This has been a surprisingly fun game so far!
Back in elementary school I had the game on Nintendo, but never got past Garland. I ran away from every fight, didn't understand how experience and levels worked, and didn't equip the weapons I bought. Yeah, I gave up quickly. XD
-Playing this on the GBA (emulated)
-The graphics in this version are beautiful! I particularly love the "Diamond" spell my white mage has.
-Went with the pre-selected party of a warrior, thief, white mage, and black mage.
-I use save states a bunch, as it's really awkward getting used to dungeons with no save points. I haven't died (well... except once, we'll get there), so it hasn't really felt like cheating.
-I expected the game to be grindier. Like, I thought I'd do a quest, then have to grind in the wilderness for hours for cash and exp, then move on. I think my ignorance works in my favor here actually. I am often so lost that I inadvertently grind while I wander around finding out where to go next.
-Currently, I've re-lit the crystals of fire and earth. Lich was a BRUTAL fight, and a close call. Marilith wasn't tough, though the labyrinth in the fire volcano had me stumbling.
-OH, AND THE DESIGNERS ARE SADISTS.
-So after I killed Lich, I got a cutscene where a cave by Corneria that had a lich statue opened up. Cave of Earthy Gifts or something. I assumed that I had to go there next. And then I'm in a never-ending, Lost Woods-style desert. And then I'm in a purple forest. And then I got my ass handed to me. The final level had two bosses that whomped me before I thought to myself, "Ya know what? I'll come back later." A green monster thing called Echidna and a two-headed dragon that one-shot each of my party members.
-And now I'm stuck.
-I beat Marilith, and didn't know what to do, so I wandered around the world looking for places that my canoe opened up. Eventually I found the Citadel of Trials. This was a fun zone! I wound my way through the labyrinth, and eventually made it to the top, where I got... a rat's tail... Its item description says it's a symbol of truth and justice and the American way and shit like that, so I assume I can use it down the line, but honestly I have no idea when.
-And so here I am. No frigging clue what to do. I wish I had a game manual with a blank world map for me to mark stuff down on, but no such luck. I walked outward from the Citadel of Trials, and encountered DINOSAURS (literally, an allosaurus). This was promising since they seemed like appropriate-level mobs, and the world map showed me near some desert city, but ran into a mountain wall.
-Even the dancer in Corneria who's usually like "lol hai wanna dance oh btw you should kill the fire elemental now" just says "hai wanna dance? yeah, i got nothing. so wanna dance lol?"
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Some possibilities to explore:
-I can try going back to that council in the Crescent Lake area, but I think they told me to come back only when I finished lighting the four crystals. Two to go.
-I can try finishing the Gift Horse Earth Shrine Thing, but I really don't want to. It's long, kind of boring, and the end looked impossible.
-I can try finding the fiends of air and water, but really haven't had luck yet. Plus, one dwarf guy back in the dwarf town mentioned a floating rock, which I imagine is for an airship I eventually get - which I also imagine helps me get to the air boss.
-Just keep wandering and hoping to stumble onto a new river or town or something I can access? Bleh.
