Category Archives: Final Fantasy

My History with the Final Fantasy Series

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The “My History With…” series are my thoughts back when I was a kid to young adult, about when I got games of a series, my initial thoughts about them, and other thoughts about the games. I stick to games I have or had, not one I played for the first time when i discovered emulation or modern system remakes. 

I started my journey in the Final Fantasy series started later than Dragon Quest/Warrior, but i fell in love with it as I did DW. I loved reading as a kid and my love for sci-fi and fantasy really drove me to the FF series seeing how Dragon Warrior was always more medieval fantasy. The longform storytelling here of having an objective for your party and solving problems along the way, or not knowing who or what you’re fighting or fighting for made me want to keep playing as I grew up. I also loved the deep and involved storylines in the games and watching the heroes overcome their personal traumas and come out the other end better people. It was always fun learning that the big enemy you’re chasing after really isn’t the last guy near the end. Even as a kid I didn’t mind grinding that much (though now with emulators you got that magic fast forward button). I should really start seeing down with these again with some the remakes and rediscover my childhood joy. For this I stuck with ones I’ve had or have, not ones I started playing via emulation. I also do have Tactics, but not a bit fan of strategy rpgs.

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Hack Showcase: Mega Man 2 Revamped (NES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Created by TheSkipper1995, this hack is just like the Mega Man 3 Revamped hack where it adds polish and other corrections to Mega Man 2 with hose weapons are used, ai of enemies and bosses, new level design to benefit stage gimmicks and more. There’s also 3 optional patches included with the base hack which are recommended:

  • NoFlash – Removes the flashing visual effects
  • Friction – Removes the slide Mega Man does when he stops running
  • FastEnergy – Faster speed which energy is refilled

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RPG Hack Showcase: Final Fantasy 2 – Unprecedented Crisis (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Created by Pinkpuff and his team, this hack changes up the events of FF2/4 in a new and exciting way that makes it feel like an all new game. You’ll have new party configurations, new skills and stats for your heroes, new items, new locations and a lot more. A lot of events from FF2/4 are more fleshed out in this hack as well as a cleaned up script. Visiting the Training Room in Baron will give a good rundown of a number of the changes and more.

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Final Fantasy 6: Beyond Chaos Randomizer (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

The FF6 Beyond Chaos randomizer is one of the most in-depth randomizers for any game. BC was originally developed by Abyssonym, then maintained by SubtractionSoup, now maintained by DarkSlash88 and available on Github. Nearly everything is randomized, including treasure, enemies, colors, graphics, character abilities, music, sprites, and more. The program will give you a list when you load up the program of different flags to add to your seed. Flags being different changes from graphics, skills, magic, scenarios and more! The main game flags are as follows:

o Shuffle characters’ in-battle commands
w Generate new commands for characters, replacing old commands.
z Always have “Sprint Shoes” effect.
b Make the game more balanced by removing exploits such as Joker Doom, Vanish/Doom, and the Evade/Mblock bug.
m Randomize enemy stats.
c Randomize palettes and names of various things.
i Randomize the stats of equippable items.
q Randomize what equipment each character can wear and character stats.
e Randomize esper spells and levelup bonuses.
t Randomize treasure, including chests, colosseum, shops, and enemy drops.
u Umaro risk. (Random character will be berserk)
l Randomize blitz inputs.
n Randomize window background colors.
f Randomize enemy formations.
s Swap character graphics around.
p Randomize the palettes of spells and weapon animations.
d Randomize final dungeon.
a Organize rages alphabetically (default)
h Organize rages by highest level first
g Randomize dances
k Randomize the clock in Zozo

You can also set BC to different types of games as well along with playing the main game, such as an Ancient Cave type game based off the randomized Ancient Cave in Lufia 2, Only fight the 8 Dragons and more. This randomizer is highly customizable for a tough and possibly fun game!

With most romhacks, strongly suggested to check out the readme files for advice on the changes to hacks and any gameplay tips, especially with rpgs. Readme files for rpg hacks can contain additional gameplay advice, etc, and it’s worth subscribing to hacks you like on RHDN to keep up with updates for bug fixes, additional content, etc.

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RPG Hack Showcase: Filly Fantasy 6 (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Filly Fantasy 6 by DrakeyC is a hack of FF3/6 themed around the reboot My Little Pony series. The main plot beats of FF6 remain, but everything else is changed from the heroes and villains, locations, gear, Espers and more. This hack is more themed towards fans of the MLP reboot, but anyone who isn’t a fan can still find enjoyment in it (like myself). The readme file included lists the bulk of the changes, but there is a grand database google file (link below) with all of the other changes, fixes and additions. Many enemies were changed to MLP related as drawn graphics compared to sprite work. Also worth noting this hack can tend to be on the hard side, and an easy mode patch is included. Since the list of changes is pretty long, for a preview I’ll stick to the changes of the main cast of FF6 to their pony counterparts:

  • Terra as Twilight Sparkle
  • Locke as Flash Sentry
  • Edgar as Princess Celestia
  • Sabin as Princess Luna
  • Celes as Princess Cadance
  • Cyan as Applejack
  • Shadow as Fluttershy
  • Gau as Scootaloo
  • Mog as Pinkie Pie
  • Setzer as Rainbow Dash
  • Strago as Rarity
  • Relm as Sweetie Belle
  • Gogo as Trixie
  • Umaro as Apple Bloom

With most romhacks, strongly suggested to check out the readme files for advice on the changes to hacks and any gameplay tips, especially with rpgs. Readme files for rpg hacks can contain additional gameplay advice, etc, and it’s worth subscribing to hacks you like on RHDN to keep up with updates for bug fixes, additional content, etc.

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RPG Hack Showcase: Final Fantasy 6 T-Edition (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

FF6 T-Edition translated is a long waited hack finally translated by Tomato of FFC2 fame. This is a lengthy harder hack of FF6 with a lot of new features, things to do, quality of life changes and more!

  • Retains the original story, but adds a LOT of new content *around* the main story, including side quests, locations, dungeons, super-bosses, unlockable character costumes (each with stat changes), a music player, and more
  • Celebrates the Final Fantasy series in countless ways, including hundreds of pieces of music from other games in the series
  • Updates the game’s mechanics with bug fixes, difficulty modifications, new spells, new attacks, new items, and a whole lot more

The hack also comes with EX Mode, which adds even more post-game content, superbosses and things to do! Big thanks to my buddy Chris474 for helping me get the save files together for the Hack Showcase video and this review.

With most romhacks, strongly suggested to check out the readme files for advice on the changes to hacks and any gameplay tips, especially with rpgs. Readme files for rpg hacks can contain additional gameplay advice, etc, and it’s worth subscribing to hacks you like on RHDN to keep up with updates for bug fixes, additional content, etc.

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RPG Hack Showcase: Final Fantasy 2: Born of a Dragon (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Created by MGE and his team, this is a difficulty hack of the US Final Fantasy 2. For the record, I’m not that big of a fan of these types of hacks, but I gave it a chance for review purposes. No storyline changes were made in this, but it intends to be tougher than the vanilla game where you’re forced not to grind to really high levels in areas, turning leveling sluggish when you reach the right levels for that area. Bosses are tougher with new moves, sometimes having commands such as jump, and they may have one big weakness. Items were revised as are gear to be more specific for heroes and their need, meaning you’ll be running out of inventory space often, but you can call the Big Chocobo with Cache on the menu screen, eliminating chocobo items.

With most romhacks, strongly suggested to check out the readme files for advice on the changes to hacks and any gameplay tips, especially with rpgs. Readme files for rpg hacks can contain additional gameplay advice, etc, and it’s worth subscribing to hacks you like on RHDN to keep up with updates for bug fixes, additional content, etc.

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RPG Hack Showcase: Final Fantasy 6: Divergent Paths (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Created by PowerPanda, this hack changes a number of story elements for FF6 including the 3 scenarios arc, the events at Thamasa and more. General Leo is a main character now and can be recruited along with a special 16th hero. Many parts of the plot have been repurposed and rearranged for the new content along with many other surprises! This hack is more story and plot based, rather than changing different gameplay elements, making it harder or easier, and so on. Gameplay is about the same as in vanilla, as is finding the Espers and learning magic for all your team members. Play this and you could fall in love with Final Fantasy 6 all over again.

With most romhacks, strongly suggested to check out the readme files for advice on the changes to hacks and any gameplay tips, especially with rpgs. Readme files for rpg hacks can contain additional gameplay advice, etc, and it’s worth subscribing to hacks you like on RHDN to keep up with updates for bug fixes, additional content, etc.

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RPG Hack Showcase: FF2: Threat from Within Part 1 (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

FF2: Threat From Within part 1 is a hack that has been in the making for a long time by Chillyfeez of FF4 Ultima fame. The first part of a 4 part(?) series, this one takes place 40 years after the events of FF2/4, and 20 years after the events of The After Years, in a time where the crystals lost their power after Zeromus was defeated and the second moon left Earth’s orbit. In the years since, King Edge has been rebuilding Eblan and established the Royal Eblana Mercenary Army (REMA), a ninja force for hire, to help with problems around the world. Edge’s son Furio is about to set off on his first mission, which will set off a chain of events that will endanger the entire world, yet again.

More information from romhacking.net: The gameplay will be familiar but the story is brand new and there are many new gameplay mechanics, including:

  • Limit Breaks!!
  • Hirable Mercenary Characters!!
  • Chocobo “Hunting”!!
  • Epic Choices – Decisions the player can make to alter how the events of the game play out!!

With most romhacks, strongly suggested to check out the readme files for advice on the changes to hacks and any gameplay tips, especially with rpgs. Readme files for rpg hacks can contain additional gameplay advice, etc, and it’s worth subscribing to hacks you like on RHDN to keep up with updates for bug fixes, additional content, etc.

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RPG Hack Showcase: FF4 Darkness Within (SNES)

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Hack Showcases and RPG Hack Showcases are a series where I show off various game and rpg hacks. I try to stick with hacks that improve gameplay or add quality of life features, completely or partially change the plot and characters, along with additional content, dialogue, graphical and sound improvements. Non-rpgs I try to give a full run to, or at least enough for a solid review. Rpgs I will stick with titles that have enough changes in the beginning to show off, and when I can, show parts later in the games where more differences appear. There may be spoilers in the reviews and videos. Some of these I may stream fully in the future or play on my own. Reviews are open to later revisions due to bug and content updates or me playing them and finding anything new I wish to bring up.

Darkness Within is a FF4 hack by Rynzer completed in 2019. This hack starts out very dark where Palom and Parom are killed by baron soldiers and Cecil is killed during the assault on Mysidia for the crystal there. You end up in the underworld doing tasks for the King of the Underworld to restore your soul. From there the plot proceeds partly like it would in the vanilla game, but in a different order, just like you did the underworld missions when you started. Party members you know and love will join at different times and sometimes have a new ability than the original title with a number of other twists.

With a revised plot comes new dialogue and other changes to the gameplay and other mechanics. Some spells that you could target on all enemies can now only target one enemy, different consumables replace some from the original, and now you only have to buy 1 arrow and you’ll not run out! Enemies were rebalanced or nerfed depending on where you are in the story, and this hack can be hard! Especially in the beginning!

With most romhacks, strongly suggested to check out the readme files for advice on the changes to hacks and any gameplay tips, especially with rpgs. Readme files for rpg hacks can contain additional gameplay advice, etc, and it’s worth subscribing to hacks you like on RHDN to keep up with updates for bug fixes, additional content, etc.

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