PS1 Legend of Mana: multiplayer question

[FateLanegod]

Greetings!
Wikipedia said:

Both companions are typically controlled by the game's AI, though a second player can take control of the support character, or load in their own character from a different save file, if present.

I’m a bit confused how could I do this technically.
Start a game with one character, save, then load it in another new game and somehow add to the party? There are totally different things I read on other forums.

If somebody has tried it, please guide me.

Is 3 players ever possible by any hack or cheat?

 

[Midan]

Hehe

 

[Hikari.EXE]

Uh... You need another player for it, I don't think you can do it alone.

 

[FateLanegod]

Yes, I wanna play co-op with another player as soon as possible in the game, using both hero and heroine assigned to controller #1 and controller #2 respectively. I’m asking what’s the best/fastest way to achieve this, if possible.

Had watched some play-throughs, and it seems 1P has to go to next village’s inn and there to “recruit” 2nd player. But you must have another game saved first or how?

I just don’t want to spend much time figuring that out after game starts, since we’d like to play together, so my companion shouldn’t be bored watching me for too long.

 

[MajesticSiN]

Found this on the internet for ya

Okay everybody listen up, go to the church in Domina and talk to the goddess about Battling then 2Player. After you do she'll talk about going to the abandoned house. Go to the house left of the Inn and knock on the door. Then you'll be able to load up another charactor from another file. That way if you have a friend at lv.99, you can get him to help you.

 

[FateLanegod]

Found this on the internet for ya

Thanks, yeah, I’ve seen something like that.
Will try to figure out this obscure double save slots system.

TBH, I asked because I wanted to discuss the multiplayer aspect of the game with someone here who revisited it, specifically PSX original, not so long ago. Is it fun the same way as other Mana games to play together?
Can second player do all the same things as 1P? Like levelling up, magic, gear change, etc.

 

[FateLanegod]

I figured it out. So the ultimate 2P guide is this.

Setup 2nd player character first:
1. Start new game
2. Exit house
3. Go down and talk to green guy to receive building blocks
4. Exit at the bottom of the screen, and build Domina town area
5. In Domina, go left and up to the inn, save by talking to innkeeper
6. Just reset the game

Now for the 1st player, repeat everything including step 4, obviously select another character and give different name.
Continue by following:

5. In Domina, exit right and then go up to enter church
6. Speak with “priest” near altar few times until he offers menu, ask about battling
7. Return back where you to first came to Domina, then go straight left and knock on abandoned house door
8. Now you may select the save slot with 2nd player character and he/she will join you, but yet not controllable
9. Go to inn, and ask innkeeper for 2P control, select manual control
10. Also do save, and the 2nd player will be assigned to 2nd controller

Now you can play the game together!

Note: DO NOT enter maibox house where you started. It will force 2nd player disconnected.
Choose to skip saving in that case, otherwise current save will be overwritten with only 1st player data, and 2nd player progress will be lost.
If you’d like to check the book shelf in the house, you may still do so and skip saving. Then load your last 2P save data again.
If you attempt to load only 2nd player data again in the abandoned house, it will not contain any progress you made together as well.