Hi! I've been playing this game and enjoying it quite a bit (currently at Lilycove, about to go to Fortree) and so I wanted to post some words about how much I enjoy it.
First off, I LOVE what you've done with the region and how you've embedded a lot of your own style into it! The different paths, the new areas, the stat changes and quirks you've added to Pokemon that were at first unusable and now star players, you've really put a lot of your heart and soul into the game and I want to commend you for it! Hoenn is my favorite region, so I play Gen 3 hacks with low expectations most of the time, but you've really made it a whole new and fun experience for me all over again.
A couple things I want to share with you though.
- Recently, you got rid of the alternate path to Mauville after Rustboro and instead reverted it back to the original path of Rustboro to Dewford. I dislike this. Creating that alternate path was one of the most creative things I've seen in a hack, where lots of people are scared of doing it because they think people will dislike what they've done to their favorite region. But the added event of the bridge mishap with the twins, the early access to the bike, and just a new way to experience the game made the path one of my favorite things in the game! I would love this to come back, as it really made an impact when I first started playing the game.
- This is mostly a personal gripe, but your change to the move Strength is something I've been trying to fight with myself about for awhile. While it being Steel type now is certainly creative, I feel as if it's placement is rather awkward. Steel only covers three types, Ice, Rock, and Fairy, and the only prominent type here is Rock. Fairies are next to nothing in this game, most of them being dual typed, and Ice types are the same. Rocks were already prominent before Strength was obtained.
My point is, Strength being Steel just doesn't really benefit the player at that point in the game, or even in the long run. In fact, there's not even a lot of Steel types that can take advantage of it! Aron is practically the only Pokemon who would make good use of it by that point. And with it being a field move, it's practically required to be somewhere on the team. Other physical Steel types, like Beldum or Skarmory, have better moves later on they can use, like Meteor Mash or Steel Wing.
It being Normal type would make much more sense. There are far, FAR more Normal types in need of a good STAB attack by then, and Strength is a great option as it gives them a good STAB and provides utility as a field move. Right now, it is currently occupying a space in my Furret's moveset as I have to use Body Slam as my main STAB attack. You can see now why I'm kind of iffy about it, right? Just my two cents on it.
Those are my main gripes with the game, but as I've stated before, I absolutely LOVE the hack! Fray Manor was one of my favorite new areas of the game (the new Ice Mountain was cool, but IMO it was kind of lackluster). Thank you for all your hard work on the game, it's definitely one I'd recommend to anyone wanting a new, refreshing experience of Hoenn.
