Originally posted by LadiesMan217Originally posted by BaleafHey y'know what? Maybe it is. I admittedly hate scavenging for stuff in games and prefer mechanical skill. That's on me. But I've enjoyed the rest of the hack immensely so this part just felt like a very low point in my experience.
Ya know cudos for the honesty and taking it like a champ vs being defensive! As for some of the complaints or questions you had involving the change, it was to encourage exploration since I wanted the game to have the same feel as when you first played it. There was no internet back then and all secrets were found via word of mouth or magazines and I wanted to bring some of that back. Another reason in particular for this level is bc I wanted all ghost levels to keep that “puzzle” theme going. Sunken Ghost Ship was linear unlike all ghost house levels prior to it and this was the simplest change that didn’t require extensively changing the whole level layout but just enough that if you knew the og’s layout, you could explore just the differences. I hope to hear ya play the rest of the hack, including hard mode if you haven’t (as well as the 38 bonus levels)!!!
I played some hard mode and have some comments on it.
As for my compliments on it, the new enemies were such a treat to see. Seeing the sprites from the gigaleak in action was so fun (they were all coded very well btw; a lot of times when I see upright Piranha Plants in hacks the stems' palette is not adjusted, so I'm so happy you took the time to make it correct), and as I went through my playthrough I loved gradually seeing more and more new enemies. They add a lot of flavour to the game and make it more SMB3-like, in a good way. I also enjoyed the new Koopaling boss fights, especially Morton and Ludwig's. Simple, small adjustments in their attack patterns make them much more dynamic and interesting to fight. I also like the lack of an item reserve; it changes the way you approach situations a LOT, and I find that to be an interesting way to play the game.
Now, what I don't like about it and what made me not finish it...holy SHIT this mode is cheap as fuck sometimes. Like, yes, I know this is supposed to be a HARD mode, and I enjoy when the difficulty is interesting and fair, but it sometimes feels more like a buttfucking-impossible mode, with how cheap the enemy and trap placements can be. Some examples I can think of off the top of my head that are cheap and unfun are:
Roy's Castle, Choco Island 5, Ludwig's Castle (specifically the second room), parts of Donut Land 4 (mostly when Flying Hammer Bros are there), and the end of Forest of Illusion 2. These parts, in specific, cross the line of just being difficult and instead feel cheap and unfair. They don't present interesting mechanical challenges, they're just raining enemies/mechanics onto you nonstop, expecting you to be flawless with it. To me, that isn't hard; it's just annoying and frustrating.
Could SOME of this be chalked up to me being bad? For sure. But regardless, it doesn't feel like I'm "getting better" with each attempt; it simply feels like I brute-forced my way through by sheer luck, and no matter what, that isn't gonna be fun for me. And sure, maybe Nintendo would have designed a hard mode like this if it were released in the 90s. But Jesus Christ man, this isn't an arcade game; I don't need 80 million Rip Van Fish and Hammer Bros up my ass at all times for it to be considered hard. I just like a fair, honest challenge, and for a lot of it, you certainly provide that. But these moments have stuck out like a sore thumb for me, and that's why I don't feel motivated or skilled enough to finish it. I do hope this critique helped you, and I can clarify things if needed. I just want to see a hard mode that's less cheap and has more of a good kind of challenge.
With love, Haru <3
