The most hated pokemon rom hack (Dark Rising) 

Ok the fact that this was made by a 12 year old is actually damn impressive and makes the hack really hard to hate

Dark Rising, called one of the best hacks in 2012, when Pokémon ROM hacks were few and far between, making it, by default, one of the best.

Behind every cringe romhack is a bright-eyed young game developer with far more gumption and bravery than most of us will have demonstrated in our entire lives. It is my sincere hope that DarkRisingGirl never stops making games.

The fact that Arceus opening actually became the official opening of a Pokémon game 😭

The yugi gym leader is literally called Atem, so i guess they just decided that one of the gym leaders absolutely had to be a yu-gi-oh reference

even if it's bad it's impressive a 12 year old made this and it adds a charm to it

truly the My Immortal of pokemon fangames. my most vivid memory about this game is arguing about it with some guy (who turned out to be a groomer) in one of its playthroughs' comment sections at age 10

Something incredible about Regigigas that's worth informing the uninformed of, actually: The thing has HUGE POWER for its ability. Not only does this mean it has no counterbalances to its ridiculously high stats unlike canon Regigigas being stuck with Slow Start, Huge Power effectively means that its already monstrous attack stat is DOUBLED, giving it some of the heaviest hitting offense in the entire hack.

I am genuinely in pure disbelief on how anyone could've remotely considered that Shadow Lugia to be a fair and balanced final boss. Literally a higher BST than fucking *Mega Rayquaza.*

There's a fangame called Pokemon Edge Rising that pokes fun at the edgy hacks. The MC's mom gets eaten by a Charizard/Magikarp fusion AoT style (no really, they play the music), there's an edgy murderous Red, there's Maroon 5 for some reason... It's short, but it's really entertaining lmao

in terms of difficulty, We now unfortunately have inclement emerald, radical red, run and bun, etc. Dark rising was the calm before the storm

11:03 This reminds me of what speedrunner Carcinogen said about RE8 Village of Shadows difficulty (I think) Paraphrasing but: “You ask a child how to make a Mario game harder and they’ll say to put Bowser in every room”

This was the game that broke Pikasprey to where he never finished it, in the Kaizo version at least. He also played Snakewood and stopped playing that after he beat the big bad and was at the beginning of the post game.

Funny thing about dark rising is they only have dialogue for the boy avatar meaning if you choose the girl you get some unintentionally hilarious dialogue (like imagine some of the x and y Shauna scenes but with way more angst)

Sometimes people forget to include a fundamental part into their game to make it enjoyable: The fun

considering everything the game from 13 years ago made by A 12 YEAR OLD is great some adults can't even imagine being this good

Something I discovered while analyzing the elite four when I cut the game open with hex tools. All the legendaries in those battles are buffed to a comical degree. None of them have a base stat total below 800 (So you understand that, the strongest non-form Pokémon aside from the 1v4 boss Eternamax Eternatus, is Arceus with 720 BST. Some funny bits about them as well is that Dark Rising Mewtwo has a higher BST than both forms of Mega-Mewtwo, Regigigas has Huge Power instead of Slow Start (And 180 attack which is the same as Mega-Rayquaza before Huge Power takes effect), and Lugia has more than 1000 BST, which is closer to Eternamax Eternatus, a fight designed to be a 1v4, than Mega-Rayquaza and Mega-Mewtwo, the three Pokémon with the higher BST. And the game expects you to beat all of them in a singular battle!

I was there when this was still being developed in pokecommunity, I was one of the beta testers. And besides the bugs, its really good for its time as most of the hacks that time was not even finished. My 13 year old self geniunely enjoyed this ROM hack

I'm sorry but the sheer disappointment i suffered when you called gible "guy-ble" almost ruined my day 0:56 💀. Good video tho.

0:02 I'm pretty sure that man is not a scientist....

While this game may be obnoxious, I have my own horror story with Pokemon Mind Crystal, a French ROM hack to HGSS with bullshit difficulty that doesn't allow you to use items, prevents switching in some cases, and the worst part, DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO HEAL OR SAVE BETWEEN ELITE FOUR BATTLES! It's essentially a marathon of fighting super-OP Elite Four opponents non-stop with no chance to heal or recover, with the team usually out-speeding you. Literally the only way I was able to beat it was by bringing in a Mewtwo with a Quiet nature and max Sp. Atk, and raising it up to Level 100 with Recover, Calm Mind, Psychic, and Signal Beam. And even with the most OP Pokemon to use, I still barely managed to beat that damn game. There's hard, there's extreme, and then there's completely broken.

Somehow pokemon fans confusing tedious grinding with actual challenge is super common even over age 12

In short pokemon dark rising forces you to do the following to enjoy the game: 1. Rare candy cheat to make you at least have an chance on most of the fights, but even the rare candy cheat doesn't solve the difficulty problem 2. Master ball cheat to make you capture an legendary because like you said in the video, the game forces you to use at least 1 legendary on your team, if you beat pokemon dark rising without legendaries then you must have played a lot of kaizo rom hacks 3. Knowledge of the fights is crucial to enjoy the game Bonus: if you are not that good at playing pokemon, then good luck on this hack, because this hack is not friendly for the casual players of an rom hack.

Fun fact. You can actually bypass the dude who stops you from leaving the first gym town He doesn’t see you if you’re as far away as possible

that last segment got me to subscribe, big ups for treating the hack respectfully

When put into the context that this was literally the first hack made by someone who was 12 years old at the time, this is actually pretty awesome

Dark Chaos is definitely some shit that a 12 years old kid would come up. Dude had fun back then.

Damn bro, this video is amazing. The editing isn't obnoxious and you seem like a genuinely funny guy. I'm currently playing through a Pokémon ROM hack called Pokémon Elite Redux that makes it so all Pokémon have 4 abilities. Elite Redux also has new Mega Evolutions (I won't spoil them) and they're all pretty good! I know Pokémon probably isn't the main focus of your channel, but I definitely recommend Elite Redux if you love a good challenge with no grinding being needed at all. I'll go ahead and list some things I think are great: - Candy Box (infinite rare candies that will push you to the level cap) - Infinite Repel - All TMs available from the start - Egg and Tutor moves learnable at any time - All strong held items available after talking to Nurse Joy - You can effortlessly EV train by putting points into a desired stat - You can change Natures at any time I'm currently playing on Easy Mode, so I'm not sure if these things change when attempting harder difficulties (I think the only thing that would change is the level cap)

A man of culture: Also buys 99 hyper potions when I reach the elite four.

2:17 This "Lady Weatherbell" is so adorable and I don't know why! Literally just a random NPC.

The way you say “Gible” takes years off my lifespan

Bro calling Gible Guy-ble? He's reminding of one of the only good jokes in that awful sequel to The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

So does everybody forget that this was literally the FIRST hack to try and be its own thing, story and region wise?

12:04 "At this point in the game, I had nothing that was super effective against Psychic", he says, before showing his *level 100 Volcarona*

I remember using Victini since you just get one and its Zen Headbutt had 100% flinch chance :) I always avoid legendaries and exploits, but this cheese felt very deserved *Look at me, I'M THE ANNOYING BOSS FIGHT NOW*

I think one of the underrated elements of Clover that you reminded me of when you said the bosses in this game use a lot of healing is just how few healing items Clover bosses use. It seems like they never do

Your editing along with your monotone voice is killing me. I love it 😂😂

The early 2010s, aka the "we make Pokemon fangames so obnoxiously difficult and tedius because the real Pokemon games are 'too easy'" era. I'm glad that the mindset has mostly died off on making boss rushes where each subsequent boss is 5 - 10 levels higher than the previous one, but the issue of "we're big boy Pokemon" still remains. I'd rather play through X and Y with Exp Share on with a team including Aegislash and the cover legendary a hundred times than PP stall a villain-specific mon once. And while I do enjoy difficulty, the only satisfying difficulty I think you could get in a Pokemon-like game is to improve the AI. Competitive Pokemon is fun (when you aren't sweating out your cheeks and running super-mega-hyper stall or going HO screens and clicking buttons), and the AI for trainers in Pokemon games fall way short of battling another player. So I'm waiting for a breakthrough in the fangame scene to come out where they could make it so AI trainers at least switch out whenever they could be in a more advantageous position. And then once they make it so the AI could occasionally guess if _you_ are going to switch out, then that's where the real fun begins (as long as they don't have 6 custom legendaries that are 50 levels higher than your Pokemon [it's before the third badge]).

dark rising was my first rom hack i ever played. tried so hard to like it but damn that one cresellia

This game really made you think "OH THANK GOD A GYM LEADER!" 😂

man, i thought it was snakewood i first made my own romhack at 11, so seeing someone make it at 12 is impressive

When I was 12 years old, I did indeed beat this game like 7-8 times

Back with another classic, worth the wait man

Would love to see the creator try to remaster this game

Got this vid recommended and honestly very entertaining hope to see more from you. I remember playing dark rising but i got pissed off how much bs the game had that i never finished it.

Bro said Guy Bull

2:20 So i was curious, and I decided to grind my gible to lvl 55 to try to win against tornadus (using save scumming) to see if you could see a secret cutscene like that against Red in Fire Red Rocket edition rom hack, but not only does no such scene exist, but beforr that battle you are UNABLE to evolve your gible regardless of level I won uskng savescumming as well as sand attack

if jake macaulay plays this, ivan is NOT named after a real tree, but a fictional tree NPC

4:36 Nah, I totally think it could work. You're just seeing what happens when it's told by someone whose brain isn't developed enough to actually tell it well, which understandably makes you hate life.

This game is basically competitive mfs' worst nightmares.

I actually love this ROM hack mostly because of nostalgia. Nowadays, I think I would probably say: "yeah this game is horrible" but me having a soft spot for it, I can't say I hate it. Then again, I was about 14 or so years old when I discovered it? Who knows. Great review and also funny editing :D

honestly for 2012 this is pretty solid

Got this recommended to me last night on the RU-vid Switch app home page and I love your humour and the way you edit. That's a subscribe from me, boys.

Cool to see you making content on Pokémon ROM Hacks! If you plan on diving into fan games in the future for Pokémon, I wholeheartedly recommend Pokémon Rejuvenation. While it isn't finished yet and it is quite long, what it has now especially thanks to the recent 13.5 update is really fun and great in quality. Alternatively, its older sister game, Pokémon Reborn, is a properly finished package that is definitely better suited for review purposes, both are tough yet fun (and much more balanced in terms of how the challenge is intended) experiences.

12:45 Castle Crashers, nice reference!

One of my enduring memories of Dark Rising is getting stuck on a battle against Professor Ivan at the end of a cave. Rather I didn't get stuck against him in particular, but more the fact that it's another situation where you have to do 2 boss fights immediately after each other. So, I lost against the next fight, and then some the game is buggy as hell, everytime I'd make it back through the cave to try the second fight again, I'd be forced to figure against Professor Ivan despite his sprite not even being here anymore. And that just kept happening until I ran out of items, so I couldn't even heal before facing the second guy. I somehow got passed it, but it was definitely not my high point with the game.

HE'S BACK LESS GO

This video is gonna blow up btw, good vid, subbing

That content farm article at the end was the true definition of using many words to say fuck all.

Ironically enough, a fan game called Phoenix Rising is one of the best fan games I've ever tried(although unfinished)

This is the type of hack that makes me glad the No Animation option and the save state exploit exist.

10:25 it's because Atem is the name of the Pharoah fused with Yugi. He's the guy that does the shadow game stuff in Yu Gi Oh

Really glad this showed up in recommended, I like how chill the editing style and vibe of the video is; and you're a pretty fair reviewer! I hope you make more vids in general 💪💪

I went from '2012 cringe haha' to 'oh wow it was made by a 12-year-old' to 'why the fyck is she still stuck in that phase'

"After spending hours searching reddit for a few minutes" - any redditor knows exactly what you mean. Killed this video. Easy new sub, keep 'em coming

Honestly I think this game has some redeeming qualities. 1. The starter choices are pretty awesome. Gible, Dratini and Bagon 2. The expanded pokedex is pretty cool and you can catch relevant pokemon in basically every area. 3. You get access to a legendary early if you want to use it. It's a unique experience to receive it so early. Helps keep the difficulty level manageable if you choose to use it. 4. Gym leaders have some neat teams, I thought the first gym was a nice wake up call but definitely beatable if you prepared for it. The water gym was a good fight and positioned well. And having boss pokemon like Entei or pikachu!!!! Definitely made for a unique battle dynamic. 5. There even if it's overbearing at times, the difficulty can be overcome if you know how to build a team. The champion, for example, can pretty easily be swept up by dragon dance scrafty if you set up. Certainly a flawed game but I can't say I didn't have fun.

1:36 LMAO. Ive never seen Lermit hit the ground before

I'm really surprised Pokémon Snakewood didn't come up, it's almost definitely worse than dark rising

I'm subscribing. The editing and narration were very pleasant, I liked the jokes and if more Pokémon content is coming, I'd be glad to be here to see it when it comes

I remember playing this game and getting very far in, getting annoyed at grinding in a long session, saving in game but not savestates, talking to a trainer that gives you garbage dialogue infinitely, resetting, and the emulator not having my in game save work properly so that was the end of that Edit: This, the red shown at 9:30

10:16 I spent like a good five minutes laughing at this 😂

It’s worth considering that each individual level matters less the higher your levels are. You gain stats at a relatively linear pace ( barring evs ) so a jump from level 5 to 15 is a much bigger jump then a jump from 89 to 99. It’s pretty normal to beat red in the jhoto games 20 to 30 levels under so I don’t necessarily see the a late game enemy being ten levels above you being too big a deal. Heck it’s normal in rom hacks to have some over level 100 mons in the post game at like level 120 so you aren’t able to bowl though everything. Brock having 10 levels higher early on is honestly a much bigger deal then later level jumps imo

Something kind of interesting about Dark Rising is that while it has received more of a negative reputation in recent years, back when it was first released, it actually was viewed quite positively, there is a reason why it ended up becoming so well known. The thing to keep in mind is that the ROM hacking scene was very different for Pokémon than it is now, so a game like this with a custom region and adding Gen 4 and 5 Pokémon, Pokémon was impressive for the time. And these kinds of extremely edgy over the top stories were basically the norm for rom hacks for a long time before they started falling slightly out of favor. The standards for rom hacks were basically incredibly low, and people were willing to accept what they could get.

That random dude threatening to sacrifice your dad was clearly bluffing everyone knows the average pokemon trainer doesn't have a dad

"After countless hours of scrolling through Reddit for a few minutes..." Golden

This game is the perfect example in game design of "Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD do something"

I really like that you tried to find the good in the game, including that it's an impressive endeavor from an earlier time and younger creator.

2:31 "because if there's one thing Pokemon games needed is long monologues" Pokemon Reborn and Pokemon Rejuvenation out there catching strays

I love the chaotic editing style and the cats lol

Great video!! Make more!

Empathizing completly with unlisting videos that you feel ashamed of, great work in this gem Belev. Congrats on being able to put out there a solid video that made me laugh and, at the same time, was entertaining and instructive. Keep up the good work my friend!

I recall playing this like six years back and it was draining to the core

“Bye-bye, LICKMYNUTS” what a one liner.

The fact dark rising was made by a 12 year old was impressive and it still kinda is.

Knowing this was made by a 12 year old makes me forgive alot of this stuff. It seems like what would a 12 year old think is cool in Pokémon at that time

As a kid I used to absolutely love both dark rising parts, never knew it faced such negative reviews.

That plot reveal being that it was made by a literal kid is kinda wholesome ngl. Doesn't change the fact that its way too difficult to beat though.

Honestly, it’s really impressive how well this came out. I know I wouldn’t have been able to do something like that when I was 12.

The creator being 12 at the time actually does explain alot years later lmao.

It hurts to laugh so much, thank you! I had no idea that hack was like that.

Ngl the gible pronunciation might be worse than this rom hack

goddamn man I am so impressed by the level of editing and work that must have gone into this video. Props to you, and you earned a new sub!

“Stand up to official releases” who’s gonna tell him how low that bar is

0:38 PROFESSOR OAK IS GETTING TO REAL WITH THESE QUESTIONS

I’m glad you got to play SMT: Dark Rising

0:45 the average “chosen one” moment

bruh i love this game it was my very first pokrmin game i love how hard it is the iligal moves ect i love dark risin

This is definitely something 12-year old me would make if I had the internet access and the passion as the creator

I watched a video or two talking about this hack (no way I'm watching a full let's play). I've watched Snakewood in the past and it was surprisingly enjoyable, if obviously highly flawed, so I expected Dark Rising to be similar in that regard. "Ironically enjoyable", if you will. Yeah, that didn't end up being the case. I can't remember half the stuff from Dark Rising and half of what I _can_ remember is probably some leftover memories from Snakewood leaking through. Thanfully, *you* made it enjoyable to sit through. Good job, belev! 🙂👍

Learning about fan projects like this makes me happy