This one is indeed pretty cool. I just completed my playthrough, which I enjoyed very much. The interconnected areas and exploration incentives are the game's strongest points, but everything else (battles, crafting, dialogues, etc.) is entertaining, too. While I began my playthrough at 175% difficulty, I soon chickened out because of the involved RNG madness, and instead I enjoyed a smooth playthrough at 25% difficulty.
There are a few loose ends, so I would appreciate any pointers with regards to the following points:
- I still can't access two areas inside the Abandoned Mines (northwest and southwest areas). The door in the southwestern area requires a key, which I don't possess, and the door in the northwestern area remains shut even though I flipped all switches (as far as I can tell). How can I access these areas? I even hope my failures are due to my own incompetence rather than bugs. Speaking of bugs: Great job, the game is practically bug-free.
- While I managed to collect all alchemy recipes, I'm still missing a few ingredients. Right now, I have no idea where to obtain further copies of "Collector's Soul" and "Bounty Hunter's Spirit". I haven't played the higher levels of "Maze Escape" yet, but where else should I be able to obtain them when I can neither buy nor craft them? I'm also still missing a "Spirit of Tenacity", which indicates more optional content that I have still to discover.
- The game seems to feature a hidden trade quest, but I have no clue who could be interested in the "Ocarina of Hope".
- Castle, Subterranean Cave: How can the golden treasure chest in the treasure room be opened (powerful artifact needed)?
- I'm still missing the bottommost entry in the bestiary, which might or might not be reserved for the final boss.
Thank you so much for your comments and questions! It means so much to me, and I could go on and on with just how appreciative I am. But, first, let me answer those questions:
In short, the hidden trade quest will solve all those issues. Except your last point: the bottommost entry in the bestiary is, as you guessed, the final boss (I left it as a bestiary entry because at one point I was considering a NewGame+ mode, but opted out.)
So, that being said, there should be another NPC to find which will trade for the Ocarina of Hope. I'll give a few hints here if you'd like to search yourself, but I'll also just give the entire list for the trades at the bottom of this post, if you just want the answer.
Hint 1: No one who trades with you will trade again; they are all different NPC's.
Hint 2: No one who trades with you is in Kingston.
Hint 3: She has been walking in this place for years, but recently something has felt very off about it.
With that quest complete, the final reward will help with the golden treasure chest, the Abandoned Mines, and eventually your missing ingredients. If there's any more issues, please ask. Otherwise, I'd really appreciate it if you came back to let me know what you think of the rest of the content you unlock. I'm excited for you to see what's in the Abandoned Mines.
To your credit, that quest shouldn't be hidden. It's not a bug or anything, I just didn't make it explicit and give it a quest log like I should have. And now that I'm realizing how much I actually locked behind it, that was definitely the wrong call. Apologies.
I just want to thank you so much for playing and for posting. It just gives me so much validation that you started playing this game and it wasn't so bad that you stopped. I appreciate your comments so much. I was elated when I first saw your post. It was an extremely happy memory that I'll cherish.
And thank you for the feedback, too. While making it, and having that unique perspective to the game, there were things I considered more than others and your unbiased perspective is really appreciated. The last time I played it, I did it at 175% difficulty and the early game in particular was quite extreme. The "RNG madness" is something I could work on. I am a little curious exactly what you mean by that. I am assuming in the Enemy AI? That was something that I felt much less confident about compared to other aspects of the game.
Thanks again!
Hidden Trade Quest:
Harp of Wishes: Guild Basement
Lute of Dreams: Man in Dark Forest
Ocarina of Hope: Woman in River Valley
Flute of Prosperity: Old Woman in Dark Forest
Drum of Influence: Old Timer in River Valley
Horn of Divinity: Young Man in Dark Forest
Key of Philosophy: Gerald in Guild Headquarters (outside; completion of "Lost Heirloom" side-quest required)
Thank you very much for the detailed reply. While I had an inkling that the trade quest could be the domino that opens up the remaining optional content, I was simply too lazy to do four additional systematic sweeps, especially since normal NPC dialogue doesn't provide hints about potential trade partners. The rewards are worth the effort, though: Philosopher's Spirit and Unicorn Spirit are fantastic equipment pieces that can be considered a boon on higher difficulty settings in particular.
Yeah, when I said "RNG madness", I mainly meant "AI roulette" in this context. On higher difficulty settings, even against random mobs, most battles can be considered lost when one of the two party members falls. Enemies are usually faster than Elijah and Elise, and if all enemies (e.g. 3 random mobs) decide to use their AoE skills or to gang up on one party member, chances are that one party member falls before the party can even act, or the enemies inflict so much damage that the party can't heal in time, since next turn, the enemies get to act first again. This means wasting the first turn on offensive buffs is a surefire way to lose a battle. In some battles, I even had to resort to "pre-emptive healing" in order to win, that means using a heal skill even though the party is at full health, knowing that the enemies will have inflicted huge damage before the heal skill triggers. Normally, my gamer's pride doesn't allow me to play on anything other than the highest difficulty setting, but I guess composure comes naturally with age. :D
The enemy summoning portal is a very nice addition, though I suspected from the beginning that the 4 Holy Beasts wouldn't drop another AP treasure. :P
By the way, while I didn't encounter any bugs, I think it would be a great idea to rework the horse (River Valley) and chicken (Southern Valley) rescue sequences. When I rescued them, both times they were blocked by enemies. I thought the game had frozen due to the movement related issues, but the animals finally managed to make their way past the enemies after half a minute give or take. It should be possible to make the animal units "transparent" so that they can move through other units.
Thanks again for a great game and for your help! :)
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
This one is indeed pretty cool. I just completed my playthrough, which I enjoyed very much. The interconnected areas and exploration incentives are the game's strongest points, but everything else (battles, crafting, dialogues, etc.) is entertaining, too. While I began my playthrough at 175% difficulty, I soon chickened out because of the involved RNG madness, and instead I enjoyed a smooth playthrough at 25% difficulty.
There are a few loose ends, so I would appreciate any pointers with regards to the following points:
- I still can't access two areas inside the Abandoned Mines (northwest and southwest areas). The door in the southwestern area requires a key, which I don't possess, and the door in the northwestern area remains shut even though I flipped all switches (as far as I can tell). How can I access these areas? I even hope my failures are due to my own incompetence rather than bugs. Speaking of bugs: Great job, the game is practically bug-free.
- While I managed to collect all alchemy recipes, I'm still missing a few ingredients. Right now, I have no idea where to obtain further copies of "Collector's Soul" and "Bounty Hunter's Spirit". I haven't played the higher levels of "Maze Escape" yet, but where else should I be able to obtain them when I can neither buy nor craft them? I'm also still missing a "Spirit of Tenacity", which indicates more optional content that I have still to discover.
- The game seems to feature a hidden trade quest, but I have no clue who could be interested in the "Ocarina of Hope".
- Castle, Subterranean Cave: How can the golden treasure chest in the treasure room be opened (powerful artifact needed)?
- I'm still missing the bottommost entry in the bestiary, which might or might not be reserved for the final boss.
Thank you so much for your comments and questions! It means so much to me, and I could go on and on with just how appreciative I am. But, first, let me answer those questions:
In short, the hidden trade quest will solve all those issues. Except your last point: the bottommost entry in the bestiary is, as you guessed, the final boss (I left it as a bestiary entry because at one point I was considering a NewGame+ mode, but opted out.)
So, that being said, there should be another NPC to find which will trade for the Ocarina of Hope. I'll give a few hints here if you'd like to search yourself, but I'll also just give the entire list for the trades at the bottom of this post, if you just want the answer.
Hint 1: No one who trades with you will trade again; they are all different NPC's.
Hint 2: No one who trades with you is in Kingston.
Hint 3: She has been walking in this place for years, but recently something has felt very off about it.
With that quest complete, the final reward will help with the golden treasure chest, the Abandoned Mines, and eventually your missing ingredients. If there's any more issues, please ask. Otherwise, I'd really appreciate it if you came back to let me know what you think of the rest of the content you unlock. I'm excited for you to see what's in the Abandoned Mines.
To your credit, that quest shouldn't be hidden. It's not a bug or anything, I just didn't make it explicit and give it a quest log like I should have. And now that I'm realizing how much I actually locked behind it, that was definitely the wrong call. Apologies.
I just want to thank you so much for playing and for posting. It just gives me so much validation that you started playing this game and it wasn't so bad that you stopped. I appreciate your comments so much. I was elated when I first saw your post. It was an extremely happy memory that I'll cherish.
And thank you for the feedback, too. While making it, and having that unique perspective to the game, there were things I considered more than others and your unbiased perspective is really appreciated. The last time I played it, I did it at 175% difficulty and the early game in particular was quite extreme. The "RNG madness" is something I could work on. I am a little curious exactly what you mean by that. I am assuming in the Enemy AI? That was something that I felt much less confident about compared to other aspects of the game.
Thanks again!
Hidden Trade Quest:
Thank you very much for the detailed reply. While I had an inkling that the trade quest could be the domino that opens up the remaining optional content, I was simply too lazy to do four additional systematic sweeps, especially since normal NPC dialogue doesn't provide hints about potential trade partners. The rewards are worth the effort, though: Philosopher's Spirit and Unicorn Spirit are fantastic equipment pieces that can be considered a boon on higher difficulty settings in particular.
Yeah, when I said "RNG madness", I mainly meant "AI roulette" in this context. On higher difficulty settings, even against random mobs, most battles can be considered lost when one of the two party members falls. Enemies are usually faster than Elijah and Elise, and if all enemies (e.g. 3 random mobs) decide to use their AoE skills or to gang up on one party member, chances are that one party member falls before the party can even act, or the enemies inflict so much damage that the party can't heal in time, since next turn, the enemies get to act first again. This means wasting the first turn on offensive buffs is a surefire way to lose a battle. In some battles, I even had to resort to "pre-emptive healing" in order to win, that means using a heal skill even though the party is at full health, knowing that the enemies will have inflicted huge damage before the heal skill triggers. Normally, my gamer's pride doesn't allow me to play on anything other than the highest difficulty setting, but I guess composure comes naturally with age. :D
The enemy summoning portal is a very nice addition, though I suspected from the beginning that the 4 Holy Beasts wouldn't drop another AP treasure. :P
By the way, while I didn't encounter any bugs, I think it would be a great idea to rework the horse (River Valley) and chicken (Southern Valley) rescue sequences. When I rescued them, both times they were blocked by enemies. I thought the game had frozen due to the movement related issues, but the animals finally managed to make their way past the enemies after half a minute give or take. It should be possible to make the animal units "transparent" so that they can move through other units.
Thanks again for a great game and for your help! :)