Strategy Guide Temptation

The point of this little story is that after I figured this part of the game out, the game started getting really interested. I fell into temptation and jumped online to see what game guides were available that could tell me about what abilities did what and all the other secrets. I found such a guide and after looking at it for only a minute or two I realized what a horrible mistake I had made. Suddenly the excitement I had had disappeared. Instead, I now knew all the secrets or at least enough of them that the element of surprise and anticipation had diminished. It was sorta like discovering all the Christmas gifts early, only to realize that Christmas morning becomes much more dull once you already know what is under the tree.

Strategy guides have their time and place I suppose, but for me, a good video game is like a good book or a good movie. Knowing the ending spoils the experience. Getting hints and cheats turns the game from an adventure into a dull routine of just going through the motions.

Thankfully I put the guide down before I had read too much and I’ve promised myself not to cheat any more. I don’t really care if I don’t get every item or miss out on some special feature the first time through. I’m just looking forward to the strategy and experience of doing it myself. It’s much more fun that way.