not bad. to note, I am not done with this, but idk, I might be running out of steam for a while and the thoughts I'm noting here don't require me to complete the game. for all the things this mod/hack does right, one that it does wrong is not making grinding better, at least in the current beta. I've heard a previous version allowed you to buy rare candies. but the current beta, which is the version you're encouraged to play for a number of reasons, removed that. the breeder trainers are supposed to be ones you can repeatedly battle, but idk how that works. I've tried interacting with them for more battles, to no avail. eh.
this game requiring you to really keep your team up isn't a terrible thing, but with every trainer in the game having significantly better Pokemon than they do in vanilla Crystal means this mod really keeps you on your toes and it'll take you by surprise for a while. eventually you'll start to at least kind of expect the wild varied movesets, but it's sort of annoying not really knowing exactly what to expect. I dislike that you can come across annoying situations like recover spam. but for the most part, it's not too bad minus the weird surprises that can screw you over.
idk how I feel about the original content and such... it's not that it's super unfitting, but eh. one thing I'm not keen on at all is the trainer sprites from future games that were added to Polished Crystal. for the most part, I don't think they're needed. also several of them look... weird. like they really don't fit, despite the artist's best efforts. or they just feel too recognizable, but clearly from a future game. it just feels off.
a few of the general custom overworld sprites are also awkward looking, like the juggler's. but I do like how those little visual upgrades make this mod feel fresh.
I feel dumb as hell because I can't think of what from HGSS is here in this mod. well, aside from Lyra, I guess. who... I could do without because I don't like her, but whatever.