47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fluff and Fancy, March 30, 2006
This review is from: Kingdom Hearts II Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Series) (Bradygames Signature Series) (Bradygames Signature Series) (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Paperback)
If you're a fan of KH1 who enjoyed the KH strategy guide by Dan Birlew, then, like me, you may find yourself frustrated with this Kingdom Hearts 2 strategy guide. The first game's guide provided information as a glossary and as a walk-thru. If you had a question about something in KH1, you could easily find and turn to the corresponding section of its guide for answers. Why didn't the writers of the sequel's guide stick with what worked? I can only guess that they were more interested in style than substance. This book is fat because it is inefficient, full of fluff and fanciful designs that make finding information cumbersome and frustrating. Using Deats' guide, unfortunately, is a distraction from the game rather than a quick reference. I love the Kingdom Hearts series, but I didn't buy this guide for fanfare and souvenir. It will probably be best to go to a gamer's website and download a copy of someone else's guide and/or walk-through as this guide is sorely lacking utility.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Debate Ended, April 13, 2006
This review is from: Kingdom Hearts II Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Series) (Bradygames Signature Series) (Bradygames Signature Series) (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Paperback)
While trying to figure out what game guide I should buy I read reviews on here for both and was left confused as ever. Just in case you don't know I'm talking about this copy and the regular cheaper copy of the Kingdom Hearts II guide books. So I bought both and did a side by side comparison.
Plain and simple here's the bottom line. Both books are the same. Page for page, made by the same company, say the same thing. Only difference in the book is the cover. The cheap one has just one cover with a picture of all of the characters. The limited edition has 4 different covers that have Sora being one of 4 of his different colors.
The bonus to the limited edition in the inclusion of Jiminy's Journal. In this book it gives a little more info on each of the characters you will encounter. Now when I say a little more info I mean two or three sentence giving a general history. It does go over the Heartless a bit and how to defeat them a little more then the guide.
Like the first book where you collected the 101 dalmation puppies and put a sticker on a poster for everyone you found. This has a sticker for every character you meet, for things you pick up along the way, and for every world you make it too.
So what one is right for you? If you want just the basic no frills stick with the lower cost one. It does have all the info you need and if you need a little more help there is plenty of sites that can help you through a difficult spot. If you wanna have a little more fun with keeping track of who you have encountered and what you have collected as well as being able to write your top scores to mini games you play along the way go for the limited, it's a bit funner.
As for me I went with the Limited Edition verision just for the extra fun with the stickers and because I'm a huge Disney and Kingdom Heart fan. If you have questions feel free to contact me through here if that is possible. And remember this review contains my thoughts, ideas, and opinions on both of the books meant to help you decide which one is best for you. Hope it helped!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could be improved..., September 29, 2006
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Kingdom Hearts II Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Series) (Bradygames Signature Series) (Bradygames Signature Series) (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Paperback)
When you first get a look at this guide, you think "Woah...very big...", but despite the size, there's a lot of information that's not needed...and a lot that's lacking.
First off, the suggestions for the boss battles were a little too...over the top... When I would try to follow the authors suggestion, I'd fall flat on my face, and find myself frustrated, so I skipped over those parts most of the time and did my own thing.
Second of all, there was a lot of un-needed fluff on the walkthrough pages. I would have preferred a separate area for the character profiles, Atlantica and 100 Acre Wood updates, etc. Clean and simple is always the best way to go. Organization is also something that was extremely lacking. Important info was at the back and I was constantly flipping back and forth... It gets annoying after a while...
Third, in some of the most crucial parts of the game, there was a lack of instruction. There was also and abundance of instruction in the least needed areas. Also, I probably would have preferred a little guidance on higher levels of magic and attacks. I wouldn't want a full introduction "understand the basics" section, but some tips would have been helpful for those who might be less skilled.
The good parts of this guide are more cool than helpful. The bios on the characters are neat, but a separate section devoted to this would have been better. The treasure maps are also helpful, but a little vague. The screenshots spread throughout are cool, but a little cluttered. Really, this guide is more interesting to look through than actually helpful in beating the game.
Just a note to those who will be buying this guide, there is are quite a few errors in the synthesis ingredients section. There is also an extreme lack of instruction on synthesizing the Ultima Keychain, so I would suggest using an internet walkthough for this purpose.
So, the question remains, SHOULD I BUY THIS GUIDE??? Well, I would say that if you want to know how NOT to play the game, then the answer would be yes. If you get extremely stuck in parts and need lots of help, the answer would be no. If you finished the game without and want it just for fun, I would suggest buying it and writing your own guide. That's what I'm planning on doing...
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