I hated 10-12F in LoT1. I don't remember enough about those floors to explain in detail why since its been too long since I played LoT1 (And LoT1 is definitely a game where I wouldn't replay save for New Game Plus which I haven't even gotten yet) but I definitely know that I hated going through those floors. 13-15F in LoT2 is simple book keeping (and for that matter 16F-18F was also simple book keeping that I will admit I ignored).
You can't bemoan trial and error gameplay in LoT2 when LoT1 had the exact same crap just on different floors. How else were you supposed to realize the teleporter on 13F was based on the various switches having binary values which determined the destination based on totals?
But I can, because I said the only thing worse or as bad is the 30f grind AND the stupid binary floor which was fortunately only 1 floor. That said I thought it was pretty obvious the switches had a binary mechanic...However the thing about that floor which sucked was the fact that the addresses you input for treasures and/or next floor were completely arbitrary, and the clues were incomprehensible even if you knew exactly what the floor mechanic was! Not to mention there were no clues at all for certain important areas. It's not like I'm wearing rose glasses here, I said those 2 things in lot1 were horribad too, but the lot2 gripe is worse for me since it's 3 floors long, and is required for the main game instead of some end post game nonsense that really doesn't hurt you if you just ignore it after doing it the first time (30f)...now when I play lot1 I just do serpent and just call it a game..and/or cheat engine some levels, which is still a pain because I have to try and cheat engine enough levels that isn't overkill, and I have to try and predict an appropriate number of skillpoints too, blech.
I think what Ghaleon is trying to get at is that there's less room, so to speak, for the floors since you can't have "walls" in LoT2 without the tiles being one space apart from each other. If that's not it, I completely misread your post Ghaleon.
That's just part of the equation. By having wall mechanics included in each and every tile, some shapes and patterns can't actually be replicated in the current system simply by doubling "spacing" each tile. I can't think of any PRACTICAL examples off hand, but just imagine an open area (or a hall that's like 2-3 tiles wide), where they suddenly split off further down (imagine an '=' appearing an an open box). Double spacing is incapable of this without forcing the player to move perpendicular to the "emulated wall" at the beginning of it, but what this means is that the walls might not vanish further down the hall, or end in a zig-zag on their own seperately, or a combination of both (maybe the bottom merges back into the center, and the top zigzags off)...
It's hard to explain, but the fact is lot1's mechanics just enable more elaborate maze patterns that lot2 cannot do, and not just cuz of size.
Plus the 1 way wall tile things isn't about liking them or disliking them, it's about more options/capabilities. I personally found the 18f 1 way maze gimmick to be kinda interesting. Even if you don't like it, the simple fact is I'm sure I'm not the only one who liked it, and it cannot be done in lot2 without spamming arrows absolutely everywhere. And even that wouldn't really do much since arrows don't neccesarily "teleport" you one square away, you would just be trusting they would on that floor but they might not. There are a couple floors in lot2 with arrows that transport you thru walls in a predictable fashion, then it has an oddball one or two that do not, which would screw up the whole trust thing with what I mentioned (not to mention it would look like an awful incomprehensible purple blob on the 'a' map).
edit: I seem to recall noticing it before and mentioning it, and being shot down, but I'm like super certain now...but it seems that elemental resistances are calculated PRIOR to mnd/defense reduction... in lot1 it was the reverse... meaning characters with alot of an appropriate elemental resistance still took damage from something that was capable of punching thru their defenses.. but in lot2, even "squishy" characters can take a 0 from a hit that nails other characters if they have significantly more resistance.
Basically this makes elemental resistances way way better than lot1, not that I'm saying they stunk in 1, but point for point, in lot2, worth way more.
