Are written walkthroughs slowly dying?

[Brickman 3,087]

This is probably more a question related to modern gaming as opposed to retro gaming.

Have you noticed that written walkthroughs are getting harder to find because everyone and their dog has to be on YouTube?
I’m probably going to sound like an old man here, but I prefer written walkthroughs over video walkthroughs.
They’re easy to search through with the find function, no annoying commentary and I also like to read people’s interpretation of events.

Do I just need to learn to get with the times?

 

[Gloves 10,352]

Written walkthroughs don't make money, YouTube videos do. 

[Reed Rothchild 7,953]

I dunno.  Written walkthroughs are often walls of text that aren't necessarily very clear.  Video lays it out pretty specifically and thoroughly.

[RH 4,221]

10 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Written walkthroughs don't make money, YouTube videos do. 

Circle gets the square.

[Code Monkey 1,755]

I've moved from searching for written to searching for video simply because I can skip through the video and easily tell if I've been to that area yet.

[Aguy 736]

The only games worth playing came out before 2006 anyway.

But seriously, what games are you talking about? Big name games I've recently played (e.g. Dragon Quest XI or Red Dead 2) and niche indie games (e.g. Stardew Valley) have online guides with multiple pages of info. Sure it might not be Gamefaqs 'wall of text' style, but they still exist. Also more games are becoming open world and it can be hard for authors to describe/explain where to find something, so YT is more fit.

[Brickman 3,087]

5 minutes ago, Aguy said:

But seriously, what games are you talking about?

Could just be my googling skills but I couldn’t find a proper written walkthrough for Shantae and the pirate’s curse recently when I got stuck finding a missing item I needed.

[Brickman 3,087]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

 

I dunno.  Written walkthroughs are often walls of text that aren't necessarily very clear.  Video lays it out pretty specifically and thoroughly.

 

One day you’re going to look back on those walls of text and appreciate their beauty haha. 
I’m guessing from the responses it’s just a me thing and I’ll need to adapt to the times.

I’ll always have my walls of texts Final Fantsay gamefaqs walkthroughs to look back on with nostalgia.

[B.A. 1,124]

12 minutes ago, Shmup said:

One day you’re going to look back on those walls of text and appreciate their beauty haha. 
I’m guessing from the responses it’s just a me thing and I’ll need to adapt to the times.

I’ll always have my walls of texts Final Fantsay gamefaqs walkthroughs to look back on with nostalgia.

I used to print those out to have a physical guide. Like 100+ pages of beautiful text!

[zeppelin03 314]

I still use Wikis like UESP and another for Stardew Valley.  They are well organized and provide concise information.  This wasn't something I experienced with gamefaqs.  Often times the index didn't help and visual aids like video would make a big difference.  When an entire dungeon in a 2D RPG looks the same a poor description is a real hassle.

YouTube is just easier to reference now.  I get to actually see something happen and if I want text there are captions and hopefully a description. 

[Bearcat-Doug 4,440]

I still use GameFAQs. I actually prefer written walkthroughs over YouTube videos.

[The Count 438]

I love the GameFAQS walkthroughs, so helpful for particularly troublesome games.

[RegularGuyGamer 1,823]

But I can't read

[Tabonga 1,975]

I have been using this one quite a bit:

https://www.neoseeker.com/wargroove/walkthrough

I only go to it when I get stomped a several times - I like this one because it doesn't tell you exactly how to win but gives you some ideas (not that they are the only ones that work) - it does seem rather free and easy with spending lots of gold you don't have though.

There seem to be videos for all of the battles to get super ratings but why play if that is what you are going to do - in any event I like grinding through this type of game working for every town, port and tower,  So I generally don't care about getting  the best rating.

[JamesRobot 5,118]

47 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

I still use GameFAQs. I actually prefer written walkthroughs over YouTube videos.

 

35 minutes ago, The Count said:

I love the GameFAQS walkthroughs, so helpful for particularly troublesome games.

Same

[Tabonga 1,975]

46 minutes ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

But I can't read

That's what touch screens are made for.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Tabonga

[Deadeye 1,567]

I still use gamefaqs as well.  Any game I look up, both retro and modern are there.  Some newer FAQs are html, which have linked sections and images, can be better for modern games IMO.  Text only ones are good too, and user diagram maps fill the gap.

If I hit a wall with a boss, I'll look up a video, easier to communicate the strategy sometimes.

YouTube only walkthrough, you are watching the game at that point.  Unless it is a tips / review video, which can be good like this one for Bucky O'Hare.

Another option is Before I Play, it just had a list of things you should know before you play.  Not a guide or walkthrough, has no story spoilers.

[Ferris Bueller 435]

I wrote the GameFAQ for the SimCity prototype like a year ago. Brad Smith just wrote four for homebrews I think this past year.

[Gloves 10,352]

I have around 70 or so written trophy guides over on playstationtrophies.org. I've also made multiple trophy guide videos on YouTube. 

It really depends on the game which type of guide is more efficient/helpful, as well as personal preference. 

[RH 4,221]

GameFAQs was legit. They had guides for everything, even back in the 90s. That's crazy to me considering the internet was basically about 3-4 years old when I found them.

Anyway, I printed out the Xenogears guide and had it in a binder. I might even still have it somewhere.

Edited August 15, 2020 by RH

[LeatherRebel5150 915]

I love written guides. Especially physical guides. The next best thing is something like what zelda dungeon.net has https://www.zeldadungeon.net/majoras-mask-walkthrough/first-three-days/

which is basically a digital version of a physical guide. 

But Ive always HATED Gamefaq style guides. 5 pages of scrolling and your not even out of the index. Plus just wall upon wall of text. Its headache inducing, if the only available guide is Gamefaq for a game I consider that equivalent to no guide at all

 

[JamesRobot 5,118]

5 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

But Ive always HATED Gamefaq style guides. 5 pages of scrolling and your not even out of the index.

Ctrl-f works every time.  Jump right to whatever you need. 

[fox 1,458]

https://videochums.com/article/shantae-and-the-pirates-curse-a-step-by-step-guide
 

This took 30 seconds to find despite written guides being reported as dead

[Brickman 3,087]

22 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

But Ive always HATED Gamefaq style guides. 5 pages of scrolling and your not even out of the index.

This made me laugh because it reminds me of all the old JRPGs on there. Five pages later, they’re still going through the items and magic/summons.

I normally would just ctrl-f to what I wanted.

Glad to see there is still some love for the written walkthroughs. And @Gloves that is crazy you’ve written so many trophy guides. Did you write the persona 5 one? That one was amazing.

 

[Brickman 3,087]

4 minutes ago, fox said:

https://videochums.com/article/shantae-and-the-pirates-curse-a-step-by-step-guide
 

This took 30 seconds to find despite written guides being reported as dead

Yes I used that one but it’s not very in-depth. Some quick dot points aren’t like the guides I meant where you would get break downs of every item and locations and details per level.