[Toups]

I'm a little behind here but uh -- how am I supposed to get the glyph reader? I take it it's sold at the store, but it's not showing up at any of the stores in my game.
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[professor_scissors]

[Deets]

Spoiler answer time!

[professor_scissors]

[Deets]

Get all the symbols to match up. Each set of symbols effects the area in a different way, as well.

[mauve]

You guys need a real spoiler tag or something.

[professor_scissors]

I've got the first Seal now, but it doesn't really seem to open anything useful except for a shop or two. I'm trying to explore further in the Spring of the Sky, but I've died dozens of times trying to climb up the shaft where I got the Seal, because the slightest hit from an enemy knocks me into the water, where I die in seconds. It's insanely frustrating up here, but I'm going to keep looking for shit because I don't know where else to go.

The pedestal puzzle does not operate anything like you suggest, mauve. It's currently set to all stars - hammering the center pedestal sets it back to all stars, as does hammering either of the other two. If I flail randomly at it I can get it to all suns, but I have been trying for a long time without success to get all moons.

I got to that last room in the Mauloseum, and got the Throwing Knives. I even have the ankh jewel for this area, but I can't find the boss room. I found some new areas in the Temple of the Sun, but I can't do anything there other than fall down holes and go to a new area where I can't see the walls or floors. I can see an item at the top of the left side of the Spring, but I don't have the Seal for it. I'm encountering dead ends everywhere I go, and my patience is starting to wear thin, especially with the endless deaths in the Spring. What am I missing? Also, where the hell can I get another Life Jewel?

EDIT:Got to the top of the Spring, finally. Let's hope this gets me on my feet again.

[klez]

[mauve]

[professor_scissors]

Okay, enough spoiler spamming.

Frankly, the more I play this game, the less I like it.

I understand the motivation behind putting traps into the ruins, but the only real purpose they serve is to make you not know whether or not you want anything. Treasure? Oh no, it's just a fake that traps you in a tiny cage with no way out. It throws off the risk-reward balance by giving you no indication if something is a reward or not. It doesn't remove the try-everying approach, either - it just makes it slightly more annoying by forcing you to load your game every now and then.

The controls, while "classic," just feel old and frustrating to me, as does the enemy design. I can't cound the times I died because I grazed an enemy in midair and was knocked backwards into a pit full of water that killed me immediately because Lemza can't swim to save his life. When I was fighting a boss just now, it felt like most of the damage I took was from threats that appeared after I started a jump that hit me before it was possible to change direction. The rest was because I couldn't drop off of ladders.

The puzzles, while requiring a bit of lateral thinking, frequently don't make the slightest bit of sense. The treasure chest opens up if I take the second ladder, but not the first. Leave the screen and come back and the pillars reset (sometimes). That last one in particular was irritating, because "leaving the screen" didn't really make any sense in the game world, nor was there any justification as to why certain arrangements of the symbols stick in place, while others reset to the initial configuration. I feel like I'm running around at random, hoping something I do solves a puzzle, or just exploring every nook and cranny of an area until I find something that looks like I can interact with it, then finding out that nothing I have can interact with it aside from making *ping* noises.

In general, the more I play, the less time I spend enjoying the thrill of exploration, the wonderful environments, and the fantastic music, and the more time I spend dying in the same places over and over or wandering aimlessly with no idea what I'm trying to accomplish. Maybe I just suck too badly to play it, but I don't know if I have the patience to see it through to the end.

[klez]

To be honset with you, yea the game is hard and annoying at times. But it's very rewarding when you figure out what to do.

Actually the first field (guidance gate) serves as a tutoral to the game: what to do and what NOT to do; various traps and simple puzzles are all introduce there. The field really teaches you to be cautious when you're exploring. See a weight-holder w/ no info about it? seemingly out-of-places holders and switches? Probably a trap until you can find more things about it. A lot of the puzzle IS a trap until you figure out how to disable the trap first, and to know how you need to read the tablets & corpse around the dungeon.

The controls do take time to get use to, especially the whip. Remember the whip actually has a small delay because it needs to whip back then hit the front. I can't remember how annoying that is until I got the timing. Do remember you have shiruken very early and it's easy and cheap to use. So SPAM them when you don't want to get close.

Most puzzles do have some info in the game (in tablets or corpse; or in the background), some are just common sense though and only thing to do is trial and error.

And the annoying moon-star-sun pedestal puzzle: To get something to happen you need match all three symbols. Then the dungeon will change (based on the giants in the background) so look for changes on the giants! To spell it all out all stars gives you access to the ankh jewel, all suns gives you a way to make the ankh stand appear, and all moons opens up the boss room.

[professor_scissors]

I did eventually figure that puzzle out, I just don't think it was very well-designed.

[Deets]

[professor_scissors]

I was referring to two places in the Spring of the Sky where I thought "maybe there'll be something at the end of this corridor" and then thinking "nope, just trap."
It keeps being just engaging enough to keep me coming back, but we'll see if that lasts.

[klez]

[mauve]

I can kinda relate to some of the puzzles being obtuse and annoying. I didn't really start minding them until I got to the rear fields, though, as a couple of them just suck. The traps never really bothered me seeing as how you can warp out of them all the time without too much trouble. (Waterproof and heatproof cases are high priority items just to prevent constant reloading!)

Some of the "find a hidden path" puzzles are annoying, though, especially when you get zapped for hitting a fairly innocent looking wall. Like that one in the Temple of the Sun in the room with the knife. Likewise, "use the right weapon" 'puzzles' are annoying too.

Doesn't really stop me from liking the level design quite a bit on the whole, though. I think it just gets too big for some of the "puzzles" later on, and you end up scouting all over for things you missed that may or may not be there.

[dmauro]

[Deets]

Thanks for the nudges, mauve/klez.

[klez]

[Deets]

The solution to my problem was a genuine head-slapper.

EDIT: Ok, I got the endless key after suffering through some absolutely insane puzzles that made me want to punch someone. I am now slamming my head against this new one in the Endless Corridor. I think now would be a good time for a break.

[Toups]

Guys I need some pointers:

I haven't completed any of the ruins. I'm currently trying to figure out the giants' mausoleum, and I haven't really made any progress at ALL in the guidance gate (I can't even find the room with the two angels -- is it past the room that has a huge gap in the floor? is there some trick to getting across there that I'm not aware of? it's always just a little further than I can seem to jump).

I also can't make heads or tails of the hints they give with regards to the 9 brothers. I assume they have something to do with the star/moon/sun switches at the bottom of the mausoleum... but all I know is that bud is associated with stars, led with the sun, and zi with moon. but I don't know how the giants correspond with each pillar. I tried matching them up with the pattern in the background but that didn't work either...

help!
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[klez]

Deets: now it's a good time to read the manual again...also somewhere in the dungeon is a tablet with numbers, if you can relate that to the writings in la-mulana...

Mister Toups: in guidances gate: do you mean the "two angel faces each other" thing? That path is on top of your head...and I assume the gap you're talking about is the room on the left, and well, there's an "elevator" if you trigger a switch...

Giants' mausoleum: once you match up the pattern something will happen to the giants, you need to leave the room and check to see the giants again...

[Toups]

[Toups]

Actually -- never mind, I just found the switch.

But... now I don't know what to do once I'm up there.

this game is brutal.
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[Toups]

Okay!

Figured it out!

Completed the first dungeon!

Well -- there's one spot I still haven't found a way to get to yet.
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[dmauro]

[Deets]

[Toups]

[Deets]

Toups: Match 'em up, 3-of-a-kind. A tone will sound when you do. Then check the other areas. Stuff will have changed.

klez: Why did going through the Endless Corridor bring me to a ladder to nowhere at the bottom? If you could just flat-out tell me what I need to do to get the ladder to go somewhere, that would be great.

[klez]

To above post by Mister Toups:

If you have match all three up in the same symbol (meaning all moon/star/sun) something should happen and the switch won't reset. If they're not match up the switches will be reseted. Edit: when something happens there should be a sound to tell you that (you need an item that you should've got early on). If there's no sound, "usually" nothing happens.

This forum really needs a spoiler tag...

Edit: and deets that's leading to somewhere DEEP in the dungeon so you probably don't have the item needed to open that place. Come back when you obtain the item. I mean, you've got an extra item exploring the endless corridor right? That opens up a new area (that's as confusing as the previous fields, ouch!).

Another edit to deet: now that I'm thinking are you still on the "third" floor? If you are, well...you have a race to do...

[Toups]

[Deets]

[IceTyger]

Man, every time I think I'm lost, I open up something new, get even more lost, and repeat. It's pretty crazy!

I'm probably missing a lot of really obvious stuff, though, like the sword/shield/helmet/armor puzzle and the "three sacrifices" treasure, but somehow I figure I'll end up with everything. Or nothing!

Also, why's G3 Project 'ended the activity', as it were? I'd try to figure it out myself, but when I translate things, I can't even figure out half of what's going on sometimes.
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Representing the face of destitute gaming

[Clueless Gamer]

This game is draining my life. But hell, it has a minecart stage!

And yes, the "three sacrifices" thing annoys me a lot.

EDIT: The minecart thing is painful!
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[professor_scissors]

[I don't know why I keep coming back to this game, but I do. I'm always stuck, and every nudge forwards ends with me being stuck again 10 minutes later.
Things I currently have no idea how to do:
-Get the "three sacrifices" treasure (although that may be because I'm lacking the Seal for it).
-Defeat the fucking stone giant (I seriously hate this boss battle. 90% of the damage I take feels either cheap or unavoidable. I just can't move fast enough.)
-Get through the Endless Corridor (I guess I need a new ROM or something for the fairy to help me).
-Get the orb on the left side of the Spring of the Sky (once again, probably seal-related).
-Get the minecart any further than I already have pushed it.
-Solve "all the riddles" of the Temple of the Sun. I don't even know which riddles are left.
-Get the Ankh to appear in the Spring of the Sky. There's a chain thing, but touching the bottom of it damages me and touching the controller for it one room up does nothing.
-Get any more items. The last item I got, the Glove, as far as I can tell, does absolutely nothing.
-Generally make any progress, anywhere.]

[Deets]

professor scissors: Pretty much everything you mentioned requires a seal, except for the Endless Corridor, which requires an item that you won't get for a while. You'll want to try standing on top of the minecart at some point. The solution to the drain in the spring of the sky is in-between the two things you have already tried beating the fuck out of. It's small. You'll probably want to use shuriken.

Oh, and the glove increases the speed at which you push blocks.

[dmauro]

Okay I've been screwing around in this village long enough. How the hell do I get into the ruins?
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[klez]

Come on the minecart thing is fun (that puzzle is pretty straght forward imo). Also remember some tablet mention things you won't be seeing/using for a long time, so just take note of that, don't feel too concerned (eg. the three sacifices treasure)

And for the stone giant leave him alone until you have more items and better weapons. You can kill him early but it's painful to do so. Besides, he does not give you anything useful; he only opens up a shortcut for you later. Once you're @ the middle of the game (probably around lifting the curse in twin Labyrinths) the giant should be a lot easier to kill.

Spring of the sky will be a lot easier if you can find the item that let's you breath in water (which is high up in the spring of sky, unforetunately; climb the spring with courage are you shall be rewarded) And the chain thing....you sure shuriken works Deets? I THINK only a weapon works there...

To get into the ruins talk to elder without the save rom. Then just find a weight holder to open up the ruins.

[dmauro]

[professor_scissors]

Solved the drain in the Spring, got the Boots, felled the Giant. Makin' progress again!

[Deets]