SM Redesign: Axeil Edition FINAL

[Technomagus]

This past Thursday I've started streaming my Let's Play of Axeil 1.4.  The stream videos have been uploaded to YouTube, annotated, and a playlist is available here.  I'm up to Wave Beam so far.

[Hrith]

I'd never had any issue with the original Redesign and it is by far my favourite hack. I'll definitely play this, since it was made by the same author, but I hope it's not just a watered down version of the original.

[Quietus]

Nope.  I'm in the same boat as you, and I'd say that this is different enough that it's not even the same hack.  Most of the main upgrades are in their normal places, but statues and expansions have been shifted.  Definitely give it a go. :^_^:

[Hrith]

I will :)

[The Envoy of the Beginning]

I came close to a flawless Ridley Fight at Norfair in my video playthrough QQ
(I don't have the video up yet)

Took damage from him only once and I increased the amount of damage he does to me by a lot since I hit him so many times at Ceres.

Now I just need to get through Tourian.

[Technomagus]

I just passed Ridley in my let's play as well, skipping Draygon so I could get Plasma early.  My Ridley fight wasn't too bad, though I did have to Crystal Flash to not die.  Thankfully, I didn't bother wasting time on Ridley at Ceres, so I didn't have to worry about the damage buff, and I had Screw Attack at the time, so I was able to avoid a good chuck of damage.  Very important, since I only had 5 E-Tanks at the time.  The videos will be up over the weekend.

[EDIT]Videos are uploaded.  Just have Draygon, Maridia Guardians, and Tourian to go.

[SirAileron]

I just passed Ridley in my let's play as well, skipping Draygon so I could get Plasma early.  My Ridley fight wasn't too bad, though I did have to Crystal Flash to not die.  Thankfully, I didn't bother wasting time on Ridley at Ceres, so I didn't have to worry about the damage buff, and I had Screw Attack at the time, so I was able to avoid a good chuck of damage.  Very important, since I only had 5 E-Tanks at the time.  The videos will be up over the weekend.

[EDIT]Videos are uploaded.  Just have Draygon, Maridia Guardians, and Tourian to go.

It's good to see that someone who isn't super at Metroid is getting through this. You have most definitely been voicing a lot of concerns I have about the proposed "improvements" to this hack, and this is coming from someone who completed the EPB challenge.  :lol:

Also, in my not-EPB playthrough, I noticed there's like, no limit to how much damage you can make Ridley do to you. He was doing something like 250-300 damage to me per hit. :mad:

[Technomagus]

I just passed Ridley in my let's play as well, skipping Draygon so I could get Plasma early.  My Ridley fight wasn't too bad, though I did have to Crystal Flash to not die.  Thankfully, I didn't bother wasting time on Ridley at Ceres, so I didn't have to worry about the damage buff, and I had Screw Attack at the time, so I was able to avoid a good chuck of damage.  Very important, since I only had 5 E-Tanks at the time.  The videos will be up over the weekend.

[EDIT]Videos are uploaded.  Just have Draygon, Maridia Guardians, and Tourian to go.

It's good to see that someone who isn't super at Metroid is getting through this. You have most definitely been voicing a lot of concerns I have about the proposed "improvements" to this hack, and this is coming from someone who completed the EPB challenge.  :lol:

Also, in my not-EPB playthrough, I noticed there's like, no limit to how much damage you can make Ridley do to you. He was doing something like 250-300 damage to me per hit. :mad:

Thank you.  I am glad someone is enjoying my suffering through this.  I really want to enjoy this hack, much like I wanted to really enjoy the original Redesign.  There are so many awesome ideas and mini challenges that would make this the best hack ever, and they are completely ruined thanks to certain decisions that destroy any desire for a more casual player like myself to want to continue.  Not to mention the seeming utter hostility Drew appears to have with sequence breaks and/or speed runs.

[advancedpillow]

I'm still battling it out with this hack. I have not completed the game yet; I've only made it passed the save station in Tourian. But I might as well give my thoughts on this because it is about this point where I finally give up. I hate Tourian. And it's all because of the metroids.

Three metroids; they move faster than I can even shoot my beams. I don't even get a chance to fire more than once. So inevitably, when metroids appear on screen, I'm guaranteed to spend approximately 5 minutes bombing them off of me and if I get lucky, I'll kill them in time. 6 hours of this, and I'm done with the game.

Another big complaint I have with this hack is that it is so linear. This may be the most linear SM hack. You wanna play Redesign, well you're gonna follow the same exact route everyone else does. There are gates everywhere that stop progress, locked silver doors, elevators to more locked doors, gates gates and more gates. Your route planning is stellar but damn does it kill any replay value and, to an extent, decreases the fun factor, at least for me.

Another big problem -- you get fully powered far too late in the game. Yay, I got plasma! And everything is already dead. Well, I guess it's useful since I have to scour the entire world for days (literally, I did it without looking at a map) looking for the Chozo guardians. And I've already played the original Redesign before so I had an idea to of where to go. Still took me way too long.

I like the idea of needing to open Tourian with Chozo statues, but maybe it could have been better executed by having them be what the bosses were guarding in the next room (just for example), instead of, say for instance, the green super missile gate Draygon guards, and random silver doors elsewhere in Maridia which I had forgotten where they were located by the time I killed Draygon.

The beam combo item. Why can we not use that earlier in the game? Maybe this hack is showing it's age a little bit, created in the save-state-athon challenge hack days? But I get difficulty so I'm willing to say I'm wrong here. But part of the fun of Super Metroid is getting powered up, piece by piece, as you play.

Energy tanks: they're hidden far too well. I don't rush through games but I must have missed out on many of them because I had to resort to wave beam-power bombing Ridley. He was crushing me! This isn't really a complaint, but this goes back to the linearity of the hack. Once the correct gates opened up, I continued forward. (I eventually went back and found all but two tanks during my Chozo guardian search.)

One specific room that needs to be called out is the Sandfall Maridia room. You know what I'm talking about. The one you have to zig-zag jump up, tiny platform to tiny platform. Why they need to be so tiny?! It would be funny if it didn't take me an hour to get through that.

Puzzles. Why does it seem like every area or every bomb tunnel needs to be a puzzle, with ridiculous bomb jumping requirements? I do not like puzzle games, so maybe I'm biased but even all of Maridia is basically one giant puzzle. Tourian too. With only one correct solution. Those bomb tunnels though, I play on a console, and there's just no way I'm even going to attempt to do any of the ones with crumble blocks ever again. Without save states, some of those bombs tunnels are insane to finish; the one in Crateria that hides a powerbomb, for example. I'm saying the word "puzzles", but I also mean "mazes" too.

The screw attack puzzle is a problem too. I like the concept once I was told the solution, but there are no hints in-game about how to solve it. I never noticed any difference in how long the lights stayed on for. I noticed they were on a timer, that's it. So if that's the hint, it failed me. Why there even needs to be a puzzle to get to screw attack I don't understand either. It's so late in the game, I would think the player has already earned it twice over. In-game lore-wise, too, I don't understand who or why it's locked up like that.

Redesign is technically sound though. The changes you've made are extremely impressive. One new addition that stuck out right away were the area names. Loved that. Just wish they appeared every time I entered an area. The lazer gates in Tourian, I liked them and they made sense to the area. Another thing I loved was the auto-walljump. I find myself just holding the button against walls in other hacks now too. The physics changes you've made from Redesign to Axeil are perfect. I think what you've done there is flawless.

I've stuck with Axeil for so long. My clock is already at almost 22 hours. Which is crazy for a SM game! But it has to end. (My item collection is 74.3%. Not bad.) I really wanted to love Axeil but I'm sorry to say that despite all the cool stuff you changed and added, the hack just isn't for me. But for those SM players who crave a big challenge, this is most likely right up his or her alley. Honestly though, great job. I see the work that went into this and it's very impressive.

[DonnyDonovan]

Are the beam upgrades really well hidden?  I've found all major upgrades except I've found neither wave nor plasma.  A hint as to the location of one or both would be great.  I even have the combo thing. 

[Quietus]

For Plasma:
[spoiler]In the north-eastern corner of Lower Norfair is a tall shaft with loads of small platforms.  Head through the door at the top.[/spoiler]

For Wave, see my reply here.

If you're still stuck, check Danidub's map here

:^_^:

[DonnyDonovan]

Thanks for the quick reply.  I actually stumbled onto Wave shortly after posting.  I'm currently exploring Lower Norfair. 

I was one of the people who had VERY mixed feelings about the original Redesign.  The physics and changes in this version make exploration much more enjoyable.  I'm kind of dreading Tourian though.   

[advancedpillow]

In addition to what Quietus said, in order to reach Plasma, you have to...

[spoiler]...first kill Ridley.[/spoiler]

[Boomerang]

I was having fun with this hack until higan totally ate my save file, sending me back 2-3 hours. If anyone has like a save file just after getting the Power Bombs with 2 energy tanks, 40 missiles and 6 supers I'd be super appreciative (can be for ZNES, Snes9x, etc). Otherwise, I'm not feeling in the mood to play this for a while. :( Super frustrating.

There are a lot of nice touches with this hack! I like the auto-morph and wall jumps; it's a nice way to prevent hand cramps in extended play sessions. The exclusion of the mandatory hell run is appreciated, though its optional inclusion is a very nice touch. The early Power Bombs is a very neat idea and I think it's portray well enough (the only trip wires you need to worry about are the ones that connect to non-cracked metal blocks, for example). The map screen is incredible and should be included in every hack. The hint system is also appreciated, as this IS a GIGANTIC hack.

I'm not a big fan of how acid was handled, but I haven't gotten far enough to see how radically it affects the game. The Morph Ball is also a little slow for my tastes. I love the new sprite, though!

I've played the original Redesign and so far I'm liking this a little better. The 170 damage rocks in Crateria and Mega Sidehoppers can die in a pit, though.

[Hrith]

Being very familiar with Redesign, this was an easy run for me, but I did welcome the changes in level design.
However, I could not obtain all items, but I will do another run in a month or so when I have more free time.

I feared the many changes to the gameplay would negatively affect my opinion of this hack, and I was right.

Shinespark in this is just awful. I really like that you have made Shinespark cancelling possible in Metroid 3 at all, but it was really too hard to do in the original Redesign ROM hack - say, compared to the GBA games - so Axeil has fixed that, but Shinespark itself in Axeil is gruesome x_x
I know it's due to my 4,000+ hours clocked onthe original game, and not due to the game design itself, but still, I could not Shinespark correctly or precisely.

It's a cool idea to have made morphing automatic when trying to reach a tunnel in mid air, but not all instant air morphings are done to enter a tunnel, and the much longer morphing animation killed that for me.

Automatic wall-jumping also bothered me for the longest time while playing the hack, until I decided to do it the way you had intended it. Even then, it was difficult for me to do, although I admit it's really good work.

Probably for the same reason, I hated the change to the X-Ray Scope, and I honestly do not see the point of it.

I, however, loved the hint system, and I am amazed by your skills at assembly editing, really.
I never care for hints that tell you where to go, I always turn those off, but the other aspect of the hint system - the power bomb or speed booster icons on the map, for instance - is so brilliant.
When I play such a large game or ROM hack, I usually take screenshots fo the map(s) and manually add 'power bomb here' or 'wave beam here' to my map(s). The hint option really helped in that regard.

Lost Caverns - my nightmare in Redesign - are back and a lot more feasible, but why backwards? That took me forever to figure out... A hint would have been nice.

Tourian is really well-designed, the riddles are fun and enticing, but what the hell is wrong with metroids? I fail to see the point of such incredibly poor enemy design. I recorded myself: the Freeze Beam is over three times to slow to freeze more than one of them. This definitely needs to be fixed, as anything not skill-based mars the otherwise brilliant game design.

So, since I had never had an opportunity to voice how much I loved Redesign, here are a few of my favourite things:

* The difficulty.
* The length and size of the hack.
* Wall Jump Boots and the fact that wall jumps are only possible on certain surfaces - on that topic, I dislike the fact that wall jumps are basically not possible on the same wall, but I really like that they are useful under water even without Gravity Suit.
* The Hell's Run - which is significantly harder in Axeil, unless I was supposed to have 399 HP, I had 299.
* The underwater sequence to get the Gravity Suit.
* The long morph ball passages and the fact you cannot get out of morph ball while inside them.
* The momentum from Screw Attack
* The Beam Combo idea. It makes the game more interesting and makes Spazer so much more useful.
* The purple doors (lol).
* The escape from Zebes - just amazing. I liked it even more in Axeil.
* The fact that breaking blocks and opening shutters is permanent - thank you a hundred times for this.
* The Chozo Guardian Statue system, obviously, how brilliant and so much more interesting than 'go kill four bosses'.
* The fact that most - if not all - upgrades are required, and their mandatory use is always very clever.

Specific to Axeil:
* The fact that Missile Stations have become Ammo Stations.
* The many paths between areas that need to be unlocked from both sides first really helped.

[Hiroshi Mishima]

Yeah, the 3-Metroid rooms are still a huge pain in the butt. I still haven't actually managed to get past them all in the sandy areas and kinda gave up for the time being. So far, it's the one thing about the hack I just can't overcome. I did like that Tourian itself is like a big puzzle, just not the Metroids.

You're not the only fan of Redesign I've seen dislike the new wall jump mechanic, but since that was what kept me from actually playing the original game, I'm still in love with the new style. However, I too do not understand the change to the X-Ray scope. Oh, and I also enjoyed the hint system for telling me where to use Power Bombs and such.

Also, it is possible to single-wall-jump. It's just tricky.

[Lenophis]

So I decided to give this hack a real try to see if it was in any way an improvement over the hell that was Redesign. I don't think I could have been more wrong. I managed to get as far as needing to get back to the ship so I can get bombs, only to see a new block in the way in the only path you can take. It looks very clearly like a bomb block, so I took what looked like the only path back up: wall-jumping around spikes. At that point I ended up dying and threw my hands up in the air. I would later watch Eppy, and that block that looks very clearly like a bomb block, turns out to be a shot block. And not just any shot block, intentionally put there so you have to face the pirate below. Different day, same bullshit.

Drew, the things you think of. Well, I won't try to finish this. Having watched a few others play through this, it is the best decision.

That said, here's what I did like:
The wall jump mechanics are infinitely better than they were. Still a little awkward, but a lot better.
The revamped map system, hints and all are a great idea.
Ridley - At least the part of it mentioned in the readme. Not mentioning that he also increases damage done to you as a result is a total dick move. (The theme of Redesign in general.)

Then the rest:
The physics are still pretty bad.
Tourian.
Sandfalls.
Hell run Mk II.
Excessive purple doors. You can remove half of them and the hack probably still has too many.
Screw Attack's uselessness combined with the stupid difficulty to get. If it's that dumb to get, it better be OP.
Tourian.
Change for the sake of change.
Sandfalls.
Tourian.
Needing Beam Combo. Don't punish the player for not collecting an optional item.
Lower Norfair's 8 Super-block section. There's still no guarantee a player will have 8 supers max when they get there. I was disappointed to see this not changed.
TOURIAN, GOD DAMMIT.

[Technomagus]

It's over!

I've completed streaming Axeil tonight during my livestream.  I've uploaded the videos to YouTube, which can be found at this playlist.  Tourian starts on part 11.  Having finally beaten this trainwreck, even with the fixes Drew has already made since 1.0, I can only say this:  Stay away.  Unless you like gigantic difficulty spikes, suitless underwater, and fake difficulty, do not play.  Whatever good ideas Drew came up with, and there were a lot, are completely buried under certain terrible game design decisions that he refuses to fix.

[MetroidMst]

I finished this earlier tonight thanks to waiting on another Redesign thing to render. So first off, I was never a huge fan of the original Redesign. But I always recommend people play it once, because I believe it deserves that. Now comes Axeil. . .

[spoiler=Massive rant - Literally]
[spoiler=Intro]Keep in mind I played on v1.2, so some of what happened to me is my own doing, but most of this applies to the current 1.4 version as well.
Once again, the main point of contention I have with the hack is the physics. I will hold that Redesign with vanilla physics would be one of the funnest and best hacks out there. Instead the hack turned out just like the physics, a clunker. Quite simply, they were a hindrance the entire time and the player was stuck with them no matter what. Axeil changes them. . . Slightly. . . To still clunky but hey "I adjusted them!" So the major sticking point with me not enjoying the hack is once again present, and throughout the entire hack again.

With my main gripe out of the way, time to get to the rest of the stuff. There is a lot of really rad things in Axeil that just weren't present before, and quite honestly a lot to like. However, because for some reason you can't take a step forward without taking two backwards, a bunch of random crap was thrown in. And it was really the stupid, small, and absolutely pointless things that ended up irritating me the most until the end. So what little things? How about arm-pumping for starters. Arm-pumping? For real Mst? Yes, for real. The fact you felt a need to make it slow players down for trying to get a single pixel ahead in a massive world every three seconds or so is so dumbfoundingly dumb and asinine that I can't believe any effort was put into it at all. And that is the kind of small thing I am talking about. Players already are going to be spending hours playing this hack, why bother making sure they can't save up to 2 total seconds? There is no point for such a thing to ever exist. It shows an example of the effort and polish that went into the hack, but in this case is completely devoid of any reason.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Attitude]On top of that, other little things that could potentially be used to save some minor time, or use more depending on failures were removed. Short-charging a Speed Boost effect for one example. Because again, in the largest hack in history, we need to make sure the player has to be in it for as long as possible for no good reason. And no, preventing "sequence" breaks is not a good reason. Why? Because the average player isn't ever going to do such a trick. But for those who can, it allows new gameplay options, opens up more possibilities, and makes the hack more interesting overall. Removing it simply removes people from being interested in the hack after the initial playthrough. I didn't like Redesign, but I still raced it a few times. Why? Because tricks and glitches that were discovered opened up new possibilities, and while I still griped about the horrible physics, playing it and doing a new and unintended route made it interesting. It made me come back to a hack I didn't care for at all. And this type of stuff is what I find so annoying about the hack.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Berlin Wall]Another really dumb thing I want to hit on is the removal of crumble jumping. Once again, a skill not many people will be able to do, especially with physics this much weightier than vanilla physics. It is required in one room of SLC. Know what happened? People hated that room. That is the only thing they remember from the hack other than an Angry Sun chasing them. People hate crumble jumping. They aren't going to go out of there way to do it. But let's remove it anyway! Because. . . People might get to some place sooner than I anticipated and only spend 14:32 playing the hack instead of 14:42. Sequence breaks? My way or the highway pal. If you can't play this my way, then you just aren't good enough for my hack. Again, that attitude oozes out from the hack itself.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Barney]Purple doors. I hate those things, and I have no clue if any were removed between v1.2 and v1.4. (Once again going to hit on sequence breaks. Hey, we're going fast! OH WAIT WE DIDN'T COLLECT ENOUGH AMMO FOR THE DOORS!) In 1.2 there were just so many of the things, and once again in keeping with the you will be stuck in this hack forever thing you got going on, most of the time they were simply there to provide the player a spot to reflect on how slow the firing rate of Super Missiles is, and how great a design choice that is while they pray to their Drewseph idols and ask to be worthy of opening this divine purple door. With the amount of time I spent opening these things, I could've gotten a girlfriend and had a child birthed by her before they were all opened.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Eris, Screw Attack, and Tourian]I find this hack to parallels a lot with Eris 2012 and how it was supposed to be easier than Eris. Easier for Eris 2012 meant you can't have Evasion early on anymore and you get 70% less Supers when they'll be the most helpful. Axeil manages to do better than that. It is more accessible to average player to a point. I know 1.4 makes it even more so than 1.2, since I had to hunt for some Chozo Guardians who weren't marked on the map at all, and some were hidden really well. Like only a 100% item completion well. But that was fixed with some changes in 1.4, so kudos for that. (I don't mind exploring around everywhere, but it is not everyone's thing.) And then there was Screw Attack and Tourian. Now, the thing with Screw Attack is players know it is a safety net. If they are jumping, they're safe from enemies.
That rug gets pulled right out from under them in Tourian, where it is so ineffective it can't even take out a Rinka. Now, I do know you said you are going to change that at least for 1.5, so good there, but this is all getting back to how the hack was presented. The website you made for it makes the hack sound like things will be easier. You watched some poor soul try to play Redesign and fail miserably at pulling off tricks you thought were easy. (A surprise any hacker will experience.) You even go on to say "expert skill made automated" on your website. What you didn't mention was that only applies to areas outside of Tourian. Once the player enters the final area, it suddenly goes from automated to "they just don't know how to handle the Metroids right." You think? In a hack you promise automation to the player, you suddenly thrust them into a world where the Metroid norms no longer apply (Screw Attack avoiding damage.), and suddenly Metroids attack in groups, avoid shots, and have a completely new behavior that is so alien skilled players have severe trouble with them. Again, I know you changed the Metroids up a little between 1.2 and 1.4, which is a good thing. But you are missing the issue. "Automated." That means easier. They don't need the skills to handle these things because the game will help them out. The help doesn't come in Tourian at all. It meets your vision, but it misses the entirety of how you presented the hack.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Uber leet burn dood]I was having second thoughts about this rant, but I decided to go with it for a few reasons. Because I truly believe your attitude is preventing you from seeing what people are saying. "Hey, I had trouble with this block in my path." That got met with a defiant:

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[01:20] <Drewseph> I'd love to see them make a hack
[01:20] <Drewseph> since they seem to know exactly how to make one
[01:21] <Drewseph> as I recall Leno was neevr good at metorid
Attacking someone's skill because they had trouble with your hack? Hey, what happened to the goal to make it "automated?" Or was that never really the goal? Did I miss something here? Last I checked he was trying it out even though he never liked the original Redesign. He was willing to give it a go, had an issue, and the response is "He was never good anyway." Wasn't the point of Axeil to make it so "bad" players could actually play the hack? You wonder why some get upset with you in IRC? Really Drew? Really? People aren't going into this hack to say it is crap and make you feel bad. They want something they can enjoy. And really, bringing up skill of someone who can complete an RBO when you had to collect Speed Booster 4 times during a 100% race sure is pretty boss. I wish I had the swag to feel proud of failing so bad it beats out people "without skill."

I would easily consider Leno, or myself, more skilled than you when it comes to playing Super Metroid. (Quite simply because I crushed you in that 100% race, and Leno is way better than I am.) But Leno had trouble with a block, and the Metroids destroyed me. You don't have those issues, because you made the hack. It's an obvious point I know, but it is something to always keep in mind when players experience issues. You already know everything. You don't even have to be good at Metroid, and you're going to be the best player of your hack until the point someone decides to start speedrunning it. That is just the nature of making the game. You did it, you're going to know how to play it. You have a bunch of new things in the hack that both new and experienced players will have to learn. It took me a while to adjust to the auto-Morph thing for one, and I still had a hiccup or two in Tourian with it. You made it though. You aren't going to have those issues. And whenever you go through the amount of effort you've gone through to make new things and tweak stuff here and there, you should always expect they'll have issues. I'll leave this here, because it absolutely applies to everyone who makes a hack:

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[00:53:56] <+Sliver-X> I'm of the opinion that if the game you're designing seems easy to you, make it easier by a factor of five to make it tolerable to anyone else on earth.
Instead of flying off the handle about people complaining about a block you don't think is an issue, do the simple thing. Make it look like a shot block, or even remove the block entirely. (What purpose does that block serve anyway?) Unless you're losing your house on a bet that you'll end up changing that block, any offense about it is really is nothing more than being petty for pettiness sake.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Closing Thoughts]There is so much good stuff in this hack. I enjoyed things about it much more than the original Redesign, but the major gripe once again is the physics for me. I know those aren't going to change, so the hack is what is for me. Some really great ideas, a few extremely well done (i.e. Ridley, auto-Morph when it worked, Title cards for areas, a lot of the puzzles, even the acid to an extent.), the little things like arm-pumping and crumble jumping irritating me, and failure to live up to the promise of being accessible for all. (Only up to parts of Lower Norfair I would say are accessible.) I don't recommend hacks I don't enjoy or don't feel the average player will be able to complete. I do think the average player will enjoy quite a bit here, but I don't think they'll be able to complete it as is. Tourian, while it had a pretty rad idea, is brutal and will eat people alive. I know you're still working on v1.5, so we'll see if that changes things there, so for now, I would suggest wait until v1.5 and try from there.[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]

[advancedpillow]

It's over!

I've completed streaming Axeil tonight during my livestream.  I've uploaded the videos to YouTube, which can be found at this playlist.  Tourian starts on part 11.  Having finally beaten this trainwreck, even with the fixes Drew has already made since 1.0, I can only say this:  Stay away.  Unless you like gigantic difficulty spikes, suitless underwater, and fake difficulty, do not play.  Whatever good ideas Drew came up with, and there were a lot, are completely buried under certain terrible game design decisions that he refuses to fix.

Just finished watching your last 3 videos; that's about where I quit this game. All I gotta say is I made the right choice. Thanks for suffering through that for us.

[RealRed]

I'd say MetroidMST pinned the tail on the elephant in the room.
It seems like Drew has been opening up to fixing things over time, though. 1.0 was a nightmare of shit. 1.4 was relatively tolerable. (Although metroids are still murder.)

I think a big thing about the metroids that people don't figure out (and reasonably so) is that you're supposed to 'weaken' them with bombs before you can actually freeze and missile them.
That's a thing that's untaught and anti-taught by all other metroid games. Probably the only reason metroids weren't so difficult for me the second time around for me was because it was the second time around, not because it was made clear.

Of course, there's still the issue of, if you get overambitious and freeze+kill a metroid, and another one un-stuns, unfreezes, or latches on to you, the metroid you just spent a shitload of time and energy bombing repeatedly will now have full health.
I admittedly did use rewinds to get through the last 3-metroid room before the shitroid. Health was too low, missile station was too far away, and energy station was non existant. (fixt in 1.5 I think)

Now that Lenophis mentions it, beam combo is pretty required. You can't do fuckall to the tourian pirates without it (even even then, IWP takes 9999999 shots to kill them lol).

[Hiroshi Mishima]

[00:53:56] <+Sliver-X> I'm of the opinion that if the game you're designing seems easy to you, make it easier by a factor of five to make it tolerable to anyone else on earth.

I just wanna say thank you to MST for that, because it's something I've been trying to stress to people for so many years now (I think even Indie and AAA developers need to remember it), because so often I run into hacks that don't think about anyone else. They just make them based on their own ability to handle stuff. Even the most recent hack I played, Darkholme Hospital, felt like this near the end. These days, whenever a hacker says "I don't think it's too hard", it fills me with dread because they're likely basing it on their own attempts, not thinking about anyone else.

And like Red was saying, my ex was playing through the game and she suffered SO badly with the Metroids that she started to give up. It was only after I told her about the 1.4 patch that she went back and was able - after much trail-and-death - beat the Metroids and proceed to finish the game. She was also constantly leaving Tourian to go and re-farm health after essentially every 3-Metroid room. But as Red said that may/should have been fixed in 1.5?

[Jordan5]

[00:53:56] <+Sliver-X> I'm of the opinion that if the game you're designing seems easy to you, make it easier by a factor of five to make it tolerable to anyone else on earth.

This.

When I was testing things in hacks, I would often try doing it with a keyboard (which I never use and mine even ghosts badly) just to make sure something wasn't too difficult to do. Obviously when you play through it you know what you had in mind where you designed it and will probably have most of the items unlike the average player.

[FPzero]

Why are there so many purple doors.  I'm sitting outside Draygon's room without enough missiles or super missiles to open the purple door to fight him and I just cannot muster the will to go farm enemies any more, especially since the fish and crabs don't seem to like dropping them often.  If you're going to have this many purple doors there should be more missile recharges or enemy refill areas.

I also might have to start over because I misread the bit about the Ceres Ridley fight and thought that shooting him more made him weaker.  I might have made him impossible to beat with my skill level.

[Lenophis]

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[01:20] <Drewseph> I'd love to see them make a hack
[01:20] <Drewseph> since they seem to know exactly how to make one
[01:21] <Drewseph> as I recall Leno was neevr good at metorid

Uh oh, he found me out. I know I'm bad at Super Metroid. any% PB is 53:52.88. 100% PB is 1:29:50. any% GT is 42:05. RBO is 2:08:16. I freely admit that I am terrible. :p I also know that I'm bad at what your concoction of Metroid is, Drew. And you know what? That's ok. If this is how you want it to be, so be it. People are trying to give you constructive criticism on what they feel you did wrong. You can take it in stride, hopefully improve on it, maybe get a laugh or two. You could also take it personally, be defensive, and do whatever. Over the last 10 years, it's been the latter.

If you sincerely believe that this is a good hack for your time, effort, etc, then ok. We'll agree to disagree. Either way, I'm moving on.