Customer Reviews

Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra Signature Series Guide (Bradygames Signature Series)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This strategy guide did a credible job of helping me locate important items without spoiling the plot. Without this book, I would have missed out on most of the sidequests and optional battles. You can only access some of these extra features of the game during a specific point in the story.

This guide will offer less assistance to the player compared to your average walkthrough. However, I believe that was done in order to prevent spoiling the complex story of Xenosaga III.

As far as game guides go, this one is all right. Though for its size, it's not as extensive as I expected. The layout is good, and I like the graphics. Very detailed and high quality, though the screenshots from the game itself are rather small. Though graphics also take up a lot of page space. The list of ethers in full is repeated for each character, when it could have been listed on one page. Not all the characters need to know every spell available in the game.

But as far as character info goes, there's some good information about how to customize your characters, but for me, it was only a spring board to really working with them. Don't hesitate to get creative.

The boss information is top notch, and if you follow the information, you won't get any surprises on the battlefield. A few fights recommended the use of Erde Kaiser ethers, which seem like an easy way to go, and not all of the characters are suited to actually casting Erde Kaiser, making it a waste of precious ether points. Luckily, the guide does offer alternatives to Erde Kaiser, which makes things longer, but more interesting.

As previously mentioned in other reviews, there are no spoilers unless you look ahead and are actually surprised to be going to, say, Abel's Ark. Locations shouldn't be a shock for anyone familiar with the Xenosaga fandom, and while I wouldn't recommend using Episode III as your introduction, it is possible.

There is complete information about the Segment files and where to find the doors, decoders, and what each item is inside. The same can be said for database updates, though my database is 2% short of being complete, and it's frustrating trying to figure out where my missing information might be.

While boss information is top notch, a little more detail about the area encounters would be helpful. Maps, too. Some of these areas can be a real maze. I spent a long time wandering around Labrynthos, and some areas near the end have confusing layouts, and I sometimes just walked in circles. Maps would also help in pinpointing the locations of items on the map.

A guide to the mini-game HaKox would also be appreciated. While I can only thing of one or two instances where you have to at least try the game out to advance the story, you can get some nice items (including Jr.'s ultimate weapon and Ziggy's swimsuit *shudder*) for completing certain levels. But some tips for making combos, or even levels in general, would have been helpful. There's nothing more than a paragraph on this particular part of the game.

If you're pretty familiar with the Xenosaga series and completed the previous games with some depth, you could probably get by without the guide. But if you're a stickler for finishing EVERYTHING, you may want the guide. It's also good thing to have nearby if you're new to the games.

This is a helpful guide but since I just finished XS2 Xenosaga Episode II I have to admit that there are 2 things that I really really miss that was included in XS 2 Guide Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse Official Strategy Guide (Signature) that are not available in the XS3 (Xenosaga Episode III) Guide. Which is why I only gave it a rating of 3.

1.MAPS!!!! It can get confusing trying to read the directions and make sure you are going the right way and play the game at the same time. Also some of the directions are not very clear. I personnaly prefer detailed maps with a good legend detailing things like treasures, save points and points of interest. That way I do not have read the walkthrough UNLESS I am having trouble. It helps to avoid spoilers and it a heck of a lot quicker to just glance at a map.

2. The other item I miss from Guide for XS2 is that in the beginning of each section, they had a quick glace guide for the enemies in that particular section and part of the info listed was the items that could be obtained for that particular foe. It saves you from having to flip back and forth between the chapter and the detailed foe list.

That said the guide is nicely put together with lots of information of the chracters, backstory, relatively spoiler free walk through and other info to get the most out of the game.

This guide is pretty complete and very good-- I never feel like I'm missing anything while I'm playing along. There is complete sidequest information (while a little bit more space devoted to Hakox would have been nice) along with good boss strategies among other things.

The one thing it is sorely lacking, however, is MAPS. Even a little poorly-done overhead sketch of some of the areas would have been appreciated, but this guide has nothing. Unfortunately, the long, drawn out pages of text are not always sufficient in helping me to find a specific item or location. Things could be said in significantly less words if simple maps could have been provided.

I do recommend the book, overall-- it is very helpful in getting all one can from the game.

Overall, the guide is helpful and the information contained complete. However, the guide directs you toward important items and chests in the form of large-font texts, which vexed and taxed me. The lack of maps these days in Brady guides is already becoming a trend for games other than the FF series...

If this guide is robbed of its useless character pics, and the font size shrunk to 12, the guide would only be about 10~20 pages thick...and should be priced accordingly!

Honestly, this game is so easy and maps so linear you don't need a guide. If you're concerned about secret quests, puzzles, or final weapons, all the info you ever need is available online.

I have to admit, I havn't actually started the game yet, but I just received the guide and would like to point out that it has absolutely no maps in it. I can't imagine what the guide author was thinking, considering that there are numerous internet sites that give walkthroughs for free, and the main advantage of buying guides for RPG's is the maps. The editorial description above says that the guide contains "Detailed area maps", but I can assure you this isn't true.

This guide contains everthing a guide should have except one maps! MAPS! MAPS! It contains absolutely no maps! But everything else is well done. Overview of storyline, character strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. The guide itself is also good and contains absolutely no spoilers. It has good tips for bosses. In the back details all side quests and missions that can be completed as you play through the main story line. And man does this game contain one heck of a story line just like the first two!! Gotta love Xenosaga! Overall a good investment!

There are 240 pages in this walkthrough but the walkthrough doesn't actually start until page 120 with a picture.
As phobia said in a previous review, there are no maps. The guide says there are no spoilers in the guide either; which can be a good thing. The guide has a list of points of interest, items, and enemies' chart, for each section you are doing.
There are many pictures within the paragraphs as an example of what they are talking about. For instance, on page 122 and 123 where the actual walkthrough starts there are the previous mentioned lists and five (5) pictures showing what the area looks like.
I have not played the game yet, and since I will not be playing it anytime soon, I did read the beginning of the walkthrough, and they describe really well what areas to explore and come back to so you can save, and what enemies etcetera you will be having to fight and/or items to be found.
I have a game and guide collection so I would have bought the guide regardless, but having said this I still think the guide will help a lot when playing the game.

good guide, helpful as most strategy guides usually are, pretty much necessary for other completionist gamers like myself who want to get everything.

The best part about RPGS, especially ones that are somewhat linear with branching paths is you can sometimes miss the items, especially when unlocking areas requiring you to backtrack (which is frequent in these games when you're looking for the Segment Doors and other stuff)

It contains a lot of nice information, though lacking in the minigame department, but ultimately useful.

It would have been "just right" if it had maps, and frankly it suffers greatly from missing such an essential part of these guides.