Wanted to give an update on my progress- I am still loving this game!! I am just about to storm the Magma Hideout, so I got a good chunk of the midgame down today but not as much story progress because I kept going out of my way to explore and complete quests. I am still running the same team (Blaziken, Staraptor, Gardevoir, Gallade, Excadrill) except that I subbed Dragapult, whom I am hoping will help carry me through the Mossdeep City Gym, for Quagsire.
A few more comments: While it slightly frustrated me at first that I could not find them (I've been going mostly blind besides TM Locations so I kept hoping I could get them earlier and make my life easier LOL), I like that the really good items (in my case, Choice items and Life Orb) are locked behind quests- it really gives a level of satisfaction in beating the "boss" teams, which gives me incentive to push through and try different strategies before they click. The placement in later-game is also good (as much as I wanted them earlier at a few points) for balancing sake, if they were available earlier then a few challenges would have been far too easy. Once I realized the quality of rewards for beating the quests, I try not to progress in the story until all of them are beaten, and I think that's a really clever and creative way of making Horizon Emerald stand out from the rest of the Emerald hacks I've played.
I totally understand and honestly, I loved the trick room set (it reminded me of Blaze Black 2 Caitlin)! Probably was even more of a challenge for me than a rain team, since I tend to run faster teams lol. I think I said it earlier, but I really like how well-composed and thought out every major battle is. It's clear that you spent a lot of time thinking up ways to make them difficult but not impossible with the right strategy, and I am very impressed by them all.
I can tell! Two other boss battles that really stood out were the WWE style fight in the Scorched Slab and a certain fight in Lilycove City that cracked me up when it popped up on the Quest Log and had me consistently smiling as I kept getting my butt kicked by two certain legendaries.
Once I knew it was an actual house, it gave me incentive to walk into every one I came across until I triggered the story, which I really liked! Now I'm just waiting to find the "waterlogged" area (don't tell Team Magma!) and meet Looker to progress the Rocket storyline. I think I might know where it is, and I am very curious to see how that story wraps up. I like how they have Z Moves when we don't, and thus feel like an actual powerful threat to face. Really good stuff!
The love you have for Pokemon, pop culture, and this hack shines through in literally every single second of gameplay and text, including quest names and description. You should be proud of creating such a well-made game. As for persevering with a few team adjustments, well, I'm stubborn and don't like to do that often once I have a full team picked out, but I can safely say that you can persevere by just adjusting movesets and strategies, which I think is even better and far more fun of a challenge :)!
I will keep you posted on how my journey through Hoenn continues, but until then, thank you for making such an excellent game- I am sure you have heard this so many times but I am really really enjoying it, especially going into this almost entirely blind.
