Final Fantasy VIII Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Strategy Guides) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

I especially liked that the author went to great pains to give the essential tips without spoiling the surprises or turning the actual playing of the game into an exercise in carrying out the guide's instructions (a real problem with the FFVII guide). So, since this was the guide's goal, I was willing to put up with some ambiguity and the occassionally odd placements of information - I had to read pretty far ahead sometimes to avoid missing crucial tips or else I missed out on things.

The only truly bad part of the book is the area maps: they are incomplete and the way they are laid out is almost incomprehensible. Fortunately, you shouldn't need them often. Of small consequence, but occasionally very frustrating, there are some factual errors in the guide (perhaps things that were changed in the game after they were written in) but this is a pretty minour glitch - overall the book is much better on accuracy than most guides.

The real high point of the guide - apart from having a thorough walk-through that doesn't spoil the game's surprises - is the appendix, especially the bestiary and lists of cards and items. I found these indispensible and, while the FFVII guide's bestiary was almost useless, here it is comprehensive and easy to use.

On the whole, this guide is very, very good. It will enhance your enjoyment of the game rather than spoiling it. I don't have time to play a game this big twice - or spend the rest of my life hunting for hints about side quests and extras - so a guide is an essential tool for me. That said, I was entirely satisfied with this guide and would not hesitate to recommend it to others.

The author uses the original keys on the PC keyboard which greatly diminishes the confusion when reading other strategy books. You really need to figure out what a circle button on a playstation control pad represents on your keyboard. The layout design makes the reader more eager to read than the official guide, maybe because of the smaller size. I found the orginal guide quite clumsy to hold on and because it is so nice that you treat the book so careful and have no such 'mood' to continue reading. The reason I give the book four stars is that the unclear images it possess. The image itself is in grayscale and the size is too small to see clearly. Maybe it is the author's trick to make people more difficult to figure out the direction. One last thing I have to salute is the very detailed information of each character and enemy the author gives. It is really good. After all, if I can choose again, shall I buy the book? The answer is yes because it is the only PC Strategy Guide available and the best detailed guide for the pc version.