Rating: 
Summary: All this book represents is a referral to an online site
Review: Im overly dissapointed with this title. Sure all the other Brady Guides for previous Final Fantasy titles were flawed, but you could live with them. At least they had information in the book and not a constant referral to playonline.com. The entire format is presented like this for everything. Want more information ... refer to playonline.com. Want any information about anything? Refer to playonline.com. If im stuck I like to have the book in front of me and be able to read and follow along with my playing. I also like to have information about skills etc so I can plan an effective strategy for character advancement. Which brings us to another problem, the website itself is very hard to get on to. I managed to create a user id, but since then it just times out whenever i try to access the north american site. You know what? How about you save yourself some money and just refer to online faq's that you can print out.
Rating:
Summary: Not such a great book, unless you know what you're doing
Review: I would like to say that this book isn't one of the best strategy guides out there. It does have its strong points such as a completely walkthrough to what to do next, but doesnt give enough depth to each step. Its references to the web site is what really bothered me the most. If I wanted to fork over money to read something over a web site, its really not a publishing creativity, but rather, a lazy attempt to make a product easier for the author to make. Instead of increasing the pages or writing more of what to do, it created only curiousity and trouble for the people who wants to know what to do next right away. Who really wants to log into a web site just to find out more? I personally dont buy a strategy guide just to know what to do next in a game. I buy strategy guides once I beat a game, and to find out what little details I've missed. And this book didn't help me much, but rather made me frustrated, that all the little details are in the web site, that doesnt work. For all I know, I think they are trying to finish the web site still. Thats my view of things, being a 12 year old kid, you wonder if my words even count. But I give you my honest opinion of what I think is a book with little effort put into it. I would have given this one star, but it does tell you what you should do step by step and all the weapons you can get in the game, which a strategy guide is supposed to do.
Rating: 
Summary: Not even half a book.
Review: Gotta agree with the other reviews. The references to PlayOnline.com make this book pretty worthless. Its not extra information at all, its important stuff. Every secret in the game, locations of items, side games, boss stratagies, shop locations, and other useful tips are all online. The text in the book is basically just filler and pictures, all the real stuff is online. I suggest you just register the site and print out the pages instead of buying the book. It's got the same layout as the book, plus all the important information. Overly dissappointing. I don't like going online for game info anyway, I hate printing all this stuff out. That's why I bought the book in the first place. I wish another company made a strategy guide for this game worth paying for..
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Money
Review: This book is a waste of money. Pictures are nice, but that's the only bright point. No maps, hints are vague and for the most part useless -- anyone who has played an RPG before knows them. The book keeps referring you to a website that doesn't work. Bottom line about this book: Save your money, it'd be better off spent on prechewed bubble gum than this book.
Rating:
Summary: Unlike any strategy guide before..... unfortunately...
Review: I have never regretted buying a strategy guide. Until now.There is very little in the way of spoilers, some good information, and a little ad saying "go to playonline.com to see all the things we should have put in the strategy guide but decided not to to make it more interesting for you!" Excuse me? I just have to say, don't buy this book. 99% of it is available at playonline.com In fact, more information is available at playonline.com than is available in the book. No, that doesn't contradict the earlier statement. There are a few things only in the book and there are a TON of things only online. True the website actually has to load(which it rarely does) and navigating it is best described as a futile act of random clicking, but hey, it's "groundbreaking" and "innovative!" I think not.
Rating:
Summary: The guides keep getting worse and worse...
Review: A feeling of total regret is how I can best sum up thisstrategy guide after I had purchased it and given it a look through.Let me tell you how this guide works, because the editors say its a"truly interactive experience." Whatever. If you're lookingfor all the secrets in this one book, gotta look else where. Instead,everything goes into depth on the World Wide Web and put a specialcode into the web-site to get most of the secrets, NOT THE BOOK. Ifind this pretty frusterating because I paid ... to get all thesecrets without having to log onto the web to find out every secret.Now I am someone with easy access to the web. Now lets say someonewith out the WWW got this guide. They'd miss out big time. Couldn'tfind the description of magic, ultimate weapons, side quests. Besidesall that, its a decent guide, just missing the essentials of being aguide. BradyGames and SquareSoft, shame on you. Go back to the oldschool like how you did FFVII. Two stars.
Rating:
Summary: Good if your computer is next to your Playstation!
Review: Unfortunately, this is a typical Brady Games guide, but with one major flaw. It only spoon-feeds you some information and if you want the rest, you have to go to the website to get it. This is perfect if your PC just happenes to be next to your Playstation. It's typical in that it spoils some of the storyline if you get close to the end. Hopefully, someone will write an actual strategy guide that doesn't spoil anything yet give you the information you seek without going online.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Worth The Money
Review: Although the book has all the bestiary and items, it gives weak walkthroughs. What I mean is, it lightly goes over some events and plugs its website, playonline.com. What I mean is, it will briefly go over an event, then say: "For more information on ------ go to playonline." This happens about four or five times every two pages, so if you're stuck, you have to go online & print out these hints. The worst part about this is that that site is always down from all the people trying to get the rest of the info. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but if you have to print out game hints, what's the use of buying the guide? However, I gave it 3 stars because of the other information that goes along with the game (excluding the walkthrough.)
Rating:
Summary: This guide is not worth buying
Review: This guide does not give you any secrets and the only useful information it gives is a list of what you can steal from enemies. For any in depth strategies and secrets you are referred to playonline.com. This guide is worthless by itself and only slightly helpful for finding the right section .... So don't buy it, it's not worth the money. Just go to an online site for hints and walkthroughs.
Rating:
Summary: Close, but.. oh wait! There's a cigar Online?!
Review: In comparison, to Brady Game's Strategy Guide for Final Fantasy VIII, this one is sorely lacking. The information is presented in a disorganized fashion, making it unclear who can learn certain skills from items, as well as what skills they actually can learn. But, the main problem I have with this guide is it's "PlayOnLine Enchancement." To get most of the really good hints and charts you have to go online, using codes found in the book. Which I think kind of makes the book futile. The point of getting the Strategy Guide is so you have a quick reference to items, skills, and events in the game; not so you have codes to go online to find them. But, the information is there....if you don't mind looking for it.
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