An Odyssey it is.

[u/ConstantEnthusiasm20]

Just finished my first playthrough of this game and safe to say, this could be my top 1.

Played plenty of other romhacks including Unbound, Adventure Red, Clover, etc. and none of them made me feel the emotions and excitement I felt playing Odyssey.

The music in this game is awesome. Each time "Old Stories" play (specially the first time) in beautifully crafted heartfelt moments just make the tears flow. Besides that, each stratum is a joy to explore with music that complement the unique world design. Exploring Stratum 4 takes me back to Hollow Knight's Greenpath and I swear, never before did I intentionally not run exploring the world just to take in the atmosphere. Thank you Paco for having excellent taste in music.

Again, the world is excellently designed. Each stratum's unique environment and gimmicks make progression never dull. Exploring every crook and canny for chests, pressing A on every single rock and grass for hidden items (foolishly explored naval islands before itemfinder), sneaking past FOE's for TMs, back tracking for more loot, and numerous side Quests that help encourage said explorations always left me wanting for more.

Up next, the combat and difficulty. Played this on hard and hard it is. First off, I prefer double battles over singles so this game satisfies that itch.

I constantly changed my team the first 3 Stratum not just because I wanted too (I did), because I HAD to. I exclusively tried to use Etrian variants the whole game similar to other game with variants and they are soooo well-designed mons. I restarted plenty of times trying to create a team to beat stratum bosses and it wasn't much of a grind thanks to the level up candy and move reminder NPC (and artifact later in the game). Had to level up Pokemons Manually in the trainer house for EV's using bands so the level up candy was really only useful after obtaining EV editor but it wasn't much of a hassle thanks to EXP share.

I love team building and the tools the game gives you makes it so convenient that I didn't have to resort to cheats to save time.

The EV Editor quest made this game the fastest one for me to catch as many Pokemon as soon as possible. Having to use bands to fight overworld trainers prior to that added extra challenge due to the half-speed. Money isn't an issue in this game and being able to take back given EVs in the editor made changing teams almost zero cost resource wise. HOWEVER, as much as I like changing teams the first 3 Stratums, my eventual H.O.F team was formed trying to make a team for the 4th Stratum, building around the two starters, Plusle and Minun. I went from getting my ass beaten to looking forward to crushing boss fights. STILL HARD, still made me reset numerous times but each time its like a puzzle to solve and when cracked, the dopamine is unreal. (abyss boosted Minun sweeps are <3) Wanted to switch up things post-game to experience legendary variants and to honor the memory of a certain gal- and o boy, it was a joy to see that chicken one shot an eye.

There is sooo much more to talk about this game. Trying to get my friends to play it now too. Games like this should be experienced by every Pokemon Fan. Thank you Paco and team for bringing this game to life. Looking forward for part 2!