America's videogame guides aren't exactly known for their quality, but the official Dark Souls guide by Future Press is a happy exception.
If Japan has anything over North America, it's videogame guides.
They might not have anything over their western counterparts in terms of actual content, but they are often lovingly produced and full of wonderful art.
That said, I have to tip my hat to Futurepress, which has done a tremendous job with the Dark Souls guide. In the best tradition of those Japanese guides of old, it's a magnificent hardbound tome that's absolutely loaded with maps and art (oh, and a walkthrough too).
Being as Dark Souls is one of my favorite games of the year so far, I knew I had to have it on my shelf, if only as a collector's item. And as it happens, it just arrived today.
Images courtesy of the Future Press Facebook page
The guide is printed on high-quality paper, and each chapter features a nice piece of concept art. It's quite a good looking guide (not to mention heavy), and certainly worth a look if you're a Dark Souls enthusiast. I've spent a good chunk of the day just paging through it, checking up on things that I missed on my original run. And as it turns out, I missed quite a bit.
Future Press has put together a number of other guides, and they all look pretty good as well. Here's hoping that high-quality guides that double as collector's items continue to be a trend here in North America.
Source: Daily News from GamePro.com
Friday, October 14, 2011