Secret of Evermore - single-segmented, glitchless, any% speedrun by Saturn, recorded in November 6, 2009.

Author's comments:
This is my 4th attempt in a serious single-segmented any% speedrun for this game, a category that is rather new to me, as I was more specialized in 100% runs in the past. I aimed for a glitchless run that doesn't use the Atlas Glitch or other sequence breaks, because such a run not only shows a more natural playthrough with it's unique leveling management, but also because it was never speedrunned before.

During the last 3 attempts and some general tests, I tried various strategies to see which are the most effective, and yet not too risky for a single-segment, and I think the ones used in this run are close to optimal now, as I have managed to save almost 50 minutes over the first attempt because of them.

I opted to develop attack-formulas in the early parts of the game to kill bosses with the "multiple formula cast trick" pretty quickly, and delay the slow weapon-leveling until the 2nd world (Antiqua), where it can be most effectively done during the unavoidable 15 minutes waiting time before Nobilia's "big meeting" starts. It's mainly required for 2 bosses: Vigor, and later FootKnight, as they have a very high magic defense that makes the usage of alchemy formulas not worth against them. I also get the "Sun Stone" as soon as possible, because it increases your attack power by 5 levels, which despite the delay and money is definitely worth it in the end. For the final bosses, there was an option to use Bazooka with it's powerful Cryo-Blast ammo, but unfortunately you can't speed it up with the "Energize" formula, and it's also nearly impossible to hit multiple enemies with one shot. Therefore, I decided to quickly level up the Crusader Sword by killing weak enemies on the way during the Prehistoria trip when getting the items for Tinker, to use its effective double attack instead.

The only bigger delay in this run comes from getting the "Barrier" formula, but it speeds the final boss fights up a lot, and lowers the risk to get killed at the same time, so getting it is likely a better choice anyway, especially in a single-segment.

The run is recorded on an emulator for higher quality and easier capturing, but is thoroughly played in unassisted console conditions.

Enjoy!



Notes:
This video is encoded with the x264 codec. You can use VLC Media Player to playback it, or install FFDShow, which is a very good x264 decoder for other media players.

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