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chuckroI had done a Let’s Play of an earlier version of this hack, and Sarah Shinespark messaged me directly to let me know that Version 3 was available. (On my birthday, no less!)
I have to say, this is really sweet. I love the map annotations; I love that the entire game is so much smoother. The new translation is very nice, and it's amazing what a difference the new spell names make for immersion. (The spirits’ spell names make more sense, the “Attribute” spells have actual cool names, and there are better descriptions for everything.) There are some changes to the maps, many of them very subtle, but enough to make the experience feel fresher; there were also some changes to where equipment is found that make you feel slightly less like a chump for buying weaker stuff in town.
The one thing I find myself missing is the weapons table from the original manual; until the last chapter I spent a lot of time doing the "is it worth buying this thing or just saving up for the next one?" dilemma. Though the status screen telling you your elemental and enemy attack/defense bonuses is also really nice, and I got good mileage out of both the anti-undead and anti-dragon equipment. (Especially since the dragons are your best grinding targets in the last chapter.) I wasn’t sure what to make of the "cursed" equipment, which was usable by anyone and apparently was Darwin’s best choice for that chapter (though the only sold for 1 GP each), but I still appreciated the variety.
Overall: As I noted in my LP, this isn’t actually that great a game, but it’s an interesting one that’s pretty much unique in the SNES catalogue. And the hack removes a number of its weaknesses to make it more fun to play through, so a lot of credit to that.
I have to say, this is really sweet. I love the map annotations; I love that the entire game is so much smoother. The new translation is very nice, and it's amazing what a difference the new spell names make for immersion. (The spirits’ spell names make more sense, the “Attribute” spells have actual cool names, and there are better descriptions for everything.) There are some changes to the maps, many of them very subtle, but enough to make the experience feel fresher; there were also some changes to where equipment is found that make you feel slightly less like a chump for buying weaker stuff in town.
The one thing I find myself missing is the weapons table from the original manual; until the last chapter I spent a lot of time doing the "is it worth buying this thing or just saving up for the next one?" dilemma. Though the status screen telling you your elemental and enemy attack/defense bonuses is also really nice, and I got good mileage out of both the anti-undead and anti-dragon equipment. (Especially since the dragons are your best grinding targets in the last chapter.) I wasn’t sure what to make of the "cursed" equipment, which was usable by anyone and apparently was Darwin’s best choice for that chapter (though the only sold for 1 GP each), but I still appreciated the variety.
Overall: As I noted in my LP, this isn’t actually that great a game, but it’s an interesting one that’s pretty much unique in the SNES catalogue. And the hack removes a number of its weaknesses to make it more fun to play through, so a lot of credit to that.
