Final Fantasy XIII: Complete Official Guide - Standard Edition

(This is a review for the hardcover collector's edition, which is sold out on amazon.com right now. The differences between the hardcover and paperback version are fairly minimal, though.)I don't normally buy strategy guides for video or computer games, and this is the first guide I've purchased in at least a decade. Nowadays, comprehensive game information and walkthroughs can usually be found on the Internet for free, so it's not really the information inside the guide that I was interested in buying. Rather, it was the appeal of a professionally written, well-designed book which was both pleasant to look at and easy to read. That it turned out to have lots of good information in it was a welcome side-effect!The guide is quite comprehensive, with a section devoted to a walkthrough of the story portion of the game. It has the mandatory maps and treasure charts, but also provides useful strategic information on how to overcome powerful bosses and monsters. Unlike some previous Final Fantasy games, FF13 has its fair share of difficult (or at least nontrivial) battles, so for certain tricky encounters the walkthrough might come in handy. Nevertheless, it isn't overwhelmingly difficult to finish the game without using a guide. The optional mark sidequests can be much more difficult than any encounters in the main story, and the guide provides detailed suggestions on strategy for defeating these monsters.Where this book really shines is in its detailed explanation of some of the mechanics of the game which are not so immediately obvious. For example, it provides precise numerical information on how the weapon and accessory upgrading system works, which is given a rather vague explanation in the game. You'll also learn how battle ratings are calculated and how they impact the items you receive, and there are complete charts of all the weapons and accessories in the game. There is also considerable analysis of this information, which explains effective general strategies that will optimize the battle performance of your party. There's a fairly in-depth analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the six main characters of FF13, and a lot of discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of each paradigm.The book is also pleasant to look at and read. The writing is high quality - certainly higher quality than free guides written by non-professionals on the Internet - and the included images from the game are well-chosen. As a matter of fact, half of the appeal of this guide to me was as a sort of art book. There are a few images which are of unusually low-resolution, but these are definitely in the minority. The hardcover version has an "extras" section which I believe is not in the paperback version; it has some interesting trivia (like an actual translation of the Pulse and Cocoon writing systems) and a nice synopsis of the story of the game.One last note - if you are playing the game through for the first time, you might want to be careful to not read ahead of where you are in the game. While the authors did their best to minimize spoilers both in the walkthrough section of the guide as well as in the more statistics oriented sections, there's only so much they can do. If you're only interested in the information in this guide, you can probably get most of that for free on the Internet, but the design and writing in this guide certainly makes it worth the price.

This strategy guide is easily the best I have ever owned and at a very good price (while they lasted). The limited edition is sold out, so I suppose this review will have limited use. I'm sure the guide will be sold used though. I'd like to preference his review by saying I bought this guide to use, not to be a collector's item.First of all the guide is hardcover which really helps it look good and will help it survive the test of time very well. Paperback guides always have a problem of pages separating from the binding and the covers getting bent out of shape after repeated use.Every limited edition of this guide includes its number out of the 210,000 printed on the inside cover.Another feature is the quality of the paper, it is far thicker paper than you'll get in a paper back edition. The possible downside of this for some people will be this guide is thicker than the paperback, which also makes it heavier. I find this to be a positive personally and not a negative, but your views may be different.Lastly, the limited edition contains a few extra pages in the back as a story synopsis. It's a nice touch, but the words themselves are not something you would miss since you can get a story synopsis in the game itself. However, each of the extra pages also contains additional art images which make it worth it in my opinion.As for content itself, it's identical to the regular paper back edition (minus the story synopsis). I have found the content to be very good and very informative. I have not come across the numerous typos and errors that I've seen in BradyGame guides which is a nice improvement. The maps are nicely laid out and treasure locations and contents are clearly marked, long with save locations and points of interest.People complain that the game is 100% linear and you only have to press the up button. Well, yes you could do that, but you'd miss out on a lot of treasure which the guide nicely points out.Boss strategies do the job they're supposed to do. I've had a little trouble following a couple of them, but that could also be due to user error. I would have liked to see strategies that would get you a five star rating, but several give me zero to two star ratings following their advice. The bottom line is though that the star rating means nothing in boss fights, aside from the amount of time it takes to kill the boss, so a safer and surer way to win is probably best. These can be quite long in FFXIII and if something goes wrong at the end of a boss fight (I'm looking at you Chapter 9 boss) you'll find yourself looking at another 15 minute boss fight.Overall I'm very happy with this guide and it far exceeded my expectations. This is easily a 5 out of 5 stars for me. If you were unsure about "Piggyback" as opposed to BradyGames I can assure you this guide is far better in both physical quality and content quality.

This hardcover version contains sixteen more pages (one signature) than the paperback (standard) version (see link below). The additional material is a story recap and a section called "Analysis and Speculation." These extra sixteen pages are more than worth the additional cost of the hardcover edition, especially since it can be had at a reduced price used. The story recap is not all that clear, being in large part background information about what is happening. However, on the plus side, it is information that you may puzzle over for a long time to come, perhaps forever. The analysis and speculation section is an attempt to resolve some of the questions that arise from the story recap.The main sections of the book are very useful. The maps in particular I found to be especially useful. You can miss a lot of treasures that may be important later otherwise, for example. It is possible to miss a lot in the game generally without reference to the various chapters. The advice given however is often only advice. The solutions offered often only help illustrate the problems faced. By the end of the chaptered sections, I was using different strategies than those proposed by the author(s) of the book, especially for the major monsters.Final Fantasy XIII: Complete Official Guide - Standard EditionI purchased a "very good" quality copy from Amazon itself, which looked perfectly new. That is probably a best buy. I previously purchased the paperback and when I saw the hardcover, realized that I needed the final missing pages.

I haven't used it yet but upon looking it over, it seems to be thorough and what I am looking for.

Me alegro de que las guías de Final Fantasy hayan vuelto a sus orígenes. ¡El nivel de detalle es genial!

Ce guide est absolument parfait, il présente un complément indispensable pour tout l'amateur de final fantasy ( même s'il est parfaitement possible de terminer le jeu sans ce guide, mais si vous voulez l'expoliter à 100%, il sera trés utile, De plus les cartes et les illustrations sont parfaites. En un mot c'est un trés bon guide. Je sais qu'il a existé en français aussi mais maintenant il est trés difficille à trouver ( et beaucoup plus cher aussi).

Da mir die deutsche Ausgabe zu teuer war, habe ich mich für die Englische entschieden, da diese um mehr als die Hälfte günstiger war. Wer des Englischen mächtig ist hat keine Probleme, da die Namen für die Zauber usw. größtenteils gleich sind.Zur Qualität: Wer die Piggyback-Bücher kennt weiß das die Papierqualität immer gut ist. Und auch hier wird man definitiv nicht enttäuscht. Es handelt sich um einen Hochglanzdruck und ist sehr schön anzufassen.Zum Aufbau: Die Bücher sind gut strukturiert und bieten alle Informationen über Waffen, Gegner, Nebenmissionen und diverse Strategien die Bosskämpfe anzugehen. Wie bei den FF-Lösungsbücher üblich, wird zuerst die Hauptstory erläutert und im hinteren Teil des Buches findet man die zusätzlichen Missionen (Cieth-Statuen) und Erläuterungen zu Waffen und Gegnern.Obwohl FF XIII sehr geradlinig vom Storyverlauf ist, kann ich das Buch empfehlen, auch wenn es für viele vielleicht nur ein Sammlerstück ist und man es nicht braucht um nur die Story durchzuzocken.

Evalution de la version anglaise:Indispensable pour tirer un maximum du jeu, ce guide détaille en profondeur mais de façon simple les missions et mécanismes.Les classes, les missions, les objets, les ennemis, les secrets... tout y est.Beau livre, finition soignée, on retrouve des photos tirés du jeu, des cartes détaillés, des tableaux très détaillés(notamment pour les ennemis et les objets) et de l'art du jeu.Pour toute personne voulant consacré du temps à ce jeu merveilleux et profiter un maximum.