Hi everyone :) I've decided that I would finally get into Pokemon ROM hacks as I've only tried a few (light platinum, glazed and resolute), gotten to the 1st/2nd gym and stopped playing. It's coming up to a 10 week holiday for me and I was thinking of playing a few hacks so would anyone be able to tell me a list of the best rom hacks (in your opinion) and an order in which to play them (just so I don't find it too hard to choose which one to play.) Thanks in advance :) Also, any ROM hack/Fan Game will do but I'd prefer ones that enhance the original game, a completely new game, hard but not too difficult (grindy), etc.
Personally, I have found the majority of rom hacks made have had reasonably bland stories, but I think a lot of Fan Games have some really deep, entertaining stories. I will leave a list.
1. Pokemon Rejuvenation - Fan Game - I loved this game due to the incredible story and characters This is a game you can really get into, and you can choose the difficulty. I also liked this game due to my interest in competitive battling. During difficult battles, you really have to think and plan ahead in order to win. There is a level cap for each badge, so you can't win by over leveling. They also use personalized area effects in all the important battles, so you have to work around them or use them to your advantage, and certain moves can destroy them or change them. For example Flame Burst can "set a Forest Area on fire". Also, there is a lack of strong pokemon strong pokemon available for capture. You have to make due with generally weaker pokemon. For example, my team was Greninja (my starter), Golurk, Pyroar, Cloyster, A Solrock and Lunatone fusion, and Leavanny. If you enjoy strategic battles, this is definitely a game you should try out. Of course if you use the easiest mode, then you won't have to do quite as much thinking. Another advantage is while the game is difficult, it is not because of the opponent being higher leveled. You don't have to do much grinding at all, and if you need to, every area has another audino trainer that you can fight as many times as you want for exp. Also if you go over the level cap, they have items to bring you down a level. Lastly, the story is also extremely addicting and entertaining, and it is pretty difficult to stop playing in my opinion. I also love all the characters. There are a few problems though, as all games have. Like Full Moon, the game is not complete, but has about the same amount of gameplay and you will finish with pokemon around mid 70s for levels. Also, it is very dark, with a region that has seen better days, and a lot of killing and death. It is not super dark though, I think most people over 12 or so wouldn't have any problems playing, but if you are sensitive to death, it may not be the best game for you to play. Otherwise, if you enjor strategic battling and incredible stories, you have to try Pokemon Rejuvenation.
2. Pokemon Full Moon - Fan Game - Pokemon Full Moon is one of my favorites, although many people don't know about it. It is reasonably easy, but the main aspects I love is the story and the characters. There are several rivals/friends that are constantly accompanying you and making the story interesting. If you like story-based games, Pokemon Full Moon is a great choice in my opinion. There are a few things I didn't like though, for one, there is an overwhelming amount of legendaries you can obtain, and personally, I almost feel like I am cheating beating the game with strong legendaries. Although, you can always just kill or not use them, so it's not a huge problem. Another thing is the hack is not fully completed, although your pokemon reach around level 70, and I have 45 hours of playtime. Also, it took my a couple hours to really get into the plot. The plot is also reasonably dark, with a decent of amount of death. The last thing is not a problem with me, but many people have issues with it in pokemon fan games/rom hacks. The protagonist, Luna, is has a predetermined personality and has dialogue as well. In most rom hacks/fan games, protagonist dialogue feels awkward, but I never found it awkward in Full Moon. Basically, you can't do any sort of personal roleplay or anything. As long as all this works with you, then you should definitely check it out.
3. Pokemon Reborn - Fan Game - Extremely similar to Rejuvenation, Rejuvenation was actually based on Reborn. They have the same level cap, lack of strong pokemon, strategic battles, incredible story, awesome characters, etc. The only things worse is I found the story a bit worse, there is only one difficulty, and it quite difficult, but still little grinding. There is no audino person, but it isn't much needed. There is about the same amount of gameplay as Rejuvenation, and it is not finished. Also it took me a long time to get into, I ended up dropping it sometime in, but once I got into it, I discovered it was really amazing, so try to keep going with it even if you are bored. Also it is likely even darker than Rejuvenation, with more death. Anyways, it is still an incredible game that gets super addicting after a little while.
4. Pokemon Dark Rising/Dark Rising Kaizo/ Dark Rising 2/ Dark Rising Origins: Worlds Collide - Rom Hacks - Pokemon Dark Rising series was actually the first rom hack/fan game I really got into. The story is really incredible, but I don't think it is in the same league as the three above. It is still incredibly addicting though, and I played the first one for 13 hours straight when I started... One major problem is that the first two have many bugs, none that stop the game, but still very annoying. After many events where characters disappeared, they would randomly reappear, and sometimes they would disappear but re-do the event with nobody there. Personally, I loved the story so much I just kept going to see what would happen. The main reason many don't like the series in general is that it is incredibly difficult. There are major leaps in levels and there is an extreme amount of grinding required. One solution to that is Pokemon Dark Rising Kaizo, which is a remake of the first game. It has less glitches, but still some, and the maps are better, but mainly it is much easier. I had little difficult and grinding beating the game, but I found it much less entertaining. I think the difficult really helped to support the atmosphere and story of the game, and really made more sense. If you really want to not grind much, go for Kaizo, but otherwise play the original. Also, the is no remake for the second one. Worlds Collide is a prequel, and I thought it was possibly even better than the original, and slightly less difficult. Although in Worlds Collide, they have Digimon, so if that isn't your thing then don't bother. You should definitely try out at least one of the games though.
5. Pokemon Insurgence - Fan Game - Pokemon Insurgence is a bit different then the others, it is still plot based, but there are not many rivals and characters. The characters that they do have are pretty bland and really don't affect the plot much. If Insurgence had awesome characters, it would likely be at 1 or 2, as the idea and plot is really incredible. Also, the features are amazing. Gen 4 graphics with several new available mega evolutions. While I don't see it as good as the top 3, it is around as fun as Dark Rising, and much better general gameplay. The main part of the story that drives you to keep playing is the mysteries and unanswered questions. The plot is also intense, and very well written. The game is very difficult though. It is not nearly as difficult as Dark Rising, but still requires a decent amount of grinding. Also the game is not finished :(, and is very dark. Likely on the same level as Reborn in that sense. If you enjoy mysteries and better gen graphics/cool features, you should definitely check this out.
In terms of order to play them, it really doesn't matter. You may enjoy Insurgence and Dark Rising more if you haven't already played the first three, as those two are really not in the same league in my opinion. I personally played them both first. Although, if you wanna go straight for the money, then I would play them in the order I put them in. Maybe Reborn before Full Moon, since Reborn and Rejuvenation are so similar.
In general, these are the only Rom Hacks/Fan Games that I really enjoyed. Others were entertaining, but I never really got into the story, whereas I got super addicting to the story in those 5. I hope you check them out, as they are really incredible and super entertaining. Also all the not finished games are still being developed, and are constantly updating. I believe episode 9 of Full Moon is coming out in the next couple of days, and the last Rejuvenation episode came out just a couple weeks ago.
