Final Fantasy VIII: Gamespot's Unofficial Ultimate Strategy Guide (Paperback)

by Andrew Vestal (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The world's most popular gaming site, GameSpot.com, is teaming up with Sybex to bring you this guide to Final Fantasy VIII, one of the most highly anticipated PlayStation games of the season. You'll find a complete walkthrough of the game with every level revealed plus detailed statistics for all spells and objects.

Product Details

• Paperback: 118 pages
• Publisher: Sybex Inc (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0782126804
• ISBN-13: 978-0782126808
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #965,324 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It was... sparse, to say the least. And purple, too., October 21, 1999

By	"dariakus" (Auburn University) - See all my reviews

It was rather sparse. I purchased the official guide by David Cassady, and I must say that Vestal's pales in comparison. He has no maps, few side quests, no compresensive lists... basically, this is just like any ol' text walkthrough you could find online somewhere like gamefaqs.com. Not at all what you'd expect from a published guide. Oh, and did I mention that it's all purple inside? Frightening.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I would not even bother with this guide, January 28, 2002

By	Sean A. Rhodes (Aurora, Colorado) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Okay, the Final Fantasy VIII Offcial Strategy Guide by David Cassady is much better than this! The only up over the official guide is that it has a recommended Junctions list.

To start off, the walkthrough is like reading an FAQ at GameFAQS.com, in other words, no screenshots, no maps, just words. Oh, did I mention that the pages are purple? Not to mention that you could easily go to Gamespot.com and find this EXACT SAME GUIDE only you'll have it for free.

There are no stats for bosses and almost no strategy is involved in the guide whatsoever. The guide needs more work because of the fact that with no screens and absolutely no strategy, it leaves for big improvements. If you go to gamespot though, they actually have screenshots.

The only other step above the official guide is that the guide has a final boss strategy. Its just a shame that the strategy is so horrible that it can't be done.

Now for the secrets. Umm.....what secrets? Oh thats right, the guide has none! I was thinking "hey its an unauthorized guide, it might have more secrets than the official", well, I was wrong about that. Luckily I returned the guide and got my money back.

let this be a lesson. Look before you buy, for the love of god look at the guide before you buy it. Now if this was a guide for FFIX it would've been better than the official guide by a long shot.

Overall: If you like GameFAQs and like to pay for guides when you could see the exact same thing online, this is the perfect guide for you! Then grimace in shame as you see the exact same thing at Gamespot.com.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Horrendous, October 13, 1999

By	George Graves ([e-mail]) (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

I purchased the version of this book in its online format. Let me tell you, it's god awful. There are no maps of any kind, and all the information can easily be found in the official guide. In fact, unlike many unofficial guides, which will occasionally have that extra secret that the real writers left out, this guide actually has less! Although it does have information about the final boss, its not enough to make this guide worthwhile. Don't even think of purchasing this book.