What's the best breed to raise first?
There really is no set answer to this question. It's a lot like asking what DVD to rent, every one of a hundred people would give you a different answer. Some people prefer the very powerful monsters that tend to be slow, others prefer the speedy types that are less powerful. Save yourself some time, and shrine a few discs, and pick one that looks cool to you. If you don't like it, have it "Split" in town, and get another monster with different attributes. We don't recommend particular breeds, and ask that posters refrain from doing so as well.

What's a type I should avoid?
There are no bad monsters, only bad raising methods. If you don't do well with a breed, that indicates a need for major changes in your ranching style. Any breed can be a champion. People have taken all the breeds successfully through the Great 5 and onto winning the final battle. The monsters that are difficult will teach you the fine points of perfecting your ranching style.

What do the Monster's Attributes or Parameters really mean?
The 5 attributes raised while drilling your monster in the raising areas are as follows:
Life: You monster's health bar in battle. It has nothing to do with lifespan.
Power: Affects how hard your monster's Power-based (orange) attacks will hit. Also helps to defend a little against opponents' Power-based attacks.
Intelligence: Affects how hard your monster's Intelligence-based (green) attacks will hit. Also helps to defend a little against opponents' Intelligence-based attacks.
Speed: Your monster's ability to dodge attacks. Also, as this number rises, so does the probability of your monster's attacks connecting.
Defense: Your monster's ability to withstand attacks, as the number rises, damage from enemies decreases.

How can I get my monster to evolve?
Your monster has growth spurts at various times in its life, about one year apart. The timing varies by monster type, depending on the lifespan available. You'll see the first growth spurt right around the time of your monster's first birthday. Subsequent events will happen about a year apart, depending on how much lifespan you have saved/lost with your raising method. To change a monster's sub-breed, feed it the special localizing food (it varies by breed, you must feed 2-6 times) before a growth spurt to have it evolve into the sub-breed. The monster must also remain in that locale, if they go to ther locales during a life period, they will not evolve at the growth spurt. Most breeds can be evolved 2-3 times in their lifetimes. (Big exception here is Joker, which only has 2 breeds: '?' and Morx.) The foods are all on the second page of food, in the next to the bottom slot:
Morx Mushrooms with red caps & white spots in Morx
Red Chile Peppers in the Desert
The slice of fish in the Arctic area
Mangoes in the Lagoon
Clams in the Goat area
Hibernating does not affect evolution, as long as the monster only goes from the locale to town and back. You cannot visit other locales during the period before the growth spurt. Wait until after it evolves.
Note: Sometimes, some monsters simply will not evolve in certain areas.

Do I have to evolve my monster?
No, don't feed the localising food, and your sub-breed will remain the same.

Can I evolve my monster into a '?' breed?
No, they are only found on CD.

How many Heart Crystals can I feed my Monster?
Just one, so make sure it counts!

How many Heart Crystals can I hold in my inventory?
A total of ten Hearts can be held in inventory. Once you reach that number and try to save another, you will be asked if you want to replace an old heart, or ditch the current one.

I put 5 monsters into Hibernation, and I want to Hibernate my current monster. Can I delete a monster from Hibernation?
Sorry, no. It's usually best to limit the number of monsters in the freezer to 4. Since you have the Encyclopedia, you won't need to keep any monsters to raise later. Just keep a few moneymakers and you will be fine. (see about moneymakers below)

I am making all sorts of decisions when people ask me things. How can I be sure to do the right thing in the storyline?
The storyline will essentially bring everyone to the same places in the game. You may get some different dialog (people happy with with you, people surprised by you) but the story will wind up with the same results, so don't worry. You can play it however you like and not miss anything. (Except you have to beat Gadamon's monster in Kalaragi to avoid the bug in the game. When going into Kalaragi, make sure your monster is extra powerful for it's rank.)
Read The Warning In The MR3 FAQ Section About The Kalaragi Bug Before Entering Kalaragi!

Is there any way to get rid of the Kalaragi Bug if I already lost to Gadamon in Kalaragi?
There is no way around the bug.
There are no gameshark codes, nor anything else that can fix it.

How can I get all the money I want for all these cool accessories?
Start raising a few money-maker monsters. Simply get a monster you don't care too much about good enough to win at will in the E level tourneys, and one in D level (maybe one in C), and spend a year or two just battling for cash and resting them. I made 250,000g in under 3 years by simply alternately battling 3 monsters (E,D,C) and resting them.

Can I evolve my '?' monster into a locale sub?
Yes, they localize like any other monster.

These shrine/training/rest videos are so long, can I do anything to shorten them?
Yes, hit the X button.

Will getting more Life points extend my monster's lifespan?
No.

My monster fails all the time, what can I do about this?
Failure is related to fatigue, loyalty and food preferences. If you keep the monster from getting too much fatigue, failures are less likely.

In unofficial tourneys there is a Type listing (wich usually shows some sort of Accessory) and a Monster Listing (of wich most of the time doesn't even HAVE that monster in the Battle).. what is that?
That's an accessory item you can win in this tourney, and the monster who can use it. It will appear in your accessory area. These items cannot be sold.

Are there codes for this game?
Just codes for the gameshark, no codes/passwords in the traditonal sense.

Can I get tips along the way, without spoilers?
Yes, when a challenger approaches you on the ranch, select the "Talk" option, you'll get gameplay tips there.

Are there hidden areas not shown on the map?
No.

I am in Brillia and can't get Zan. I'm in Goat and can't get Joker. What's up?
You must complete each storyline in each area you visit before new storylines start for you. Go back to other areas you have visited, and play for a while. The most commonly unfinished story is in the Takrama Desert. Once you defeat Gadamon there is still some more story to play through.

My monster got sick, what can I do?
Check our Misc. Q &A section for a thread comparing the effects of Large Egg and Energy Ball on most illnesses.

I can't get a particular breed from CD/DVD! Is there anything I can do to get one?
Yes. If it's a breed with a locale sub, you can evolve another of the same type into it. If you don't have any of that main breed at all, you can find disc chips in the game and once you have 4 of one kind, you can take them to town to get an encyclopedia entry. If you don't find the right type, you can trade chips with the challengers who visit your ranch. Another option is to get a Sharport, the device that allows you to transfer saves to your PS2 memory card. Many of our users trade saves (and legendcup.com will soon have saves you can download at will.) via email. You simply put the new save on a memory card and use the Encyclopedia option on the main menu to copy monsters into your book.

Your CD list is wrong! I have a CD that makes a different monster than what the list shows, why do you have bad entries in the list?
Every CD/DVD/game disc may have different pressings occur as the manufacturer tries to meet demand for more copies. Sometimes these pressings are different by just a second or two and that means that they can make a different monster than shown on our list. If you have a disc that makes something different, please list it in the correct section for what it makes for you, and post the UPC code, catalog number from the case spine, country it was made in, if it's a "club" or "greatest hits" version, collector's pressing, and any other info that may help us distinguish it.

Are there really only 2 breeds of Joker?
Yes.

Couldn't there be hidden breeds?
No. As your encyclopedia is filled, the name of the main breed will change from black to red when you have gotten all the possible monsters of a type. This is visible in the encyclopedia if you click on a type and then view the icons for all the sub-breeds.

The Strategy Guide shows that Ragna, the last boss monster is available to play. How do i get it?
Sorry, that's a mistake. Ragna is not a playable monster in the game. The encylopedia breed titles turn red when a section is full, and the Dragon section fills up without Ragna.

What is the Pandora's Disc?
It is a music CD from Japan with a series of audio tracks that have game tips in Japanese. It was given away to people who pre-purchased the game from Tecmo at the Tecmo store. It was also given away in contests on the web in the month of September. Check the CD list Pandora section for details on what it does. It is also one of the offerings in the Laboratory section of the board, for people with CD burners.

What discs work in the Shrine as Saucer Stones?
Commercial music CDs, DVDs, PSX & PS2 games. Please note that PC CD-ROMs, and many burned CDs will not work, or will just give a basic Mocchi.

All I get at the shrine is Mocchis, what's up?
Either all the CDs you are trying are PC discs, and other discs which are not compatible with the PS2 format, or the laser assembly on your PS2 is bad and needs to be repaired. Apparently the PS2 has a very high defectiive rate. This problem is referred to as Disc Read Errors, or DREs for short. You need to contact Sony for repair options.

Sometimes when I feed Vine Grass, my game gets slow and jumpy looking, can I do anything about this?
No, it's a programming error.

Are all the main breeds of monsters, the ones with the type name the same as the general breed, based in the same locale?
The main types follow a rough pattern of breaking the monsters into type based on region. The fish-like and water-mammal-like breeds are based in Goat, the woodsy sort in Morx, really furry ones in Brillia, etc. The numbers break down like this:
Brillia 5
Goat 4
Takrama 4
Kalaragi 5
Morx 12

Note: Please make sure to save your game often, and make backup saves on another card. the game does occasionally freeze up for no reason!