I was afraid of that being a spoiler as well but I saw the poster Nemesis_ and knew exactly that he wouldn't spoil something like that. Good poster.
I am worried this post is sarcastic ;_; I can remove it if people want, I didn't realise it was going to upset people.
I think a few things that I wish I knew going into Classic Mode are as follows:
1.) The save pattern posted here is okay, though I ran behind on some of the saves. I think some people suggested saving before the major battle in Chapter 8. I personally was having heaps of issues with other aspects of the level (literally a Hysteric wrecked me every time I saw one) so I saved earlier. You can chop and change your saves - just know that you'll then probably have a longer run to deal with getting to the next save.
2.) The Fire Walk is easily the hardest part. The cabin seemed hard on paper, but between stomp and the help in that area it didn't really phase me. I cleared that on my first go.
3.) When you run out of ammo during a boss battle, the game will automatically spawn very small amounts to replenish you. I'm not sure about the cabin, but during the Harbinger and final boss battles the game would very obviously throw me a bone but
only after exhausting every piece of ammo including non-lethal weapons. During my final battle I had to do this for a looooonngggg time so most of the battles become more of a survival thing rather than a beating thing.
4.) At the end of Chapter 14, the
is probably easier than you think. I cleared that every time I attempted it since they were so simple. But I saved before it so I had to repeat it everytime I'd fail the final attack.
5.) STOMP STOMP STOMP! Seriously, one shell downs most enemies who can then be stomped.
6.) HEALING ITEMS also don't cost more if you craft them in the field, not sure if this is the same in the Nightmare mode but I noticed it more in Classic Mode.
7.) As for healing, that really wasn't my main issues. The only times I died was when attacked by an attack that did an IMMENSE amount of damage that skills or upgrades would usually protect me from. As such, I didn't use healing items until the Fire Walk.
8.) Do the shooting gallery and collect as many locker keys as you can without risking it. These replenishments between battles and such were so, so helpful. I literally didn't use any herbs to craft healing items until the Fire Walk, where I relied on them heavily. You'll probably be similarly lucky, I think.
For those wondering - I did no side quests. I didn't get any weapons beyond what was given to me through the story BARRING the Sniper Rifle. I recommend that if you can be bothered as it's an easy way to do some high damage in a small amount of time.
Happy to answer questions. I am not sure if I enjoyed this or AKUMU more. I think AKUMU was overall a much more frustrating experience.