So, I've given this a whirl, and I can comfortably say that this quest handles the absolute best out of any ZC project I've ever played. The way the enemy knockback works feels so satisfying, and the bow actually feels good to use, which I certainly didn't expect.
The atmosphere overall is wonderful. The overworld is beautifully detailed and the dungeon really nailed the creepy crypt atmosphere. You can tell that a lot of thought and care went into this project, from the spiders that crawled out of the pit to the moblin cutscene early on; so many touches are here that weren't really necessary, but were added nonetheless. I truly appreciate that level of care and detail.
The demo took me about 20 minutes or so to beat, and might have taken about half an hour if I tried to scour every last corner after the dungeon. For the scope of this quest, I'd say that's pretty appropriate.
First quest remakes/reimaginings are pretty common, although I personally enjoy seeing how people can push the limits of the classic Zelda overworld; I'm more than willing to look past the fact that this is the OG Hyrule map at its core. Truthfully, I wouldn't have realized as much if you didn't spell it out for me.
As for criticisms, I only really have two: For starters, I feel that the stamina system doesn't really affect gameplay much. Perhaps items will be added down the road that makes it relevant. However, as far as the candle goes, stamina basically doesn't matter at all. Secondly, I think the level of detail might be just a bit *too* much at times; the screens have a lot going on, and it makes it a bit hard to parse what's going on at-a-glance.
In all, though, this is fantastic work. If I had to rate it, I'd give a 4.95/5.00. I'm really excited to see what Sheik and Mitch do here going forward! <3