CIEL'S PROFILE

http://www.insanedifficulty.com/board/index.php?/files/category/1-mods/

this is a wonderful site for those craving a challenging RPG, or just a good reason to replay a favorite with a fresh experience

these mods/patches are thoughtful rebalances that change item functions, boss scripting, character moves, and anything else mechanically that will cause the game to demand thoughtful application of player tools to overcome the game's obstacles. you will never need to fight even 1 more battle than you would normally encounter. and the stories remain unaltered.

important to note is that these aren't like those awful romhacks where some guy just quadrupled all the monster stats so the only 'challenge' is how much you're willing to grind to get back on parity

for some of these mods, years of thought, editing, and playtesting go into them

ones i've checked out so far;

FF6 "Brave New World" - complete and still being updated. esper bonuses disassociated from levels. character 'builds' become very important with stats, equipment, magic, etc. the version I played 2 years ago was satisfying but the difficulty fell off a bit towards the end, possibly addressed by now

Chrono Trigger "Lavos' Awakening" - required stretching of player skill to the limit of CT's systems, ability to solve problems in boss fights with constantly adapting team comps, turn timing, ability usage, etc. Memorably, I tried 5 completely different approaches to fighting queen zeal's first form before I won

there's one annoying little oversight with the dragon tank's tuning at the beginning of the game where it's impossible below around level 8 iirc but the rest of the game and all these other mods don't require grinding at any point otherwise. i may have been skipping a bunch of encounters anyway

FF7 Hard Type - didn't play this one myself but a friend who I trust said it was good

FFX International - Punishment - currently playing this, makes a sleepwalk game appropriately hard but unlike the other mods random battles get tedious sometimes. wouldn't necessarily recommend as a challenge run but it's better than the original game. i don't really know if this game can ever get that interesting lol

Symphony of the Night - this game was such a joke that a hard patch kind of just bumps it up to 'normal mode', which is better than it was before

Xenosaga II - this game and Xenosaga 1 were already much harder than regular RPGs in their vanilla states and I particularly enjoy the battle system in 1. I've played through the first disc hard patch of 2 and it's nice. Looking forward to getting wasted by Orgula on disc 2

FFT 1.3 - this is the most famous one. features full class redesigns - for example archers get skills like 'interrupt shot' that actually do useful things instead of charge +1 charge +2 etc.

again the original game can be sleepwalked through. i am normally against the combination of fft-levels of rng and difficulty because lol just reload until the game lets you win with the same inputs BUT...

a certain amount of RNG in a team role-based game like FFT can test one's ability to build redundancies and contingencies and adaptability into their teams, so players who get extremely good at 1.3, and i mean extremely freaking good, can beat any map first try. this is the only game i've ever legitimately been unable to clear, although I haven't given up yet, just haven't had the time to really crack into the later maps.

Final Fantasy XII International - this one isn't a mod, but the international version has been fan translated and it features a redesigned license board and a built-in "Level 1 Hard Mode" similar to Igarashi's DS Castlevanias. It might be worth investigating

i play all this stuff instead of the garbage the industry vomits out these days XD

It's kind of weird for me, I don't really experience the nostalgic rush from listening to vgm because I never stopped listening to and studying these soundtracks, so it's like everything kind of stayed with me along the way

If I were to post someething it would be a lot of Squaresoft, Quintet, Suikoden, etc

I like the DA:I thing as well, and even Mass Effect is nice - when every character exists at the service of the protagonist/player then I can't take anything seriously.

I want characters to not like me, not be interested in me, or whatever else as befits the character's personality.

Please don't bend everything into personal wish fulfillment as ultimate savior of the wasteland/galaxy/planet so I can feel like the COOLEST behind my computer screen

author=alterego

author=zacheatscrackers
What the hell would sex with 2k3 sprites even look like, lmao

(The one that rmn let get away)

sluv was so good lol . rest in peace

author=Craze
i wonder why ciel comes around solely for jokes and not to discuss anything. i can only assume that he is one of blindmind's summons. maybe we shall have a battle of the aeons one day... ghosts of rmn past, come to wage battle at the behest of two obnoxiously opinionated developers...

i mean i laughed at his post but it's still always a little surreal to see him come around

most of my last 20 posts (all of them this year) are discussing something for real i guess. i miss posting on forums regularly