[Xbox 360] RPGs without walkthroughs?

[Michael Hopcroft]

I'm having some trouble keeping up with things when I try to play an RPG on my Xbox. There are usually plenty of walkthroughs for the games I try and play, but I can't refer to them while I'm actually playing. That's because most of them are extremely long PC text files.

I don't know whether they're meant to be played with or without walkthroughs, but I find myself in fear of getting lost or sidetracked and dying repeatedly.

At the same time, I do want some genuine surprises.

How do I balance that out? What can I do without having a laptop in front of me to get the most out of my games?

[Curufea]

Tell the game developers that they have no idea how to create RPGs if they require walkthroughs to get the most out of them.

They've gone for detail and complexity over playability.

[Nolgroth]

First off, I play on the PC so this may not be entirely useful to you.

I usually reserve walkthroughs for the toughest of puzzles. For example I had no idea how to beat the Cyberdemon in Doom3. When I read how to in a walkthrough, I had the best fun zapping that SOB. Now Doom3 isn't a CRPG I know, but that's the kind of thing I mean.

Sometimes, a developer just puts in something they think is clever and innovative and it turns out to just be obscure. I say go through as much as possible on your own. Get to a sticking point and pull out the walkthrough. You have to discipline yourself not to get too far ahead of where you are. Sadly, there are times that your eye just catches a spoiler. Those are the dangers involved in using walkthroughs.

For me, seeing how the story plays out is one of my favorite things. The puzzles and obstacles are just dressing over the plot. Few surprises outside of plot twists are that important. I am much more likely to accidentally reveal a puzzle solution than I am a plot point.

To sum up, find the happy medium between utility and spoiler risk. Not always easy and different for many games.

Good luck.

[BlackSword]

I usually reserve walkthroughs for the toughest of puzzles. For example I had no idea how to beat the Cyberdemon in Doom3. When I read how to in a walkthrough, I had the best fun zapping that SOB. Now Doom3 isn't a CRPG I know, but that's the kind of thing I mean.

Sometimes, a developer just puts in something they think is clever and innovative and it turns out to just be obscure. I say go through as much as possible on your own. Get to a sticking point and pull out the walkthrough. You have to discipline yourself not to get too far ahead of where you are. Sadly, there are times that your eye just catches a spoiler. Those are the dangers involved in using walkthroughs.

That is how I usually play games. I will go through without a walkthrough, and if/when I get stuck at some point I will refer to a walkthrough for help. There have been a few games where I have managed to go through the entire game without, but usually there is one puzzle or another that I just don't get, or miss an important clue. Besides sometimes walkthroughs are useless ("beat this boss," okay great, HOW?!?!?!) Usually though I prefer the trial and error. One exception was in the Baldur's Gate Two expansion where a number of items could be combined to make more powerful items. For that I kept a sheet of the combinations on my desk so I make sure to collect them all.

[Sweeper]

As a general rule, I don't use walkthroughs unless I've beaten the game, there are few exceptions to this, (the extremely frustrating puzzles, for example). If do manage to beat the game, I then feel I'm allowed to look through the walkthroughs to get the stuff I missed. This extends from a guy i knew when I was stationed in Korea with in the late '90s. Goober kept bragging that he completely beat Final Fantasy VII, then I found a well thumbed through cheat guide on his shelf. I pretty much decided that I didn't want to be 'That guy' and have mostly avoided walkthroughs like the plague since then. :)

[MilkmanDan]

Depends on the RPG. With games like Fallout 3 or Oblivion, the main quest of the story can be largely irrelevant for hours and hours of gameplay. It's a world to explore, if you want to do the main quest, you do it. If you can't figure it out, go do something else. Mass Effect was very easy to follow the main story (again, had lots of diversions), even highlighting the specific planets you need to go to on the galactic map. To its credit, I found the story so utterly engrossing (I just played through it again recently) I didn't notice the fact that the game is, by and large, neatly placed on the railroad tracks the developer want you to ride on.

If it's something like a JRPG . . . heck, I have no idea how to get through those without a guide. I'm not a fan of the genre at all, mainly because I did always have a hard time following them. To echo the other advice, if you're looking at a game that you can't figure out, it's probably a lousy game and you're going to need the guide at some point. Developers get cute and, next thing you know, you have annoying puzzles (hello, Myst!).

Try Oblivion or Mass Effect, maybe? I didn't need guides for those at all.

[Ghost Archer]

Many years ago, during the dawn of the computer gaming age there was a little text game called 'Planetfall'. One of the puzzles involved extracting a key from a crack in the concrete floor. Being of an analytical mind, I began to experiment with the various pieces of junk I had acquired in my wanderings including a bent piece of wire. No matter how I put it, I could not use that bent piece of wire to dig that key out. In frustration one night I bemoaned my problem to the group of gamers at the hobbyshop I frequented.
One bright soul, Larry, pipped up "Just shoot the wire with the expended laser, it magnitizes the metal and you can get the key."
Laser magnetizes? Huh?! I threw the game way and never played again.
It is only when I have exhausted every mental avenue that I will turn to a walkthru though my son and daughter live by them. And if I run across another piece of rubber science like 'Planetfall' it will have company in the trash. Please note 'magic' games are exempt from this action though I have NEVER encountered anything so frustrating.