Crisis Core: The (Potential) Journey to 100%

Well, I've reached a point in Crisis Core where I must make a decision. That decision is whether to go ahead and finish the main storyline of the game, so I can move on to something else (aka Patapon), or whether I should try to finish as many of the 300 side missions as I can (I've currently done about 50%). This afternoon while I was playing, I had decided to just go ahead and finish the main game. I was tired of the tedious side missions, which offered little reward, and were slowly beginning to hand it to me. But then I finally got a very powerful materia (spell) that should allow me to breeze through a number of the missions.

However, to get to the point of this post, in order to find and create that materia, I needed the help of a FAQ on the Internet. My question to you, the readers, is how much or how often do you seek help with games? Do you only seek a walkthrough when you get utterly stuck and frustrated beyond hope? Do you buy a strategy guide with every new game and play through the entirety of the game with the guide in your lap? Or are you, like me, somewhere in between?

I consider myself a moderate game completionist. Within reason, I like to see and do all there is within a given game. I want to collect as many items and do as many side missions as possible. But sometimes, it just doesn't seem worth it. And I nearly reached that point with Crisis Core. I tend to only seek assistance in the course of trying to not miss things. What I often find is that I can't help reading about a section of a game right after I complete it. And then I inevitably sneak a peak at the next section to see what's coming up. The thought of irrevocably missing out on some aspect of a game gives me chills. Not really. But I do try my best not to miss any missables.

This stands in stark contrast to film, which movies so often aspire to emulate. While I have no qualms about reading details of areas in games before I've played them (when necessary), I would never, under any circumstances, read too much about a movie I've never seen. It often ruins the experience. The same can not be said of many sections of games, particularly the tedious, repetitious bits.

So where do you stand? How much help are you willing to seek for games? And how do you think that affects your experience of them?

EDIT: After reading Diego/Kimari's comment, I realized that I forgot to mention another, important reason that I often check the Internet regularly while playing a game. The reason is that my gaming time is very valuable. Not only do I have a plethora of games yet to be completed, but I also have numerous other commitments and activities to do in my spare time. So my gaming time is limited, and simultaneously important. I don't want to waste it by running around blindly in a game, or repeatedly losing a fight. In short, I prefer to make constant progress.