A few more bits from the Zanotto-Aquato swap!
Truman is better at communicating with Lili than canon Augustus is with Raz, given the circumstances. The Zanottos didn't have fame or infamy before Grulovia like the Aquatos did, so they don't have as many enemies. Instead of explicitly denouncing psychics, he instead actively encourages Lily to keep her psychic powers hidden. One time, though, Lili did use her telekinesis to stop a bully. This incident escalated to the point that the Zanottos had to hurriedly flee the state, and Truman gave Lili a stern talking to... perhaps a bit too stern.
Lili has skills in parkour in place of Raz's acrobatics. This gives her a noticeably different skillset than Raz - trapezes don't come naturally to her, and neither does swinging from bars, but she can climb a lot better and even do some psychically-enhanced wall running.
The plant version of the Hand of Galochio isn't as active, since it's a lot harder to avoid plants. It mainly acts up when Lili's stressed or when she perceives the plant as dangerous. (Thorny plants, threateningly-colored plants, oddly-shaped plants, carnivorous plants, and plants that she knows are poisonous are the worst.) This makes most levels a lot easier, but it makes the Brain Tumbler Experiment absolute hell. When she learns she has to go there more than once, she is very tempted to set Sasha on fire.
She also adapts a lot quicker when she realizes that it isn't actually a curse, but her own latent powers. While it takes Raz until the post-game for the Hand of Galochio, Lili's 'curse' lessens considerably after completing Helmut's brain and learning the truth. Good thing too, or it would be near-impossible for her to get to the gulch.
If Cassie does take Otto's place, there are still some of Otto's inventions here and there. He's still inventing, he's just isolating himself to an even greater degree than in canon. Some things, however, are definitively Cassie's work, especially all the food items, which are now honey-based.
Helmut didn't actually get his mind shattered. He couldn't bring himself to do it, and only did it to Bob because, in a fleeting moment of lucidity, Bob begged him to. The guilt absolutely destroyed Helmut, and he never quite recovered. (I can't really see Helmut thinking to alter Bob's mind like that on his own. This is the only solution I can think of.)
Truman was younger than Augustus was in this, so he didn't really understand all that happened. All he really remembered were that his parents were gone because they went to visit his uncle, who he had never met and never seen a picture of; that plants were terrifying; and that this wierd viking guy put him in the care of this other wierd guy he didn't recognize, without telling him why. (Helmut didn't have the heart to tell him, and definitely didn't have the heart to use the Brain Tumbler. That may be for the best.)
Truman works as a travelling craftsman, selling figurines and tools. His family can't afford to stay in one place too long. That's the one thing that the Viking warned him about. He never said why.
I'm not sure what to do in place of Ford's levels. After all, Helmut doesn't have his mind shattered. The only thing I can think of his that he repressed his memories the normal way (or possibly through Cassie's techniques, and gee, wouldn't that be heartwrenching for her to learn?) and in order for Lili to make progress in his head, she has to find mementos from the previous psychic six to help jog certain parts of his memory: Cassie and Compton encouraging his romance with Bob; Lucy inadvertently sending Bob away and Ford trying to help keep him and Helmut in touch; and Otto trying to help him immediately before, during, and after the battle of Grulovia, with very limited success.
Cassie is easy, she readily gives Lili her and Compton's mementos when Lili explains that she wants to help Helmut - not fix, she's learned her lesson about that, just help. Even so, this prompts Cassie to start looking into what's going on.
Otto is also something that Lili thinks will be easy. It is decidedly not. Otto is having one of his bad days, and shouts at Lili to get out... but similar to canon!Bob, one of his machines - which I should note are explicitly AI, since Otto has spent more time focusing on his inventions here - begs her to help, initiating Otto's level.
Ford and Lucy, though, are difficult. After all, Ford's dead and Lucy is isolating herself. Thankfully, one of the Aquatos comes to the rescue. Dion tells Lili that there's an old picture of Great Aunt Lucy, Ford, and Helmut stored away in an old storage room in the back of the mailroom. Problem is, nobody has gotten around to replacing the fingerprint scanner with a thinkerprint scanner yet, so only Nick's body can open it, and Lili can't get him to stand still long enough to activate it, so she decides to see if there are any free brains around.
Speaking of brains, Helmut did not know that he had Ford's brain. It had fallen into a flower that the Green man had shut soon after. It was the bud of a flower that meant a lot to Helmut and Bob, so Helmut brought it with him to the Astrolathe, but left it behind. The flower then wiltedprotecting Ford's brain from the elements until Otto happened upon it during one of his many unsuccessful attempts to distract himself from his own guilt.
The only main difference with the interns is that Frazie is one of them. She may also be dating Lizzie (because I prefer that ship much more TBH), but it's never confirmed until the post-game. She also is not amused by the hazing.
I don't have much to add to this, but I really like the thought you put into how to transfered game mechanics and narrative concepts into the swap - Lili doing PARKOUR and the concept that Helmut did NOT directly one-to-one do exactly what Ford did in canon being some of my favs. It feels natural for them despite the circumstances being flipped on their head
