I have huge amount of respect for SM hackers due to the sheer complexity and scope of work, so it makes it difficult for me to be objectively critical of any hack. That being said, I'll do my best to give an honest review of Breach.
The good:
Breach is a full overhaul hack, so you can expect to spend a good amount of time exploring Zebes. By far this hack's strongest point is the ingenuity in its puzzles. There are many progression points that will require the player to think far outside of the conventional "explore and collect" box, and this adds a captivating element to Breach. Most of the rooms are very well laid out, which shows that a lot of thought and planning went into their design. The difficulty of the hack is higher than Vanilla, but not so high that it requires a speedrunner's skill set to complete. The overall balance and progression of Breach felt good, and I didn't find myself stuck or lost more than a few times. Graphically, Breach introduces a decent amount of palette swaps and clever usage of tiles not normally seen in Vanilla.
The less than good:
Breach gives you the impression that the authors were learning as the development of the hack progressed. This is evident when you first explore Crateria, as the whole area has a "novice hacker" feel to it. By the time you reach Lower Norfair, which is incredibly well-designed, you feel as though you've reached the peak of the creative arc. If this was the author's intent, then please disregard everything I've just written. Tying into that, Breach has a number of glitches that you will likely encounter - some obvious, and some not so obvious - mostly to do with scrolling. I encountered two soft locks in my play through of it. Some of the puzzles, while incredibly creative, will probably stump a lot of players due to the obscurity of the solutions. I could also just be dumb. It would have been nice to see some more graphical changes, but that's more of a suggestion than a complaint.
Overall, Breach was a fun experience and showcases some original ideas that I haven't encountered in any other hacks to date. It does feel somewhat unpolished, but that shouldn't be enough of a detriment to steer you away from giving it a play-through.
Exploration],
rated by Nintoaster_81 on Jan 18, 2019 (
