RotDS Review Thread

A FFVI fever dream (in a good way)

Final Fantasy VI has seen its fair share of hacks over time. From small bugfixes to large overhauls, like Brave New World and T-Edition. FFVI – Return of the Dark Sorcerer falls into the latter group. This is an enormous reimagining of the game we all love so much.
ROTDS takes a different approach from other hacks in that this game throws a lot of different stuff at the wall. This results in an ethereal game in which you can have Cloud fighting alongside FuSoYa, together bashing an evil Wario. The game still follows the same story beats as FFVI, but turns everything up-side-down, which makes for a feeling you were thrown into a feverish FFVI dream, where nothing is as it seems.

On first sight you might be inclined to write off ROTDS based on this. But you might regret that decision as this is a high quality ROM hack with loads of passion worked in. From the beautiful new monster designs, to the brand new characters, the original world maps, the small dungeons changes, the new skills and a giant soundtrack, there is just so much to enjoy here.
What I particularly liked was the attention to balance in the game. Playing ROTDS on normal difficulty is a slight step up from vanilla, but it never feels like you need to grind or use outlandish tactics to get through the game. There are a lot of new monsters included in the game, all behave in a unique way. This keeps encounters fresh and interesting.  And did I mention those awesome, huge, new boss graphics?

Another highlight of ROTDS is the elaborate soundtrack. It’s dazzling how many tracks are included here. They are all taken from other games, so you might recognize a song here and there. They are all very thoughtfully converted to the FFVI sound engine. Many of them feel right at home in this world. And who would have thought that Gaur Plains from Xenoblade would sound so awesome on SNES?!

ROTDS is a hack best played without knowing too much in advance. I was surprised on many occasions along the way. Sometimes it’s a funny encounter and then it’s a sad new cutscene you didn’t expect. The amount of work and passion poured into ROTDS over the years has resulted in a wholly unique ROM hack. Something only ROM hackers can create and as such ROTDS is a testament to the ongoing relevance of ROM hacks.