Project Storm is one of those artsy, experimental, mold breaking ZC quests that comes around here on occasion. While PS seems to draw inspiration from 2016's Tribute to Yeto's Quest, and Island of Yeto, there seems to be themes from the original Yeto's Quest and even Eiyuu also thrown in for good measure. If you are a fan of those quests, as I most definitely am, you are probably going to enjoy Project Storm. Much like the Yeto's quests or the TtYQ, PS definitely does not hold the player's hand and lead him or her along the way; much to the contrary, PS will have you constantly asking "what the hell do I do now," and leave you thinking, time and again, that you are stuck with no way to proceed. Like Eiyuu, Project Storm is a substantial quest with a deceptively small overworld, is deep with difficult-to find easter eggs, is mythological, and centers around a central dungeon (or two) that the player is sure to visit over and over again. Without having a karma system like Eiyuu, PS does have several different endings in the form of logical places where the player can walk away and consider the quest done.

What project storm really excels at, in my opinion, is breaking the mold and being very difficult to define. Is this a puzzle quest? While there are lots of puzzles and unusual, out-of-the-box means are necessary to proceed, there is enough combat and challenging boss fights that I wouldn't call this a puzzle quest. Is PS a Metroidvania? While the central dungeon, and more minor caves and the like can and do need to be revisited several times, with items from other places needed to proceed - if for nothing else than a practical level - there is also a pretty open world to explore. I wouldn't even call PS a miniquest, let alone beatable in 1-2 hours - like the description suggests. While technically there isn't a whole lot to do in order to beat the main dungeon, you are going to be scratching your head so much, pondering what to do, that you will spend just as much time in PS as you would in a full 9-level+ traditional quest. If you decide to proceed with post-game content, you will easily sink as much time into project storm as a big quest like Isle of Rebirth. Yet unlike IoR, I wouldn't call project storm a dungeon grinder because the majority of time is spent outside of large dungeons. My time, before any post-game optional content, is over 11 hours, and I'm quite familiar with the out-of-the-box mechanics and gimmicks that Project Storm employs. With the post-game content, the total time spent playing is around 38 hours.

Difficulty wise, this is definitely what I would call a difficult quest. While not a straight-up challenge quest, boss fights can be pretty unforgiving and there are screens and areas that are full of difficult enemies and obstacles, and if you don't happen to find the big offensive and defensive upgrades ASAP, you will have to face this combat with poor offensive/defensive capability and little health. Combat aside, I would definitely say that just finding the way to progress is at the core of Project Storm's difficulty. Like the Yeto's quests, there are many, many false walls and red herrings designed to keep the player off balance; there are many areas that look relevant in order to proceed, but, in fact, offer little more than allowing the player to say "yep, I did that." While I won't spoil that synopsis with specific examples, the red herrings do seem to have a logical consistency and definitely make sense - if only in retrospect. I'm not sure how much of what amount to red herrings are due to the fact that the quest isn't finished, as perhaps some of the optional content could have more importance were this not a beta, but I'll go ahead and say that if an area, task, or specific challenge looks impossible to beat, it probably is impossible or is completely unnecessary. Or, at least impossible to accomplish with your present awareness and equipment.

I say present awareness and equipment because a whole lot opens up once one acquires the macguffin in the main portion of the quest. Then, one faces the challenge of having to really think about whether that area, task, or specific challenge is actually possible after all; and often times, it is. Not to spoil anything, but the post-main content in PS is just as strong, if not stronger and is much more extensive, then what came before. I guess a good way to describe the post-game content is everything that came before, but kicked up three notches or so. That is to say that if you didn't have a very good time up to the end of the main quest, you probably won't like the post-main quest.

Some other strong points include the music selections throughout. There are some pretty fitting midis throughout that you will probably struggle to place the source of. This definitely isn't one of those quests with the same midis you've already heard tons of times. Individual screen design is mostly quite strong IMO with very little redundant or needless mess clogging things up. There are details and decorations where those things are needed or add to the ambiance, but not so much that the player struggles to discern important clues about how to proceed.

Overall, as a fan of quests that require running around in circles and looking for elusive solutions to move forward, Project Storm really delivers. The quest maker's description is spot on in that PS is definitely not for everyone and you probably should quit if you just can't make progress and are having a frustrating time. While that often strikes as unfair while playing, Project Storm is, in fact, quite fair and doesn't force the player through cheap, tedious difficulty in order to advance forward. Project storm does force the player to think and be observant, try novel solutions, and requires good memory (or map making at times) in order to advance forward. Fortunately, advancing forward is always easier than one might think and overthinking things will cause nothing but frustration. As something this out-of-the-box and novel, Project Storm is a rare gem in the ZC universe.

like this so far =D

Possible game breaking bug. It is possible to push the lock block separating the Living Forest from Gale Fields, making it impossible to return. I am now stuck in Gale Fields with only the walking stick and no other items besides the glove. If I decide to continue, I'm pretty sure that I'll have to restart completely.