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After many (many) years I think I'm finally going to sit down and play through Final Fantasy 8.

I picked up the BradyGames Official Strategy Guide by David Cassady a number of years ago, and am planning on using that. (It's in beautiful shape, so I might have picked it up new ... yikes.)

However, I'd expect some errata to be available, but can find nothing online, in particular on the official site's product page - http://www.bradygames.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=156686903X - nor via searching (excluding some seemingly illegal downloads that I'd rather not click through to).

Does anyone know if errata is available for this guide, and if so, where it can be found?

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    Why would you expect errata to be available in the first place?
    – Raven Dreamer
    Jun 29, 2011 at 1:17
  • Because I've read enough books to know there's generally a few errors that creep in. Also, typically 'official' guides are based on pre-release versions of the game. Of course, if there really is no errata for the guide (which searching seems to suggest), then that's terrific!
    – James Skemp
    Jun 29, 2011 at 1:29
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    It's not an answer to your question, but have you considered GameFAQs? Authors there routinely correct their materials and it shouldn't be too hard to find comprehensive and good-quality information.
    – jprete
    Jun 29, 2011 at 12:38
  • @jprete that's what I usually do, but since I've got a copy of the guide (and am planning on playing FF8 on my PSP, on the go), find the physical guide a bit better in this case. (GameFAQs will sometimes have an 'errata' guide as well, which I'm not seeing in this case.)
    – James Skemp
    Jun 29, 2011 at 13:13
  • @jprete do you want to post your suggestion as an answer? That's how I ended up getting the actual answer to this question. (Which is what I should have done, but ...)
    – James Skemp
    Jul 1, 2011 at 17:58

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Posted this on GameFAQs and received the below answer from user Fallacia:

The Brady Guide for VIII isn't really as bad for errors as it is for bad advice or just lack of information in general. The main thing to remember is mainly to ignore any advice it gives about spamming GFs or gaining levels to make things easier. That's not to say that you can't get through most of the game with GFs since it is a crutch that most new players rely on until late-game when they start to lose because of it. It's just faster and more efficient to just draw/refine (refine is the earliest source for most good spells via playing cards and card mod) spells to get decent junctions. Not to mention you don't have to go through 30 minutes of summon animations for what would have been 5 minutes with decent junctions.

You also don't have to avoid experience in general, but it's generally counterproductive to go out of your way to power-level since that only makes the enemies have much higher stats since they gain stats a lot faster than your characters do for your own levels. It's not a problem if you keep decent junctions, but it can quickly make things more difficult if your junctions are poor.

The Brady Guide also doesn't fully elaborate on some of the sidequests, leaving some things up to guessing. It does mention most of them and gives some instructions on how to mostly complete them, but some of the information is just lacking.

It also neglects to go into very good details on things like card rule manipulation and more importantly, the traits of the Disc 4 CC should you complete that sidequest before the fourth disc. Without completing that sidequest, refined cards basically become lost forever.

While it does mention the Queen of Cards to some extent, it doesn't really give the best guide on her either. Someone could potentially finish the quest, but a lot of people will keep on losing and winning back cards, wondering why she's not mentioning her father or creating new cards.

There's not really much you can do about it other than reference a guide or just ignore those aspects until another playthrough. It's generally not a good idea to try and do your "complete file" on a first play through of a game anyway, so if you don't feel like sitting by a computer while you play the game or printing out a hundred pages of various walkthroughs, it's generally best to just play to get familiar with the game until you have learned the details that aren't fully explained within the Brady Guide.

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Everytime I research the terms "FF8 bradygames" on Google, this page pops up in the first 10... everytime... And yet you've never gotten a definitive answer.

YES. There WAS a FAQ/Errata list on Bradygames, as alluded to on the final page of the walkthrough, in the section "Ultimecia Awaits". The last sentence in the walkthrough reads "If you need additional help, check out the BradyGAMES website at www.bradygames.com for a helpful FAQ. Good luck and enjoy the incredible ending. You've certainly earned it!"

But what the, there is no FAQ/Errata on Bradygames' website! There was a cool Minisite created which showcased information from the book's characters, GF and bestiary sections but it was removed in 2002. The FAQ/Errata page was only updated once. It contained a list of original questions between 1999 and 2001 and in 2001 it was updated and the page lasted on Bradygames' website until 2004.

Luckily, YES, the page is still available. But not from Bradygames, rather, from the Internet Archives cache of Bradygames' website.

Here is a link to the very last (and most current) page, right before it was removed in 2004: https://web.archive.org/web/20040618135525/http://www.bradygames.com/updates/ff8faq.html

You can copy all of the text and either paste it to Notepad or just print selected. I have a copy printed which I keep as a supplement to the guide, seeing, officially, that's what the book mentioned was available. ...And seeing it's no longer available it makes having it more worthwhile.

Here's is a link to what the Archives have available from the old Bradygames FF8 Minisite. It isn't much, but it's a start. I think have a complete copy saved on the computer somewhere...: https:// web.archive.org/web/ * /http:// www.bradygames.com/minisite/ff8/*

(There's no space in between the star and the slashes. I had to write it like that because the link was formatted incorrectly within the post.)

And here's a link to where the FF8 guide was the main page feature: https://web.archive.org/web/20000304045248/http://bradygames.com/

Hope this helps complete your guide!

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No, there doesn't appear to be any official errata. That doesn't mean that there aren't mistakes, it just means that they didn't go to the trouble of officially identifying and correcting their mistakes.

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