Unread postby Xfing » 16 Aug 2024, 17:53
Ok, I've played through the whole thing. My observations:
- the town's design is amazing, gives it a lot of individual identity that doesn't feel quite like MM6, 7 or 8. The buildings are the best designed ones out of the 3 games and it really feels fun and pleasant to hang out in the town - something I remember enjoying years ago and have a lot of nostalgia for. The buildings are quite densely packed though, so for future towns you design, keep that fact in mind and consider creating some open and spacious areas with a lot of sky.
- the dungeons are even better - they really demonstrate the limits of what's possible with this engine. They are all so elaborate, detailed and plain beautiful that it's going to be difficult to play the vanilla games again. They surpass even the upper parts of the Merge's Breach dungeon, which at that time could also be considered the best content in this engine. The Oak Home has that soothing, adventurous, exotic pirate feel that reminds of MM8's Regna, the Apple Cave is by far the best cave-like dungeon ever put to this engine, and the Archmage's mansion is just the prettiest building of its kind, period.
- Gameplay-wise, it's nice to see a smaller-scope adventure that can be completed with a party of level 10. The start is really slow and grindy and bows for all your guys are all but a necessity, but there are still ways to noticeably improve and gain power via items, Day of the Gods and expert Spirit Magic. That makes the adventure more engrossing and grander than one might think. The final fight with the Archmage is just as tough as expected, a very satisfying ending.
- I was able to do all the quests, except the Lucky Coin one. Just no idea where to look with that one haha
anyhow, really amazing work and you made me think all three M&M games on this engine should have looked exactly like this in terms of detail and presentation.