Walkthroughs. Is It A Form Of Cheating.

[Onyxmeth]

Khuutra said:

Onyxmeth said:

The Ghost of RubangB said:

Onyxmeth said:

Words Of Wisdom said:
Playing an RPG without a walkthrough these days is like saying you only feel like playing half the game.

Reminds me of Tales of Symphonia where you'd only get certain titles between certain periods of time in the game when you had certain characters with you and when the sun, moon, and stars aligned.

Pretty much this. Anyone else want to tell me how it's possible to get the Zodiac Spear in FF XII without knowing in advance which four chests in the game you can't open? The game does not give you hints. It's not possible. There's many other instances where you can miss out on so much that is timed in the game.

I'd call that shitty design and not even get that stupid item.

It's like making a game or a movie and leaving the plot out, and making people buy a book later to explain it.

It is shitty design, and most RPGs are exactly like this, which is why if you want to get the most out of them, a walkthrough becomes necessary reading. Other games not so much, but RPGs should basically be packaged with walkthroughs because they rely on them so much to take advantage of the secrets and easter eggs throughout the game.

About the Zodiac Spear though, it's the most powerful weapon in the game, so it's pretty desirable. Most people that want to complete the final hunts probably wouldn't want to go into them without this spear.

In defense of FFXII, you're pretty obviously not meant to get the Zodiac Spear when it becomes available by this method, as you can use it to one-shot almost anything for most of the game. It's a completely broken weapon. It was meant specifically for people who wanted to bypass challenge in the main storyline.

That doesn't make any sense, since the Zodiac Spear is located in a spot requiring your cast to be at least above level 40 minimum and get almost up to Arcadia which is more than halfway through the game. Also this is the only method available to get the Zodiac Spear, and two of the chests required to not be opened are in the very early hours of the game. Even if one were to wait until late in the game, they very likely could have opened a chest that would negate the Zodiac Spear's appearance in it's chest later on. It's not that it's so difficult, it's that it's meant to be missed unless one already knows what to not do. There's really no reason to defend the game at all, because even you must know that was a poor choice on their part considering many RPG fanatics love getting the final weapon in their games.

Also it's meant to assist in the final hunts, where I hear it becomes more of a necessity instead of "bypassing challenge".