Light Platinum - Pokemon Ruby Hack.
A review by iN008.

Genius hacker WesleyFG.
When WesleyFG set out to create a marvel of a hack, he succeeded in so many ways, he became a phenomenon of a hacker. Be it his complete graphical overhaul to the whole gameplay changes his effort can be seen in ever town, route and cave. So why is this hack so widely popular? Amongst many communities it has been praised as one of the best hacks out there. So the question remains, why so popular? Well it could be the total revamp, or the feeling of a Pokemon world that Game Freak and Nintendo just never gave us.
The hack you know has many things changed, from graphical changes, story revamp, enhancements to Pokemon, Pokedex roaster changes and even difficulty in general. Almost every change is for the better and that is what I personally like about this hack, it takes what is good about Pokemon, revamps and perfects it without ruining the general feel you get from a Pokemon game, dare I say this hack goes as far as trumping some of the official titles. So shall I get into it then? Or shall I continue to ramble?

Graphics and Design : 10/10
Oh god what can I even say here? The whole game's graphics are completely revamped and for the better as the games set in Hoenn were known for looking quite shabby, heck I even mentioned this in my recent Pokemon Ruby review which you can go check out. Now as stated due to the fact that the original games graphics were quite shabby the hack really did impress as the graphics looked so much better in comparison, let me go into a bit more detail on what I mean.

Starting off the character sprites are quite impressive. The main characters look pretty cool and to be honest I actually prefer them over the Ruby choices, although they are not the best characters I've seen they are the best up until this system. Other characters such as the trainers scattered across the two regions are also very good, WesleyFG kept to a high standard when creating these sprites and I'm glad he did as it set quite the impressive impression. Attacks look top notch and keep to the standard of Game Freak. The Pokemon themselves look incredibly good, for example compressing the newer fourth Gen+ Pokemon into a smaller size and still make them fit in was done very well, heck they look like they were on the Game Boy Advance originally.

The town layouts are extremely well done in my opinion, they remind me heavily of that of Heart-Gold and Soul-Silver, games a whole generation ahead of this which is by no means an easy feet with the limitations of the Game Boy Advance. The tile-set itself looks the smoothest and most nice and clean of any hack I have played to date. The colors are so much more appealing, indoors and outdoors it just brings me joy, it's that good. Heck for once I don't mind being in caves for a long time, it just adds so much to a hack already brimming with excellency.

Other things of note are the "cut-scenes" these including the opening being changed and the introductory "dream" your character has are pretty fantastic, not only do I rarely see this done, I'm quite sad that it isn't done as often as it happens in this hack. Overall I would say my favorite aspect from graphics and design would have to be the revamped tile-set because that is just perfecto and it's just amazing in my opinion.


Sound : 7/10
The sounds within the game are rarely changed and pretty much stay true to the original game, to be honest I can't really say it was much of a change. The music within the game is pretty much the same as in Ruby, the music is very nice and enjoyable and to be perfectly honest the Game Boy Advance wasn't know for anything spectacular. The music is calming, soothing and keeps the original charm as it is practically unchanged, however the hack does use the music more effectively than the original. Starting off is the fact that the music suits the location almost ninety-five percent of the time. This was a big improvement as I felt that the original didn't do it to the same standard, again it was an appreciated change much like the tile-set change. As per other sounds, attacking sounds stay relatively the same and are just as satisfying to hear. The main change really is Pokemon cries, these were added for post third Gen Pokemon and I feel the downsize was done really well. Since the hack uses the same music as in Ruby and Sapphire if you want more details on what I think of it then go read my Ruby review, that is all I am going to say for sound.


Addictiveness and Replay-ability : 10/10
Dare I say this hack is better than the original? This hack keeps the amazing addictiveness of the originals and amplifies it by ten, not only does it offer more replay-ability than the franchise it's based off, but it offers one of the best experiences you will earn from a hack. The game is very lengthy, being two regions altogether, also with the addition of the tournament it allowed for a much longer play-span. Heck I honest feel as maxing your team and trying the game over with a different team is far more rewarding in comparison to Ruby. The experience offered is so satisfying as it allows for such a replay-ability that you can just go back to the hack whenever you want something to do. Starting with a whole new team allows you to have a brand new experience as the game is a lot harder than the original and can offer a better challenge. The hack just offers so much to do and has such a vast array of areas to explore and adventure throughout. The hack just kept me playing, and playing and playing... I couldn't stop after a while. It was just an enjoyable experience and really opened my mind up to the hacks. I could play this game for over an hour at a time, it just kept my attention going. So yes I do think it deserves just as high a rating as the source material as it was just as good, heck as I said, it is probably better than the original.


Depth : 10/10
This game.... has so much depth, if it were a pool, you could dive 100 feet under and then some. Be it the great length or the choices presented to you, this game always does something right. The hack itself is probably twice as long as the original game, and I said Ruby was of Decent length after all. Also as I said the game offers only what you take, be it maxing your team up or keep them just above average, you've definitely still got some road to go until you beat the game regardless of what team you pick and how hard you train them. The hack offers a superior experience when compared to the source material Ruby and it's length is basically up to you, after all the game is very long and you can decide when to stop. Completing that pokedex will surely keep you busy if you intend to go for a "completion" of the hack. Each little thing adds a lot to the length and your play-through time can easily rise fast if you don't know what your doing. The game is just packed-full of choice, the way you train your pokemon, EVs or not. Or if you breed or not, it's all in the time you invest into the game, sure you won't find a solid copy of this hack but you can always show off to your fellow community. Your experience is literally what you make of it. No less no more. I can say without a doubt that your experience playing this hack will be like nothing a official Game Freak developed game has ever offered you, heck I will even go as far as saying that the experience is just as good if not slightly better than what you got out of Heart-Gold and Soul-Silver.


Story : 10/10
I really don't want to spoil anything in this fantastic hack so I'm going to avoid pointing out plot details but I will say this, the story is way better than that of Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and even Emerald. Not only do you travel across two region you have a total of eight "rivals", there is two Poke-Profs, a whole new team and a much better plot. I really can't say how much I liked the story when I'm trying to avoid saying anything that might spoil it. So this is how I'll phrase it. Play the game and find out how good the story is in comparison to Ruby and etc. that is all I want to say on this.


Difficulty : 7/10
The hack makes the game much more challenging when compared to the source. It really does do something else. Although the fact still remains that the difficulty is ultimately up to you. You could try with a team of stragglers, which in this case would be much more difficulty than in ruby, or a standard and above team. Honestly the difficulty was a much needed addition, Pokemon games are generally known for being easy for all ages, however bigger fans like the challenge and many resort to hacks for this, and guess what this hack delivers. The gameplay stays pretty similar to the original game besides the slight difficulty boost, some Pokemon stats and moves were changed but it was still easy to handle. The location and gym design were pretty good and it really did keep to a great standard through-out the game, some bits confused me a times, however I quickly figured them out. Battles are significantly more interesting as trainers actually do more intelligent moves instead of the spam of growls that would commonly occur in the original. Besides that nothing else was really changed all that much, the gameplay was solid and the battles were far more enjoyable.

I will say this, I actually found myself EV training in this game, usually I would just level normally when playing casually but I really found it more beneficial as I used a tank like Pokemon to start with every match. Although EV training is not needed I did find it helpful for getting through with lower leveled Pokemon. And another thing I found myself doing was retracing myself to see if I missed anything, I'm going to be perfectly honest here this may just be me but this is the first Pokemon game/hack that I have ever done this in. Perhaps a whole new adventure is much more exciting to find something new in.


Overall : 9/10
This hack is definitely deserving it's title of one of the best hacks ever. Not only is the game enjoyable, it's exciting to play with-out knowing whats going to happen this definitely was the best thing for me. The 17th of August (UK) marks the completion of this game for me (story) and I found my time spent worth ever second. If you want to play one of the best hacks out there, this is definitely the hack for you. I feel as if I'll come back to this hack some day, and enjoy it just as much as I did recently, but until then Pokemon Light Platinum is obviously deserving of the 9/10 rating.

Side Notes :
Since I referred to my Pokemon Ruby review multiple times here is the link to it : HERE
Besides that I would like to thank you for reading my review, ratings are appreciated just rate me fairly okay?

iN008 : Nice review! This was a well detailed review with a substantial word count for a review. This was a well categorized review like your others. Good luck on your next review.

I am glad too see that you reviewed this game, it is truly a great game and wesley did a great job of making it, this is one of the longest, most fun hacks I have ever had the pleasure of playing, it is just so well made. This is a great hack. I will play this game again soon because it has definitely been a while since I last played it.


As for the review, you did a great job, lots of amazing detail and you go into a lot of depth with each category and you break it down nicely. Overall, great job reviewing this game, your reviews are always worth reading because they are really well made. Great job and keep up the awesome work and keep making more excellent reviews like this. I agree with the title you gave to this review, this really is a top notch hack!

PixelBrick :
Razor-987 : Amazing you both read a 2,000+ word review in less than a four minutes. I posted right before a minute went so you both read it within three minutes then posted about it without mention anything I stated within my review. Why does this give me the impression you never actually read it? Also if you had actually read it you would have noticed the on-purpose flaws I put in there to catch people out.

Well I sort of scanned it to be honest, and it is kind of hard to read with your text that you used. What part did you use to catch people up, the side note part at the end? It looked pretty solid to me. I read a few paragraphs and most of the major parts of the review. I read fast so I kind of miss out on those flaws, sorry. I should probably take more time to actually be able to catch these things.