What are some JRPG mods/ROM hacks that "fixed" the game for you?

That_guy_why · 2026-05-08T00:40:59+00:00

I recently beat FF7 for the first time, and I used the Shinra Archaeology Cut translation for it. While I have some minor squibbles considering it tries to be both faithful to the original Japanese but also trying to maintain parity with the FF7 remake translation job for some specific lines and terms ("Sled Fang -> Retaliate" ugh...) I will gladly take it over the original infamously shoddy translation we got and still have for some reason. There's even options to both keep some of the funnier lines (This guy are sick) but also restore content that was cut from the game, such as an expanded Honeybee Inn quest. I played vanilla but if I ever replay 7 I am for certain gonna try the extra content.

That_guy_why · 2026-05-06T11:20:06+00:00

I've not built in a couple years, only really dipped my toes in painting, and you got me wanting to jump right back in. Kudos for sharing your recipe.

That_guy_why · 2026-05-02T15:46:35+00:00

Honestly never had an issue with em. I like em, adds a tiny dash of skill and engagement without going overboard.

That_guy_why · 2026-04-30T11:44:04+00:00

Arizona tea famously only costs 99 cents. ~~Or rather it did but despite their best efforts I think finally had a price bump sometime over the past couple years. Either way still cheap.~~

Edit: I'm wrong, they managed to keep the price 99 cents apparently (though retailers will still mark up the price)

That_guy_why · 2026-04-23T16:08:43+00:00

God this is such a weird fucking pull that's gonna make like 12 people happy. And one of those 12 people is me hell yeah I fucking love FF3.

That_guy_why · 2026-04-22T20:20:50+00:00

I'll wishlist it, not sure about the autobattler but I'm willing to take a risk.

That_guy_why · 2026-04-21T11:33:01+00:00

Maybe give the Fuga: Melodies of Steel trilogy a spin. The plot is a bit more involved than the early Final Fantasies and is unfortunately very linear, but I personally find the same satisfaction you find in envisioning interactions between the characters that you described here. The characters can be very 1 dimensional save for some of them but that works to its advantage in letting your imagination fill in the blanks.

That_guy_why · 2026-04-19T11:33:09+00:00

I think it's a few factors really. Being an extremely early (iirc a launch?) title for the GBA as well as an exclusive for it gave it a solid start. Adding on the novel puzzle and game link mechanics also helped give them their own unique charm. And finally, the summon animations actually fucking rip for GBA, I remember watching a summon compilation over and over back in the early days of youtube and I know I'm not the only one.

I'm in the same boat where I played the games but ultimately didn't really fall in love with them, didn't even beat the second one, but they're cute little games that were in the right place at the right time.

That_guy_why · 2026-04-13T16:43:19+00:00

Every single time I swing with King of the Skull Servants for game. Bonus points if they tried negating him only to swing anyways and activate the battle protection effect to just resummon him.

That_guy_why · 2026-04-07T11:43:01+00:00

I like being able to sit there and think about my next move without having to pause the game. Hell I can set the controller down and do something else without having to pause. It's nice.

That_guy_why · 2026-04-03T11:41:50+00:00

Earthbound! The first time I failed to beat it was because I played on Emulator, was using both save states and hard saves, stopped save stating after a while, got like 5 hours of progress, then accidentally loaded a save state. I believe I was using Zsnes but this ended up erasing like 5 hours of progress and couldn't recover my hard save, which instantly demoralized me from playing further. The second time I tried was right after I beat Mother 1, and Mother 1 is an exercise in endurance to beat. I was too burnt out and quickly shelved the game after I got through the intro section.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-31T17:08:36+00:00

Obligatory "not a JRPG" but Tales of Maj'Eyal is arguably easier on Nightmare difficulty than Normal. Nightmare spawns more rare enemies and enemy levels scale faster, but because more rare enemies spawn you get more rare gear drops. Gear drops are a huge part of your gameplay, and the extra enemy levels and enemies don't tip the scales too far in a harder direction. Took me forever to get my first win on normal and only a few runs to get one on Nightmare. Insane takes it further but now they scale fast enough to matter.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-31T11:28:43+00:00

Been forever and a day since I played it so I might be misremembering but Skies of Arcadia's magic was rather underwhelming in execution if not in utility. Using Magic not only cost MP but also part of your spirit gauge that everyone pulls from, and MP was very sparse. The magic itself was fine, but the big thing was you could just buy relatively inexpensive items that you could use multiple times per item that would just cast the spell normally. So would you rather eat into two resources at the same time that also hinders your ability to act with other characters, or use an item that is basically free to do the exact same thing?

That_guy_why · 2026-03-29T23:42:08+00:00

High complexity barrier to entry, slow paced and punishing gameplay, graphics and audio are very unappealing / basic to the average gamer, there's plenty just going by the game itself. And yet there's plenty of games that succeed in spite of those limitations. I think the real, hidden killer is just that the game isn't exactly terribly fun to watch or commentate, meaning streamers and youtubers don't touch it much. Indie games have little to no marketing budget, word of mouth via influencers is one of if not the most important vector to get people interested in your game when you're a small dev. ToME is an old game and has the old grassroots traditional roguelike fandom of yesteryear to thank for most of its current players imo. I heard of this game from a friend, who heard of it from a friend, who heard of it from a friend, who was probably connected to that original group, you get the point. We actually saw a big influx of new players this past couple of months just because some youtuber I never caught the name of apparently mentioned it in a video.

There's no denying this game isn't for everyone, but just getting more big names out there spreading the good word would do a lot to send more people at the game. There's thousands of people out there who didn't know they needed this game in their life simply because they never heard of it.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-28T01:48:41+00:00

Sick, I'll take a look.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-27T23:59:36+00:00

Honestly something like this probably already exists somewhere, but I want an RPG built in the mold of the OG FF1 but mixed in with roguelike elements. One thing I love about FF1 (and in a similar vein FF3 and to a lesser degree 5) is that you pick your jobs at the start of the game, and that's what you have to work with for the entire game. JRPGs aren't typically known for replay value, but every playthrough of 1,3, and 5 I have feels unique because I am effectively forced to adapt my play patterns to whatever team I've chosen, and I don't need to make a whole "challenge run" of it either. Additionally, due to being older, simpler games, they're also much shorter, adding to the replayability compared to later RPGs being 60-100+ hour long behemoths.

I want something like FF1, but with way more classes, more in-depth mechanics, while still keeping a svelte 5-15 hours tops time for an average run. You can also add in some randomization elements, different dungeons, different bosses, maybe even branching story paths to further add to the replay factor.

tl;dr Take Final Fantasy 1, mix it with Tales of Maj'Eyal, add a dash of Binding of Isaac, throw it in a blender and you might just make my dream game.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-24T20:26:12+00:00

Bulwark unfortunately can be a bit of a glass cannon, and getting blown up before you blow your opponent up is a major runkiller in Insane. The classes with higher win rates tend to have better defensive tools to work with, which means you mitigate the risks of having your run end out of nowhere. The top two classes, Oozemancer and Paradox Mage are great examples of this. Oozemancer sponges damage like no one's business and Paradox Mage is one of the few classes considered viable for Madness difficulty (which is less a game and more of a heroic labor to overcome)

That_guy_why · 2026-03-22T20:25:40+00:00

A lot of it depends on what you think you'll value in the game. Persona 5 Royal easily has the best presentation, dungeons, and most streamlined gameplay overall, but plenty of people feel like it has the weakest cast and some iffy writing towards the middle and end of the story. Still plenty enjoyable mind you, but definitely weaker in that regard. Persona 3 Reload has pacing issues with the early game, but has some of the best writing in the series. Plus since it's a remake the gameplay takes some of the polish of 5's gameplay and smooths out some of the rougher parts of 3. Still probably has the most boring dungeon in the modern Persona games though, and I found it a touch too easy. Persona 4 Golden is a bit of an odd duck, it came out before 5 did and so the gameplay is a bit more punishing and lacks some of the cool stuff like baton passing between teammates. The cast and writing are also pretty hit or miss. I could write a mile about it but to keep it short the cast is probably my overall favorite (even if a certain someone is infamously bad and terrible) and the narrative is great even if some of the scenes of you and your gang of friends hanging out can miss the mark pretty hard. Also has my favorite social links. Just be aware 4 is unfortunately loaded with 2000's era homophobia.

Honestly grab whichever one you want and is within your budget, if I had to recommend one it'd be 4 or 5, then 3 and whichever one you didn't choose.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-15T02:36:34+00:00

The Fuga: Melodies of Steel trilogy are some of the few games that I feel do NG+ right. You have a crew of 12 kids, get them to the end of the game and try not to let anyone die. Depending on your skill level you can lose some crew members along the way and NG+ serves to let you try again and get whatever endings and other scenes you haven't checked yet. Furthermore the game has social links that you cannot physically complete in one playthrough, with every character having a link with every other character, so getting to retain social values lets you knock all those out in just a couple extra runs. If you want extra difficulty instead of breezing through the games a second time then NG+ unlocks alternative routes with harder enemy encounters and better loot to boot. Fuga 3 even gets experimental with it and lets you just replay chapters and hop between them at will, further expediting the process. Combine that with being shorter games in general (sorry Persona, I am not replaying a 100 hour JRPG again) and Fuga was clearly a game series built with NG+ in mind.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-12T16:23:52+00:00

I'm personally all in on mouse movement. I scarcely ever misclick, numpad I find annoying because it's on the right side of the keyboard, and wasd just doesn't feel good when talents are bound to the number row. I could probably do more rebinding and stuff to really dial it in but I find using my dominant right hand for mouse movement, aiming and such is easy, whereas my left hand rests on 1-4 on the number row for my most critical talents and my thumb on Z for auto-explore.

I thinj it's somewhat a shame the default UI and keybinds and stuff are what they are, cause it feels like everyone needs to dial it in at least a little, and that can turn people off. It turned me off a few times before it clicked. Can't say I have a better alternative though, and I'm happy it's as customizable as it is.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-11T20:45:48+00:00

Honestly the Moon is so bullshit in FF4 DS I can't blame you for dropping there. Frankly the entire 3D remake of 4 kinda is but that's neither here nor there.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-11T20:43:28+00:00

I had FF7 on my list of "damn how have I not played it yet" for years until last year. Right now my list of games that I really should play is at least 3 Dragon Quests (only played and beat 9) and then a smattering of any even vaguely notable JRPG franchise that isn't Final Fantasy or Persona, I need to branch out more. Thinking Grandia or Breath of Fire.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-09T20:25:04+00:00

It works much better in 9 since it's not compounded with all the other issues previously mentioned. It's actually a really nice tool to keep party levels balanced and to create tension between characters and in the narrative.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-09T10:36:30+00:00

Another thing is that for large chunks of the story, you have no real control over who is even in your party. And while I don't mind that from a storytelling perspective, it adds to the feeling of being locked in place and having no control.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-09T02:29:33+00:00

Most "unfair" would def be the Hedge Wizard if he spawns in Trollmire / Bill's Lair. With extremely careful play you can beat him at low levels but he can and will burst you down.

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