Yeah, that’s an awesome list of games, so imagine my surprise by learning there’s ten more that are great too!
How to patch these ROM hacks
If you need a guide on how to patch your own ROM hacks, you can find that here.
Iron Emblem
No particular order today, but let’s start with Iron Emblem.
One of three games on this list with retroachievements support, Iron Emblem was designed to be played in true iron man fashion.
Never resetting to restart a chapter and the entire game is over when you have a game over.
This is a gameplay focused romhack for sure, so if you’re looking for a challenge, this is what you want.
Obviously, with emulation and save states, you can avoid a lot of that.
There’s 21 chapters, and follows a bunch of nobodies through war, as usual, but it’s more about the gameplay than the story for this one.
Andaron Saga
Next up is Fire Emblem Andaron Saga, and this was one that was screamed in the comments on my last video.
There’s retro achievements, 31 chapters, and it’s a fun one with a ton of features and things to do.
It can be quite difficult, even on easy difficulty it’s harder than the original games, but the challenge is part of the charm.
It’s the most controversial ROM hack on the list, for reasons we won’t get into, but this is a nice, complete, well balanced overall hack that should be one of the first you check out on this list.
Storge
Fire Emblem Storge is a pretty short romhack, but it has a pretty fun story and recruitment is done by hiring mercenaries.
Along with buying weapons and items at the start – with those choices being what you have for the entire game.
There’s retroachievements here and honestly, out of all the ROM hacks today.
This is the easiest recommendation because it’s short, and super fun, plus every run can be different with how you recruit and spend your money at the beginning.
Project Ember
For a Fire Emblem 6 ROM hack, we have Project Ember, which is a gameplay and graphics overhaul of Fire Emblem 6 that gives you a new experience.
That alone makes it interesting as it’s the only Fire Emblem 6 ROM hack on this list. There’s a ton of changes here, different playable units, different events, new classes and so on.
There’s a funny quote with this one, that it’s by people who hate Fire Emblem 6 for people who hate Fire Emblem 6.
I don’t hate Fire Emblem 6, and still enjoy this, so check it out if you want something different than everything else on this list.
Dream of Five
This ROM hack took 14 years and just finished a few months ago, but Fire Emblem Dream of Five is up next.
It was originally based on Fire Emblem 7, but ended up being Fire Emblem 8. There’s 41 chapters, with a split route in mid game, 62 characters, an actual story and a ton more. The same lead designer worked on another game on this list that’s coming up, Drums of War. This isn’t a difficult hack, more medium in scope, and would be a great choice for most anyone.
Code of the Black Knights
FE Code of the Black Knights is another Fire Emblem 8 ROM hack, with 30 chapters, 45 playable maps, and over 41 actual playable characters with 10 different endings. So there’s a bunch of replayability here.
This ROM hack is challenging, but not in a rough way, there’s side chapters that are optional, two protagonists in this one and a lot of choices you make, affect the story, which is why there’s ten different endings.
This would be a perfect retroachievements game, if they would add it, but either way – expect to play this a ton to get the different endings.
The Dark Amulet
Another ROM hack that just completed a few months ago, FE The Dark Amulet is up next and the goal of this one is to build on Fire Emblem 8 while still feeling like Fire Emblem 8.
It’s a new story, on a new continent, with 30 chapters, 30 characters and is a more relaxed type of game.
There’s actually a good story here, with characters that you’ll remember and so it goes beyond most ROM hacks in that way.
Cerulean Crescent
Might be my favorite ROM hack on here, but FE Cerulean Crescent is fantastic. Actually good writing here, with a nice different cast of characters, that each have their own unique skills and effects.
The story itself is about an exiled noble that becomes an adventurer and there’s some comedic relief in here and fun.
Like Dark Amulet, you’re here for the story, so if that’s what you want in a ROM hack, these two are great.
The Morrow’s Golden Country
FE The Morrow’s Golden Country is next, with a campaign of 30 chapters, a whole bunch of interludes, and is generally well regarded as one of the better ROM hacks.
The writing is pretty good here, just like the last few ROM hacks we talked about, but there are difficult options if you want to push that to 11 and you want a combination of good story with difficulty. This is a long game, so be warned, but it has great characters and is just super fun.
Drums of War
Last for today is FE Drums of War, another Fire Emblem 8 hack with 22 chapters, 46 playable characters and a whole bunch more.
Broken record here, but the writing is great – something that a lot of ROM hacks don’t do well at, so once again, if you want a story, you have this. It’s also a more nuanced and grounded story, with hope being a central theme.