All I have to say is Zelda II and Battle of Olympus. Simon's Quest is not a bad game, you're not a bad game you've just gotten in with bad company, people. But Simon's Quest is not all it could be. You could have all those elements in the game that you mentioned and still have a great platform title. Although there are some good spots; the backgrounds are mostly redundant and lifeless i.e. look at the mansions. The platforming feels clunky & the enemies do not impede your path. Are you saying that weak enemies add to the mind fuckerishness and that Link and/or Olympus don't try to impede your path with fearsome and cunning lesser enemies? Also their bosses & final bosses are tough and something to be reckoned with sir. Dracula? No. When a game makes it big you don't expect the makers to low ball it's sequel and make it a lesser version than the original title. Despite the fact that it does give you a feeling of classic horror noir the lack of epic battles makes it a lesser game. The issue with hearts can be fixed by roaming mansions (where time stops) and gaining them up quick by fighting Gargoyles. It's a fair frustration that one should suffer for dying just like losing exp in Link or Olives in BOO.
Many of those complaints are things that could be said about CVs 1 and 3 as well though. I'd say the balance between enemy strength and player strength started to get out of whack around CV4, and got WAY Out of hand once the Castleroid formula took hold, but the NES CV games kept it fairly well in check. And if you're looking for platforming, there's plenty of it, especially in the mansions, though it's not the focus of the game this time around.
I don't think Konami low-balled this one, I think they were trying to figure out how to make the transition from the arcade to the home market. And in doing so, they made a game that was (and I'd say still is) misunderstood because people get wrapped up in comparing it to its predecessor and because it utilizes things that were considered acceptable design elements back when it was created that may not be now.
I agree. I think that Simon's Quest could actually be remade in such a way that it both achieves what it initially set out to do AND have good bosses, platforming, some way to tell which villagers are lying or some way to make them tell the truth, and better leveling and item systems.
What you're talking about sounds as though you're trying to make it into a Castleroid. Leveling isn't really the point of the game, as it really only happens twice (and that's if you REALLY do some grinding.) I don't see any problems with the item system, but what would you change about it?
I agree about the bosses, it might have been cool to have been locked into the boss room until you defeat them. If they'd had better AI those could have been pretty cool fights, but they basically boiled down to *mash B until dead.*
As far as the villager thing is concerned, refer to the quote in the first post. The MANUAL even tells you not all the villagers' clues can be trusted and part of the game is sussing out the clues. If you could tell which clues were useful and which ones weren't, I think it would take a level of puzzle solving out of the game.