Legaia 2: Duel Saga

Rating:
Summary: proofreader, anyone?
Review: Besides the poor graphics, the much-touted arts list features at least 3 typos. If you're going to rave about your inclusive list, at least spend some time proofreading. Couldn't they have afforded an editor?

And...why can't anyone get this...if you're going to list weapons and armor, why not do it by listing them in order of strength instead of alphabetically? If one of the purposes in an RPG is to strengthen characters, shouldn't the lists reflect that?

Duplicate explanations of stategy (sometimes in the very next paragraph) seem to me to be unnecessary filler. Attention could have been given to explaining conditional aspects of the game (availability of sidequests, etc.)

In short, a guide should give you what you need to thoroughly explore the game. It should not repeat the obvious information available simply by viewing the cinematics or listening in on conversations in camp (things you do in the game regardless)

Rating:
Summary: nicee....from a real female gamer
Review: Doesn't surpass the original but nicce can't say much i just started it but not bad.

Rating:
Summary: wow, so lame
Review: first of all...i truly don't recommend buying this book. It really doesn't help at all for most parts. Sure it got all the items and stuff but most of it, it doesn't tell you how to get them and the walk through are so lame....geesh
For those wishes to buy the book..all i can say is good luck getting your money worth

Rating:
Summary: Great game. nice book
Review: For those of you who played Legend of Legaia you should know that the arts lists alone are worth the price of this book. There are quite a few mazes in this one too to which the book helps infantly.

Rating:
Summary: Jesus christ, this is horrible.
Review: I am a big fan of Legaia 2: Duel Saga. It's a terrific game, and it deserved a terrific guide, due to the expansive nature of the game. It needed great lists and a great walkthrough, along with important boss strategies.

Too bad Jason Young did none of this. The lists are inaccurate and poorly done. He forgets some items entirely, and most of his descriptions are taken straight from the game. And don't even get me started on the walkthrough, as it's one of the poorest things I've seen in a long time. He'll forget how to explain how to get all of the items. He provides a list of them, then explains how to get about a quarter of them. Nice job.

Plus, the guide is short and looks HORRIBLE. It's poorly organized, the font is crap, and the details in the walkthrough are lacking. There's very little included about side quests, and the game basics are laughable at last.

Do me a favor and read my Legaia 2 guide at GameFAQs (under the name Psycho Penguin). You will get more information for free instead of paying money for this garbage.

Rating:
Summary: Not a bad guide but it isn't anything special either
Review: Legaia 2 is a HUGE game with TONS of secrets and sidequests. Eventually you'll find the need to grab a guide and while this isn't the best guide it helps to do SEVERAL things that the others here have not mentioned.

To begin, the pre-walkthrough in this guide is full of amazing detail and combat tips. It gives off great strategies of how to battle and take down your opponets. The game also has handy character bios and such as well as an arts list. However, as handy as the arts list is the list has a couple of typos. It's handy and helps but some arts they list off twice and for Sharon there's one art that isn't listed at all.

The Walkthrough is not done too badly. Before each section there's a map that points out items and other things. Then in the text it elaborates on the other points. It list the monsters at the beginning and strategies for taking down each one in the area. The guide won't take you to every item (that's what the maps are for!) but they give you an idea on where to find the ones that aren't in plain sight. All the puzzle solutions are given perfectly.

There are a few problems that exist. For example the main portion of the walkthrough is fine but boss strategies, monster strategies and all around tips are in a strange font. The font IS readable but it takes a while to distinguish between some letters (such as a "h" looks like an "b" in this font).

Screenshots are NOT crystal clear. It's a good thing that the screens you need actually can be used. Some screens are blurry while others are too bright.

The guide covers ALL the hunters guild sidequests, the centaurion challenge, helps you get every recipe, helps out in the battle arena, gives you the low down on cooking and gardening. The guide has a lot to offer really and it lives up to it all.

The guide has a complete monster list. It is all text but this isn't such a problem. Every monster is listed in here but I WISH they were listed IN the walkthrough. The guide has them completely in the back. The monster list also has a couple of typos. None too serious (as long as the HP listed is correct I'm okay). Thank goodness the ingame has a bar below each enemy.

The item, weapon and armor list give the same description as the game does. No problem there, EVERY RPG guide does that so don't worry about that. The skills list I was hoping would be much better described than the game did.

My biggest gripe with this guide is it doesn't help you find all the heaven's secrets! Some you will get such as when it helps you out on mini-games, hunters guild and a few other sidequests. But for some like finding the Supreme Weapons shop Heaven Secret it doesn't detail that at all! It also doesn't help you find all the nicknames for characters.

So the overall effort is this: It will help you get through the game and take care of a few sidequests but it won't help you master the game. The list have typos in them and while the walkthrough and extras help it isn't enough to help you get the full experience from Legaia 2.

Rating:
Summary: Not a bad guide but it isn't anything special either
Review: Legaia 2 is a HUGE game with TONS of secrets and sidequests. Eventually you'll find the need to grab a guide and while this isn't the best guide it helps to do SEVERAL things that the others here have not mentioned.

To begin, the pre-walkthrough in this guide is full of amazing detail and combat tips. It gives off great strategies of how to battle and take down your opponets. The game also has handy character bios and such as well as an arts list. However, as handy as the arts list is the list has a couple of typos. It's handy and helps but some arts they list off twice and for Sharon there's one art that isn't listed at all.

The Walkthrough is not done too badly. Before each section there's a map that points out items and other things. Then in the text it elaborates on the other points. It list the monsters at the beginning and strategies for taking down each one in the area. The guide won't take you to every item (that's what the maps are for!) but they give you an idea on where to find the ones that aren't in plain sight. All the puzzle solutions are given perfectly.

There are a few problems that exist. For example the main portion of the walkthrough is fine but boss strategies, monster strategies and all around tips are in a strange font. The font IS readable but it takes a while to distinguish between some letters (such as a "h" looks like an "b" in this font).

Screenshots are NOT crystal clear. It's a good thing that the screens you need actually can be used. Some screens are blurry while others are too bright.

The guide covers ALL the hunters guild sidequests, the centaurion challenge, helps you get every recipe, helps out in the battle arena, gives you the low down on cooking and gardening. The guide has a lot to offer really and it lives up to it all.

The guide has a complete monster list. It is all text but this isn't such a problem. Every monster is listed in here but I WISH they were listed IN the walkthrough. The guide has them completely in the back. The monster list also has a couple of typos. None too serious (as long as the HP listed is correct I'm okay). Thank goodness the ingame has a bar below each enemy.

The item, weapon and armor list give the same description as the game does. No problem there, EVERY RPG guide does that so don't worry about that. The skills list I was hoping would be much better described than the game did.

My biggest gripe with this guide is it doesn't help you find all the heaven's secrets! Some you will get such as when it helps you out on mini-games, hunters guild and a few other sidequests. But for some like finding the Supreme Weapons shop Heaven Secret it doesn't detail that at all! It also doesn't help you find all the nicknames for characters.

So the overall effort is this: It will help you get through the game and take care of a few sidequests but it won't help you master the game. The list have typos in them and while the walkthrough and extras help it isn't enough to help you get the full experience from Legaia 2.

Rating:
Summary: This Guide Makes Me Laugh
Review: Poor is the word I could use to describe this guide. I would use something more explicit but for the fact that you wouldn't see it I decided not to waste my time. Anyway, the guide features poor lists and appendices and the walkthrough isn't too good all in itself.

The only reason I really gave this guide two stars was because of the arts lists it includes (although that too has typos you'll still be able to unlock them all). But the guide was very difficult to read. Too many errors (and some parts even printed twice.) Not to mention that while white on black doesn't bother me, this font does. This made the walkthrough difficult to read.

Not only that but the bestiary isn't all that helpful and neither are their strategies for defeating bosses. They don't cover the entire game like most other guides would. The guide doesn't really detail any secrets. It's nice to get if you need the help in completing the quest as well as lots of puzzle solutions but really...the guide isn't neccesary. I wouldn't spend any money on this. Instead, go to GameFAQs and find yourself an Arts Lists and then go through the game without the help of this guide.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly designed eye strain.
Review: This strategy guide is quite a disappointment. While the information presented may be useful, the manner in which it is presented is lacking on all counts. It is VERY stingy with graphics, having the majority of its illustrations consisting of postage stamp-sized screenshots. The bestiary at the back of the book is only text, compared with the fully illustrated bestiaries in the BRADYGAMES strategy guide series (I have them for Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts). It is 128 pages long, which is only HALF the length of both the BRADYGAMES guides I own, and just looks like it was made with only the (extremely corner-cutting) bottom line in mind. The basic layout is white text on a dark background, and this simply DOES NOT work at the tiny type size they are employing. The type in the lists is at least legible, but the fancier font they chose to use in the walkthrough makes reading a painful chore. You REALLY have to want the information to put up with the headache of decoding the broken-up characters into words. If Prima's other strategy guides are of this same quality, I would have to recommend you stay away from them. This book is a terrible disappointment. Prima should look at BRADYGAMES to find out how to make a proper guide. Given the choice, I would (and will) take the plain text walkthroughs available on the Internet over buying another book of this poor quality. Random House should be ashamed of themselves. One star for presentation, plus one star for the actual information. Consumers, and this game, deserve better.