This guide will cover the gameplay basics. If you've played RPGs before much of this will be familiar to you but it is still worth skimming over to catch any new mechanics or clear up anything confusing.








A new hero has landed in the world of Altima! The world map is the main screen of Altima and you'll be navigating it to reach towns and dungeons. To aid in this there is a minimap in the upper right corner that shows a greater area than what you can see with icons for interesting hot spots. Directly north of where you start and as indicated by the minimap is a town. Once you are standing on top of the town you can push ENTER / SPACE / Z / "C" to enter the town.



Each town has two functions to it, and the most common are the bar and the shop. The bar is where you can find allies if one is in the town and converse with random townsfolk for information, hints, quests, or they might even give you some items. The shop is where you can spend gold to purchase consumable items or equipment for your heroes, or sell old items and gear to help fund your adventure.


For example the king of Grand Castle pleads with the hero to help save the world if you visit the bar in Grand Castle. He gives the short of your quest: Find the Holy Grail and Sacred Water and take them to the Source of Evil to defeat Evil!


If you head north you will find another town called Melville. You'll notice it has a different icon on the minimap with an exclamation mark on it. This means if you visit the bar...


You'll find a new hero to recruit on your quest! If you accept you'll be given a chance to name the new hero and they'll join your party. If you reject them they will stay in the town and the invitation to join will repeat each time you enter the bar.

There are usually about 4 different townsfolk you can converse with in towns. Make sure to visit the bar a few times to make sure you talk to them all!


If you head south from Melville and head towards the large tree in the forest marked with a yellow monster face you'll find your first dungeon: Friendly Forest!


One you enter a dungeon you'll see the name of the dungeon and the number of regular encounters within. Once you select "Forward!" you'll begin your first combat. "No! Run away!" will simply exit the dungeon. This guide will cover combat later, let's assume you won or fled from your first battle in the dungeon.



Once you have taken part in combat in a dungeon you'll be at this screen. If you won there would be 2 encounters remaining, if you fled there will still be 3 encounters remaining. You can't run your way through a dungeon! You are free to open the menu, heal your heroes, change your party and equipment, and save. Pushing ESCAPE / NUM0 / X / "B" will also open the menu. Once you are ready you can "Advance to the next battle". You can also exit any dungeon at any time by selecting "Exit the dungeon".



Once you have defeated all the encounters in a dungeon you'll complete the dungeon! You will receive your reward for clearing the dungeon, usually two treasures and a note for that dungeon. The note has a hint that will help you complete the game, usually.



The Friendly Forest note for example indicates that the Source of Evil is hidden and you will have to find it. Clear dungeons for their rewards and hints to find the Source of Evil, the Holy Grail, and the Sacred Water!

"You keep all notes you have obtained throughout the game. If you're ever lost open your inventory and review your notes! Make sure to clear all the dungeons to get all the notes!"




Some dungeons have a midboss or regular boss. When you enter a dungeon it will tell you if any and what kind of boss. The difference between a midboss and a boss is their power: A midboss is weaker than the boss of a tier of dungeons. The boss is an extra encounter once you defeat the rest of the regular encounters. For Chilly Hut, you would fight two regular encounters then the midboss, as so:



Like a regular encounter you can open the menu before a boss and flee to change your party and try the boss again.



The first time you defeat a boss of a dungeon and clear the dungeon you get an additional reward: The maximum amount of items you can hold increases! You start the game able to hold up to 10 of any item. Clearing Chilly Hut with its Bandit King boss increases this by 1 so now you can carry up to 11 of any item.



Besides dungeons and towns there is a third event you can find on the map: Hidden treasure! Once you are on a square you think is a treasure push ENTER / SPACE / Z / "C" to search the square. Nothing will happen if there is no treasure but if there is you'll dig it up! There is a lot of hidden treasure in Altima, dungeon notes and townsfolk will give you hints on where to find it. Keep a sharp eye out too, a suspicious square or tree might have treasure too! This is also how you find hidden dungeons such as the Source of Evil.


For reference here are the minimap icons and what they mean:
: A town you can visit.
: A town you can visit that also has a recruitable hero.
: A tier 1 dungeon. It turns grey once you clear it.
: A tier 2 dungeon. It turns grey once you clear it.
: A tier 3 dungeon. It turns grey once you clear it.
: A tier 4 dungeon. It turns grey once you clear it.
: A tier 5 dungeon. It turns grey once you clear it.
: A tier 6 dungeon. There is only one: The Source of Evil!
: A discovered treasure. A hidden treasure has no icon until you find it.