Do you guys use walkthroughs or not?

[AaronIsCrunchy]

Only all the damn time.

I treat VNs same as I would any other game: first run is blind, remaining runs are done with a walkthrough for 100% content completion. OCD FTW.

"Solve the mystery" type games are the sole exception — e.g., Banshee's Last Cry, etc. I play blind until I "solve" it, then do remaining runs with the walkthrough.

More or less what I was going to write to the word. Like hell am I going to find out how to get to every single ending through trial and error, or painstakingly trying to remember every chain of events that got me to a certain point. That said, the blind run first is pretty important, and I don't like walkthroughs that give explicit spoilers.

[MikeY91]

I never read a vn without a walk through, i like to know exactly where i am going or whether i am getting a bad end or a good end, i always go with the bad end first cuz if i did the opposite i would be depressed lol

[MercyZombie]

When I first started reading Visual Novels I always used a guide because I was so afraid of hitting a bad end. Nowadays I feel like trying to find all the desired endings without help is part of the experience. Now I find that it's a lot more entertaining when you're not completely sure which choice is the right one. But I do occasionally make a exception when I feel completely stuck. (I'm looking at you Steins;Gate. How the hell did anyone ever find the true ending without help there? Many of the choices does not even make sense in retrospect)

[VirginSmasher]

I use a walkthrough for most of my playthroughs just to get the ending I want.

[Yuuko]

Depends. Sometimes I'm too lazy to search for a walkthrough. Sometimes I'm too lazy to think about what choice is the right one.

[atorq]

Almost always, even when the choices are pretty obvious, because sometimes they just seem obvious and then they say fuck you.

[Salurian]

Depends.  Some games you really don't need a walkthrough at all because the choices are so simple.

Sometimes I'll just play and not bother with a walkthrough the first time I play, but after the first when I go into 'capture ALL the heroines' mode I'll reference a walkthrough so I'm not wasting time.

If the game is complex enough with bad ends and easily missable CGs I'll just start with a walkthrough from the very beginning.

[Stormwolf]

Always. Vn's are way too long to start messing around and failing. 

[kingdomcome]

I originally started playing VN's because of the different paths (you have choice), but now I realise the bad endings are usually horrible and most VN's are long. Now I only read VN's using a walkthrough, only picking the routes that are good or that add to the story in a meaningful way.

Edited November 11, 2015 by kingdomcome

[Eclipsed]

In moe/charages it's usually easy to get into a heroine's route, so no. Today, I want to hang out with Kotori, cuz Chihaya sucks. Then again, Lucia's a pretty good looker, and so is Akane.... 

For something like Corpse Party, nah, just yolo, more fun that way, I should totally make Yoshiki leave the room while Ayumi is going bonkers becau- WRONG END FK.

For something like Steins;Gate's True End, walkthroughs are practically a must, cuz ain't nobody gonna know that you have to text Kurisu in Chapter 2 that you tripped over Mayushii's metal upa and that in Chapter 4 you tell Daru to not go to Ferris-tan's event so you can randomly bump into Luka to talk about Suzuha and 

 

[Godskrieg]

After the first play-through usually, but if it's a romance and I want a specific route i'll walk-through it.

[kooolm]

Thanks for moving my topic here, didn't know it existed.

[Hijiri]

My first runs are always blind, then I go back and run through it with a guide.

[minuore]

I have a bad habit of perfection, read all VNs and watch all anime that interests me...

Yea, because of time constrain, I use walkthrough almost all the time.

[WaywardHunter]

Like most of the people on here I go through the first time blind to see which ending I get without knowing anything, but I like to 100% the games I play so I use a walk-through afterwords to get everything. I'm playing Fate/Stay Night and it's the first VN I've played with a walk-through from the start. I use no spoilers walk-throughs so I don't know what's going to happen before hand.  

[TheGuy21]

Yes--and No.

 

No because it'll just ruin the experience for me.

Yes because if I'm so frustrated in getting that good ending with a certain girl and somehow can't get it--I use the route guides to get me there.

 

No guides makes the VN more immersible, hence...our escape from our own reality which is steadily crumbling into chaos; this crappy generation...I agree with all my 18 yrs of existence..

[Kanbe]

I don't want to blindly try get into the route I want so yeah

[Lasulf]

I only use the Walkthroughs when i want to finish 100% (some of them have a lot of choice *-*)

[Kawasumi]

oh that depends on a lot of things.

Some games are very straight forward with what to do to get the real routes.

I started out using walkthroughs from the get go, but im doing the first playthrough blind now because I want to be surprised really :P.

Like, it gives a bigger emotional impact if you suddenly hit a bad ending because of a choice you made based on your own judgement (if its well written that is)

[LiquidShu]

95% of the time I will use a guide, I prefer to play the route I'm in the mood for.

[Nightmare799]

After playing through several hours worth of Canvas 2 and getting on no route whatsoever...yes.

Imo route choices should only be a few and easily recognizable, with the rest of them yielding only non-route important changes in dialogue and unfolding events.

[Bastian77]

After continually getting the bad ends on Clannad, it convinced me to just use a walkthrough so that I don't waste time.

Someday, I would like to reach the level where I can make the perfect choices without a walkthrough just like a certain kami-sama, however that is but a dream still far far away~

[Salurian]

The main reason I will use walkthroughs is to save time.  Walkthroughs ensure I go straight to the route I want to go to, AND ensure I get 100% CG completion.  That isn't to say I use walkthroughs all the time - sometimes I don't bother and just play normally.  But games that have really complex choices and bad ends to navigate through?  I'll probably end up using a walkthrough after I get tired of backtracking several times.