Just rolled credits on Hyperion. Overall I think it was excellent, though not without some flaws. SilentSnake asked me for feedback, so I'm going to elaborate a little more here than I might otherwise. I'm gonna break this down into chunks to try and keep my thoughts organized.
Overworld: The overworld in this game is so good! AmperSam clearly put a ton of thought into their map, and it not only looks great but also is exciting to explore. Rather than doing the typical kaizo thing of having secret exits lead straight to a switch palace, in this game they lead you to brand new chunks of the map, with 3-5 levels to play before you reach the switch palace. Those levels are all generally built around a similar environmental theme which is reflected on the overworld map itself for those areas. It's just really well planned and executed. My only criticism here is that the switch palaces themselves are in dead ends on the map, so after you finish one you've got to backtrack to get to a new level. Not the biggest deal, but a little annoying at times.
Difficulty: Probably a notch or two below Akogare Mario World, with the caveat that the game expects you to have a solid grasp on the general vocabulary of kaizo tricks. You'll also need to be very comfortable with the various types of regrabs. But if you've cleared a few hacks already, there won't be anything you don't know how to do. The easiest levels (for me) took about 5-10 minutes, most of them somewhere around 20-40. The hardest levels could take an hour, with maybe one or two that I had to grind for 90 minutes or so. But I don't think any of them took longer than that. I did notice some occasional inconsistency in the difficulty from level to level. More than once I'd finish a hard exit after spending an hour or so, only to blow through the next two levels in 5-10 minutes each.
Level design/gameplay: In my first post about the game, I said the level design thus far had been on a scale of "Very Good to Excellent". Having finished it, I generally still feel that way, though I noticed a few things that could be improved. The biggest thing that stood out to me was checkpoint placement. There are some levels where it feels like the checkpoint doesn't come until 3/4 of the way through the level, and then the "second half" is much shorter than the first. Not every level is like that, but it happened enough times that I noticed. There are also a couple of levels that are really slow to play through, even though they're well-designed. To me those are significantly more frustrating, because it feels like each death is that much more punishing.
But please don't get me wrong! Aside from that paragraph I had a pretty hard time finding faults in the game. Most of the levels are a blast to play. Just like the overworld, it's obvious that AmperSam really put in a lot of time polishing things. If I didn't know, I never would've guessed this was their first hack. Everything is so detailed and consistent. A lot of the levels are really memorable, which isn't always something you can say about the hacks I've played so far. The chocolate elements are pretty unobtrusive, which means that most of the time the hack still feels like Mario. To me, that's important.
Lore: arguably the part of any kaizo hack that most players care the least about. I liked how the game gives you a vague intro screen and lets you essentially make your own story, though I had no idea who or what the final boss was supposed to be. I guess it doesn't really matter that much, but I'm curious about what AmperSam intended.
Soundtrack: it ruled. Shout-out to Koyaanisqatsi.
So yeah! Fantastic hack, can't wait to see what AmperSam comes up with next. They're clearly a very talented and thoughtful creator and I hope they've got more hacks planned. I really want Hyperion to become part of the kaizo canon. Granted, I've only played a tiny fraction of what's out there, but I really feel like this one should be played by everyone at some point.
Overworld: The overworld in this game is so good! AmperSam clearly put a ton of thought into their map, and it not only looks great but also is exciting to explore. Rather than doing the typical kaizo thing of having secret exits lead straight to a switch palace, in this game they lead you to brand new chunks of the map, with 3-5 levels to play before you reach the switch palace. Those levels are all generally built around a similar environmental theme which is reflected on the overworld map itself for those areas. It's just really well planned and executed. My only criticism here is that the switch palaces themselves are in dead ends on the map, so after you finish one you've got to backtrack to get to a new level. Not the biggest deal, but a little annoying at times.
Difficulty: Probably a notch or two below Akogare Mario World, with the caveat that the game expects you to have a solid grasp on the general vocabulary of kaizo tricks. You'll also need to be very comfortable with the various types of regrabs. But if you've cleared a few hacks already, there won't be anything you don't know how to do. The easiest levels (for me) took about 5-10 minutes, most of them somewhere around 20-40. The hardest levels could take an hour, with maybe one or two that I had to grind for 90 minutes or so. But I don't think any of them took longer than that. I did notice some occasional inconsistency in the difficulty from level to level. More than once I'd finish a hard exit after spending an hour or so, only to blow through the next two levels in 5-10 minutes each.
Level design/gameplay: In my first post about the game, I said the level design thus far had been on a scale of "Very Good to Excellent". Having finished it, I generally still feel that way, though I noticed a few things that could be improved. The biggest thing that stood out to me was checkpoint placement. There are some levels where it feels like the checkpoint doesn't come until 3/4 of the way through the level, and then the "second half" is much shorter than the first. Not every level is like that, but it happened enough times that I noticed. There are also a couple of levels that are really slow to play through, even though they're well-designed. To me those are significantly more frustrating, because it feels like each death is that much more punishing.
But please don't get me wrong! Aside from that paragraph I had a pretty hard time finding faults in the game. Most of the levels are a blast to play. Just like the overworld, it's obvious that AmperSam really put in a lot of time polishing things. If I didn't know, I never would've guessed this was their first hack. Everything is so detailed and consistent. A lot of the levels are really memorable, which isn't always something you can say about the hacks I've played so far. The chocolate elements are pretty unobtrusive, which means that most of the time the hack still feels like Mario. To me, that's important.
Lore: arguably the part of any kaizo hack that most players care the least about. I liked how the game gives you a vague intro screen and lets you essentially make your own story, though I had no idea who or what the final boss was supposed to be. I guess it doesn't really matter that much, but I'm curious about what AmperSam intended.
Soundtrack: it ruled. Shout-out to Koyaanisqatsi.
So yeah! Fantastic hack, can't wait to see what AmperSam comes up with next. They're clearly a very talented and thoughtful creator and I hope they've got more hacks planned. I really want Hyperion to become part of the kaizo canon. Granted, I've only played a tiny fraction of what's out there, but I really feel like this one should be played by everyone at some point.
