it can't get damaged because it's made of cheap paper or lost because it's made of actual matter. Because Serebii.net is neither of those things.

 

[Head Honchkrow]

I don't understand why you have a problem with people that choose to use strategy guides with the games. It doesn't affect you, so why do you care? Some people like using strategy guides, and some just like to have them.

Serebii.net isn't the be all, end all of info (I like how you're literally advertising for the site, as if you were sent here to do so...). Strategy guides can actually provide visual help in instances where serebii.net only gives you things like "Route 227". When you are looking for something in particular, and it's only found in a certain spot, some people like knowing exact things. Everyone buys them for different reasons. Let them do so. :>

 

[s|ush]

Yep, they are both very good points and I can understand that. But for me I like to have something solid, I'm a careful person when it comes to my posessions so my guides will say in a good condition. Different things for different people I guess.

 

[I Like Corn]

Yes, Honchkrow, you caught me. I'm a covert agent sent here by Serebii.net to advertise for them.

I didn't say I was against their use, I said I did not understand why a person would want one. I understand that people do want and do buy them, but I don't get why a person does. They cost money. Do people pay $15 for pictures? That really can't be it.

I am personally against buying strategy guides(myself) as s principle, especially when they don't contain all the information you could ever need in a game. They're cash-in books. I prefer fansite. Serebii.net is the most comprehensive, but there are also other places, places that provide walkthroughs with images to assist.

I don't get the appeal. Won't you just be tempted to use it instead of figuring out something yourself? There's a lot of fun in that.

 

[Turtle Tamer Kammy]

I have both volumes. It's a nice reference, and I'm really glad I bought them.

 

[Habunake]

I rather like the Full Pokedex released by Prima...Sugimori, Gender Differences, and Pokedex entries for all of them minus the Event Threesome is rather neat and I like the look of it.

 

[Lil Brother]

I always buy the NP strategy guides for the main Pokémon games. They differ in effictiveness, but the two D/P guides are pretty good. My main complaint is that in the second volume, the locations for the Pokémon are on an oversized poster and not in the actual Pokédex bios. And that they have almost the exact same cover.

...and maybe it's just because the "newness" of Diamond and Pearl hasn't worn off yet, but they seem like better games than the third gen games. Because of things like the GTS and the availablity of almost all the Pokémon insteaf of just about half. Don't get me wrong, R/S/E are enjoyable and introduced things like Contests and natures, but D/P's superior imo.

Event Threesome

Sounds kinky.

 

[magpie]

I've bought the 2nd edition of the Nintendo one, just because I don't always have internet access and I do enjoy seeing the movesets written down and searchable. And with 493, I sometimes want to know when they evolve, how they evolve, where to catch them, etc.

So, I'm pretty happy with it. I also have a 1st version of the Prima and really, it was an impulse buy when I got the game...really not all that helpful for me but I'm sure it could be ^_^

 

[Robert]

I've bought the 2nd edition of the Nintendo one, just because I don't always have internet access and I do enjoy seeing the movesets written down and searchable.

That's the main reason I got the Prima guides. I wasn't planning on getting them since there are several useful websites, but there's only one computer in the house and I'm not always able to use it.

Finding stuff out on your own is great and all, but with these games in particular there are plenty of things that are impractical to do that with. If I want to raise a new team I'd want to know what moves they will learn at what levels, when the evolve and how, and all sorts of things. Actually Pokemon is one of the few games that fully justifies having a strategy guide for. There's just too many variables to keep track of without some help if you want to be serious about the game experience.

Sure I could (and did) go through the storyline without any guide whatsoever. Using a guide for that is unnecessary. But things like... talking to 32 people Underground to get a Spiritomb? It's barely hinted at in the game. Having Aipom learn Doubleslap to evolve to Ambipom? Sure I could'a guessed it, but most likely would not have.

Website resources are great, but they tend to be more disorganized than strategy guides and often are not even finished for a long time after the games are released. When they are finished they're not usually as clear or complete, either. So for me it was worth it for these games.