Video Game Manual Appreciation

I couldn't find a thread dedicated to manuals. The two I found are dedicated to specific types of manuals, plus they haven't been posted in for a while.

Video game manuals have become obsolete within the last console generation. I can't say for Sony, Microsoft, or physical PC titles, however Nintendo scrapped manuals somewhere between 2012-2013. Early 3DS games had full manuals, then they became large two-page spreads that essentially boiled down to "Read the digital manual", and then eventually that to was surpassed in exchange to small papers telling you to check the digital manual.

Digital manuals really aren't any fun. They are typically bland and to the point. No screencaps, no accidental screencaps of Dummied Out elements, no pretty official art, no character bios, etc. I don't like most digital manuals. I do like how newer Virtual Console games include manuals (though it sucks how you need internet connections to view most).

So, what are some of your favorite manuals?

Aside from how poorly Destiny applied the whole Grimoire concept to explain their universe, I've generally seen the move towards integrating the game manuals into the games themselves to be a positive move. Certainly helps out those buying games on Steam or any other digital service, for one.

Probably the only instruction booklets I've still found noteworthy were the ones created for Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, largely due to how they made the manual feel like a part of the world. The instructions given sounded like advice and warnings being passed down, instead of some stale... well, manual. It was also surprisingly colorful, with most of the pages including an image to go along with each action described, and that cryptic glyph writing present in the series.

The Diablo and Starcraft manuals were memorable too, mostly because of the artwork. But even that's been made inferior by how the games themselves can contain unlockable hi-def images as awards, or how Mass Effect created an effective codex that gradually unlocked the more you explored the world.

edited 30th Oct '17 4:14:32 PM by SgtRicko

The Arc the Lad Collection had a pretty decent manual, but the headliner was the intro to the section on how to transfer XP away from the robot Diekbeck. It was, of course, labeled "Sucking Diek."

Very good for when your brain is so humor-starved that you need a cheap penis joke.

Pokemon Red And Blue's manual was great. It did an amazing job getting me immersed in the world before I even played the game.

I used to read A Link to the Pasts manual over and over cause I knew I'd never beat the game, and my Mario 3 manual is falling apart from overuse. Other manuals I read often were Mario 1, Mario 2, Kirby 64, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong Country 1, 2, 3, DK 64, Pokemon, Robopon, Lunar 2, Star Ocean 2, Arc the Lad, Monster Rancher 2, Shantae, and tons and tons of player's guides.

I was also convinced the Geldman enemy from ALttP was a boss a la the Goldman in Dragon Quest because of the illustrations.

edited 31st Oct '17 2:00:54 PM by lalalei2001

The one for the game Zeus was pretty fun to read.

Bubsy's manual had comic book illustrations tell the plot.

I remember the PS1 remakes for the LUNAR games having nice bound manuals with ribbons to save your reading place and thicker pages than your average game manual.

The Metroid manual for the NES is surprisingly involved, discussing the story and powerups and such, with some pretty cool cartoon art of Samus and the pirates and minibosses. It even has a simple map of the game world.

They also had mini-players' guides for the first areas of the games, lyrics, and behind-the-scenes stuff!

I'm quite fond of manuals. So many given interesting tidbits about the games or have other interesting things.

I don't know about the future WarioWare games, but I always liked the Gamecube titles manual. It's in-character and everything.

I didn't own a N64, and I was likely too young/inexperienced to beat the game either, so playing Melee spoiled Sheik for me. I didn't even know it was a spoiler until 5-7 years later when I saw people online saying it was. Melee has a really nice, eye-catching manual.

edited 28th Nov '17 4:34:30 PM by Pichu-kun