 My Two Cents...
We at GS are always thinking of different ways to help people and if you need general advice about games, this would be the section to find it. The concept
behind this section is the work of XtremeDragoon. He is another one of the good members of GameFAQs. We've played many different types of games...both ordinary and extraordinary. Let us put our experience to work for you. We will update
this section as much as we can, but this is all we have right now.
RPGs
Q: I'm lost! What should I do!? Help!
This may sound dumb, but try talking to all the NPCs (Non-Playable Characters) in the surrounding area. Usually, its more than likely that there was
either a miscommunication with you and the NPCs or you may have to talk to people in "sequence". What that means is that once you talk to someone
in one area, you've triggered an event or "switch" in another area. Even if you talked to all the townsfolk, you may have to talk to people you've already
spoken with because they will have something new to say.
Q: I've spoken with the people and I'm still lost...Any more ideas?
Your game may have more interactivity. What this means is that you can interact (or check things, take things, etc.) with the environment. You should check
every corner and search everything! Pots, jars, boxes, crates, piggy banks, you name it! Besides helping you find key items (Notebooks, diaries, dungeon keys, etc)
you find various hidden goodies if you interact with an environment. The reason we say to check every corner (Every inch or square if at all possible) is because some games
are famous and infamous for requiring you to do thorough investigations. We'll give two examples. The first one is the 7th Saga for the SNES (Known as Elnard in Japan). To
find some items in The 7th Saga, you must search trees and seemingly useless corners to find items within towns and such. The second one is Traysia for the Sega Genesis
(Known as Minato no Traysia/ Minato no Treasure in Japan). You may eventually come across a kingdom called Sandora. I won't spoil anything by telling you what takes place, but at some point, you
will have to search for a gate that cannot be seen with the naked eye with a key you get from an NPC.
Q: The monsters are proving too strong! What should I do?
You can stock up on items or level grind. It's quite easy.
Q: The monsters aren't providing me with enough experience. Leveling up is requiring more time than I would like. Any tips?
There is a good chance that you may have party members with you. Party members tend to divide the experience gained by each member. If you gain 20 exp and
you have two members (Hero + anonymous), each member gains 10 exp. If you have five, each member only gains 4 exp. Try getting rid of characters. Depending on the
game, you can switch out members whenever you choose. Other games don't provide such a luxury, so you have to kill off your own party members. Certain RPGs, like
Breath of Fire 3 (Playstation), will allow you to attack your own party members, making it easier for specific characters to die. You should also remove any and all equipment
during this process so even if you must wait for the enemy to kill a member of your team, they will deal maximum damage. Try talking to NPCs too. If you are lucky, you
may unlock a sidequest, which may take you into an area where a special boss (es) will be that you can't fight normally. As you are probably aware, bosses give more
experience in most circumstances than enemies so fight as many as possible. Also, don't take any shortcuts and flee from as few random encounters as possible. If it only
takes three seconds to defeat the monsters, just fight them. you'll be surprised to find out you gained a level in an older location from just fighting the battles. A level gained
is a level earned. However, it should be noted that not all RPGs have experience systems that are based on experience division. Powering up one character quickly to help get you out of sticky situations can be useful, but for the games without this option, you will have to exercise patience.
Q: It's strange. My attacks aren't working against the monsters. What could be the reason?
The attacks may be ineffective because that monster may have a special weakness. You may have to hit them with an elemental attack to make them vulnerable
to other damage. For example, say an enemy is a robot with a defensive barrier that deflects psychical damage (sword attacks, gun attacks, techniques from weapons, etc.)
and such. You should try a lightning attack because robots are usually weak against that elemental attack. Even if the attack deals little to no damage, the electric shock
may cause the enemy to malfunction, eliminating it's barrier properties. This is but one example, but I'm sure you get the idea. Some foes are tricky and can change their
weakness elements. If they are weak against fire, then they will change their weakness to wind once they get hit by fire. There are several tactics that you can utilize, but
try using everything you have. Usually, the answer is pretty obvious. Sometimes, you may have to think a little and use spells that may not ordinarily get used much such as spells that
reflect magic and certain other of support abilities.
Q: Items are so expensive! Is there any way to make money quicker?
It depends on what kind of RPG you happen to be playing, but this rule holds true for most. Usually, there is an enemy who has a relatively high item drop rate.
While the item isn't worth a fortune, you may find yourself stockpiling on it and you can sell it to make more money on top of the current money the monsters provide.
There may also be easy mini-games and such where you can get items and keep selling them. One such game that comes to my mind is "Breath of Fire 2". To get good
equipment early on, I (Vtd) found myself leaving the first town (once the game actually starts) and going fishing. The fish were easy to catch and sold for a tidy profit unlike
typical combat (though you would be gaining EXP in fighting). If your game fits neither of those, chances are the game was made to be that way. Some games just want
you to work for absolutely everything and it's a real pain. In those instances, you can use the
"priority" system. Basically, buy only what you need. Don't buy the wizard-type new armor if it's expensive and doesn't yield a high defensive rating. Buy the powerful
sword for the warrior instead. Just buy what's most practical. You can't always keep everyone up to speed.
Q: I'm currently playing a dungeon crawler where the floors and traps keep changing. I keep getting caught by cheap traps and the game
is confusing. How should I go about proceeding thru the dungeon?
The RPG you are most likely playing is a "rouge" style RPG. While everybody has different ideas on what they think a rouge RPG is, what you described is basically a rouge
style game. Random floor layouts, random items, random (and usually invisible) traps, etc. Several rouge RPGs require the player to move by "spaces", much like a game of
checkers. When you move, so does the enemies of the floor. The key to doing well in these kinds of games is to progress slowly. Plan a strategy. Some RRPGs give you a
very limited item capacity. Though the floors tend to be random, floor "sets" tend to be quite similar. For example, floors 1-5 are "Jungle" themed. You may find a lot of herbs
and random restorative items. Floor 6-10 are "money" themed. You may find money on these floors more often. Because the aforementioned is merely a made-up example and
doesn't hold true to all things, luck is definitely involved. However, the higher (or lower) you go, the more powerful things are. This usually does hold true. For that reason, if
you can get healing items over a weapon that isn't all too powerful, do so. While you may be weaker, you can live longer, and find a more powerful weapon later on. This usually
holds true as well.
Hang on to healing items for when you absolutely need them. To find traps, attack all the empty spaces around you. Usually, RRPGs have a button that allows your character to change direction without moving a
space. By attacking the empty space around you, you may discover an invisible trap. There are also items that usually can detect traps as well as the next floor and where the
monsters are currently positioned in a dungeon. If you move slow, your chances of being ambushed drop greatly. If the RRPG you are playing is in real-time like Diablo, I (Vtd) always
find it as a good idea to pick long range characters like the rouge/archer. They tend to be fairly balanced and because they are long distance units, they can see enemies from far away. They are typically an ideal candidate for beginners.
Watch your enemy. Observe the various characteristics and behavior that they possess. By learning how an enemy fights, you know when to heal, attack, use support skills, etc. This is just me,
but I NEVER use a warrior whenever I played Diablo...well maybe once. Bel likes using them for fun though.
Action
Q: This game is impossible! Too many cheap deaths and not enough time to think! Is there any way around this!?
I love a good challenge. When a game feels like it's just punching me and my brother in the junk, we retaliate with our own punches. Be persistent! When someone fails at beating a game on their third or
fourth try (at least nowadays), they view the game as way too hard. On the other hand, when the game satisfies their appetite to allow them to beat the game within one or two tries, the game
is too easy. Difficulty is one of the easiest things to implement in a game, but also one of the hardest factors to balance and while we take these things into account, we rarely evaluate challenge as a serious factor in a game. You can make a game downright cheap by showing no concern whatsoever for
humanity, or you can make things that even my little nephew can beat. I'd rather play my games at a near impossible difficulty setting than a ridiculously easy setting.
In classic gaming, the way most people got around their problems was not only persistence, but memorization, where as most modern games have a lot more options and people are far less concerned about having to retrace their steps or repeat entire games from the beginning. You know that as soon as you jump across that chasm, the enemy ninja is going to jump out and attack
you! Find a suitable weapon for that situation or learn the timing that is involved. There is an old saying (at least in our house): "A stupid person makes mistakes and doesn't learn from them. A smart person
makes mistakes and learns from them. A wise person watches OTHERS make mistakes and learns from them." This principle has not only helped me in reality, but it can work for nearly anything you do. By
watching mistakes take place, you remember them and learn how to rectify your mistakes. Memorization, muscle memory and patience can hone your skills and make you a master gamer with enough practice. Practice makes perfect!
General Purpose
Q: Vyse and Bel, do you guys know any good Japanese language websites? You used to have them listed, but I can't find them now.
Ah, yes. It was originally inside the SNES FAQ, but we are moving it here since it would be more practical. Here's the sites we've compiled thus far with a brief description of each:
1. http://www.genki-online.com/kyozai/hiragana.html
Basic Chart of Hiragana
2. http://www.kids-japan.com/hira-chart.htm
Great Hiragana Chart. It has audio files so you can hear the Japanese pronunciation (They aren't the greatest, but you can get the idea). It also has enlarged pictures and the Katakana
equivalent of the Hiragana letter. There is a second chart which shows the normal characters with dash symbols (My sensei called them “tenten”) and the small circle symbols (I forget
the exact word…I think she called them chiseimaru or chisaimaru). You can also say different words according to the way you stress syllables (There is an example on the page. My own
example is ame. One pronunciation can mean candy, sweets, or treat. Another can mean rain.). Also, If you are wondering about the R's, they can be pronounced as L's too.
3. http://japanese.about.com/blhiragana.htm
This link has some lessons on how to write Hiragana on about.com
4. http://www5.big.or.jp/~otake/hey/kanji/gifmoji/hiragana.gif
Superb chart of Hiragana. Should have all the variations of Hiragana.
5. http://www5.big.or.jp/~otake/hey/kanji/gifmoji/katakana.gif
Superb Katakana chart from the same place I got the Hiragana chart that shows all (or most, but I believe it's all of them. This is so I'm not 100% wrong :p) of the Katakana variations.
6. http://www.kids-japan.com/kata-chart.htm
From the same link that has Hiragana pronunciations. This link has the Katakana equivalents.
7. http://www.learn-japanese.info/firstgradekanji.html
http://www.learn-japanese.info/indexw.html (Homepage)
You can view the homepage to see other things, but it basically has basic Kanji in some of the links. One such link is above the homepage link.
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji
Wikipedia has some information on Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.
9. http://www.thejapanesepage.com/kanji/kanji/dictionaryframe.htm
Excellent and free guide with 1000 Kanji (Sure, they may be guides that have about 6000 or possibly much more, but you usually have to pay big cash for guides like that). I (Vyse) have a Kanji book with
about 1/3 of all current kanji (I think). Cost me like $60.
10. http://www2.japanese-name-translation.com/jnt/index.asp
You can use this to help you get more accurate Japanese name translations. Put in a name like “Seramina” and they will give you the Katakana equivalent! Neat! Interesting tidbit: We recently used the stylized characters on the site to make our site name using Katakana. It's the first site banner of 2008.
11. http://www.jisho.org/
Oh my god…I can't tell you how awesome this site is. If you know even a small amount of Japanese, this site can payoff big time. Some excellent translations can come up from using this
site properly. It's like an online Japanese dictionary, but with great character pictures, old and new world meanings, etc.
12. http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdic.html
Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Japanese Dictionary Server is a site with an extremely simple design that hides just how powerful a resource it actually is when it comes to learning things like Kanji. If used in conjunction with Denshi Jisho, you have two incredibly powerful tools that can help you find out nearly anything you might want to know about Japanese, if used responsibly.
13. http://babelfish.altavista.com/
Many people will discredit sites like Babel Fish for its "Engrish" or otherwise nearly incomprehensible translation jobs, but Babel Fish is a lot more useful than one might suspect. In the hands of a reasonably good linguistics specialist or someone with at least a limited conversational level of a language, very useful information can be derived from the translations that Babel Fish spits out of its tubes. Babel Fish isn't meant for its direct translations, but rather, gaining a general understanding of what is being discussed as well as matching what you may already know with what they state to put pieces together. Of course, if you simply use direct Babel Fish translations, you may come up short and seem like a simpleton in the process. Still, Babel Fish has been around for years and its here for a reason. Heck, maybe Babel Fish was inspired by the folks who made Zero Wing's script!
This page is nowhere near complete! More later!
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