Minecraft Mod & Modpack Reviews

This is and likely forever will be my favorite recipe mod, and it should be yours too.
Compatible with JEI, almost all JEI plugins, and most add-ons (though in my experience the alternatives built for EMI tend to work better with it) this is a true drop-in replacement.
If the modpack you're playing doesn't already have it installed, you likely can simply add it to your mod-list to get the full experience.

So, why switch?
Aside from there being no reason not to given the aforementioned compatibility.
The main feature is the crafting tree, it's like a crafting calculator that you can easily customize, reads your inventory and the inventory of your chest, and will help you semi-auto-craft your pinned item(s).
I'll include an image of an example crafting tree for the Dimensional Seed from ATM9, keep in mind that Very Large recipes can cause some lag and start eating up your ram, however, I'm able to view the recipe for the ATM star from the same pack without issue, tho a screenshot would be pointless because it barely fits.

Additionally, it offers so much customization, while the standard layout will look familiar to all modded mc players, you can change the multiple panels to appear wherever you want, personally, I like to keep my "craftables" always available under my favorites.

There are a few features I miss from REI such as drag and drop, and recipe cards, other features like favoriting specific recipes and easy craftables toggles are present. However, it's very possible I simply missed these options. While the config is clean and navigable, even I still find it overwhelming and there are to this day features I've seen others use that I don't know how to access, really this is my primary critique, I'd almost like a sort of tutorial if I'm being honest, but for a utility all about customization and qol, I don't think having too many features/config options should detract any points in a review.

While the average player will likely never know or care, I also want to appreciate the customization options when it comes to resource packs. I've maintained a UI resource pack (Overgrown Flowery GUI) and overhauled all three major recipe viewer mods, and EMI was easiest to work with and gave plenty of space for customization, overall I like the look of EMI the best with or without a resource pack.

Easily one of the coolest mods ever, I've made so many troll-y adventure maps for my friends and art projects with this mod, I think most people now-a-days are aware of this masterpiece as a result of content like that, the wave of "non-euclidian Minecraft" videos that took off in 2021 is a blast and this mod really does provide something you can't get anywhere else in or out of Minecraft.

But I really think it's under-used as a vanilla+ expansion to Minecraft, it truly does make portals more immersive and I think you should always consider adding it to your pack.
The first time I played this mod, my girlfriend surprised me by putting it in our 1.12 modded world and when I lit up a nether portal it was genuinely so beautiful and awe-inspiring I cried tears of joy.
While it wasn't an option to use it all the time back then, modern versions actually run very well in my experience, even in modded environments where, let's be honest, most players are chunkloading their portals anyway.

Not enough dust!! Good progression and quests, pack is still in beta so some things might be broken. Overall feels like an old modpack set in some dry planet...

Heavily recommend!!

Add more dust!! :3

I love the philosophy, community, and of course the content of this project.
While it's not quite as robust as Pixelmon, or as mechanically unique as Pokecube (yet), it is the definitive Pokemon experience for Minecraft.
Of course, people love the aesthetics, and the fact the battle mechanics are a perfect 1 to 1 of showdown.

While as of the versions I played, not all the mechanics are quite there yet, the ease of integration and making add-ons is genuinely revolutionary, and without that I don't think the adoption rate would have been so high.

The craze of Cobblemon's launch is unlike anything else I've seen, huge props every single person who contributed to the amazing publicity and hype train Cobblemon almost immediately created.
The amount of big servers that popped up in just a month, the amount of pixelmon networks that started adding Cobblemon servers, or even completely switching over was truly a sight to behold, and from the bit I keep up this is still going on. Cobblemon is an instant classic, and every numbered update continues to be a major scene-wide event on par with the likes of Create, but reaching a much wider audience, enthralling those who otherwise don't have an interest in Minecraft mods, or maybe haven't even played Minecraft before.

I know personally that it was Pixelmon that convinced me to even play Minecraft, and I've seen that happen time and time again with Cobblemon and I couldn't be happier. I think a new generation of players like me who get into mc because they want a Pokemon game better than anything that'll be officially released are in great hands and will have an amazing introduction to the community via Cobblemon.
For that, this project deserves the utmost praise.

It's hard to really describe or review Storage Drawers, I think most of you reading know what it does and how it works by now.
I think it's well deserving of being one of if not the most popular storage mod.
To be honest, while I think the new Functional Storage is superior, overall I'd recommend that (or maybe Sophisticated Storage) over Storage Drawers, the classic does have a few advantages.

Mostly familiarity, its long legacy means the very few compatibility issues the newer takes have won't be an issue.
As a player Storage Drawers upgrades are much cheaper than those for any of their alternatives.

Playing Vault Hunters feels the most like playing a roguelite out of any mod or pack I've played thus far (sorry trepidation), it is a true rougelite experience, running, looting, dying, starting again, and increasing your strength through loot and your skill tree.
This is a total overhaul unlike anything else out there.

It can be a very difficult game, personally, I spent most of my time playing solo using the sky block mode. But I've also played with a group of friends and I don't think there's a better co-op experience than running vaults together.

Aside from the spectacular dungeon generation, the fun skill trees, and amazing custom content, the pack still maintains respect for traditional Minecraft modpacks, with many options to use the mods you're used to while in the overworld, tho these are gated by a custom research tree.

It also improves upon many typical modded mc staples and provides QOL that I wish would become standard in other mods and modpacks, such as the morph table that lets you skin any item as another, the amazing holographic armor stands, or most of the new machines' resource slots not having a stack limit. The custom enchanting, item crafting, and reforging are seamless, while familiar to those who have played apotheosis I actually think it's a bit easier here... if it weren't for the lack of resources.

On that note, the game can admittedly feel pretty grindy in the early and mid-game, I recommend messing with the extensive list of game rules particularly if you're playing solo.

I think this is not only one of the greatest Minecraft modpacks ever made, but a phenomenal rougelite dungeon-running looting extravaganza in its own right deserving of being judged as its own game as a nearly unparalleled total overhaul.

Having finally given this a shot in ATM9 this is likely to be the only logistics mod I'll use from now on whenever I have the option.

Don't get me wrong, Xnet, Laser.io, and Modular Routers still have their place, but the level of control you have really does open up new possibilities, and the machines and infrastructure you can create are scalable beyond any other logistics system.

Most importantly, it's performant, even more performant than Xnet, and super easy to debug and optimize your system. While it's certainly not as space-efficient or pretty as laser io, arguably it's actually uglier and more difficult to hide than all other logistics systems I don't think it's controversial to say it is far better to have an easy-to-operate base that won't crash your game when you look at it or tank your server's tps then one with facades over every cable.

That said, combining it with other logistics systems (like modular routers) can make having completely invisible setups very easy.

Of course, it's not just about making your existing setups more performant and faster to build, it also allows you to do otherwise very complex things easily, including completely invisible full automation and auto-crafting setups for things like blood magic, ars nouveau, occultism, nature's aura, mystical agriculture, and of course all of the tech mods.

You can instantly transfer infinite amounts of items, fluids, and power, making it more powerful than most other logistics systems on top of its versatility.
A couple of caveats here are that many blocks in modded Minecraft will themselves have transfer limits, there are ways you can get around these in many cases, but not all. This can limit what you can do as your script will only run once per second (although in most cases this is still far faster than necessary)
Additionally, it makes some other tedious tasks, like automating massive Mechanical Crafter arrays (think the ATM star or SB3's meatballs and catalysts) so much easier in a way that no other logistics system can even compare to thanks to the way you label blocks in the world, this is something I would always dread doing with Xnet alone.

If you are any type of modded player who likes automation or has to work with any type of pipes (that's almost all of us let's be honest) I seriously encourage you to try using sfm for your next project big or small, your server owner, and/or your PC will thank you.

As for how you can actually get started, the example scripts provided on github will teach you everything you need to know, and I do not say this lightly, you really do not need any prior knowledge of scripting or code to get started. The language is so simple anyone can get started even if this is your first time even thinking about the word "scripting." A cursory knowledge of Minecraft is all you need, and if you're reading this you're more than likely already prepared.

Look at the size of this lad

Let me start by saying it is genuinely impressive how big this pack is and the fact I can even get it to run in single-player or as a server on my local machine is a miracle.
I'll point out I did this successfully and without performance issues at significantly less than the recommended ram settings, 10gb each for the client and server.
After adding a few of my own mods, 608 jars in the mods folder, this number has already gone up in the latest update. Of course, as advertised this includes both fabric and forge mainstays.

Compared to other mega-sized mod packs I've played,
It's a bit smaller (for now) than Starpack Titan and a bit less preformant.
Crashes far less than Omega Adventure Pack,
and actually runs for me, unlike Mystic's Monstrosity.

On top of that, it's a 1.20 pack with all of its hundreds of mods up to date.
The only technical issue I've encountered is a crash when using the ponder feature of ae2 and its addons (presumably this would also happen when pondering create).

Notably, while it's latest updates are all under the release channel, the modlist is frequently changing still, with mods being added and removed regularly.

The Gameplay

There's not that much to comment on here, it's a kitchen sink that mostly cares about having as many mods as possible. There is a final item and a few quests related to it, and creative item recipes for the "post-game". Personally, these progression elements failed to really catch my interest, while the Ultibean is unique its recipe is not the most complicated or engaging imo, and the rewards for getting it are a bit pointless as you should already be plenty OP. While ProjectE is gated behind some quests and unique recipes, it's still projectE and once you have it it's a matter of time before you're all powerful, personally, it took me about 2 days to reach the final power flower, notably, the watch of flowing time does require you to get deep into rats which looks to be a challenge, but the vanilla recipe tiab makes it redundant for the most part anyways.
A lot of quests are re-used from other packs, and so are a good number of recipes, I want to be clear I don't think this is an inherently bad thing, rather a solid indication that the gameplay of the pack comes second to providing a massive kitchen sink, this personally doesn't quite fit into my playstyle these days but would probably be a blast with friends.
Additionally, AE2's channel mode is set to "infinite" by default, making its one gate of complexity irrelevant, now I can see where this would have a benefit to servers, for single-player play this does serve to make you even more OP even quicker with little challenge.
Where I do think it deserves points is that the quest rewards are all loot bags, and while that may lack polish or intentional design for a pack like this the prospect of opening up hundreds of completely random rewards in a pack with lord knows how many items really does add to the fun.

That being said, if you're looking for a sandbox kitchen sink, I think this is a great option for chaotically experiencing some of the latest and greatest the modded scene has to offer.

I'm not really going to be commenting on the quality of the voice acting, IMO it's perfectly serviceable, and in my time with the mod, I've only encountered one performance that we'll say pulled me out of the experience which is the only reason I'll leave it at a 4/5.

Overall, Voices of Wynn really does add a new layer to playing Wynncraft. It's immersive and if you're not a fan of reading during raids and quests, this gives you the ability to still absorb the story while playing the rest of the game.
I've encountered no issues using the mod, it syncs to the text perfectly and is easy to use alongside wynntills.
I highly recommend giving it a try next time you play Wynncraft.

This is a skyblock pack that utilizes resource trees rather than sieving like 99% of all other skyblock packs. It's a really interesting concept, and can be sped up using various custom farmland blocks, but falls completely flat in the end game when you are stuck with acorns or resins that have zero use.

The biggest draw to this modpack is the prestige system, where you gain a single prestige point by completing chapters in the advancements tab. You can then spend those points on perks that persist between worlds, such as unlocking veinminer, getting permanent potion buffs, or unlocking whole mods. You are encouraged to restart the game multiple times, and each time you're a little bit better, very much like how clicker/idle games work. Unfortunately, this too falls flat on its face. The problem is two fold: reward balance and lack of care in the advancements.

The perks you can buy early game require at least two tabs in the advancements to be fully complete, and that's an absolute SLOG when you're just starting out without veinminer. Some of the rewards require hundreds of points to unlock, which requires a new item called the Parabox to generate, something you won't get until much later in the game. The reward costs are all over the place. Just to unlock Mystical Agriculture, you need to spend hundreds of points, and by that time you're just SO done with the pack you might as well just cheat in the points. If you decide to play with prestige mode turned off, you'll find yourself missing the ProjectTree world type because you need to unlock it in prestige mode.

And the worst part is that the mod author wrote one really good chapter of advancements and then said "meh, MAKE ALL THE THINGS" with all the other. I could go on about how this makes the modpack pretty horrible, but I'll give the paragraph the same effort the mod author did to the advancements.

At least it has NuclearCraft, so that's something.

Despite being hugely popular, avoid this pack at all cost.