Final Fantasy XIII-2: The Complete Official Guide - Collector's Edition [Hardcover]

Piggyback (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 31, 2012 | Age Range: 5 and up

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - The Complete Official Guide - Collector's Edition includes:

• Exclusive coffee table book printed on highest-quality paper and bound in a padded hard cover.

• Limited print run, includes two ribbon bookmarks.

• Includes a 16-page bonus section exclusive to this edition.

• Every secret, every unlockable, every side-quest, every mini-game, every Achievement and every Trophy revealed and explained in a dedicated Extras chapter. We've also added a story recap and an artwork gallery.

• The dedicated Walkthrough charts the critical path through the main narrative. It also provides regular prompts and tips to direct players to side quests and other optional features within the game world.

• The Tour Guide chapter includes one section per game location in each time period. This complements the Walkthrough by examining all optional activities offered in the game (side quests, mini-games, puzzles and power-leveling spots).

• The Completion Timeline chapter offers a visual and streamlined guide to 100% completion.

• The Strategy & Analysis section gives an advanced analysis of the game's key systems and features. This also covers the most complex topics such as character development in a thorough, yet user-friendly way.

• All-encompassing Inventory and Bestiary chapters feature exhaustive lists and tables covering all enemies, weapons, accessories, items and shops.

• The 100% complete guide to Final Fantasy XIII-2.

• Carefully designed to avoid unnecessary story spoilers.

Product Details

• Age Range: 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Piggyback; Collectors edition (January 31, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780307894212
• ISBN-13: 978-0307894212
• ASIN: 0307894215
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 1.1 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Computers & Technology > Games & Strategy Guides > Strategy Guides
  • #95 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Gaming

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Work of Art January 31, 2012

By D. Reed

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have not yet spent a great deal of time, roughly 3 hours, playing the game with this guide, but it has so far impressed me more than the game itself. First, the guide is divided into separate sections, each with a different amount of spoilers. If you want a simple guide to get you through the game quickly with little spoilers, this is it. If you want a guide with a good balance between completion and simplicity, this is it. And if you want a guide that goes into great detail about every aspect of the game, this is also it. And those are just the different parts of the walkthrough! The guide also includes item, fragment, and trophy checklists, as well as an in depth bestiary. Aesthetically, the guide also succeeds. The collector's edition is a plain, white padded hardcover with the logo of the game. Absolutely beautiful. Every page of the guide is also filled with high quality screenshots from the game. The collector's edition also has an extras portion with interviews with key staff from the game. In short, this is an amazing guide with could also easily serve as an artbook if you chose to use it as such. I for one, will display it proudly.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great but not the best February 6, 2012

By R. Penelton

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an awesome guide that tells you everything you need to know about the game. There are very few spoilers and it is written wonderfully. It takes you step by step through the game and leads you to 100% completion. It also states all the values for weapons and accessories and when to equip which items. The only problem I have with this review is that it's slightly inefficient in my opinion. It breaks up the walkthrough, completion timeline, and tour guide into three separate sections. Coming from Final Fantasy XIII and it's guide, I find that by separating things it is creating more work for me. I wish they had given me the timeline first and then combined the walkthrough and the tour guide so I could see the maps while I'm being told the strategies for the bosses. It's not a big deal, but as a lazy college student I feel that it would be easier to combine things. Plus it would save paper. Overall an excellent guide and a must have for 100% completion.

44 of 57 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite collectible February 2, 2012

By John W. Daniels

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As an owner of the original collectors edition XIII guide you'll notice several things.

1. The pages are thinner. (thinner book compared to the original, even though this one has more pages)
2. The books are not numbered by their print run.
3. Those with a keen eye for book bindings will also notice the binding is glued and not sewn like the original.
4. The "hard" covers are rather mushy and soft to the touch. (recycled cardboard?)

Piggyback definitely cut some corners here. Although with thinner pages it stays open without the pages flipping by themselves. However, due to the heavy ink use on graphics, the thinner pages are wavy throughout. (Although they will flatten more over time)

The major issue I have with the build quality is the binding. Sewn bindings will stand the test of time, whereas glued bindings will inevitably fall apart with use or with age as the glue dries out. Between this and the thinner pages, it feels like I could rip a page out by accident if I'm not careful, whereas the original book felt much more sturdy and higher quality.

Other than that, this book has much more beautiful page layouts and artwork than the original - it really blew me away how beautiful it is when I first flipped through it. The graphs are fantastic and the foil logo on the cover is really shinny and reflects in the light.

Regarding the actual content...

1. Layout sucks. It's structured more like an encyclopedia, having you flip through various sections. It's easy to miss something.
2. All-encompassing Inventory and Bestiary not so all-encompassing; doesn't include extras like the Serah costume, Genji bow, or Omega boss information.
3. Seems to be very wordy and dry on information you can already find in-game. It's an information overload at times. I wish they'd just cut to the chase most of the time.

The layout is a completionists bane. The main walkthrough is barely 40 pages and doesn't include ANY maps or treasure information. It's just a go here do that, fight this boss type of thing with the occasional overly wordy Primer/tutorial sections which you can already read in-game. All of the maps, treasures, and monster info are in their own section; the "Tour Guide". Not to mention the wakthrough and tour guide sections don't provide you with LIVE triggers and rewards. That info is all the way at the back of the book.

So in short, this book has you flipping back and forth from the Walkthrough to the Tour Guide, to the LIVE section, then to the crystarium section. They should have included four ribbon bookmarks and not two because of this silly layout, why couldn't they just include this all in the walkthrough instead? Does anyone really buy a guide just to play the game like a movie and skip every treasure and bonus? completionists are their main audience and I think Piggyback has lost touch with that. People buy guides so they don't miss any missable items and/or to get a 100% completion. Getting a 100% completion with this book is a job in of itself due to the layout.

And regarding the tour guide section, they only mark treasure on the maps for the first time you visit a zone.

Okay I know this really sounds overly negative but this book really is a joy to hold in your hands and own because of how beautiful it is. but that's about all it's good for... have on a shelf for maybe a decade before the glued binding falls apart and the pages come loose... real collectible eh? I'm so tempted to go online and look for a better walkthrough. However, with that said, the sections on character crystarium and monster crystarium are really pretty good with easy to read tables and graphs. I found the crystarium pages especially helpful, except for being located at the back of the book and having Noel's picture on Serah's page.

At least this book was cheap, but I'd much rather pay extra for a real high quality collectible. Please don't cheap out on us again Piggyback!