Woot Woot!
I like it a lot so far.
It is thought-provoking. As in, I am still trying to explain to myself how and why a permadeath RPG (that feels much like a Zelda game) can make sense. I think I have to actively unlearn some deeply ingrained gaming conventions (that maybe one gets from decades of Zelda and PKM), like hoarding items and not using them; looking for baby's-first-tutorial-dungeon; and hoping for a wise, father-like figure to tell me where to go next; or snatching everything that isn't nailed down because there are never any real consequences. And I'm not even not accustomed to roguelikes, I should know better!
It is strange that it is taking me a while to really accept these ideas. My brain still will ask, 'But isn't it dumb to have to run through the tutorial dungeon yet again, how boring,' and only then another side offers up, 'But what if there is no tutorial dungeon? What if you're simply free to go wherever? What even lies to the west?' I have no idea, because I only ever walked two screens west out of the starting village, then my Zelda brain suggested it probably leads to the desert, or maybe the swamp, and then I got scared and walked back.
So, it's encouraging and freeing, too, that I still have many places I haven't been to. I've really only seen the east village, a few ponds south of the starting village, the king's tomb, and that's it.
I also really like the game aesthetically. I cherish Game Boy because of how it relaxes my eyes. The mono-color tiles really help do that without being boring. And also the sprite work is all really cute. And it reminds me of those early Ultima games nah, would be pretty pleb. of me to be this straightforward; It reminds me of OverWorldZero a mini RPG within System Shock 2, played on the game's in-game PDA. (I never could quite shake the memory of that game.) (but yes, that one is absolutely inspired by Ultima.)