Incline Recommended ROM Hacks Thread

[Ash]

I shall be documenting must-have ROM hacks (which are essentially mods for console games, for those that don't know) that I play for any emulated console game, not just JRPG. Highly recommended, top quality hacks ONLY will go in the OP. Feel free to post your own recommendations, or request I check out a hack to add to the OP.

Castlevania SotN: Hard Type

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2896/
Emulated Platform: PS1
Description: This is a hack of Castlevania SOTN which rebalances the difficulty. This includes adjusting enemy strength, enemy HP, weapon stat adjustment, removing more powerful (cheap) weapons, and adjusting spell attributes.
Ash Rating: Must-Play. Fulfils game potential. As many will know, the original game is too easy. The difficulty of this hack MAY be slightly above newbie-friendly however.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Magic Seal Simplified

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3324/
Emulated Platform: NDS
Description: "This patch made Magic seal easier. You just need draw the first stroke, then the magic seal will complete automatic."
Ash Rating: N/A (not tried it yet). As anyone that has played this game emulated will know, drawing seals on an emulator is borderline impossible. It was originally designed for the stylus which offers optimal precision. I can't personally recommend this until I actually check it out, but if it works as it says on the tin then this is must-have.
Edit: Member spekkio confirms it works

Final Fantasy 7: Hard Type

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/828/
Emulated Platform: PS1
Description: "Ever played Final Fantasy VII, leveled up your character, collected all the best equipment and materia just to realize that not even the two super bosses of the game could give you a decent challenge, and most other enemies in the game die from a single hit with the sword? Ever wished that monsters did at least enough damage to let you use your final limit break once in a while? Got disappointed when the final boss died after the first few turns? Ever wished Final Fantasy VII was a bit more… epic?"
Ash Rating: Must-play. Fulfils game potential. As many will know, the original game was too easy. The difficulty of this hack MAY be slightly above newbie-friendly however.

The Legend of Zelda LttP: LR Item Switch

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2879/
Emulated Platform: SNES
Description: This patch allows you to use the L & R buttons to switch items in A Link to the Past. Complete with sound!
Ash Rating: a good little QoL feature. What's not to like?

 

[Ash]

Here I shall be documenting hacks I DON'T Recommend.

Final Fantasy V Advance: Custom Class Mod



Emulated Platform: GBA
This mod is great in concept: expand upon the depth of the job system, allowing you to switch out 'Fight' and 'Item' for absolutely any ability you want. Furthermore, chosen abilities come with stat modifiers e.g 'Fight' grants +4 Strength, 'Steal' grants +4 Speed. What lets it down is it is absolutely poorly balanced. The author didn't even balance the game to account for the above new freedom in ability selection, let alone the other lax rules added such as new class equipment freedom. As an example of this further additional freedom, Thief class can dual wield and equip swords as a result of base/innate abilities. This means after the wind shrine and immediately gaining access to the job system, all you have to do is become a Thief and steamroll through the first 1/4 of the game.

Difficulty goes out the window.

Spoiler

However, there's a silver lining. YOU can make this mod great.
Follow these five vital steps:

1. Before anything, I downloaded and applied SNES music restoration patch (The GBA audio quality is awful!).

2. Applied the Custom classes mod on top, then downloaded the only two FFV editors in existence that work with the GBA version. These next three steps involve the use of said two editors.

3. I lowered base stats granted by all jobs by roughly 40%. Lowered base HP per level by roughly 30%. Lowered base MP per level by approximately 30%. All of this is made extremely easy with one of the editors and can be done in five minutes.

4. Set all abilities learned/base innate job abilities (e.g thief does not dual-wield!) back to vanilla.
Also set all equipment class restrictions (e.g White mage can only use rods, not fricken hammers) back to vanilla.
Don't be tempted to tweak these yourself unless you really know the game's systems. Vanilla for the most part was reasonably well balanced. Not perfect, but having a cool idea like letting black mages use bows is just yet one more step away from actually having to use your brain in play, which is no fun for most people.

5. This final step is a little tedious: Increased HP of ALL enemies in a range of 20-40%, depending on the enemy (stupidly I didn't also increase other enemy stats. I'd recommend increasing all their stats by this same scale).

All in all following these steps you can have the Custom Classes mod in a fairly balanced state, and play FFV with a fresh, new, deeper job system. This process should take you about 1 to 1.5 hours and requires minimal technical expertise.

 

[Viata]

As anyone that has played this game emulated will know, drawing seals on an emulator is borderline impossible.

This was horrible even on NDS itself.

 

[Ash]

I'm not exaggerating though, on PC it's barely possible. NDS it was still a pain yet people could actually COMPLETE the game.

 

[Somberlain]

Symphony of the Night Hardtype is definitely incline. Provides the best SotN experience IMO.

Overall excellent romhack but it's not perfect, since the author did nerf some overpowered equipment to the point of it being useless. Needs a bit more balance

 

[spekkio]

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Magic Seal Simplified

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3324/
Emulated Platform: NDS
Description: "This patch made Magic seal easier. You just need draw the first stroke, then the magic seal will complete automatic."
Ash Rating: N/A (not tried it yet. Will shortly). As anyone that has played this game emulated will know, drawing seals on an emulator is borderline impossible. It was originally designed for the stylus which offers optimal precision. I can't personally recommend this until I actually check it out, but if it works as it says on the tin then this is must-have.

I had been using this baby during my playthrough (last year?) and it worked fine (Retroarch). Recommended.

 

[aweigh]

Ash

Just wanted to mention that originally white mages could use hammers and even a sword back in FF1-FF3 NES days... and yes, it was specifically a version of D&D Clerics.

You should release a patch for the FF5 GBA ROM with your changes applied.