Oh dear. Definitely didn't see that one coming.
I can certainly understand the appeal of Black Sect. For years I'd been haunted by its curious feel, obscurity and excellent pixel art. Until somebody kindly made a fan translation.
Now I know what it is and I have played it to the very end out of curiousity.
So - "a great game"?
Seriously?
As I said I completely understand the interest, it was one of the most intriguing games to me for years. But a great game? Really?
I wouldn't say it's a bad game. Because that wouldn't be helpful to describe its nature at all. I wouldn't say it's not interesting. Or not appealing. Or not fun. I especially wouldn't say it's not unusual. In fact that's the root of its problems. That game is an experiment and as such it's most definitely a failed one. I have no idea how one could call its ridiculous sadistic design good let alone great. So if you could explain such a high opinion of that game I'd be grateful I suppose.
So let's just say I respectfully disagree very much with your judgement regarding the original game.
Now with that out of the way I'm certainly glad to see that I'm not the only person ever who was interested in it. And I'm definitely curious to see your reworked version.
Having played a bit of it, I must say I like most of your improvements. It's definitely much more smooth and less tedious to play. You left certain tiny hotspots in but at least you made them more visible. I liked the puzzle improvements that I've spotted so far. Also "searching" is the only extra action that I miss from the original. I think more adventure games should experiment with it. However as pretty much everything else it wasn't used well at all in the original Black Sect so I think just adding it up to what you can do with the use action was reasonable on your part as well.
All the sound effects you put in are absolutely wonderful. Great job with that. Your music is much better than the orignal soundtrack as well! A bit curious where did you get all these sweet sound effects.
It'd be really nice if the smooth transitions of different daytime lighting were there instead of it changing only upon changing player's location, but it's hardly trivial to add so I understand you not wanting to bother with it.
Also this game could do with a bit more detailed hint system methinks.
All in all, your version plays so much nicer than the original it almost feels like a parody of some sort.
Well done.
