“Dear Kejardon: where the hell are you? :(”
Onnyks's Ratings and Reviews
I treated this hack like a walk through of an art gallery, the quality of the tiling was just mind blowing. So many visual moments to appreciate: baked in lighting on the terrain and background, perspective and reflections, detailed forms of both organic and mechanical objects, deep variety, interesting geometry. The hack felt grounded in its otherworldliness, believably exotic, with a flowing diversity of environments. I cannot say how pleasurable it was to explore, probably 2 hours of this run time was just me gawking at the rooms.
The secrets were fun to find, the environmental clues were subtle enough to make me feel clever, but they still stood out from the already creative tiling variety, something that I was afraid would not be the case when I started. No need to bomb every corner, just keep your eyes peeled.
Story elements were very successfully integrated into the environment. There were many moments in the playthrough where I got to stop and take in a scene that was richly detailed and mysterious, not only using visuals but also game mechanics. This was largely in part by making many segmented regions be self-contained loops, often resulting in a change to the world upon returning, or concluding with some cinematic flair.
I can give it no less than 5 orbs for these achievements.
The hack is not free from criticism, but the following would not be enough to diminish its score:
The darkness and contrast levels sometimes hurt navigation. I found myself using tricks like short charge or IBJ, only later to realize the path forward was easily available but visually unclear.
The hub area felt too mazelike. Item window dead ends and overlapping rooms were interesting to clear, but something could have been done to improve their necessary revisits.
Midgame combat was a bit of a slog. Worst offenders were flying enemies in tall rooms swooping on and offscreen to land a lot of blind hits. Farm spots were also somewhat rare, especially for such a limited arsenal.
Overall this hack is inspirationally creative and beautiful. Bravo.
The secrets were fun to find, the environmental clues were subtle enough to make me feel clever, but they still stood out from the already creative tiling variety, something that I was afraid would not be the case when I started. No need to bomb every corner, just keep your eyes peeled.
Story elements were very successfully integrated into the environment. There were many moments in the playthrough where I got to stop and take in a scene that was richly detailed and mysterious, not only using visuals but also game mechanics. This was largely in part by making many segmented regions be self-contained loops, often resulting in a change to the world upon returning, or concluding with some cinematic flair.
I can give it no less than 5 orbs for these achievements.
The hack is not free from criticism, but the following would not be enough to diminish its score:
The darkness and contrast levels sometimes hurt navigation. I found myself using tricks like short charge or IBJ, only later to realize the path forward was easily available but visually unclear.
The hub area felt too mazelike. Item window dead ends and overlapping rooms were interesting to clear, but something could have been done to improve their necessary revisits.
Midgame combat was a bit of a slog. Worst offenders were flying enemies in tall rooms swooping on and offscreen to land a lot of blind hits. Farm spots were also somewhat rare, especially for such a limited arsenal.
Overall this hack is inspirationally creative and beautiful. Bravo.
Super Metroid: Subversion by TestRunner and AmoebaOfDoom [
Exploration],
rated by Onnyks on Sep 05, 2022 (
)
Exploration],
rated by Onnyks on Sep 05, 2022 ( )
90% in 11:26
So much praise should be given to Subversion for so many things. Very in depth additions to the hack make this a great joy to play. I can't call it my favorite hack, but I can definitely say it has been the most impressive.
First of all the music is top notch. Classics and remixes and originals blend together to give the many various environments a great feel. Whether they be tranquil, mysterious, energetic, or dangerous, all the moods you want in a Metroid world are here.
Tiling is textbook Metroid, in the best way possible. Highly detailed yet easy to read (mostly), whether using the classic SM sets or imported new varieties. Along with the music these sold each area as new and intriguing, making me want to explore.
And explore you will! The world is vast, every time I thought I had filled the map, another hidden connection led me somewhere new. The amount of content is staggering.
Samus felt very well scaled in this hack, power-wise, each combat upgrade felt appreciated and useful in fighting through increasingly dangerous baddies.
Above and beyond all of that however, what I'm sure will be most remembered about this hack is the amount of innovation in mechanics. I won't mention anything specific, but the execution of each of the many item reworks and new toys was just about perfect. Solving puzzles and navigating the world really went to the next level because of this, and that's always my favorite part.
Some criticisms, none of which could make this any less than a 5 orb hack, in no particular order
- There are many rooms that lag, often as a tradeoff for being very cool, but it is jarring
- The connections between areas can be clunky, especially with the choice of some gating
- Some backtracking was very "there and back again" as opposed to the really great sections that used a looping design
Bravo! This really is an exceptional, must play hack!
First of all the music is top notch. Classics and remixes and originals blend together to give the many various environments a great feel. Whether they be tranquil, mysterious, energetic, or dangerous, all the moods you want in a Metroid world are here.
Tiling is textbook Metroid, in the best way possible. Highly detailed yet easy to read (mostly), whether using the classic SM sets or imported new varieties. Along with the music these sold each area as new and intriguing, making me want to explore.
And explore you will! The world is vast, every time I thought I had filled the map, another hidden connection led me somewhere new. The amount of content is staggering.
Samus felt very well scaled in this hack, power-wise, each combat upgrade felt appreciated and useful in fighting through increasingly dangerous baddies.
Above and beyond all of that however, what I'm sure will be most remembered about this hack is the amount of innovation in mechanics. I won't mention anything specific, but the execution of each of the many item reworks and new toys was just about perfect. Solving puzzles and navigating the world really went to the next level because of this, and that's always my favorite part.
Some criticisms, none of which could make this any less than a 5 orb hack, in no particular order
- There are many rooms that lag, often as a tradeoff for being very cool, but it is jarring
- The connections between areas can be clunky, especially with the choice of some gating
- Some backtracking was very "there and back again" as opposed to the really great sections that used a looping design
Bravo! This really is an exceptional, must play hack!
An aptly named hack, this is a solid rethink to the Zebes floor plan. Rooms will cleverly remind you of their vanilla counterparts but play very differently. I liked the general structure of the progression, I won't say anything specific about it, except that I wasted some time based on my own assumptions. I feared a great deal of backtracking was going to happen if I didn't find certain things but that wasn't the case, once I got over my flawed expectations there was always a path forward.
The motif of layout changes made for some good and some bad rooms. Familiar certainly highlights just how many long horizontal rooms there were to edit. Kudos to making them feel unique, but man Samus' legs are tired after all that climbing.
Map layout was very sprawling, and I wish that there were more intertwining pathways or branches to make certain pathways less linear. This might be a difficult ask given the way Familiar specifically goes about its redesign, but it was noticeable.
The feature noted in the credits was very cool to see. I'm impressed by the effort put in to show off what I'm sure many hack players will be trying to figure out themselves, it's always great when that's possible.
The motif of layout changes made for some good and some bad rooms. Familiar certainly highlights just how many long horizontal rooms there were to edit. Kudos to making them feel unique, but man Samus' legs are tired after all that climbing.
Map layout was very sprawling, and I wish that there were more intertwining pathways or branches to make certain pathways less linear. This might be a difficult ask given the way Familiar specifically goes about its redesign, but it was noticeable.
The feature noted in the credits was very cool to see. I'm impressed by the effort put in to show off what I'm sure many hack players will be trying to figure out themselves, it's always great when that's possible.
This was a really fantastic experience. I'll start by saying that the world felt divergent in terms of progress. I took one path but I'm pretty sure once a key item was obtained there is a fork that very elegantly would have led me to the same place, a well designed hub that allowed revisiting the other prong OR going forward into dangerous territory early. I took the challenge and got rewarded in terms of items and a very satisfying but still fresh vanilla homage. My pathing choice allowed for tons of exploration, I saw every area after only knocking out one major boss, which is a very fun option.
There was so much creative world building the entire time, using the environment to lead the player through the hacker's vision of a fitful nightmare. The pacing of the hack was good, with each area feeling like it's own adventure and not overstaying its welcome. The visuals are top notch with creative use of heat waves and glow effects, custom and remixed tilesets, careful color and lighting choices, polish on the HUD and pause screen, but MOST of all the hugely detailed sprite art overhauls. This hack is inspiringly crafted, I was in awe from beginning to end, and I would recommend it to all players.
It's not worth an orb off or anything, but getting 100% was extremely easy. It was pretty clear that the author did not want a glut of items, nor a great deal of backtracking just to find ammo, which is a fine choice, but that does mean very few gates or puzzles pose a challenge beyond seeing the tiling hint for a hidden passageway. By the end of the hack I felt like I was just ducking in and out of very interesting rooms but not using any of my tools any more, occasionally bombs, maybe speed booster, but often simply morph. Perhaps this was the most appropriate choice for a hack that wants to be as richly symbolic and thoughtful, an easy adventure so as not to distract from its purpose.
There was so much creative world building the entire time, using the environment to lead the player through the hacker's vision of a fitful nightmare. The pacing of the hack was good, with each area feeling like it's own adventure and not overstaying its welcome. The visuals are top notch with creative use of heat waves and glow effects, custom and remixed tilesets, careful color and lighting choices, polish on the HUD and pause screen, but MOST of all the hugely detailed sprite art overhauls. This hack is inspiringly crafted, I was in awe from beginning to end, and I would recommend it to all players.
It's not worth an orb off or anything, but getting 100% was extremely easy. It was pretty clear that the author did not want a glut of items, nor a great deal of backtracking just to find ammo, which is a fine choice, but that does mean very few gates or puzzles pose a challenge beyond seeing the tiling hint for a hidden passageway. By the end of the hack I felt like I was just ducking in and out of very interesting rooms but not using any of my tools any more, occasionally bombs, maybe speed booster, but often simply morph. Perhaps this was the most appropriate choice for a hack that wants to be as richly symbolic and thoughtful, an easy adventure so as not to distract from its purpose.
Ascent was an impressively good time. Three things really stood out from other hack experiences.
First the design of the whole game was a fresh take on Metroid, kind of like 3 independent open-world adventures played back-to-back, almost episodic. The areas were very large but not obnoxiously so, with interesting room ideas absolutely everywhere. There were obviously some gates in the way, we are playing Metroid after all, but so many of them in this hack felt suggestive rather than mandatory. Often times you'll find yourself behind a blockade you noticed earlier and wonder how else this might have all played out, what other routes there were. I can think of very few other hacks with this much freedom that don't simply make you feel lost.
Second there is the art, which was enormously detailed and creative in a less conventional way. My best description of most rooms would be high-fidelity chaos, an exotic array of tiles blended in a way that doesn't offend the senses. Such a style could easily have become confusing, but the palettes were doing such heavy lifting in keeping things cohesive that it read very well. The whole feeling of the planet was incredibly alien and imaginative, a vibrant playground, reality be damned.
Last and most impressive to me were the huge number of creative puzzles to be solved. Almost no items were simple pixel-hunts, this hack takes the abilities you get and makes you use them in so many unique ways to earn rewards that if puzzle-hack was a category I would put it there over exploration. Speed booster felt like it got the most attention, and given the changes to it that's very reasonable, but BTS manipulation, enemy mechanics, room names, you name it and there's something in the hack to test your knowledge.
First the design of the whole game was a fresh take on Metroid, kind of like 3 independent open-world adventures played back-to-back, almost episodic. The areas were very large but not obnoxiously so, with interesting room ideas absolutely everywhere. There were obviously some gates in the way, we are playing Metroid after all, but so many of them in this hack felt suggestive rather than mandatory. Often times you'll find yourself behind a blockade you noticed earlier and wonder how else this might have all played out, what other routes there were. I can think of very few other hacks with this much freedom that don't simply make you feel lost.
Second there is the art, which was enormously detailed and creative in a less conventional way. My best description of most rooms would be high-fidelity chaos, an exotic array of tiles blended in a way that doesn't offend the senses. Such a style could easily have become confusing, but the palettes were doing such heavy lifting in keeping things cohesive that it read very well. The whole feeling of the planet was incredibly alien and imaginative, a vibrant playground, reality be damned.
Last and most impressive to me were the huge number of creative puzzles to be solved. Almost no items were simple pixel-hunts, this hack takes the abilities you get and makes you use them in so many unique ways to earn rewards that if puzzle-hack was a category I would put it there over exploration. Speed booster felt like it got the most attention, and given the changes to it that's very reasonable, but BTS manipulation, enemy mechanics, room names, you name it and there's something in the hack to test your knowledge.
Gonna start with the criticism this time, get it out of the way.
The concerns about the mechanic described above are real. These objects do have a vertical gameplay purpose and it is a matter of developing skill to overcome them. Some sections featuring them really felt like a lot, it would have been nice if there was some of the challenges were split up into multiple rooms as a means of having some checkpoints, or, if the PLMs are in charge of the spawn locations, making several different places instead of just one. I resorted to save states to minimize reset downtime, which probably cut my IGT by a bunch. This was the closest thing to an orb reduction but it honestly makes for a unique SM experience and the frustration is already faded behind the positive aspects of this hack.
Being vertical is a tough thing for SM. As cool as the concept is, the majority of rooms in a hack like this will have you blindly jumping into the sky in order to learn where to properly jump into the sky. Since combat is an integral part of the game as well, there will often be enemies in your way even when you do know, and this hack loves throwing enemies at you so a huge part of the experience is getting knocked down and then picking yourself up again. This is an essential model for gameplay, naturally, but it sure eats a lot of time. This might not be the kind of problem a hack designer can overcome, given the nature of the base game.
Another minor downside for me are trolly room resets. "Do it again now that you know about the crumble block" is kind of a kaizo thing that I just don't love. This works well if it's a timed mechanic though, like "do it again but faster," or if the crumbles are signaled as part of the challenge the whole time. Needing to improve is good. Needing to be psychic is not.
One last critique are the secrets whose gates were in different rooms than their rewards. It wasn't about a lack of solution clarity, it's just something about a little backtrack which felt like a let-down. Missiles, even on their best days, are a mediocre pick up, so if the puzzle is solved it's just nice that access to the reward be immediate.
With that said, this hack has a way more great things going for it!
Very appealing visuals, especially the work to make 3 layers of parallax. The world felt deep and like it flowed together from the bottom up. There were the always appreciated tileset transitions, and also customized environment FX to make for a different mood. Even though it was still called Brinstar, stepping into the Red section for the first time was somehow different, I really loved that effect.
Verticality has an intuitive and unique map layout, lots of loops and shortcuts to unlock, very organic and fair to re-traverse with its well thought out connections. Secrets were all signaled, I got my % without any random tile bombing. The meta-design of the areas also stood out, some having more plain bridge type rooms or being more sloped, it was a noticeable variety and well designed.
The fun new toys to play with helped by shaking up the standard SM move set. I didn't make that much use out of some attack powerups, but BT was narrowly defeated by one in particular, which felt pretty sweet. There was a risk/reward structure to their design, which takes some getting used to for SM players used to a simpler upgrade system.
Secrets and challenges are everywhere, and I especially liked the shinespark ones, they were flashy but not too difficult to execute, once understood. Those pesky robots though, they gotta stop clogging up all the best runways!
Creative boss changes AND new unique new ones, which were the absolute best parts of the hack. I won't spoil anything because they're so good I think adding these to regular SM alone would have been enough to demand playing that hack. Big kudos for these.
The concerns about the mechanic described above are real. These objects do have a vertical gameplay purpose and it is a matter of developing skill to overcome them. Some sections featuring them really felt like a lot, it would have been nice if there was some of the challenges were split up into multiple rooms as a means of having some checkpoints, or, if the PLMs are in charge of the spawn locations, making several different places instead of just one. I resorted to save states to minimize reset downtime, which probably cut my IGT by a bunch. This was the closest thing to an orb reduction but it honestly makes for a unique SM experience and the frustration is already faded behind the positive aspects of this hack.
Being vertical is a tough thing for SM. As cool as the concept is, the majority of rooms in a hack like this will have you blindly jumping into the sky in order to learn where to properly jump into the sky. Since combat is an integral part of the game as well, there will often be enemies in your way even when you do know, and this hack loves throwing enemies at you so a huge part of the experience is getting knocked down and then picking yourself up again. This is an essential model for gameplay, naturally, but it sure eats a lot of time. This might not be the kind of problem a hack designer can overcome, given the nature of the base game.
Another minor downside for me are trolly room resets. "Do it again now that you know about the crumble block" is kind of a kaizo thing that I just don't love. This works well if it's a timed mechanic though, like "do it again but faster," or if the crumbles are signaled as part of the challenge the whole time. Needing to improve is good. Needing to be psychic is not.
One last critique are the secrets whose gates were in different rooms than their rewards. It wasn't about a lack of solution clarity, it's just something about a little backtrack which felt like a let-down. Missiles, even on their best days, are a mediocre pick up, so if the puzzle is solved it's just nice that access to the reward be immediate.
With that said, this hack has a way more great things going for it!
Very appealing visuals, especially the work to make 3 layers of parallax. The world felt deep and like it flowed together from the bottom up. There were the always appreciated tileset transitions, and also customized environment FX to make for a different mood. Even though it was still called Brinstar, stepping into the Red section for the first time was somehow different, I really loved that effect.
Verticality has an intuitive and unique map layout, lots of loops and shortcuts to unlock, very organic and fair to re-traverse with its well thought out connections. Secrets were all signaled, I got my % without any random tile bombing. The meta-design of the areas also stood out, some having more plain bridge type rooms or being more sloped, it was a noticeable variety and well designed.
The fun new toys to play with helped by shaking up the standard SM move set. I didn't make that much use out of some attack powerups, but BT was narrowly defeated by one in particular, which felt pretty sweet. There was a risk/reward structure to their design, which takes some getting used to for SM players used to a simpler upgrade system.
Secrets and challenges are everywhere, and I especially liked the shinespark ones, they were flashy but not too difficult to execute, once understood. Those pesky robots though, they gotta stop clogging up all the best runways!
Creative boss changes AND new unique new ones, which were the absolute best parts of the hack. I won't spoil anything because they're so good I think adding these to regular SM alone would have been enough to demand playing that hack. Big kudos for these.
I didn't understand a lot of what was going on here. Hack is filled with surprise and blind damage, that is deadly early on. Slow platforming is one thing, but the seahorse ambushes were just rude. The lack of ammo (despite what the screenshots show) or a gate for charge beam means you can dive right into Kraid's room with no tools to beat him. Yes, the save is right outside so there isn't much lost, it was just a strange moment where you're faced with an ironically slow death against the weakest enemy in the hack.
There were only a couple of progression items, and their purpose was generally singular. Speed booster was only used to unlock a pair of Etanks I think, and I got softlocked at one of them thanks to reforming blocks below Samus.
An ammo-less hack is at least an interesting take, and the secrets were understandable despite not having bombs to reveal anything. I liked the mood of the vibrant colour palette, vaporwave ftw.
There were only a couple of progression items, and their purpose was generally singular. Speed booster was only used to unlock a pair of Etanks I think, and I got softlocked at one of them thanks to reforming blocks below Samus.
An ammo-less hack is at least an interesting take, and the secrets were understandable despite not having bombs to reveal anything. I liked the mood of the vibrant colour palette, vaporwave ftw.
This hack was a good time. I laughed at the gelato naming convention and then laughed harder finding piles of it strewn about the station, and mamma-mia-ing all the items was funny too. For a gag hack it played seriously though. I think the best part about this was how much play each item got, especially the new toy which was very cool. I'm a "hold run at all times" kinda player and I skipped a lot of tooltips inadvertently, but it was clear what it did just playing around with it, and you made good use of it as a movement tool and puzzle key.
It's also great how open and breakable the station felt, you didn't try to overcorrect wave gates or underwater wall jumping or other tech, the hell runs were quite manageable, etc. It was clear at obstacles that you wanted us to have something for them but you let us shoot ourselves in the foot anyway.
When the hack started I thought the number of false-wall secrets would be annoying but somehow I came to expect them, and jumping into walls and ceilings just felt like bomb-checking them anyway. The aesthetics of the station were nice, though cherry side is a little on the red-crateria side of things. Tiling was generally cool, even if I did have some trouble telling what was destroyed and what was background in the escape.
Really great hack, but I am an Italian so -1 orb.
It's also great how open and breakable the station felt, you didn't try to overcorrect wave gates or underwater wall jumping or other tech, the hell runs were quite manageable, etc. It was clear at obstacles that you wanted us to have something for them but you let us shoot ourselves in the foot anyway.
When the hack started I thought the number of false-wall secrets would be annoying but somehow I came to expect them, and jumping into walls and ceilings just felt like bomb-checking them anyway. The aesthetics of the station were nice, though cherry side is a little on the red-crateria side of things. Tiling was generally cool, even if I did have some trouble telling what was destroyed and what was background in the escape.
Really great hack, but I am an Italian so -1 orb.
Metroid: Symphony of the Light by starlightintheriver [ Incomplete],
rated by Onnyks on Jul 03, 2024 ( 
)
Incomplete],
rated by Onnyks on Jul 03, 2024 ( )
26% in 0:37
There's some cool ideas here, the parallel worlds, the striking circular aesthetics, the dark story hinted at in logs, I'd definitely play a full game based on this demo.
This hack was a cool little romp with lots of great moments.
I really liked the aesthetics first of all, the ceres/WS tile bashing with the earthy palette sold the industrial environment and you blended it with the rocky asteroid well. There were even some fun callbacks to some vanilla rooms which I always get a kick out of. The second ship was really neat too, I like the idea of Samus hijacking other vehicles, even if just for an elevator trip.
Beyond being good looking, the custom mechanics were the best part of this hack. What most people will probably remember right after the hack is done is the final boss, which adds some pretty epic changes to a familiar face. It was tough and I cheesed it for my first kill cuz it was getting late, but I came back and fought it legit and had a lot of fun trying. The early boss change was something I'd seen in another hack but it's always nice to make changes to poor spo-spo.
The thing I hope people remember most though is sending both Samus and also your bombs flying! I feel either like the barrels were under-used, or every good idea you had with them was crammed into one room and I'm not appreciating it enough. They were fun to blast around in and not at all as janky as I would have expected. The bomb launchr was by far the best part of the hack for me though, I loved the shot tunnel puzzles and the ability to find hidden pathways with ease. This might sound silly, but just spamming projectiles and watching them ricocheting across the screen was satisfying unto itself. This is a great item and I hope to see it used much more.
Unfortunately one negative issue I had was being confused about navigating. Some late game progression issues arose due to an unexpected mechanics change. The change is a cool one, but it involves crumble blocks which are so ingrained within the Metroid structure that I took a lot of time trying to figure out how to get above them like any other game when I shouldn't have been. Another thing that kept me circling was trying to tell which map tiles were going to be accessible and which were not, especially when it came to the elevator ones, where you can secretly find your way into some but not all. I'm not sure why there are as many of these on the map as there are.
I really liked the aesthetics first of all, the ceres/WS tile bashing with the earthy palette sold the industrial environment and you blended it with the rocky asteroid well. There were even some fun callbacks to some vanilla rooms which I always get a kick out of. The second ship was really neat too, I like the idea of Samus hijacking other vehicles, even if just for an elevator trip.
Beyond being good looking, the custom mechanics were the best part of this hack. What most people will probably remember right after the hack is done is the final boss, which adds some pretty epic changes to a familiar face. It was tough and I cheesed it for my first kill cuz it was getting late, but I came back and fought it legit and had a lot of fun trying. The early boss change was something I'd seen in another hack but it's always nice to make changes to poor spo-spo.
The thing I hope people remember most though is sending both Samus and also your bombs flying! I feel either like the barrels were under-used, or every good idea you had with them was crammed into one room and I'm not appreciating it enough. They were fun to blast around in and not at all as janky as I would have expected. The bomb launchr was by far the best part of the hack for me though, I loved the shot tunnel puzzles and the ability to find hidden pathways with ease. This might sound silly, but just spamming projectiles and watching them ricocheting across the screen was satisfying unto itself. This is a great item and I hope to see it used much more.
Unfortunately one negative issue I had was being confused about navigating. Some late game progression issues arose due to an unexpected mechanics change. The change is a cool one, but it involves crumble blocks which are so ingrained within the Metroid structure that I took a lot of time trying to figure out how to get above them like any other game when I shouldn't have been. Another thing that kept me circling was trying to tell which map tiles were going to be accessible and which were not, especially when it came to the elevator ones, where you can secretly find your way into some but not all. I'm not sure why there are as many of these on the map as there are.
Super Metroid: Eleven by Metaquarius [ Quick Play],
rated by Onnyks on Jul 12, 2024 ( )
Quick Play],
rated by Onnyks on Jul 12, 2024 ( )
100% in 2:11
Contragulations on producing such a well thought out hack in such a short time. I thought I was done with Eleven after collecting about 60% items and having 0% clue where else to go, and was ready to give it 4 orbs. Then I died to a BS Kraid fight and was ready to give it 3 orbs, and then Samus respawned and the hack redeemed those fallen orbs. Kudos on the twist, it was both a mechanically and narratively cool moment. It's interesting how two of the contest hacks came to use a similar source of inspiration; both are good takes, but keeping it a surprise was a smart move.
The room puzzles were fun to solve. It was a bit frustrating to know I overworked some of them in my quest to clear the station before heading back to the ship. Given what became available to players in act 2 many of them would have been trivial, and part of me wonders if the reveal ought to have been put earlier to accommodate this. I'm not mad that I was tricked into thinking it was a challenge hack though, if anything it made the experience more unique. Overthinking puzzles is pretty par for the course in the Metroid series anyway, and when multiple solutions exist for one that turns out to be good design.
It was a relief that the gate switching mechanic wasn't as repetitive of a mechanic as it could have been, your restraint on the number of required trips back to the control room was appreciated.
It might have been nice if Kraid COULD die to 10 minutes of space jumping super shots and midair farming (maybe it takes 11 minutes), but I did see the room cue and decided to try and be a gamer anyway. You fixed both claws to give drops so I feel justified in trying that as a the mode of attack.
The game looked great and sounded fun and played well. 4.5 orbs overall, rounded up for the impressive time scale of its production. Would recommend.
The room puzzles were fun to solve. It was a bit frustrating to know I overworked some of them in my quest to clear the station before heading back to the ship. Given what became available to players in act 2 many of them would have been trivial, and part of me wonders if the reveal ought to have been put earlier to accommodate this. I'm not mad that I was tricked into thinking it was a challenge hack though, if anything it made the experience more unique. Overthinking puzzles is pretty par for the course in the Metroid series anyway, and when multiple solutions exist for one that turns out to be good design.
It was a relief that the gate switching mechanic wasn't as repetitive of a mechanic as it could have been, your restraint on the number of required trips back to the control room was appreciated.
It might have been nice if Kraid COULD die to 10 minutes of space jumping super shots and midair farming (maybe it takes 11 minutes), but I did see the room cue and decided to try and be a gamer anyway. You fixed both claws to give drops so I feel justified in trying that as a the mode of attack.
The game looked great and sounded fun and played well. 4.5 orbs overall, rounded up for the impressive time scale of its production. Would recommend.
