This hold shows a lot of potential for future architecture as well as being (mostly) fun to play through. There were definitely unintended solutions in more than a few rooms but overall this doesn't detract from the enjoyment of some fun quick puzzles. It's an ambitious project for a first hold: a robust size, a bit of scripting, and (mostly) non-trivial puzzles. There was also a few horde rooms that I enjoyed more than I normally would.
The main thing that lessened the enjoyment of this hold is the serious lack of checkpoints. Now most of the puzzles have short solutions so this isn't a really big deal in the rooms. Where it definitely comes into play is by exits -- stairs or scripted -- and in some rooms with access to secrets. Theses areas, IMO, should always have a convenient checkpoint, preferably where a player is likely to pass over it. It's very frustrating to have to replay rooms over and over or traverse across a large level, re-dropping traps doors and smashing broken walls looking for secrets or exits. Especially since, although this hold uses a master (is that the right word?) map, it isn't really useful for backtracking between levels in a single play through.
And while 'more' is sometimes better, I felt the post mastery levels were not up to the quality of the rest of the hold. The rooms, with a couple of exceptions, felt more like, "
well, I made this and even though I've moved on to bigger and better things, I don't want to just throw that work away."
I also wish Crumbling Castle had more reason to exist. The architect put a lot of work into it, but for the player, well, you just wander around, hoping you're not missing something, because damn, you really don't want to have to traverse the whole thing again. But if the level had had more (really any) puzzles in them it would be a very different story.
I don't mean to go on sounding like I'm ragging on this hold, because, as I said, I quite enjoyed it and was impressed with a lot of it. I'm nitpicking because I can see how easily the architect could be produce even better holds with just a few minor adjustments. Hope to see more soon!
Difficulty: 3
Fun/Overall: with checkpoints and no backtracking issues it would have been an 8, but as it is I have to say 6. Also: you made me break too many walls using a pickaxe.
