Guide on how to redo the quest in Hard Mode

[Nebula]

I was pretty thrilled to find there was a Hard Mode you get once beating the game. (In case you haven't, it basically jumps the stats and speed of all enemies up like crazy - so they're more dangerous and tougher to kill.) I was a little disappointed to find that I couldn't replay the story, though - battling against stronger random encounters is fun, but it just doesn't feel as interesting when I'm not building up to face the next boss!

So I tried to figure out how to reset my quest progress - back to playing as just Mr Meteor, meeting his friends, and saving the world over again.

Anyhow, turns out I had some luck. There's a field in the save file's data which you can reset to zero to reset to the start of the quest - without erasing any of your other progress! And you still get access to Hard Mode!

Of course, NO GUARANTEE that this will keep your save file or progress safe. It has so far for me, but I definitely recommend making a backup just in case!

Okay, here's the steps:

-1. Close the game, if you have it open.

1. Find your save file. I'm running the version from Lan's site, so it was lying somewhere in ~/.macromedia/. The file you're looking for should be called "CS2Save1.sol" (or CS2Save2.sol).

2. Backup it. Just in case. Make a copy and stick it in your documents folder or such.

3. Find a Flash save file editor. I use Minerva; it's a free online editor: https://mariani.life/projects/minerva/

4. Open your save file in the editor.

5. Browse to "qMainQuest" in the editor. Minerva has a search bar above the huge list of properties; you should use it, since they aren't particularly sorted.

6. Click it, then type 0 in the field that shows up on the right.

7. Click on the "Save" button (NOT "Export") to download the file -- it should save with a ".sol" extension. Stick that file in the same location as where you found your original CS2Save.sol file; you want the game to read your modified file, of course.

8. Re-open the game and load your save file!

I can't remember for sure since I'm up to the DEMON/Kaz fight now, but I think once you get out of Small Forest, your character will show up on the map wherever you had been before resetting your quest progress. Just walk back up to Medium Forest; the story will progress like normal, besides every map place being unlocked. (I haven't tested going to places I'm not supposed to be.. I have no idea if that would break things!)

So yeah! There you go. This has helped breathe some extra life into the game for me; maybe it'll be interesting to others too.

[Lan]

lol thats amazing. I dont remember most of my code at this point. You should consider reposting this on the guides section.

anyway save file location should be in:
AppData\Roaming\com.emmanuelsalvacruz.crystalstory2\Local Store\#SharedObjects