The hack itself is much better than the Rockman L used for the other run, but it still feels more like a step in the right direction rather than a complete project.
ROM high points:
Changed weapon behaviors
Changed boss patterns
ROM low points:
Bosses are only pallet swaps
Level design, music, and bosses don't always mesh well
Butchering SaGa 2 graphics/music (they looked/sounded better on the Gameboy)
There's also the other requirement for ROM hack submissions: "It must [...] have an audience following." I'm not sure that this hack has a significant enough fan base to meet this criteria. Outside of a YouTube run or two, I'm having a hard time finding anything about this game.
If this were an absolutely amazing run, I'd be tempted to vote yes. The actual run quality isn't very good, though, especially compared to published Megman runs. Missed shots and seemingly pointless damage plague this one.
Finally, the submission text is nowhere near sufficient. While it is clear that the author doesn't speak English, it doesn't change the fact that there isn't nearly enough information about the game/run provided.
This one gets a pretty solid "no" from me.
While there isn't a (U) ROM, there is an (E) ROM floating around.
I don't care for this run very much. It does nothing to put itself above the original NES version in terms of enjoyment (or apparent playing skill), and the game itself is just a mediocre Mega Man port (awkward controls, timing, etc.).
I think any run of this game needs to at least cover the new content to even consider voting yes for. Sorry, but this earns a no from me.
Until I saw the completion time, I had hoped an empty little hope that this was a real submission. I've always wanted a real Guardian Legend run.
Voting meh because the run is somewhat entertaining and because I just can't say no to TGL.
Since we are judging both ROM and run for this one, I'm going to have to say no.
The hack seems to do only the following things:
1) Changed graphics
2) Changed level design
3) Changed boss weaknesses
My opinions on each are:
1) The new/changed graphics are nothing exceptional. Most are just lifted from later games in the franchise, and some of the edits are just silly (changing Sniper Joes into Protoman clones, for example). The "new" boss sprites still clearly show which boss they were stolen from. There's not much in the way of real creativity here.
2) The new level designs might be above average for a hack, but they still aren't anything to write home about. There are some areas that loudly scream that this is a hack made by someone who is not a professional, such as the Wily areas that require the weapon formerly known as Crash Bombs. The fact that it shows several places where more thorough testing would have shown that the sprites flicker too much is telling. Also, the background music doesn't always fit the feel of the level it is used for. I could go on, but suffice to say I was consistently underwhelmed by the new levels.
3) The fact that there are different weaknesses doesn't really matter unless they are particularly cleverly done. I wouldn't say this change detracts from the run, but it doesn't add much, either.
All in all, it's a semi-decent ROM hack, but it really doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from the original. There were a couple places where I was somewhat impressed by the level design, etc., but those were far outweighed by moments where I wasn't impressed.
Add in the fact that the run is a little on the sloppy side, and this submission goes from a low meh to a medium no.
I haven't voted yet, but I'm leaning towards no (I haven't watched it yet due to not owning a (J) copy of Z64 to dump and not liking nicovideo).
The only thing that this really has in its favor is that it massively improves upon the published movie. I think that removing the old run is a better solution than publishing this one. It sounds as if the author intentionally didn't completely optimize the run and didn't use tricks that were known even before the run was made.
I'd normally cut a new TASer some slack for this sort of thing (since they might not be up on all of the tricks and rules and such), but this run wasn't made for TASvideos. This was made for nicovideo, and as such has already gained the recognition of the audience it was intended for. If this really isn't up to site standards (play quality, version, etc.), I don't think this should be accepted to the site.
That being said, I would gladly accept abeshi as a member of the TAS family. If he can straighten out the rough bits of the submission, I'd love to see a new run.
I'd rather not have a OoT run at all than a significantly unoptimized one, be it 2.5 hours or 1 hour. The old run being an eyesore seems to make a better case for removing the old run than publishing the first run that comes around just because it's faster.
For what it's worth, I really don't like it when text-heavy runs use Japanese rather than English. However, I don't think that should be enough in and of itself to prevent acceptance so long as the soonest comparable English run is accepted, even if it is slightly slower.
completing all chapters [...] adds an extra bit of strategy; completing chapters gives you better starting stats/techs/equipment in subsequent chapters.
This isn't a sufficient description to get a clear idea of what's going on. Basically, there are 4 possibilities for how characters are set up when they are first recruited. Which one to use is determined by the previous game saved to the system data (i.e. the state of the last game to finish). Only Mecs get better equipment, and a lot of characters don't gain any new skills. The stat increases are pretty small - not enough to make a significant difference, particularly over a long story. The increases fall into the following groups:
INIT 1: the game started from scratch
INIT 2: the previous game finished at BR 1-3
INIT 3: the previous game finished at BR 4-6
INIT 4: the previous game finished at BR 7+
Where BR (battle ranking) increases as fights are fought, and determines how powerful random encounters and bosses are. I highly doubt any individual run would contain enough fights to hit BR 4, so the only time order matters in the slightest is what run to do first. The other problem is that while starting from INIT 2 gives you marginally better stats/skills, it also increases your starting BR, so you to fight more powerful enemies sooner.
This wouldn't be that big of a deal if it weren't for the fact that BR also determines the HP multiplier of bosses, so many/most bosses will take more time to kill in every run after the first. It could be my imagination, but if you compare the final boss of this run with the final boss of the System File run, it seems like the final boss takes longer to die in the System File run. This effect would be much more noticeable in runs with many bosses in them.
Finally, wanting to require all stories to be run is pretty arbitrary. There are a ton of games where it isn't required that every character be completed. Wanting a "complete" run is somewhat like wanting a fighting game to finish with every character - it doesn't add much and makes the project nigh-impossible to finish. The Blue and Lute runs combined are probably 1/2 the length of the next shortest story, and I wouldn't be shocked if the whole thing passed the 10 hour mark.
I have to say, this is significantly more entertaining than the Lute run, and really showcases both some interesting route choices and some mad Blouge hax (this shows why he's so ridiculously overpowered quite well).
I don't like the lack of information. I know the Youtube video had comments on it, but they were entirely in Japanese. There really needs some submission information, even if it is only to explain the Rune trick, why you chose Space Magic, and why you let Rouge win (all of which make sense to veteran players, but there aren't many of those).
It is rather entertaining, though, so I gave it a big yes vote.
Now I need to watch the first system data run, since I can't see why it's shorter than this one.
I'm glad this finally got published, and it's rather entertaining for those who have played the game, especially for people with a detailed knowledge of it.
The only thing I would have liked to see was for the ship/loading screens to be edited out of the encode. Unfortunately, they make up a not insignificant portion of the run and are pretty intrusive.
As a semi-regular of the GameFAQS SF message board, I can say that this is a very interesting run which looks legitimate. The BIOS issue needs to be sorted out, but it doesn't look like there is any intentional abuse going on.
I strongly doubt that we would get runs for any characters but Lute and Blue - the other characters aren't very speed-run friendly. Lute just needs to pick up characters and hit the final dungeon, and Blue just needs to do a couple side-quests that are fairly short (and he can teleport around without using ships). Other characters have much longer stories.
A run of all 7 characters just isn't feasible and isn't likely to be better than just watching all 7 in sequence. The system data can start you with higher stats and somewhat better abilities, but it also gives a higher BR (harder enemies and bosses with twice or more their minimum HP). The whole run would also most likely be the longest on the site by a fairly good margin.
It also deserves pointing out that the Romancing SaGa run doesn't run every characters' route, either. I haven't played the original version of RS, so I don't know if you can continue with a second quest on the same savedata, though, so I don't know if it's quite the same situation. Forcing a complete run of all characters just seems kinda arbitrary to me, since the reward for beating all the quests is more of an easter egg than an actual goal/ending sequence.
There are two ways of handling this in my opinion - either only allow one run (which would only allow a Lute run), or allowing up to seven or eight and only having maybe 3 total submitted. Only allowing a "complete" run, though, will probably prevent this game from ever getting a run up. Not to mention it raises the question of whether or not the movie should end on the final system data screen, after the system data is saved, or if something should be done in the developer room.
Speaking of run endings, having the credit sequence be the run ending is a bad idea for two reasons. First, only a couple quests actually have dedicated credit sequences. Second, the credits actually run in Blue's quest before the final dungeon, while the quest actually abruptly ends in the middle of his final battle.