Kingdom Hearts Official Strategy Guide [Paperback]

Dan Birlew (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bradygames Signature Guides | Publication Date: September 11, 2002

BradyGames' Kingdom Hearts Official Strategy Guide provides an all-inclusive walkthrough to help players successfully seal all the worlds, and area maps of each world that illustrate all key items. Hidden U.S. bosses, including Sephiroth, are revealed! Complete mini-game coverage of 99 Dalmatians, Jungle Slider, Mushrooms, and many more. The Gummi Garage shows gamers the ins-and-outs of building their own gummi ships. Exhaustive inventory and item lists. Plus-a bestiary, trinity locations, and magic spells.

This Signature Series guide features a special cover treatement, bonus content, and a Sticker Activity Journal, to help players track their progress in the 99 Dalmatians mini-game. Gamers won't miss a single Trinity Mark with this cool poster!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

BradyGames' Kingdom Hearts Official Strategy Guide provides an all-inclusive walkthrough to help players successfully seal all the worlds, and area maps of each world that illustrate all key items. Hidden U.S. bosses, including Sephiroth, are revealed! Complete mini-game coverage of 99 Dalmatians, Jungle Slider, Mushrooms, and many more. The Gummi Garage shows gamers the ins-and-outs of building their own gummi ships. Exhaustive inventory and item lists. Plus-a bestiary, trinity locations, and magic spells.

This Signature Series guide features a special cover treatement, bonus content, and a Sticker Activity Journal, to help players track their progress in the 99 Dalmatians mini-game. Gamers won't miss a single Trinity Mark with this cool poster!

About the Author

Disney Interactive Inc., a worldwide leader in the creation of innovative interactive entertainment, develops, markets and globally distributes a wide variety of interactive family-oriented entertainment, educational and sports CD-ROMs and video games. Disney Interactive is the multimedia arm of The Walt Disney Company's Consumer Products business unit.

Square Electronic Arts L.L.C. is the exclusive publisher of all SQUARESOFT products in North America. Square Co., Ltd. publishes its SQUARESOFT titles in North America through Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., located in Los Angeles, Calif. Square Electronic Arts L.L.C. is a Limited Liability Company established on May 1, 1998 by Square Soft, Inc. and Electronic Arts to manage the marketing and distribution of SQUARESOFT products in North America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Brady Games; 1st edition (September 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0744001986
• ISBN-13: 978-0744001983
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Computers & Technology > Games & Strategy Guides > Internet Games

More About the Author

Dan Birlew is an author and video game expert who has been writing official, published video game strategy guides since 1999. His original career goals included acting and directing. Video games always excited Dan since he was seven years old, but at the age of twenty-six he began honing his playing skills with the goal of becoming an expert gamer. He enjoyed publishing online documents regarding games, known as "FAQs". Dan inadvertently created an online persona for himself when he wrote and self-published on the Internet a plot analysis of the highly popular survival horror video game, Silent Hill. "The game's story was somewhat vague, and demanded that someone try to explain it," says Birlew.

Upon receiving an overwhelming number of positive responses from other Silent Hill fans, and after some gentle nudging from his wife, Birlew decided to set aside his acting and directing activities to establish a career as a video game strategy guide author. He sent writing samples to several publishing companies. Based on the merits of his very first submission, he was hired by a major publisher within 24 hours. Birlew says, "It was as though I had won the lottery."

Birlew has authored over sixty published video game strategy guides and seeks other methods of publication, such as review columns, articles, and other non-fiction video game-related books. Birlew says of his passion for games, "I love exploring video games, the industry, the culture, the fans -- and there is so much of it about which I can analyze and write." He also bears a strong desire to publish fiction, and is currently working on a novel concerning the paranormal.

Dan Birlew is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and has lived in Pennsylvania, Texas, and California. He now resides in Las Vegas with his wife of seventeen years. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993. Besides video games, Birlew also enjoys Japanese films and dining with his family and friends in the restaurants and clubs of Las Vegas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strategy guide writers, use this as your guide, March 12, 2003

By 

J. Roberts "RP madman" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kingdom Hearts Official Strategy Guide (Paperback)

This is just about the best strategy guide I've ever seen. It has:

1. Clear, well-organized lists of all the items, weapons and spells in the game, accompanied by short descriptions that provide useful information.
2. Excellent character profiles that enable you to customize your party to the fullest.
3. A pitch-perfect beastiary with, from what I've seen, accurate statistics for every beast in the game, including bosses.
4. A clearly written walkthrough. While some of the hints and descriptions are a little lacking in detail, this is a very large game, and providing step-by-step illustrations could have proved even more confusing or just ruined the fun of playing the game through.
5. Ideal boss fight strategies, providing more information about the boss than about how you should deal with it, allowing the player to adjust their style of play to each new bad guy while not wasting time.
6. The simply cool addition of a map and stickers to keep track of your progress with puppies and Trinity Marks. At first I though this was cheesy, but it's a great way to track your progress.

The last bit is the most important though: this is a guide through the game, not a step-by-step, this is how you beat the game, kids, completely outlined with no room for interpretation rulebook, giving you the freedom to enjoy the game at your own pace and in your own style.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent -- precisely what a strategy guide should be, October 29, 2002

By 

"tritoneangel" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kingdom Hearts Official Strategy Guide (Paperback)

This guide is filled with all the things a good strategy guide must have: clear maps, practical strategies, helpful tips and comprehensive item/accessory listings. You get the complete bestiary, complete with weaknesses, locations and pictures. This is particularly helpful if you need particular items from particular enemies for item synthesis (all of which, both enemies and their respective items, are meticulously detailed in this guide in a clear layout). You get walkthroughs of every world, every step of the way -- and if you've played this game, with the expansive worlds it features, you know this is absolutely necessary. It would have taken me at least three times as long to navigate through Atlantica (the Little Mermaid stage) without this guide, but thanks to its clear delivery and direction, I whizzed through it. You get strategies for all bosses and hidden bosses that actually work -- including warnings of special attacks and effects (i.e. - the tips for the Ice Titan keep you from getting frozen to death by his giant freezing attacks). In short, this guide does exactly what a good strategy guide is supposed to do -- it helps in every area of the game from walkthroughs to navigational difficulties, and reveals all hidden possbilities. If you want to master this game, or if you're having the slightest trouble getting through it, this guide will make sure you're an expert in no time.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Guide., April 8, 2003

By 

tvtv3 "tvtv3" (Sorento, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kingdom Hearts Official Strategy Guide (Paperback)

After purchasing and playing KINGDOM HEARTS, I got addicted. However, after advancing rather quickly in the game, I got stuck between Monstro and Atlantica. I scoured the Internet, but it soon became a hassle to visit the net anytime that I reached a point I couldn't get past. So, I broke down and purchased the Official Strategy Guide. I'm really glad that I did. This is an awesome strategy guide! Without it, I would not have beaten Kingdom Hearts. The information contained within has also helped me beat 2 out of the 4 super bosses (I have yet to beat The Phantom and Sephiloth). Advanced gamers may not find this book useful, but just about everyone else who plays Kingdom Hearts will.