Playing Games the "Right" Way

[Xiro 3,468]

Lately I've realized how much I tend to consult the internet for information on the games I play. Here are a few examples. In Xenoblade X, whenever I accept a new quest, I check to see if it has different outcomes, because I don't want to end up killing someone that I could save. In Zelda games, I usually check to see what Heart Pieces I'm missing after doing mostly everything else. Heck, I even remember checking djinn locations in Golden Sun 3 because there were one or two that were missable.

 

While doing this doesn't detract from the fun of me playing games such as these, one could argue that it doesn't allow for a completely... genuine experience. Or that you don't get the satisfaction of finding the stuff yourself. Something like that. Too bad I get so caught up on side stuff xDx

 

Although, with this in mind, I kinda do want to do less guide-checking in the future. If I'm completely stuck and I have no idea what to do, sure, it's probably okay to consult a guide, but as for sidequests, I feel like I should try limiting my Googling of things.

 

So what do y'all think? Do you tend to guide check for sidequests/completion, or do you just do what you can? (Or do you not bother with side stuff at all?) Do you think guide-checking is a bad habit or totally fine?

 

And on another slightly related note, can games have unreasonable sidequests and missables? *cough*FFXCelestialweapons*cough* Or too many?

Edited June 21, 2016 by Xiro

[Exiblade7 1,917]

I don't there is a right way to play a video games. You can play any games an any way you want to. Also, this is something that I have noticed in certain video games; video games like zelda breath of the wild is trying to expand on how you play the game is that each person will get a different experience out of it.

 

Anyways I usually don't bother with doing sidequests within a video game unless it's mandatory. I do the sidequests after I've beaten the game so I have a ton of things to do after I've beaten it.

 

I think guide checking is fine because sometimes you'll have to look something up if you can't figure it out for yourself. 

[Felixx 6,646]

I always check the guide when playing a game. Every single time. Just like you said, I don't wanna miss any collectables and always try to do all side missions (many at the same time also), so yeah, I google quite a lot while playing

I agree that it kinda distracts me from the actual game, but it's a habit of mine and I probably won't stop playing that way.

[Shulk 8,623]

It's not something I'm particularly proud to admit, but I do end up guide checking fairly frequently in games, especially when it comes to obscure sidequests and missables (And Zelda games... I'm bad at those, I'll admit it. ). I do kind of think that it might make the experience a little less genuine, but it's better that getting frustrated over one particular thing for a long time. In the end, it's not that big of a deal. As gamers, it would be ideal to figure stuff out on our own, but sometimes that can get too irritating.

[Firaga 5,947]

I'm hopeless in figuring out things for myself in certain games and just want to progress so... yeah, guilty.

 

I still try to do things on my own, but if it involves puzzles, secrets, or anything that requires anything other than just bulldozing my way through, I'll cave in. Plus, not everybody knows the best way to do things just like that. There is a reason why people consult tips and tricks and the like.

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

Well, honestly, how you approach the way you play your games is up to you and you alone, ya know?  It all depends on your playstyle!  For myself, at least, I try to do everything to the best of my ability without consulting any guides, ya know?  But when there's something I really need to check out, I google it, but I don't look for it on Youtube, cuz I don't want any gameplay or cutscenes spoiled for me, ya know?  I'm fine with just reading a hint that'll help me get through a spot in the world to get what I want!

 

Examples of this include the first two Kingdom Hearts games!  For the synthesis materials, I went online and looked up the list!  Sure, I looked it up, but I still enjoyed making the synthesis items, since I was going world to world looking for the items on my list, ya know?  I had the guidance, I wast just going from point A to point B to get what I want, ya know?

 

Another great example is Dark Souls!  That game makes you thrive in exploration, and you literally have the liberty to go anywhere, and you can even discover secret paths you wouldn't have found normally at first!  When there were certain areas I had to go to, I would reference the Dark Souls wikia, but I wouldn't look for a Let's Play on Youtube, since I wanted to see the locale for myself, ya know?  While reading gives me an idea, seeing the place or object or whatever gives me a great sense of satisfaction, ya know?

 

There's no "right" way to play video games.  You just play the way you play best, ya know?

[Headphone Jack 1,147]

i think it varies per person, tbh.

 

i'll normally consult a guide if i'm hunting down collectibles or rare items in a game. if i have to make a choice that could impact the rest of my game i'll go in blind so i can get more of a genuine first time experience. it really all depends on the game and the situation i'm in.

 

when it comes to 100% completion of a game i'll always pull up a guide after a first playthrough. i try not to look online for solutions to puzzles because many times i'll be stuck and just when i'm about to give up, something clicks in my head and i solve it. it's a really nice feeling of satisfaction, even more so when i think about how close i came to just looking up the answer. of course if a game is annoying and seems obtuse in it's puzzle solutions then i had no problems with looking online. if the game doesn't want to play fair then neither will i, pretty much. 

 

overall, you just gotta play the game the way you want to. only you really know what kind of play style will provide you with the most rewarding experience. there's nothing wrong with looking up a guide. 

[Isaix 924]

Depends on the type of game,in fighting or racing game I won't hesitate to look up guides on how to unlock characters or stages because that kind of stuff can be very specific and you might not find it on your own unless your lucky.

 

In adventure games however I try to avoid guides as much as I can because I do feel that it takes away from the expirence.What I usually do is that I'll play the game once without a guide and then on my 2nd playthough or when I'm trying to 100% the game then I'll look at a guide,because sometimes beating a game 100% without any sort of guides is almost impossible,good luck getting a golden chocobo in FFVII without any guides or beating the Ruby weapon and I was playing Twilight Princess HD recently and I almost found all the heart pieces without a guide but when you're just missing like 2 or 3 heart pieces it tedious to walk all over the map for hours looking for them,at this point exploring is not fun anymore so you may as well look at a guide and be done with it.

 

And other times I look at guides or do google search to verify specific things I don't understand.I was playing Xenoblade X and in one of the sidequests you had to kill a specific monster that only appears during rain and of course weather is random in that game so I look on the Internet to see if there was a way to change the weather to beat the missing faster then just waiting around for hours until rain starts to drop.

[Sendou Aichi 2,356]

As someone who likes to 100%(although sometimes I ignore useless items), I generally try to only use the wiki and/or a guide to see what I may miss, or where to do/get certain things.

For examples, if I do a quest with a reward depending on a choice, I'll check the rewards and the impact on the later parts of the game, then choose it(Xenoblade is a good example to this).

If I need to get an item, I'll search where can I get it. If it is a drop, I'll search which monster it is, or an alternate way to get it(not a fan of less than 10% drop chances, especially if it is rare enemies...) , but if it is an item that is hidden, I'll search for the area, but not the exact location. If the game gives hints in a riddle, at first I'll attempt to get the item without googling. 

When getting to a new area, I look what items I can get, but not where can I get them. 

As for missable stuff, I always look it up when I start the game.

Generally, I use google to find general directions. 

This is true only about RPGs/Action/Adventure games. In a fighting game I'll use a guide to see what I can unlock.

[Chronomagister 152]

Lately I've realized how much I tend to consult the internet for information on the games I play. Here are a few examples. In Xenoblade X, whenever I accept a new quest, I check to see if it has different outcomes, because I don't want to end up killing someone that I could save. In Zelda games, I usually check to see what Heart Pieces I'm missing after doing mostly everything else. Heck, I even remember checking djinn locations in Golden Sun 3 because there were one or two that were missable.

 

While doing this doesn't detract from the fun of me playing games such as these, one could argue that it doesn't allow for a completely... genuine experience. Or that you don't get the satisfaction of finding the stuff yourself. Something like that. Too bad I get so caught up on side stuff xDx

 

Although, with this in mind, I kinda do want to do less guide-checking in the future. If I'm completely stuck and I have no idea what to do, sure, it's probably okay to consult a guide, but as for sidequests, I feel like I should try limiting my Googling of things.

 

So what do y'all think? Do you tend to guide check for sidequests/completion, or do you just do what you can? (Or do you not bother with side stuff at all?) Do you think guide-checking is a bad habit or totally fine?

 

And on another slightly related note, can games have unreasonable sidequests and missables? *cough*FFXCelestialweapons*cough* Or too many?

 

 

THERES A GOLDEN SUN 3?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!? SINCE WHEN!?!!?!?!!?

[Sendou Aichi 2,356]

THERES A GOLDEN SUN 3?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!? SINCE WHEN!?!!?!?!!?

Since December 2010.

[xxClouDxxmoon 900]

Although I feel like I should do all this stuff without the help of the internet, I feel like developers add stuff in nowadays with the thought in mind that people can just refer to the internet, so it's sort of intended that way. 

[Setrex 1,031]

Not really, but I have used the web for help on item findings or if I do get stuck. I never do it for things like Kingdom Hearts or anything because the games are fairly self explanatory. Yet, for Xenoblade X the game doesn't explain certain things clearly so I find it easier to ask Google than to go digging through maps/menus for what to do or where to go next.

 

Some games I follow a strict rule about not searching stuff up though, for example Dragon Age. Some people like to have multiple saves and I can understand this if they wish to reload or something, but for me I've always had a one save file rule. It makes my choices have more of an impact. However my girlfriend would take a different approach and like you, would want to not miss something. Yet it frustrated me because in Dragon Age: Origins she ended up spoiling aspects of the story striving for some stupid completionist playthrough. It kinda negated the consequences in her choices I felt. To me that wasn't the right way to enjoy the story or game. Though I can  sorta understand why some do it. At times my way of playing led me to not getting certain party members or stuff and for some that might be an "incomplete" playthrough, but it was my experience of the story more than anything. That's either the wrong way or the right way to play depending on who you ask.

 

I do feel that searching for things like heart pieces in Zelda or Djinn locations in Golden Sun are a little bit different, they are more collectibles if anything. I wouldn't say that checking a guide is wrong for these. There's plenty of games that offer collectibles and if you are something of a completionist then I think it's perfectly fine to look up these things if you are having trouble. Though as some have mentioned, it really depends on the person and really there's no right or wrong way to play a game. We all have our different approach to playing games.