Pokemon ROM Hack walkthroughs

It really does suck that we have lost the GBAHacks site. I guess due to the inactivities, broken links, and possible strikes, it had to happen. And I did have a number of walkthroughs for ROM hacks submitted to Knuckle San so that they can be of help to those who can't understand the crypticness of certain ROM hacks. In that case, I'll just have to post them on PokeCommunity and here. This post will of course be updated accordingly whenever I finish a walkthrough and a ROM hack.

Just to be clear, these are links to walkthroughs. I'm not here to distribute ROMs.

Full walkthroughs:

Pokemon Adventure Yellow Chapter + Blue Chapter + Gold Chapter + Green Chapter

Pokemon Altair and Pokemon Sirius

Pokemon Ash Gray

Pokemon Dark Cry: The Legend of Giratina

Pokemon Dark Crystal

Pokemon Dark Rising 2

Pokemon Dark Rising: Order Destroyed

Pokemon Dark Violet

Pokemon Grass Jewel

Pokemon Grass Jewel 2

Pokemon Hyetology

Pokemon Luria

Pokemon Metal Red

Pokemon Nameless

Pokemon Polka Aqua

Pokemon Polka Aqua 2

Pokemon Scorching Scarlet

Pokemon Sky Twilight

Pokemon Snakewood

Pokemon Stigma

Pokemon Sweet

Pokemon Vega

Pokemon Victory Fire

Pokemon Voda Red

Touhoumon Cirno

Partial walkthroughs/Pokedexs/Other stuff

Pokemon Liquid Crystal

Pokemon Mega Power

Pokemon Nameless (battle arenas/department guide)

Pokemon Resolute

A look back at: Pokemon Polka Aqua 2

Two years ago I reviewed Polka Aqua 1, and now, it's sequel. More sitcom/movie characters, same setting, but different ways of making it through. Tons of modifications to existing Pokemon, many new moves, changes to stats, possibly some changes to types, and Pokemon up to Gen-8. The author even had the gall to include every single legendary up to this point, including the Isle of Armor ones. And of course, lots of Lv100 full team competitive trainers, which is the difficult part, while the gameplay makes itself SEEM easy because you can easily get many decent items in PokeMarts at relatively cheap prices at every PokeMart. Base stat totals are all over the place, making Pokemon like Altaria, Azumarill, and Blissey more viable than some legendaries (it's so unorthodox for BSTs that Salamence for example is basically a joke now). Surely enough, I like having this much to do.

Back in Polka Aqua, my team had five Pokemon in it that I actually decided to also have for this rom hack, just because I liked using them then. Those were Empoleon, Delphox, Swampert, Altaria, and Chesnaught. I also had spiky-eared Pichu in the first Polka Aqua, however for this game, I decided my Electric type was gonna be Luxray, which, oddly enough, was my starter for this game (you can choose between Shinx, Sandshrew, and Spheal here). So other than that change, and the fact that my Altaria this time was shiny (it was a fixed-encounter Swablu in Portland, and I think fixed encounters have better shiny odds), my team was the same.

You know what, speaking of shinies, I'm actually gonna criticize this bit, because some shiny colorations, I'm personally not the biggest fan of. I liked green Beartic to be frank, so why the change to it? And navy blue Blissey is super weird. A lot of blue shinies that are really weird, Raikou and Entei, and even Groudon and Gallade are kinda awkward to see. Also having to keep the Pokemon at the number 386 was a harsh decision when subtracting Pokemon overall, that and the methods to getting Volcanion and Meloetta (which would take the most work overall) were still around. Oh, and I wasn't able to fill the Pokedex here cause I for some reason could not find Carbink. So this is still in to do overall.

I've finished a full walkthrough of this and will put it up eventually on this post. With that said I will announce that I will not be working on any future walkthroughs for Pokemon ROM hacks. The reason being is that I will actually get to modifying my other Pokemon ROM hacks, starting with my Victory Fire walkthrough. That was the first one I ever did, and all things considered, since the author of that hack has updated things extensively, I figured I'm going to redo my Victory Fire walkthrough. Following that, I will help out Allen Ceedos with changes to Pokemon Resolute (if they show up) and perhaps even go back to my Snakewood walkthrough considering a (unofficial) new release was on PokeCommunity. So that's what's going on with ROM hacks right now.

RPG Ranks: Up to 180

Time to do one of these again, which means I am just inserting in the ones that I recently played into a master list and writing blurbs. You know the drill, this is my personal ranking of each RPG I played, with 180 being the least favorite and 1 being the most favorite. Let's see how the new games ranked too. Read the very first RPG Ranks post to see blurbs for all of the blurbs, I guess.

180. Deep Dungeon 3 (#114)
179. Golvellius: Valley of Doom (#21)
178. Hydlide: (#53)
177. Deep Dungeon (#112)
176. Startropics (#12)
175. The Guardian Legend (#15)
174. Deep Dungeon 2 (#113)
173. Minelvaton Saga: Ragon no Fukkatsu (#118)
172. Shining Wisdom (#52)
171. Popful Mail (#103)
170. Deep Dungeon 4 (#124)
169. Ys. (#96)
168. Secret of the Stars (#107)
167. Dragon Quest (#76)
166. Dual Orb II (#86)
165. Ys. III (#123)
164. Ys II (#102)
163. Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna (#144)
162. Majin Eiyuuden Wataru Gaiden (#19)
161. Dragon Quest II (#79)
160. Crusader of Centy (#8)
159. Orphen: Scion of Sorcery (#131) 
158. Magic Knight Rayearth (#48)
157. Digimon World 4 (#174)

It's really hard for me to rank most Digimon titles mostly because there is just so many mechanics. Yet ironically, the game that I found the simplest also is my least favorite of the bunch. Imagine if you will, the Lord of the Rings game on the Gamecube, as well as the hack and slash gameplay which I'm personally not a fan of, and you have this game. Unfortunately, it's definitely not balanced for single-player gameplay without tedious grinding, so it's certainly gonna be a low one.

156. The 7th Saga (#77)
155. Final Fantasy Legend II (#46)
154. Final Fantasy Legend III (#54)
153. Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger! (#17)
152. Ranma 1/2: Treasure of the Red Cat Gang (#121)
151. Grandia III (#133)
150. Final Fantasy (#2)
149. Final Fantasy Legend (#43)
148. Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn (#143)
147. Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds (#142)
146. Lunar: Walking School (#44)
145. Silva Saga (#119)
144. Great Greed (#47)
143. Tenchi Muyo! Game Hen (#93)
142. Phantasy Star II (#16)
141. Silva Saga II (#122)
140. Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (#6)
139. Robotrek (#101)
138. Final Fantasy Adventure (#105)
137. Warsong (#56)
136. Final Fantasy II (#135)
135. Dragon Quest IV (#94)
134. Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya (#129)
133. Shining Force (#106)
132. Shining in the Darkness (#82)
131. Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom: (#146)
130. Wild ARMs 4 (#136)
129. Phantasy Star III (#71)
128. Romancing SaGa (#61)
127. Dragon Quest III (#89)
126. Princess Crown (#126)
125. Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum (#153)
124. Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (#147)
123. Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World (#154)
122. Breath of Fire (#9)
121. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (#75)
120. Wizardry: Proving Grounds for the Mad Overlord (#141)
119. Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (#157)
118. Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen (#158)
117. Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen (#159)
116. Phantasy Star (#3)
115. Dragon Quest V (#104)
114. Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (#84)
113. Earthbound ZERO (#88)
112. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny (#161)
111. Realms of Arkania: Star Trail (#164)
110. Digimon World (#171)

Hours of gameplay went into this one, I assure. Also am not the biggest fan of a fully-AI-controlled battle system, but there's a ton of immersion in that you can use one Digimon, train it in many, many ways, and care for it. It's arguably the best game on premise, but not in gameplay or even storyline. Plus, the annoyance of having your Digimon fade and become anew, especially at crucial points, can actually be quite the dealbreaker.

109. Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon (#145)
108. Chocobo's Dungeon 2 (#165)
107. Jade Cocoon (#58)
106. Koudelka (#163)
105. Vandal Hearts II (#162)
104. Digimon World 3 (#173)

The most alright game in the Digimon World saga for me. It felt like a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game without the mystery dungeon stuff, and well I haven't even touched that series yet. Arguably they did a great job with the plot here, even if it gets a bit silly sometimes. Probably the best overall battle system, one-on-one, a fun evolution mechanic, and I guess if you're into card games you might like this too? I'm not the biggest fan of that one but I can see others liking it.

103. Tales of Destiny 2 (#176)

Where oh where is my English localization? This is a game I desperately wanted to play, and much to my chagrin I had to play it untranslated, thank goodness someone was able to provide a text FAQ on it, because it would very difficult otherwise. In either case, this is a Tales game, which is generally quite fun and is only down here because it didn't get translated, and while being graded on how well you do in battles is a gripe I have, this one pulls many familiar elements of the first Tales of Destiny and makes a worthy-enough sequel. Complete with a memorable villain even for a Japan-only title.

102. Digimon World 2 (#172)

This one's got the real mystery dungeon vibes of the Digimon World series, and I actually really enjoyed it compared to the first title. And the three-on-three combat system is a load of fun...except that it's incredibly slow-paced, along with the "attack missed" corollary that shows up when it really shouldn't. The combat is very standard turn-based stuff otherwise with hammy voices which are fun. Getting new Digimon is a complex procedure which unfortunately can contribute to excessively-long play times. Good thing I did this during the summer when I had the least amount of work to do!

101. Wild ARMs (#22)
100. Star Ocean: Blue Sphere (#109)
99. SaGa Frontier 2 (#132)
98. Dragon Quest VI (#116)
97. Sailor Moon: Another Story (#37)
96. Star Ocean (#67)
95. Final Fantasy III (#55)
94. Tales of Eternia (#136)
93. Xenogears (#30)
92. Odin Sphere (#34)
91. Spectrobes (#152)
90. Illusion of Gaia (#51)
89. Langrisser II (#73)
88. The Legend of Dragoon (#60)
87. Final Fantasy IV (#4)
86. Kartia: The Word of Fate (#63)
85. Lufia: The Ruins of Lore (#139)
84. Final Fantasy V (#65)
83. Romancing SaGa 3 (#83)
82. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (#140)
81. Mystic Ark (#137)
80. Dragon Quest VII (#127)
79. Wild ARMs 2 (#24)
78. Vandal Hearts (#160)
77. Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land (#156)
76. Dragon Quest VIII (#138)
75. Thousand Arms (#69)
74. La Pucelle: Tactics (#117)
73. Threads of Fate (#1)
72. Tales of Destiny (#39)
71. Suikoden IV (#66)
70. Wild ARMs: Alter Code F (#29)
69. Sword of Mana (#14)
68. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (#62)
67. Legend of Legaia (#80)
66. Lufia: The Legend Returns (#36)
65. Star Ocean: The Second Story (#98)
64. Secret of Evermore (#10)
63. Secret of Mana (#110)
62. Seiken Densetsu 3 (#120)
61. Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant (#148)
60. Soul Blazer (#42)
59. Arc the Lad III (#179)

Time for the Arc the Lad Collection to show up on this countdown, and quite frankly, all of them will be together, as they are all fairly solid entries as Playstation RPGs. The third game is the sleeper hit of the collection overall, the art style is better, there's a number of discrepancies, but makes itself a super interesting sequel game due to it taking place AFTER an apocalypse had occurred. It's almost entirely mission and merit based too.

58. Arc the Lad (#177)

Honestly, my personal favorite of the Arc the Lad Collection. This is because the game can be completed in about a week, which is super impressive for a grid-based tactical RPG. It's so barebones you don't even get equipment or shops, everything is reliant on growing stats and farming items. Its length is the selling point for the eventual sequel which would certainly take a lot longer for an RPG, with very little in sidequests to worry about.

57. Arc the Lad II (#178)

It may be the highest-ranked of the Arc the Lad games, but it's arguably the most exhaustive. You've gotta grind and even when you are finished with one storyline plot point, the enemies in the next segment are already much tougher. And with all these characters (plus recruitable monsters), you're talking several gameplay hours. Not to mention they made the fast-paced combat system much slower compared to its predecessor. Its plot is a HUGE selling point, and bringing back old characters also greatly helped it a lot.

56. Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (#7)
55. Tales of Phantasia (#18)
54. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (#26)
53. Breath of Fire III (#13)
52. Brave Fencer Musashi (#59)
51. Breath of Fire IV (#28)
50. Paper Mario (#64)
49. Growlanser III: The Dual Darkness (#74)
48. Suikoden Tactics (#81)
47. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (#31)
46. Romancing SaGa 2 (#78)
45. Suikoden III (#38)
44. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (#128)
43. Suikoden V (#108)
42. Grandia (#32)
41. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (#175)

A game that LOVES to throw tons of customization is gonna be a Final Fantasy game, natch. This one breaks the fourth wall a ton of times, gives plenty of options to what you can do and where to go, it even goes CYOA as soon as you have a world map! Like Arc the Lad III, this one is heavily mission-based, and is about being as normal as possible, or so it should be. But this game does have the biggest issue of that damn Judge system, which restricts the fun heavily. So it's not the best Final Fantasy Tactics game as a result, just a load of fun when it's fun.

40. Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice (#57)
39. SaGa Frontier (#97)
38. Might and Magic IX: The Writ of Fate (#169)
37. Wizardry 8 (#149)
36. Pokemon Yellow (#151)
35. Pokemon Red/Blue (#150)
34. Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer (#168)
33. Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven (#166)
32. Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor (#167)
31. Crystalis (#5)
30. Final Fantasy VIII (#85)
29. Final Fantasy IX (#115)
28. Tales of Symphonia (#180)

The most colorful and perhaps most accessible Tales game out there due to its fame as a Gamecube title, Tales of Symphonia features so, so much content that you will get lost in it undoubtedly. Fun skits, great shops, good customization of character equipment, titles, EX Skills, cooking, man there's a lot, but it actually doesn't detract from the primary gameplay experience, improving on the previous titles one step at a time. Now if only there wasn't so much racism being thrown by characters.

27. Earthbound (#99)
26. Skies of Arcadia (#90)
25. Treasure of the Rudras (#87)
24. Phantasy Star IV (#92)
23. Chrono Cross (#40)
22. Final Fantasy VII (#50)
21. Terranigma (#68)
20. Grandia II (#41)
19. Makai Kingdom (#170)
18. Final Fantasy X (#155)
17. Vagrant Story (#70)
16. Final Fantasy Tactics (#95)
15. Suikoden (#27)
14. Suikoden II (#33)
13. Breath of Fire II (#11)
12. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (#130)
11. Bahamut Lagoon (#125)
10. MOTHER 3 (#111)
9. Live-A-Live (#49)
8. Wild ARMs 3 (#35)
7. Final Fantasy VI (#45)
6. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (#23)
5. Phantom Brave (#91)
4. The World Ends With You (#100)
3. Chrono Trigger (#20)
2. Valkyrie Profile (#25)
1. Soul Nomad & The World Eaters (#72

A look back at: Tales of Symphonia

A game that's basically about combating racism, but you gotta do it right, basically.

The most popular Tales game, albeit PROBABLY not the absolute best. I honestly think that the battle system still needs better work, since the linear motion mechanics of old still apply for a 3D battlefield and the game's got no ambush mechanics to speak of. Plus, having to use techs or attacks constantly just to LEARN new ones can get stale and the randomness I don't appreciate. Maybe it's luck stat? I don't know. Regardless, it's also good practice to use every character you can at least once to ensure what they are capable of. Lloyd's the most obvious, and perhaps the most fun, but I've experimented with using spellcasting of Raine, Kratos, and Zelos (usually to gain their techs), and then using other fighters like Kratos, Zelos, and Regal. Lots of possibilities here, just like there's lots of possibilities for relationship-building and sidequests. Jeez, there really had to be that many. You can find cursed objects, rebuild an entire town, duel with a defected ninja, etc. I think I may have actually missed only one major quest, the Niflheim one, but dammit I got TOO MUCH WORK TO DO that I really don't have time for it all.

Hence the somewhat rushed way I managed to complete this at the beginning of March. But I took good time on weekends and other off-periods to make the most of things, and the plot of the game was worth it. Tons of character development, save for maybe the last few playable characters, and arguably for relationship building it's very likely you'll wind up with Colette and Genis on the first go. I certainly loved the idea of screwing with the "chosen one" gimmick, how it really sucks to be Chosen and how many other Chosens have failed. There were plot twists all over the place besides that, and the main villain's goal of ending all discrimination is noble, yet his methods turn to "basically just kill everything". Which frankly sucks, because all of his motives are drawn by the fact he had a sister and that somehow being a half-elf is somehow the worst of both worlds. Yeah, I can see some people not liking the villain now.

But there's a lot of variety in Tales of Symphonia, tons of things to just do, and tons of ways to play this game that there's no one way to really do it. Heck, I managed to beat the final boss without a major healer character (alright Zelos had healing spells and I primarily controlled him, but he doesn't have revival or status-healing spells and also I did overlevel for the boss since I did optional bosses first). It's worth at least one try. And now I have Dawn of the New World on my bucket list for later too.