Some Pre-Game notes:If you're using Linux (or even Mac OS X) and you have a headered ROM, all you have to do to create an unheadered copy is used the dd command with the skip option:
$ dd if=ctrom.smc of=ctunheadered.smc bs=512 skip=1
Then if you're using snes9x or zsnes, just rename the patch to match the rom's name, and it'll get auto-patched. For other emulators, I suggest using
uCON to apply the patch:
$ ucon i rom.smc patch.ips
For best results when hardpatching, keep a copy of the unpatched, unheadered ROM (call it ctunheadered.smc), and make it a habit to copy it as ce.smc before patching.
Also, the SRM saves produced by Snes9x and bsnes seem to be interchangeable, but zsnes for Linux will cause the game to glitch if you load saves from the other emulators. This might have something to do with ZSNES being 32-bit and the other two emulators being 64-bit applications on my system.
Prologue:Pretty straightforward. I think I've seen this segment a thousand times now. Not a whole lot to say here, other than it's a bit wordy and drawn out for just the beginning. I've yet to find any real bugs here.
Legacy of Zeal:The only way I can describe this segment is "tedious". The game hasn't even really started, and already I'm trying to build levels, buy up items, and avoid needless or difficult fights -- and even then I still barely manage to scratch by through this part of the game. At level 5, it still took me 15 tonics and 10 minutes just to beat the Golem, and even the regular enemies get to be too much of a pain when they're in groups. Even with OmniSlash, you need lots of items to survive.
The real difficulty comes from the fact that Magus is solo, can't heal himself except with items, and has no group-targeted attacks. The only ways to make up for this would be some higher stats (Magus at level 7 would be fine, and still consistent with the idea that he's gotten weak) and a better weapon (to ease the Golem boss fight), or weaker enemies with weaker techniques (such as changing the first Golem boss's 1/2 attack to a 1/4 attack), otherwise it just feels tedious and drawn out, and I think a lot of casual players will just lose interest and quit due to the lack of story elements up to this point.
On the plus side, I didn't really find any bugs here. However, I thought it was a bit awkward that Magus's "Steal" tech still has the text, "It was the thought that counts," come up randomly, since it no longer fits the animation/character. I'm also afraid to waste turns using the Steal technique at this point in the game.
To be continued...*Last edit: Added some pre-game notes.