Final Fantasy X-2: Official Strategy Guide (Signature (Alfred)) [Paperback]

For all this, and there is even more, I feel the guide is flawed. There are a small number of glaring mistakes that might be due to a difference between the Japanese and US versions of the game, or might just be mistakes. And there are one or two glaring omissions. The largest omission being the scant attention given to the 100 level dungeon that becomes available late in the game.

I understand the woes and pressures of publication, and honestly wouldn't have let these issues bother me. There is a deeper problem with the guide that I think is its major flaw. I use strategy guides in a 'use as I go' pattern. If something puzzles me or seems over my head, I look it up. What I would never do is study the entire guide, take notes, and develop a preplanned attack. I prefer to interact spontaneously whenever possible.

This guide is more of a textbook than a strategy guide. If you use it as I would, there is real danger that you will miss a subtlety or an order of play, only to find out about it 50 pages later. Of course, the other side of the coin is that, without the guide, you would have made even worse mistakes. So while I'm willing to deduct a star for ease of use, it still it the best assistant available for what is an incredible game.

What probably stand out most is how thick this book is! It's HUGE and since its over 350 pages I expected quite a bit from it. It delivers quite nicely and helps you master the game to 100%

The characters section of the guide goes into each character introducing you to the ones used in your party and what role they play in the game. No problems here.

The Dresspheres chapter is beautifully done telling you what abilities you get, how to get them and they even suggest when you should get them. All the Garment Spheres explained and a detailed screenshot and listing of what abilities and power ups you can gain for it.

The battle system is explained VERY nicely. While the battle system doesn't require that a whole section of the guide is dedicated to it, for those new to the world of Final Fantasy it helps, especially considering the battle system differs from Final Fantasy X.

The walkthrough is perhaps where the guide begins to fall and it's understandable to see why. Since Final Fantasy X-2 has no set path (its VERY non-linear) it makes the walkthrough nearly impossible to organize. All sidequests are incorporated into the walkthrough as well as several secrets. The walkthrough touches on one area and then doesn't return to it for a while. So if you're one who uses a guide as you go, it's difficult to do with this guide.

The information in the walkthrough is all over the place. Plus, the table of contents doesn't help you find what part you're at so get ready for a lot of page flipping. However, for what it's worth, the guide doesn't spoil any of the plot and it helps you obtain all the endings as well as 100% completion of the game thanks to the handy-dandy flow chart in the back, ensuring that you do everything you possibly can in one area. Not to mention the maps are highly detail. Each area shows enemies stats perfectly without having you flip to the back of the book (and page flipping in this particular guide is a real pain!).

Final Fantasy X-2 is full of mini games and this guide has an entire section for them. Every mini-game is explained in great detail with tips that will help you through. Again, it's nice because you'll get everything.

The bestiary is detailed explaining all stats but that information is also all over the place. Each fiend has their own box where their stats are detailed. A nice easy to use bestiary but again, a lot of pages to flip through.

Lastly the guide comes with a two sided poster. One side with a mixing chart the other just a poster. The mixing chart is actually in the guide so I wouldn't worry if you lose it or anything.

Overall, the guide is pretty good.

The good:
+Detailed Walkthrough
+Nice for those new to Final Fantasy
+Clear Screens
+Mini-Game Coverage
+Detailed Bestiary
+A Flowchart for 100% completion.
+Helpful Boss Strategies

The Bad:
-This information is all over the place!
-A LOT OF PAGE FLIPPING!

First of all, there are several instances where it does not give important information. As any one of the other bad reviews will tell you, there is an amazing item in the game that can only be found by talking to some guy in Kilika in every single chapter . . . and the book doesn't tell you this until the last chapter. A little late, don't you think? But that mistake has already been pointed out, so I don't want to beat it to death. However, there are several other important oversights.

Take the "Blue Bullet" skills, for instance. The book lists all the skills and the enemies from which you can get them, but it doesn't tell you HOW to get them. For example, it does not tell you that a Malboro only uses "bad breath" after its health has been affected ten times. Also, it does not tell you that support skills like "mighty guard" and "white wind" can only be learned when the enemy is confused. I wasted so much time trying to get these enemies to use their skills on me and finally had to resort to online guides.

Also, the book says that the only way to get the Mascot dressphere is by getting all 15 "episode completes" in chapter 5, but it doesn't specifically say how to get these "episode completes." The first time I went through the game I only sold 9 out of 10 of Tobli's tickets because the guide said the only reward for selling all ten was an item. Not until later did I learn that 9 out of 10 wasn't good enough for an episode complete. The second time through the game I skipped some annoyingly long CommSphere scenes in chapter 4. The book said that this prevented 100% completion, but it did not say that it prevented episode completion. 3rd time through I skipped animations that I had already seen twice . . . that's not allowed either, apparently. You'd think the book would tell you if you had to sit and watch the whole scene.

But wait; there's more. There is a dungeon in the chocobo ranch that the guide never explains how to open. It does say that at the end of it you can get an important item, but that's all it says. Never is anything mentioned about how to get through this difficult dungeon or how to open it. Along the same lines there is a dungeon in Bevelle with normal enemies that are tougher than the final boss. All the book says about this dungeon is, "characters should be at level 99 with over 9000HP." One would think that specific strategies might come in handy for such difficult enemies. After all this is suppose to be "STRATEGY" guide.

But even if the book isn't giving me all the information, at least the info it is giving me is correct, right? Wrong. Almost on ever page there is some sort of misprint in text or organization or maps, and these are not little mistakes. They are huge and are immediately obvious to anyone who plays the game. For instance, there is an enemy called a Node that will give you a very important item if you defeat it. The book says it has 30,000 HP so I figure I'd give it a shot. An hour later the enemy is still alive after pummeling it with my strongest spells, so I Scan it. Turns out it has 300,000 HP not 30,000. What a difference one zero can make.

And as long as we're pointing out the mistake in calling this a "strategy guide," I'd like to call into question the strategies that it does list. Quite often, the strategies are overly complicated or require levels that characters haven't yet reached. Spending time leveling up characters is not strategy; it is merely a substitution for strategy. Heck, I don't need a book to tell me that being level 99 is better than level 30.

In conclusion, this book is NOT a strategy guide because it either does not list any strategy or the strategy it does list is questionable. This book is NOT even a walkthrough because it skips important steps. It is obvious that no one at Brady Games actually tried to use this guide. If they had they would have realized that this book is nothing more than a waste of 347 pages and a waste of 16 dollars. I do not advice anyone to buy this guide! If you are reading this review you obviously have the internet, so use an online guide. These guides are copious and constantly updated by input from the users. Perhaps if everyone starts using these online guides the competition would hold the official guides to higher standards.