A lot of people will find this hack broadly enjoyable, some will think it's amazing, and a few will find some of it fairly frustrating.
Tundain has no end of ideas in this hack and they for the most part fit together very well. From the custom intro to the custom escape, you can tell that this is a highly modified game compared to the vanilla experience. Everything is executed bug-free, including very interesting custom items, enemies and even bosses. Whatever Tundain is doing, he does it well.
The issue is that in at least one instance these ideas aren't harmonious, the most glaring example being between the overcharge mechanic and the melee mechanic, but ultimately all that boils down to is a choice you have to make between what combat style you need for each situation.
Another issue is that custom mechanics are not always clear. The worst offender in my playthrough being the Maridia vents which were counterintuitive and which I never actually learned (I asked Tundain to explain them).
However, for the most part these are small nitpicks for things which no other hacks have included, all custom work by Tundain which like I said are all executed without bugs of any kind. And much of the custom stuff is a simply a delight. You'll see what I mean especially after you beat Kraid.
My biggest issue with the hack is the difficulty. This is NOT a vanilla difficulty hack, although Tundain has indicated that future versions will be easier. Almost every enemy has updated behavior to make them deadlier, and the core route through the game sometimes requires execution or game knowledge significantly beyond that of the vanilla experience. That said, the hack is by no means an expert or kaizo level of challenge.
The map is laid out very well. This is a similar experience to Ascent, with an addition of a progressive fast-travel system that lets you backtrack between faraway areas very quickly, (once you've gotten to that areas the hard way first). The boss order is shuffled from vanilla, in a way that makes a lot of sense for the map, and the bosses' difficulty has been adjusted accordingly.
The game assets have been improved. The music tweaks Tundain has made are interesting, cool, and sometimes off-putting as they are small alterations of the vanilla songs and may give you mental brown notes when they don't match what you're expecting. All are done well enough to still sound decent as standalone tracks. And the graphics are also spiced up with glows and FX, as well as minor details that not everyone may notice right away.
All in all, it's a hack that sets out to do a lot, and manages to achieve all of it. I'm knocking one orb off of a perfect five partly because I don't agree with all of those ideas, but mostly because the hack page misrepresents its difficulty.
So Little Bubble by Conner [ Quick Play],
rated by dewhi100 on Feb 01, 2021 ()
Exploration],
rated by dewhi100 on Apr 29, 2024 (
Quick Play],
rated by dewhi100 on Feb 01, 2021 (
