GRAVITY - Sylux's Crusade - Metroid Construction

GRAVITY - Sylux's Crusade
Release date: Jul 01, 2024	Author: Roebloz	Download: v1.01 (Latest) (112 downloads) Download: v1.00 (Original Contest Version) (24 downloads)
Genre: Exploration [?] Game:	Difficulty: Vanilla [?]	Average runtime: 1:59 Average collection: 85%
Read Me: [None]	Forum Thread: Contest Thread	Rating:

Description

GRAVITY - Sylux's Crusade is Roebloz's third serious Metroid Zero Mission ROM hack and fifth overall, this time acting as a prequel to Metroid Prime 4, starring Sylux going through a
Space Pirate research station fallen under the control of one of the many weapons onboard, an experimental Nightmare model stolen from the Galactic Federation, having gone rogue and now
generating a black hole, which Sylux will attempt to stop from growing any bigger by destroying Nightmare as he runs through the station's corridors, picking up various Chozo artifacts
along the way.

Much like its predecessor, Crocomire's Last Stand, GRAVITY attempts to provide a more open kind of exploration to the player, though it is much more experimental than the former, having
been made for the MetroidConstruction Star Base contest hosted by MetroidMst, which included many restrictions, such as a maximum of 60 rooms overall. (Which Roebloz cleverly gets around by abusing
the clause for elevator rooms being excluded, and by packing as many rooms as possible within one) It is truly open progression this time around however; The hack is playable in almost
any order that the player chooses, as long as their skills are good enough to handle the tougher lower areas. It is rather short in length depending on how you play (At around 2 hours for a 100% playthrough), though of course if you decide to try and go for all of the ending
images, it will last much longer, and thanks to all the different paths you can choose, there is near-endless replay value! Do you go for the strongest upgrades first, or do you stock up
on Energy Tanks right away? The choice is yours!

More info in the description.txt file and changelog.txt file in the download. Full map and wallpaper included.

Screenshots

Ratings and Reviews

By justanothermetroid on Jul 04, 2024 (

)

100% in 1:38

I really enjoyed this hack, though I did find it sort of awkward. Sylux himself just looks and moves strangely, and you will recognize many assets if you are a fan of Mega Man. I do find it admittedly charming though, I remember when romhacks appealed to me just because of that sort of referential element.

Other than the presentation, I found the game really fun. It is definitely apparent how many ways you can tackle this game even just from my single 100% run on hard mode. Upgrades feel especially well designed, there are plenty of moments that made me want to come back later. I found some parts a bit frustrating with damage output, but hard mode likely contributed to that with the lack of health comparatively. This is a hack that might be worth playing more than once to get more out of the open design.

By starlightintheriver on Jul 06, 2024 (

)

75% in 1:44

Considering this hack was made in two months, it's honestly amazing how well-polished a hack of this size is. It feels like the kind of hack that should have taken four or five. That said, there is definitely some jank here between Sylux's animations and a lot of environmental stuff (For example, in the ending, the ship doesn't follow Sylux out of landing site). That said, most of it is all just visual, and the worst thing you get from the jank is having trouble telling exactly where Sylux's hitbox is.

The level design is indeed very open, allowing for some items to be collected shockingly early (including Plasma and Screw, for example). It never really feels like any path you could take is fruitless, there's always something for you to do. Environmental design is excellent, each area looks unique, and there are some excellent music choices.

If I had to give one major complaint, it's that the level design leaves something to be desired. Many rooms throw what feels like dozens of enemies in your face, and it can be really overwhelming to try and weave through them all, especially when some rooms have high numbers of particularly annoying enemies like Atomic or Puyo. I also had several frustrating moments where I found myself basically unable to escape a pit because of the liquid physics meaning the exit is too high to jump out of. (For example, the upper path to Yakuza in Dark has a pit of acid that can be very difficult to escape without Gravity (the suit), and there's also an underwater spike pit in Water which has a similar problem). There's one more thing I found frustrating, which was the decompression areas in Gravity (the area); I wasn't too upset with rooms that lock you in until you kill all the Metroids, and neither was I upset with rooms where you have to platform to avoid instant death. I am, however, upset about both of these things at once with no telegraphs. I just think if you're going to say "DO NOT FALL DOWN HERE," you should let the player go back to prepare a little bit more if they want to.

Sorry for the long string of complaints. This hack has a lot of promise, but it also has a lot of things that can absolutely be made better.

By RT-55J on Jul 10, 2024 (

)

84% in 1:56

This hack has some real Big Fangame Energy (compliment).

I could be a curmudgeon and pick apart this hack's component parts, but the end result is surprisingly solid. The author's excitement to just make stuff is quite evident to me in the final product.

By Dynarec on Jul 19, 2024 (

)

% in 1:40

Overall, a fun one for sequence breakers or those who like open-world hacks. Directions are mostly limited by difficulty, and you can go hard for items if you don't mind some peril.

I equipped myself with the Plasma Beam way before I was supposed to have it. Yess.

The only negative I ran into was there is a section with a one-shot mechanic, like Dread. It does loudly warn you about it though.

Would recommend this one!

P.S. There is something HORRIBLE BEYOND REASON in the room with the Spring Ball. I was terrorized. You got me. :(

By OmegaDragnet9 on Jul 20, 2024 (

)

70% in 2:59

I figured I should leave a review sooner rather than later, while stuff is still relatively fresh on my mind.

I really admire the custom tilesets, spritework and music. I think the music had a stronger effect on me than any other aspect of the hack. Honestly I felt it rivaled Eleven in the music department.

The best track was the heated area, followed by the track in the ice area, and the Gravity area. Honestly the only one I wasn't crazy about was the Darkness research area's theme. And even there it was still an objectively good piece.

As for gameplay. The many regions were diverse and there was a great amount of work to make each environment unique.

I think the initial difficulty curve can be too steep in the early game as the enemies in the first dozen rooms can really overwhelm you before certain upgrades are unlocked. Plus, with the open nature of the hack, you can easily Leroy Jenkins into some advanced areas and get straight-up murdered by enemy forces. (To be fair, my own contest entry is prone to do this as well.) Get a few super missiles and a particular beam upgrade (along with some energy tanks) and suddenly the playing field is level.

The bosses were tough, but not insurmountable. One in particular I felt was too far from a save station, but it still wasn't too hard to restore lost progress.

The ending did feel pretty sudden when it finally arrived, but I feel that way about a lot of ZM hacks and some Super hacks.

Absolutely give this a playthrough. It was a thoroughly enjoyable campaign with some serious heart. The sheer graphics overhaul alone would give this a high orb rating, but it's got a lot of other great qualities going for it as well.

By RX-78-2 on Jul 23, 2024 (

)

98% in 1:46

there are some minor gfx issues but it's not detrimental to gameplay but it is noticeable tho. speaking of gameplay, it was very unique and interesting because as the description said, this hack is "truly open progression" and it is "playable in any order the player chooses" and I like that about this hack. it was very fun to speedrun and I loved the inclusion of Metroid Fusion bosses too. I like how item progession is set up and how the layout of each area is designed, even the tilesets used are pretty cool. I had absolutely no trouble speedrunning thus hack and I most certainly would play it again, it's a very fun hack of Metroid Zero Mission with some Metroid Fusion-themed elements. this hack is automatically worthy of 5 orbs, it's a masterpiece in my opinion and I'd definitely give this hack a 10/10 for me. it can be a bit tricky if you decide to take certain different routes but it shouldn't be too difficult though. I would definitely recommend playing this hack as it is very much worth your time

By Zhs2 on Jul 25, 2024 (

)

88% in 2:04

Decent, but full of questionable graphics ripping from Super Metroid and even more questionable ripped music. It's entirely open, you can easily obtain Gravity Suit before finding Varia (and sparing yourself from seeing both terrible suit palettes. Oh wait, you probably looked at the screenshots) and this happens to be both its highest and lowest point. I ended up at BOX with no charge and only so many missiles - thanks for making the ice bombs shootable. It's even easier to end up in a Metroid room (thankfully I had ice, but no bombs) and fall to your instant death because you can no longer jump with a Metroid stuck to you. It's not a hard hack by any means, but certainly not one of Roebloz' greatest hits. I'd put it on par with Biohazard. Also, my favorite part of the hack was the point the boys found the sprite sheet: https://www.spriters-resource.com/custom_edited/metroidcustoms/sheet/17028/

By thedopefish on Aug 11, 2024 (

)

68% in 1:45

Really large hack for a contest entry, jammed full of rooms and items. A bunch of themed areas with custom music and graphics pulled from several games, and the map is extremely wide open so you can explore wherever you like as long as you can survive the enemies. Progression was smooth in my playthrough and I never felt stuck, although a few sections were frustrating to navigate.

The biggest problem is that it's overflowing with enemies, and those enemies are harder to deal with than they should be (especially before Ice). And the knockback when you get hit is extremely annoying. Also the Sylux sprite is a little jank looking and the suit palettes aren't very good, but that's a minor complaint.

By SpineShark on Nov 15, 2024 (

)

95% in 2:20

Surprisingly large map for a contest hack. It features lots of graphics and music from other games, whether all of them fit the metroid theme is debatable though. Playing as Sylux is nice, even if the implementation is a bit janky.
A big selling point is the openness of progression but it's a bit of a double edged sword. I arrived at BOX with only charge beam and not enough missiles to kill him. I was determined to finish the fight with charge shots, but for some reason they plink unless you hit a very precise spot. This made the fight extremely tedious until I randomly found that you can farm the BOX bombs for missile drops. Other bosses were pushovers because I was way too strong when I found them.
I also tried to fight Nightmare early but failed because without wide and plasma beam I didn't have enough damage output for his surprisingly tanky second phase.

There are some other things that annoy me like cramped rooms filled with lots of annoying enemies such as atomics and rinkas (eww). Knockback seems to be increased and you tend to get juggled by enemies and spikes a lot. To be honest, this was a 3 orb hack to me at first, but it does get more enjoyable as you collect upgrades so it gets 4 orbs from me.

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