I just did a casual playthrough of this awesome RPG game that came out recently, and since it's a relatively new game it doesn't have a leaderboard in src yet.
Currently routing is the biggest issue for me since I have never done it before and it's an "RPG" game so the route isn't the most linear.
Is there any advice for a beginner router for me? Plus, I'm doing this alone so if anyone wants to help or contribute, just ask me for the game link.
Someone asked a similar question here: https://www.speedrun.com/speedrunning/thread/9h49f
Maybe there you can find useful tips for you.
A core aspect of RPGs is figuring out the bare minimum, in gear as well as items, that you'll need to pass certain bosses/areas. In general, it'll help to make a list of everything required at minimum to pass through the game.
I'm always big on routing, it's my main strength when it comes to speedrunning, so I wouldn't mind helping out some. If you send the link my way, I'll can see what I can do.
I've never routed an RPG game, but when I go to route a new game, I first try to figure out: what do I need to do how can I do that For some games, this results in a pretty simple routing process. So when I say "what do I need to do" it's more complex than, "I need to beat the game" More specifically, it would be, "I need to get my stats up to this number, obtain this item, and then get to this room and beat the boss" So, figure out what items would boost your stats the most, what items are closest to a direct route to a bossfight, and start there. For simple games, you can put together a good route very quickly.
However, complicated games require trial and error. Let's say that an rpg has a final boss, but there are also 6 minibosses that can be done in any order, and each one grants a helpful ability upon beating it. To tackle something like this, I basically test almost every route to find which one is fastest. I can't test EVERY route though, with 6 bosses that's 720 routes. Instead, I need to find one that makes sense. Routing any game is going to take some research. You'll need to know what items and abilities you get from those bosses. Then, find a route that makes sense. For example, if boss 3 has an item that speeds up walking speed, that would be a good first boss. Test a few routes that start there, and see what times you get. If you can't pick a single route that makes the most sense, then pick 2 routes and compare them.
This is just an example of how I would approach routing a hypothetical game, I hope I wasn't confusing. Another thing that would be good is to get help from another runner. 2 heads are better than one, and if multiple people work on the route, the more likely it is that you'll find a really good route
For very long routes try working backwards, figuring out what is the most efficient strategy for endgame first makes it less likely you'll route yourself into a corner and have to touch up significant portions of your early route. Keep in mind that raw speed |= efficiency, sometimes you find out a very fast strat but it turns out the components of that strats take a lot more time to get than just doing a slower but less setup intensive one.
1.) What core items are needed to progress in the game (not make it easier, just what is straight up required to make it to the end) ex: LoZ games (see step 2) 2.) Are there any glitches that allow you to skip these items good ex: LoZ games (I know they aren't RPGs, but the same principles apply) 3.) If you need to level for combat, how could you do that with the lowest number of fights (or if fights take awhile, the shortest amount of time spent on fights), good ex: pokemon (has tons of routing done over the years to minimize encounters while keeping a high enough level to win) 4.) Are there any items that allow you to skip/minimize what you do in step 3? Ex: (Pokemon's X-Accuracy or X-Attack) 5.) Are there any items that allow you to simply move faster throughout the run that end up saving time in longer runs? (Ex: running shoes in pokemon) These steps honestly kind of apply to every game for finding routing, but they very much do apply to RPGs. The hardest part is writing all this down and then finding a route based on that, since especially in RPGs, there's a lot of paths that someone can take.