Just finished the game!
It took me over 20+ hours, but only because I learned way too late that you can teleport back to spaceship by pressing SELECT. I was aiming for 100% but stopped at 90%. On my savefile (.gba ROM on Mac) I’ve cleared most sidequests, I have 67/67 Friends, 113/124 Items and 4/8 Apple from the Unlockable Chapter (hope I didn’t miss any 100% super secret bossfight).
I’ve only got stuck once in the factory because I didn’t know you can hide in cardboxes.
The devs are geniuses, the game has it all and it’s very smart, unique and quirky. Maybe too smart for its own good.
Didn’t check Easy Mode, but sometimes backtracking can be a little bit frustrating. When “All gates are now opened” it should simply deactivate the “malus” gates, and let you explore and backtrack freely. Imho, that would improve the game loop and the overall experience. I also understand that that’s the whole point of the brilliant level/planet design.
Final Boss & Ending
https://youtu.be/olTqn0ML_zE?si=amYQxf-GmD-SwyDQ
Full Playthrough