This is a fun romp for anyone interested in some classic-style quest-play. Good soundtrack, decent pace of combat, difficulty, and exploration required in dungeons. Overall difficulty is roughly equivalent to the NES second quest.

I originally played a version of this quest back when all of the other 5th quest candidates were released, but at the time there were a few game-stopping bugs that prevented folks from finishing. The most recent version (as of June 2017) seems to have quashed most of these bugs, although a few obstacles still remain [such as (1) poor key-logic in level 4: the NE-most corner holds a key that is behind a locked door, and (2) you're required to save+quit after getting the silver arrow - there's a block that's pushable on the way there, but not on the way out]. Nothing game-breaking (e.g. you can buy keys in the overworld), but there are some bumps in the road, so to speak.

As with a bunch of the 5th quest entries, there are some new enemies that aren't present in the 1st-4th quests. Some items have some new features, and there are some items that aren't present in the 1st-4th quests. This was fun to play!

A very fun 5th Quest! Really love that overworld music whatever it is. All the dungeon themes were great. Level 1 & 7 have the same theme, dunno if you meant for that. lol...

The challenge & balance is just right too. It's everything that it needed to be. A 5 in my book! Will be LPing soon. :3

Very nice "5th quest," Scootaloo! It was quite a challenge for my fighting capability. Later levels required a lot of memorizing. Thanks!

I really enjoyed this! For a player like me, this was a real challenge. (I had a whopping 87 deaths by the end). But within the context of this quest's difficulty, everything seemed well balanced. The challenges arose from smart, unique combinations of enemies that really made me think about exploiting weaknesses and the best way to tackle things. Dungeon design was great, and felt at home among the dungeons from the first through third quests, (the only ones I've played). I also really liked the secret placement on the overworld. Several of them felt extremely clever and at home in the Zelda 1 world to the point that it seemed like they should have been there all along. For example, adding a second lost woods that opened onto a dead end with a dungeon, and the location of level 8 both felt like something the original designers might have intended.

The increased heart requirements for the swords, and the need to power up to face the dungeons, made thorough exploration of the overworld a must. Fortunately, the really important powerups weren't hidden in locations that were too obscure, and there were hints available. It was challenging, but felt fair. The custom enemies all felt like appropriate upgrades to existing enemies. I have almost no real complaints about the overall design. It's all very intelligently thought out.

Of my few issues with this quest, most are very minor bugs that are easy for a quest maker to miss. This is definitely recommended for anyone who wants an experience similar to the original Zelda with some added challenge and some unique new ideas.

So!

First off, I've been having a bit of fun going through this. I think it's been another good successor in the next-quest series. It follows the difficulty of the 1st and 2nd quests, without going outright obnoxious like the 3rd quest. I also like how it gradually works in the new enemies and features from the expanded ZC set. Admittedly, I've been spoiled by the restart-with-full-health option most other quests use, so the 3-heart starts can be a bit jarring. But, I understand the context and the rules, so it's all good.

However, I came across a slight problem in Level-8:



You shouldn't lock players in rooms that have both Mirror Robes and other enemies that can drop clocks. The clock from the blue Wizzrobe shut down the Mirror Robes and trapped me in the room with nothing to reflect back at them. To be honest, after spending so much time going through like 10 tries of Level-8, only to have that happen on my best one, I set it aside for a moment.

I'll get back to it in a bit, but for now, it's worth double-checking all your Mirror Robe rooms to see that no other situations like this could arise.

The trick I used for some of my own rooms, in which I didn't want clocks to be dropped, is to simply make a copy of the enemies that would be appearing in the room, then make a copy of their item drop set without the clock in it, and attach that clock-less drop set to the copied enemy. Then I'd just name them "Wizzrobe (no clock)" in the enemy editor, and that would be the simple (though occasionally tedious) fix.

I think that trick would work here, and help you avoid having to shuffle your enemy setups around also.

So, consider giving it a try. I'm pretty sure situations like mine are freak incidents, but they're still a possibility, so I think they're worth addressing.

Thank's a lot for not making any of these "This ain't enough" or "Thanks boy, youre rich" pay for info's. That and door repair rooms are my big pet peeve with many classic styled quests!