Monster Hunter Ltd (Part I)

To be honest I'd completely forgotten that this map (and its second part) even existed, much less won a Cacoward: apparently the maps came out to not much fanfare and might've been forgotten completely if it wasn't for the keen eyes of the Cacoward committee. Having played parts 1 and 2, I can confidently say that I'm thankful they did so.

I am kind of curious as to what Didy's inspirations were going into this map: the sheer amount of interconnectivity and intelligent space usage put me in mind somewhat of Espi's mapping style, but with enough of a unique spin (as well as a delightful amount of Doomcute) to be realized as something unique. Encounters can get a little hairy but aren't too stressful and the grungy atmosphere is incredibly well-realized with the aid of some excellent texture work. I also just gotta shout out all the Doomcute going on like the fireball assembly line and the way the map exits. The random Arch-Vile fire(s?) were a bit odd, heh.

I wouldn't say that the map is perfect though and I do have my criticisms. "A little hairy" is pretty much as difficult as things get and it never feels like you're challenged overmuch throughout, with Didy dropping soulspheres in the main progression path a puzzling number of times. There are also a couple of points of no return, which I'm generally less than fond of: I'm more of an explorer than a battler and it always irks me when I try to ferret out secrets after everything's dead only to come up against a brick wall. I did ultimately come away from the map satisfied though, so it's obvious that these criticisms didn't detract too much from my overall enjoyment.

Overall, really good stuff! Definitely worth checking out.