Don't buy the official Nintendo HG/SS guide (and guide discussion thread)

[RX-78-2]

D'oh, I just told my mom to buy me the official guide, which I found to be okay. I'm lucky that I've had the official Pokédex guides for Diamond/Pearl and Platinum, so I'm not missing out on much. It would be great if they included all of the post-game stuff though. I just wanted it for the storyline mostly. Overall, it's a pretty good guide, but it's a bit overpriced.

[bluaki]

Bumping, as the guide said in that basic intro part where they tell you the mechanics of the game and the like that you can get both birds in each version, just at different levels.  The Pokedex thing says that you need to trade it over from D/P/Pt.  You also need to trade over Suicune apparently, even though I just got the bell thing (I think?) to summon it after beating the Kimono Girls.

The guide doesn't go up to Kanto at all, but Suicune is captured while in Kanto (on Route 25). So they just say that it is unobtainable in the guide's covered parts of the game.

The bell thing is for ho-oh/lugia, not for Suicune.

It would be great if they included all of the post-game stuff though. I just wanted it for the storyline mostly. Overall, it's a pretty good guide, but it's a bit overpriced.

What they failed to include isn't post-game stuff; it's the entire second half of the main storyline.

More than a bit overpriced. This normal-sized guide, which is also missing the full-size poster that many other guides have, costs about as much as the text book I got for Platinum.

[Lotos]

The guide doesn't go up to Kanto at all, but Suicune is captured while in Kanto (on Route 25). So they just say that it is unobtainable in the guide's covered parts of the game.

I don't understand why they couldn't just give you the Wing without the need for a bell.

[RX-78-2]

What they failed to include isn't post-game stuff; it's the entire second half of the main storyline.

More than a bit overpriced. This normal-sized guide, which is also missing the full-size poster that many other guides have, costs about as much as the text book I got for Platinum.

The other guides had "mini-posters" as they were advertised. Anyway, if the credits roll after you beat the Champion in Johto, I think that would be considered beating the main storyline. Just so you know, I never owned Gold, Silver, Crystal, so I don't what the most basic form of beating the game is. To me, it's always been when the credits roll after you beat the Champion. Everything after that is post-game stuff.

[Lotos]

The other guides had "mini-posters" as they were advertised. Anyway, if the credits roll after you beat the Champion in Johto, I think that would be considered beating the main storyline. Just so you know, I never owned Gold, Silver, Crystal, so I don't what the most basic form of beating the game is. To me, it's always been when the credits roll after you beat the Champion. Everything after that is post-game stuff.

They still had this stuff in the Versus guides.

[So_So_Man]

The other guides had "mini-posters" as they were advertised. Anyway, if the credits roll after you beat the Champion in Johto, I think that would be considered beating the main storyline. Just so you know, I never owned Gold, Silver, Crystal, so I don't what the most basic form of beating the game is. To me, it's always been when the credits roll after you beat the Champion. Everything after that is post-game stuff.

Those credits are half-way-through-the-game credits.  Another set of credits rolls after you beat the real big bad

[RX-78-2]

They still had this stuff in the Versus guides.

What are those?

Those credits are half-way-through-the-game credits.  Another set of credits rolls after you beat the real big bad

Eh, to each his own.

[Custom]

I'm using my old Gold/Silver guide from when I was a kid. Shit is pretty cool.

[Ninjamonkeee]

My G/S/C guide is by far my favorite out of all of the guides...everything is neat, easy to find, and relayed accurately

[Friendly Hostile]

My G/S/C guide is by far my favorite out of all of the guides...everything is neat, easy to find, and relayed accurately

The Crystal one was spectacular.  I loved the over world map they included in it.

[Lohn Jocke]

Did you check if it's a Prima Guide? If it is, they lack useful information all the time. They screwed up the Brawl Guide by not listing the trophies, and the grades for each character they gave are horrendous.

I had one for Zelda:TP. It has paragraphs upon paragraphs on what the environment looks like while saying nothing about what to do.

IIRC, I had one for Mass Efffect as well. brb checkan

[bluaki]

The original HGSS guide now has a second part. It holds everything the first guide lacked; considering the first guide had nothing worthwhile other than Johto maps, this one has essentially everything.

Not only does it have full pokedex with TMs/tutor moves, but it describes completely tons of game mechanics down to even EVs (although with no numerical data or math formulas) and the more advanced battle strategies. Has stuff like battle frontier too.

Also it has a big poster with pictures of all 493 pokemon.

[The Riddler]

How much more does it cost, Blu?

[bluaki]

How much more does it cost, Blu?

Though it seems to be twice as thick as the first quite useless book, it's the same price. $20
I believe the complete Platinum guide was $20 as well, though