Line #10 Main/Walkthrough


1	A walkthrough is a document or other work that explains how to play through a game and win. Thanks to the internet, websites such as the popular Website/GameFAQs will provide walkthroughs of all stripes for players to peruse, from just collectibles all the way to full 100% walkthroughs that cover everything. Many gaming news sites such as [=IGN=] and Polygon also have dedicated walkthrough sections of their own, often supplemented with images and even videos. With the rise of Platform/YouTube, video-only walkthroughs can be made using a capture card (or even the console's internal capture software) to record the gameplay as a video file.
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3	As opposed to a physical StrategyGuide book (a SisterTrope to this one), a walkthrough is generally more frank in terms of letting you know what you should do and where you should go, since the idea is that you're looking it up because you're stuck and would like to be unstuck. While walkthroughs can get very lengthy, their biggest advantage is they can be collaborated on, continually updated to reflect new discoveries, exploits, patches and post-release content, and are absolutely free. Another advantage is the presentation of older games: it's far easier to show an image of a video game today compared to the 1990s and earlier, making the walkthrough clearer.
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5	Those concerned about spoilers can sometimes find walkthroughs that are vague in a quirky way and provide detailed information whilst referring to the story as little as possible, often dubbed "spoiler-free walkthroughs". Expect turns of phrase like "a scene will occur" or "after the cutscene". It's generally good form by a writer to not spoil what will happen in the middle or end of a level before the player has reached that point in the text. This [[http://www.uhs-hints.com UHS website]] provides a useful middle ground, allowing the reader to progressively expose more and more detail.
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7	The use of walkthroughs of any kind is a controversial topic among gamers. Some equate them to using cheat codes and believe they essentially mar the experience, while others have no qualms about using them quite liberally, having the guide sitting right next to them, reading it as they play. Most gamers fall into some sort of middle ground, and many only resort to walkthroughs when they are ''really'' stuck, or when completing {{sidequest}}s, simply because in many games, they can be obtuse or well-hidden enough to all but [[GuideDangIt require the use of a guide]]. Because of this, many online walkthroughs are structured around topics and designed to be Googled based on trends (look at any ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'' guide and see how many pages are dedicated to explaining a single subject or gameplay mechanic). As such, their writing style accounts for a player who is just dropping in for that specific section, rather than reading from the beginning of the guide or even the start of that specific level.
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9	While the general consensus is that you should not ''constantly'' use a walkthrough while playing a game, there are no doubt numerous examples of games, especially of the classic adventure genre, that had maybe less than 1% of their players never once resorting to a walkthrough in order to beat them. It doesn't help that quite a few developers, most notably {{Creator/Sierra}}, actually ''encouraged'' gamers to buy official guide books to [[MoonLogicPuzzle their insanely difficult games]], making even some hardcore anti-walkthrough fans question whether using a walkthrough can even be considered cheating in these circumstances. This was possibly an anti-piracy measure, as someone who didn't pay for the game is most likely not willing to pay for the strategy guide to complete it.
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11	Sometimes, a game is so poorly designed that the player is [[GuideDangIt stuck even for a perfectly obvious solution]]. In such cases, the only option left is to consult a walkthrough.
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13	Compare LetsPlay for a game run with additional commentary and to playthrough which is a casual strolling through the game, although these ''can'' function as walkthroughs since they'll be completing the entire game by their very nature.
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Context Main / Walkthrough