This quest, despite it's quirks, was quite a blast.

It's fun mix of new and old Zelda elements came together into a game that was fun all of the way through. Before I dive deeper into the review, I finished the game off on Easy with 99 deaths and a 98% completion rate (I missed an item that I nabbed after I beat the game). I also finished with a 13 hour run time, but I'd average that the quest would run you anywhere between 8-15 hours, depending on your knack for Zelda games and full completion. I do have to recommend playing this game on the Easy difficulty though, as it was a far more balanced experience to the NES-like difficulty of Normal mode.
The first thing that really stuck out to me where the graphics. Man, while not being the most high fidelity game on the database, it sure used it's tiles and limitations to their full potential. The game was a treat to look at, and felt very Zelda all the way through despite the many convention's Russ decides to subvert. Speaking of, the plot was pretty compelling. It utilizes elements from the Zelda canon in a unique way that, while text heavy at many points (with that high pitched text noise highlighting the problem), draws you in in a way not many quests in the database do. The cutscenes are pretty decent as well, showcasing some pretty witty dialogue in the later half of the game. It's re-contextualization of Zelda tropes also carries over to the gameplay. While being advertised as an NES-like, the game chooses to carry over only certain aspects from the NES era of Zelda, with the rest being brand new gimmicks and mechanics for you to really bite your teeth into. But, this is where my core frustations (and high praise) stem from.

Let's start with one of my favorite part about this game: the items. Certain items have become so second nature to PureZC frequents that they become groan inducing. The stepladder, in an unrelated but also semi-related tangent, fucking blows. I think it's dumb. Not as a mechanic or as an item, but just the fact that it's just... a ladder. To me, I'd wish there was a substitution in some way that makes it fun. I rolled my eyes when I got the stepladder and skipped it's item introduction, but when I walked over a hole in the floor it just... didn't work. You have to actually extend the stepladder in this quest, and it's this magnificent revelation that opens up so many areas and possibilities in the overworld because instead of it being this simple bridge, it becomes a portable platform that allows you to navigate the game world in new and unique ways. And it's like that with every item. A boring candle and a simple bow are just not those things in this game. You also use many items in tandem with each other, creating a strong arsenal of weapons and items. There is also a boomerang. The music is also dope, with the score being Famitracker remixes of some classic video game tunes ranging from Final Fantasy to Kirby. It gave me a VVVVVV vibe and I don't really know why? Not a complaint though, it is an excellent game.

The world is simply enamoring. The quest is clever with it's two overworld system, Wind Waker-esque as you explore a flooded Hyrule that is a new spin on the classic Zelda 1 map. The access points and explorable nature between the two worlds creates an excellent dichotomy that makes each one have memorable and interesting locations. Exploring a mainly underwater land is something exciting and fresh, and sprite effects are always a treat to look at. It's something fresh and new that makes an almost 35 year old world feel exciting again. Which is why it's a shame that this game also decides to trap itself in retro Zelda conventions that don't belong in a game that wants to be something more than a retro throwback.
The first noticeable hiccup in this department is the game's choice of not allowing the space bar map in the overworld. The world is easily memorable, but it's hard to keep track of every single location you've been to. Granted, it is a mechanic that can be over relied on as a crutch to lazily approach exploration, as opposed to forcing the player to familiarize them selves with the game world. Where this logic falls flat is that the game also expects you to use this as a tool in dungeons to figure out where to go. You can't have your cake and eat it too, so it's either you abandon the mechanic to keep it retro or let it be to allow players to orient themselves in places other than dungeons. Anyways, the space bar map in dungeons is also used to find bomb-able walls. The game, most of the time, doesn't make you think to hard about where to bomb walls. But sometimes you are required to have and immense leap of judgement on where to go. Some walls I just never would have thought were bomb-able if I hadn't exhausted all other options (the final dungeon having one so baffling I don't know how I found it). It's easy to lose track of all the stair warps as well, with some dungeons going crazy with the mechanic (Level 3 and ESPECIALLY 7 come to mind). This carries over to the overworld as well, but it isn't as guilty of this crime as the dungeons are, except for the stone tablets which are always A. permanently marked off when found and B. marked off before you buy the map (bug?).

Where the game flourishes are the dungeons. Despite those grievances and some that I'll address later, the game is fantastic with it's theming and scripted gimmicks. Some more than others, but still some great puzzles. The gimmicks in Levels 2, 4, 6, and 8 especially are grand, with the highlight being Level 2. One of my favorite dungeons I've ever had to crawl. Every dungeon was guilty of having a great flow, coming to a sudden halt right at the end when there is one last thing you need to do but can't figure out how to orient yourself or how to do it, and then sticking the landing with a cool boss. Except for Level 5, which has this asinine gimmick in the final room that made me laugh with frustration. A weird sentence, I know. Some puzzles require a leap of logic, specifically a gimmick you need to accidentally figure out in Level 3 and a puzzle in Level 7 that I would've never had figured out the solution if not for skimming a playthrough to figure it out.

Overall, despite my grievances, this is quite the game. It has this undeniable charm and irresistible quality to it that made me keep going back and pushing through. I implore any one to look through it's flaws and play it through to the end, because this is one you won't wanna miss. My technical rating is a 4.5/5, but because I enjoyed myself so much, I'll give it five stars. My favorite from Russ, by far, and some good Zelda fun.

I really did love this quest. I'm not really good at making review (nor am I bothered to make one now), so I'm just going to leave the link for my play-through of the quest.

This was a great quest. Challenging at times. especially the boss of the ghost ship, until you figure out its gimmick, I died about 43 times before figuring it out. For the lynols, you can actually kill them pretty easily after you finish dungeon 4 or so, you should have collected about 12 - 15 heart pieces buy then if you were exploring as you were playing along, in this game each heart piece is 1/2 a heart container, so you need 2 to give you a full heart, also you should be able to purchase at least, 2 defense rings and a damage ring by then. With all of those items, goto a lynol screen and just stand in a corner and use your spear rapidly and you will have no problem killing it if you are at full health. Or buy a potion if you need to, rupees are not a problem at all in this game. I like the different use of the maps in the game, and the dungeons were laid out nicely, they required a bit of exploring but also not too difficult at the same time. I like the fact that you can change the difficulty at any time, although I am not really sure what that does, it seamed to have very little effect for me, maybe it just increases or decreases enemy hp or something. The only gripe I have with the game is that sometimes it had a little too much dialog, although it did have an interesting back story, I just found that I skipped through it a bit. Overall a very pleasant quest.

difficulty - 3 of 5
combat - 4 of 5
music choice - 5 - 5
story - 4 of 5
gameplay - 4 of 5
explorationality - 4 of 5
dungeon layout - 5 of 5
overworlds - 4 of 5

overall - a solid 4 of 5

Watching this quest's progress has been a real treat! Super excited to start my playthrough.