Caltrops - Gamerasutra





	[quote name="Mood: Perplexed"][quote name="FABIO"]Fuck manuals. [...] Any game that requires you to read the manual to get the hang of it is automatically docked 2 points on the 1 to 10 scale.[/quote] All I've wanted lately, as far as written documentation goes, is a little note card explaining to me how I'm expected to save games. Unless the artwork in the manual is really pretty, I ignore the rest of the booklet. Shadow Hearts: Covenant's manual is pretty good: it's only sixteen pages long, including the "Notes" page; the blurb about save points is on page 6, not far from the epileptic seizure warning and the suggestion to put the disk in label-side-up; there are no huge plot spoilers (unless you count the ending for the original Shadow Hearts -- oops!); and the in-game help introduces game mechanics as they become relevant, so you don't need to study the dead-tree manual beforehand. Or maybe more games could ape Final Fantasy 8 and include three pages on using <a href="http://www.ncsxshop.com/cgi-bin/shop/SCPH-4000.html">a peripheral</a> that was never sold in the States. I'd like to know what minigames I'm missing out on.[/quote]