There's a place to use all those items for a little sidequest. You don't get anything of great import from doing it. It was something more relevant in Japan. It does at least get them out of your bag, making things easier to find. Some of them are actually equipment or battle items. That pillow, for example, can be used to cast sleep. Going after the helm before anything else was absolutely the right move. :) Letting the kids level up in the wagon for a little while is probably the way to go. They level up fairly quickly to acceptable power levels, and you're already used to your monsters. A lot of years have passed, so you may consider revisiting some places you've been, and perhaps going back to where they found you as a statue. Do a little exploring before trying to move forward in the story. That's more how I end up leveling them up. Side-quest stuff gets you a few levels and then you're in better shape. There are other recruits for Patty's Party Planning place as well. Can't argue with you, that's a dumb mechanic for dead party members, and I can't fathom why they did it. Replacing them *outside* when you could get into battles makes more sense.
Side quests are side quests. I never expect amazing rewards. I originally was not going to go there and then all of a sudden it popped in my head to go there. Yeah, leveling them up in the wagon would have been a much wiser decision than the route a took......even though I watched all the monsters level up in the wagon I completely forgot that was an option lol.
There's a place to use all those items for a little sidequest. You don't get anything of great import from doing it. It was something more relevant in Japan. It does at least get them out of your bag, making things easier to find. Some of them are actually equipment or battle items. That pillow, for example, can be used to cast sleep. Going after the helm before anything else was absolutely the right move. :)
Letting the kids level up in the wagon for a little while is probably the way to go. They level up fairly quickly to acceptable power levels, and you're already used to your monsters. A lot of years have passed, so you may consider revisiting some places you've been, and perhaps going back to where they found you as a statue. Do a little exploring before trying to move forward in the story. That's more how I end up leveling them up. Side-quest stuff gets you a few levels and then you're in better shape. There are other recruits for Patty's Party Planning place as well.
Can't argue with you, that's a dumb mechanic for dead party members, and I can't fathom why they did it. Replacing them *outside* when you could get into battles makes more sense.
Side quests are side quests. I never expect amazing rewards. I originally was not going to go there and then all of a sudden it popped in my head to go there. Yeah, leveling them up in the wagon would have been a much wiser decision than the route a took......even though I watched all the monsters level up in the wagon I completely forgot that was an option lol.