La-Mulana

• If you want to challenge the ruins without hints, take a lot of notes. More notes than you think you need, about everything that seems even marginally noteworthy. Every time you neglect to note down something interesting and where it's located, there's a chance you'll later spend hours trying to find that thing in the massive game world. Expect to spend a hundred hours and to solve a lot of puzzles by accident while trying out random stuff.

• Read the manual.

• To save: Equip Game Master ROM, talk to Elder Xelpud.

• Yes, the first 15-20 minutes are scary, hard and confusing. That's how you know you're playing an epic game.

• Try to get as far as you can in Guidance Gate before moving on to other places, it will give you a feel for the game.

• Yes, you must swim through the water basin and take damage in that screen in the water themed area.

• This game has an open world and no indication of which paths you are able to complete. If you can't figure out why you can't go any further try another path (you may need an item you don't have).

• Always answer your emails and return to the surface when requested.

• Holding Down is required for one puzzle.

• There are images in the background that you must scan.

• Look where objects are pointing/staring at.

• There's a lot of backtracking. Keep a mental note of what important person/figure/statue/door is in what location.

• Constantly be hitting walls where it's safe to do so.

• Always stock up on weights and be careful where you place them as the game loves traps.

• Don't go exploring any deeper than the Gate of Guidance if you haven't unlocked the game's fast travel mechanic yet.

• Do not feel obligated to tackle any bosses or even minibosses right away when you encounter them. Some are deliberately intended to be fought later, and even for those which aren't, the game offers so many directions to explore. Conversely, some areas and puzzles aren't as endgame as their name might imply. Don't be held back by assumptions of what you can or can't do yet: try, possibly fail, make a note to try again later.

• In an early area, there's a tablet that warns you not to read it again. If you ignore the warning, it turns on hard mode, which can only be turned off by loading a save from before you read the tablet again or restarting.