Am I supposed to explore the world map by myself or can I count on the story line to put markers on my map? I started playing this game yesterday and I find ship sailing extremely frustrating. It takes ages to get anywhere, the encounter rate is stupidly high, the random borders don't make sense and the fog of war that you reveal by moving is tiny and unhelpful.

The reason I'm asking is because I just reached Obel and all the walkthroughs say I probably want to go to Mordo, Na-Nal etc. and yet I have no idea where they are even after spending about an hour exploring the area. Sure, I can look for a copy of the world map online but I don't think that's the way you're supposed to do it.

I feel like I'm missing something... my used copy of the game didn't come with a manual so now I'm wondering if the game comes with a map you're supposed to use? anything that would make this easier?

You will see locations on the map if that's the next place you're supposed to go to. It is indicated by a blue arrow, just like early on in the game with Middleport. Early on at Obel however, while trying to find recruits, you can go to Mordo, Na-Nal, Nay, and Donut Islands but they won't be displayed on the maps (unless you're in the New Game+, where there's no fog of war). That's when you'll have to explore it on your own.

The four treasure hunting islands (Donut, Mountain Mass, Limestone Shelf, Mordo) and the Deserted Island all never show up on the map as a destination during the normal course of the game.

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Alright, enough of the crappy sigline...

sst----don't even think about it!!!

thanks for the quick reply! normally I would get all recruits as soon as possible but this is too much of a pain so I'll wait until the story takes me there. I hope Viki comes soon so I can teleport...

Also, you can hold R1 to go a bit faster, if you didn't know that.

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And if I saw you dancing, I would spin you around, spin you around, turn your world upside down

Not sure about something? Check the board rules!

oooh so it DOES go faster if you press L1. I thought the angle just makes it seem that way
thanks! that helps a lot.

L1 is the camera angle, R1 is the "dash" button.

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Alright, enough of the crappy sigline...

sst----don't even think about it!!!

maaaan I can't believe I played this game for 2 days without the dash button. It's a huge improvement...

they should be an auto navigation system, like on FFIX, just select a direction and sail away!

There kinda is. If you click a destination on the map, the ship will be angled in that direction. Then you can just go and be in the right direction.

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And if I saw you dancing, I would spin you around, spin you around, turn your world upside down

Not sure about something? Check the board rules!

yes pulling up the map and changing your direction is very useful... even if you were going full speed one way, using the map to change your direction stops your ship instantly.

the only problem is if there are ocean rocks or other islands in your way then the ship changes it's destination

Not sure if this was ever mentioned, but I realized after looking at my SIV manual again, there is a full map (not labeled) of the Island Nations. I think it's in the beginning where Konami is giving the introduction. So if you do want to go exploring, which is recommended since it would lead you to recruiting extra Stars early on, you can use the manual's map

Hahaha! We do have an alike "strategy" on finding islands!!!

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I will bring Lordlake's fate... to the entire Suikoden World! weeeeeeh!

Topic released.