Run start: 0:00:48 (Yes after naming PC)
Run end: 5:09:39 (Last hit of Chaos)
Run on VisualBoyAdvance-M emulator
*Note: There's downtime in Robert's ship (like 15min). I was dog-sitting.
Howdy.
This is a proof of concept run for Shining Soul II glitchless categories. That said, it differs from Any% in a few ways:
- No Item Duping (throwing an item while switching item bar slots duplicates the original item and consumes what is in the next slot, which can be nothing)
- No Camille Dialogue Skip (I was kinda spoonfed this one and told it wasn't RTA viable, but apparently it's a thing)
- No Clone Herb Glitch (The clone miniboss in Demon Tower can be cheesed by throwing an herb at it, which drastically reduces its HP)
- No Quick Charge Glitch *Possible* (It seems that charging a weapon while spamming R to scroll items causes the weapon to charge faster, as if you were throwing an item and roughly the same speed, I think)
*If the Quick Charge happens to actually be a glitch and I wasn't just going crazy after 4 hours of running this, then this run might well be invalid. I think I accidently discover it in Robert's Ship while frantically trying to scroll to one of my items. I accidentally get it again in Hottazhek Volcano and try to replicate it, but don't use it on enemies, mostly so I can figure out how NOT to do it. Need a second opinion on that one.
Now, I hereby dub this run/category Free As Heck!
Only thing is it's not an official category yet. That's the primary reason I'm uploading this. So yeah, this is basically a practice run where I try a bunch of little attempts to save time and screw up most of them while playing badly. This route is based on my previous practice run (more squishy and better pace, but didn't finish or record it) and Trysdyn's Dark Wizard Any%, which is much more palatable than this slog. Some of the strategies implemented include, but aren't limited to:
- Hit the Slime in the prologue fight towards the top screen transition to leave the screen faster (mentioned by Trysdyn)
- Attain Lv1 Meditate and Lv6 Demon Breath as soon as possible (except I shoot way past that and waste lots of time). A good idea, but probably not worth it in the long run for a bit more range, AoE, and damage, since Lv5 Demon Breath can be bought 2 stages and 6 levels sooner.
- Attempt to route around ignoring Irma's quest to investigate Ipa's Palace Shop in order to obtain SP items at 80% cost, but healing items double in price. Without getting hit much, this could be really fast given that it avoids a short dungeon and the normal shop inventory can be found at the Arena. The only catch is those cheaper healing items can't be purchased during a dungeon (y'know, when you would need them) because the Arena is an outside location and wipes your Angel Wing progress.
- Find a niche for Angel Wings and the Save and Quit function. I'm not sure if Save & Quit would or wouldn't be allowed. It's not a glitch, but not single segment, if that matters (I'm personally fine with it). What I do know is that it saves your progress and heals you, so it could be faster than resting at the inn, which I do frequently, and saves money on SP items. Angel wings amount to a roughly 15 second full HP and SP heal for 80 g. I try to keep one on me at all times. Also, the angel is the real MVP here. I get mobbed in Demon Tower and panic use my angel wing to heal, and because I know I can charge Demon Breath while I fall, only to find out I can move as well. Yeah, she threw me right past the demons, so that could definitely be a strategy (and it's pretty funny, to boot).
- Try to create a stable money route for the game. The basic idea is to do short sidequests for guaranteed gold, namely the Shoe, Umbrella, and Apple trades (500, 3000, and 150 respectively) while picking up Valuing Scrolls, healing items, and non-ID items. Ideally, valuing scrolls are saved until around Demon Tower, which seems to have a high drop rate and good items, and armor is prioritized over weapons (worth more without mods). I fail pretty hard at this and Ipa routing.
- Attempt boss manipulation. I do really good at playing footsies with Grove Giant and get clobbered by pretty much everything else. Might do another video on this if I can get it down pat (Any% runs have a rockin' Robert manip that I eventually partially succeed at, so thanks to them!)
- Test out player character velocity. By this I mean that it seems like your character moves faster, and therefore dodges better, when moving in a cardinal direction. I see limited success with this against Gillespie.
Lastly, I apologize for the quality of the video and lack of editing. I had quite literally just picked up OBS studio to submit this run to speedrun.com after finishing it. It was originally recorded with Vba-m's gameplay record option, so I had to play that and re-record through OBS. Although it may be the visual and temporal equivalent of nails on a chalkboard, I do hope you enjoyed this video.