The manipulation in the beginning is very precise. In at least one case it's frame perfect. For character creation, there's no good audio or visual cues, so I use LiveSplit to set it up.

First, set your timer to start at -5.03 seconds. You'll hit this when the QUEST logo hits the background and stops moving. Also, do not dismiss the QUEST logo by hitting any buttons. Dismissing it affects the global counter, which determines which seed you get.

In the black screen between the QUEST screen disappearing and the title screen, start mashing. The global counter runs on both the QUEST logo screen and the title screen, along with the entire character creation process. Mashing will ensure that your timer starts at about the same point that you actually select new game.

(I think if you have save files it defaults to continue and not New Game. It shouldn't make a huge difference if you have to move the cursor, it'll just make the timing a little tighter to get to the gender select option)

(I don't have this issue since my cart's battery died a long time ago =P )

Once you hit the naming screen, use ! as your name. Your name also affects which seed you get, and different combinations of characters shift it forward or backward. It's possible that other names will work, but I have not tested any other combinations.

Once you're on the gender select screen, you need to wait until your timer is at 12.1 seconds. If you've done everything the same up to this point, you effectively have a 1 in 6 chance of hitting the correct frame. You'll know if you hit either the correct frame or one frame early if you get Justice as your first card. If the second card is Temperance, you were a frame early. If it's Fool, then you're on seed 75, which is the optimal seed.

Your deck will then be Justice, Fool, Magician, Judgement, Priestess, Devil, and Star. Occasionally the last card will change for reasons I haven't quite figured out. If this happens, reset. The manipulation likely won't work for stage 1.

Your answers to the questions will be: Justice - 1, Fool - 1, Magician - 3, Judgement - 2, Priestess - 1, Devil - 1. This will net you Phantom Lord, which is optimal for any%.

You'll also have bonus stats of +1 HP, +2 STR, +3 AGI, +1 CHA, +2 ALI, and +1 LUK.

Now, once Warren asks you to select the final card, you need to hit the button at 1:16.8 on your timer, then hold A to advance the text. You don't need a second button press to dismiss the final text box. Note that this one is not frame perfect, and has a small amount of leeway. I believe I found it to be 4 frames.

(Also, it don't bother selecting any card except the first one. The choice of card is just an illusion - you'll get the same card regardless of which one you pick)

If you hit everything correct up to this point, you'll be on the seed that will allow the RNG to give you what I get in my runs.

Note that the RNG doesn't move once the world map is loaded, so you don't have to be frame perfect or anything getting into Castle of Warren.

Once in the stage, start mashing during the READY message. You have VERY little leeway in your movement here.

(The RNG thankfully does NOT advance while you're moving the flag around to select a move location. Use that to your advantage to make sure the destination is correct)

You need to land on the very bottom left of Zeltennia. I can't explain the exact spot to move to in text, but with a little bit of practice, you should find your own visual cue easily enough.

If you selected the correct spot, you'll get a Hermit card upon liberation. From there, you need to wait a split second before deploying Lans. If deployed immediately, you won't get the correct item on the island. The delay here is fairly small, but it has to be there.

Once Lans is deployed, menu select the Opinion leader's group again, then wait until dusk fully sets in (ie, when the colors stop changing). At that moment, tell your Opinion Leader's group to move to the temple, landing on the bottom left corner.

If all the movement and timing have been correct, Lans will find a Notos on the south island, and the Opinion Leader will pull a Hanged Man upon liberation, then find a Sigmund as well.

Once the liberation has finished, immediately select the Opinion Leader and move them to Warren's Castle. The fight should proceed in exactly the manner as my video.

Hopefully that's a decent enough explanation of what I'm doing.