Hello again! So after many an hour of playing through your hack 2x in total since my last post, I would like to give my final thoughts and review. In short, it was a blast both times, and the reason I went through a 2nd time was to have more knowledge and in theory an even better time. In long however, there are certain things that I will critique. Most critiques will be based on my first time through, since I had far more knowledge during the 2nd time through
First off, the Good:
1. Buffs. Playing through any pokemon game or hack where your favorites are strictly better will always be a fun experience. This is extra true when no starter has an innate disadvantage compared to the others during the early parts of the journey. I went through with Popplio first, then Rowlet. It never felt like trying to use Chikorita or Charmander in their respective generations, and that was a major plus. So, when it comes to pokemon changes and the buffs you chose, you knocked it out of the park. It is easy to go overboard at times, but it never felt like that. Everything had reason behind it, and the documentation provided meant that I would not be surprised provided I took the time to look through it.
2. Marts. I loved what you did in EXWY, and this was more of the same goodness and then some. Training items at the first specialty shop were the bomb for a consistent team even with occasional rotation.
3. Selection. I never felt like I was starved for team member choices, and since different patches of grass on the same route have different encounters, it was super easy to find specific pokemon most of the time.
Now, the Critiques:
1. Levels. Unfortunately, what I had said in an earlier post about levels was very accurate to how I felt. On the first playthrough, the drive to take on Giovanni was enough motivation for me to not care as much about my opponents being maxed out by Elite 4 and beyond. On the 2nd playthrough however, I had no motivation to do the Rainbow Rocket episode or explore Poni Wilds. This is negative from my own personal perspective, but others will certainly enjoy the level curve.
2. Megas. Perhaps this is something that cannot be addressed in USUM's coding, but the fact that you start to see opponents using Megas far before you will ever get that power boost is... disheartening? I am unsure of the correct term to use. It certainly does add difficulty, but it means that these opponents have access to a tool that you will not have until after you have already beaten the game. Is it not possible to provide a player with a Key stone/Mega Bracelet outside of when Dexio gives you it in the post game? This was probably my biggest issue as the game went on.
3. Totem Auras. I think you went a bit too happy with Omni-boosts. In base USUM, Omni-boosts start happening with Mimikyu, but they start with Marowak in PSPM. This felt like an arbitrary difficulty increase to me, when I felt like your strategy changes more than sufficed. The worst part about some of the fights with the excess boosts were when I felt I NEEDED Pokemon Refresh to even succeed. Affection is (almost) universally agreed upon as a broken mechanic, and I would have loved to not have used it. On my first time through though, I fed every team member Rainbow Beans due to the negative experience with the first Omni-boosted totem. The worst of all was Ultra Necrozma. It is certainly meant to be a super boss of sorts, and it fulfilled that role, but I would be lying if I said I earned the victory. Tried to start with Vikavolt just to launch a specs Bug Buzz to do damage, but was outsped and one-shot. Then I sent in Assault Vest Tyranitar, which proceeded to affection dodge or survive 5 turns in a row. I didn't truly earn that victory, but I also felt like I would never win without Refresh.
Final Verdict: I will certainly play through at least one more time, as I need to have the Incineroar experience. The negatives and/or critiques I listed may seem like they hampered my fun, but in the end I'm still going to recommend your hacks to anyone I meet who is looking for a tougher pokemon experience. I look forward to whatever you may have in store for the future.