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About this mod
An improved ability progression and gameplay experience that retains the original feel of KHFM.
- Permissions and credits
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[Special Thanks]
I'd like to start with a massive thanks to VonFrank42 for his research into the btltbl.bin file, as well as the ideas of his that I used for this mod.
[Introduction]
There have already been two other mods so far that alter Sora's ability progression in KH1: VonFrank42's Ability Rebalance Mod, and REZXAR's Revision R.
Ability Rebalance's goal is to create an experience similar to KH2, where every combo modifier in the game is moved to the field rewards; Revision R, on the other hand, seeks to move only a small handful of abilities to the field rewards and keep true to the original KHFM's content as much as possible.
This mod's goal lies in-between those two positions; move as many crucially-needed abilities from the level-up chart to the field as possible, and do so while preserving KHFM's original overall feel as much as possible.
[Moveswaps]
This mod is an evolution of my earlier "Sonic Arts Purist" mod. As such, only three attacks are altered here:
Bash Swipe replaces Sora's standard side-to-side swipe attack with Bash #2 (from Ars Arcanum).
Counter-Vortex replaces Vortex's animation with Counterattack.
Gravity Bash replaces Gravity Break's animation with Bash #5 (from Ars Arcanum), adding a "Finishing Plus" effect to the attack.
Every other animation in this mod is completely unmodded, including Sora's iconic standard single-target ground combo. As a result, you'll by-and-large feel like you're playing the original Final Mix version of the game; the only noteworthy difference being that you'll actually equip Vortex and Gravity Break this time around.
[Ability Progression]
Level 2:
Guard is learned at Level 2 for the Sword and Staff, and (due to missing animations from the Shield's moveset in the Dive To The Heart) at Level 3 for the Shield. This is the only simple way to put Guard right at the start of the game, meaning that a "true" Level 1 run with this crucial ability is impossible. That said, the stat bonus for Level 2 in this mod is changed to a boost in AP, so a Level 2 run in this mod is still functionally identical to a true Level 1 run.
Field Abilities:
The following abilities are moved from the level-up chart to the field:
Counterattack
Combo Plus
Air Combo Plus
Air Combo Plus
Slapshot
Sliding Dash
Counter-Vortex
Aerial Sweep
Stun Impact
Scan
Treasure Magnet
Treasure Magnet
These are, in my opinion, the attack abilities and quality-of-life abilities that all KH1FM players, regardless of level or Dive To The Heart choice, are able to appreciate. Additionally, they are the abilities that can easily be added to a Level-2 run without missing the whole point of it in the first place.
The unique accessories that these abilities replace are still obtained in the worlds you're supposed to obtain them in, only now they're hidden in chests and other reward spots that are often obscured and out-of-the way. Make sure you look everywhere for them!
In addition, I also moved Sora's Lucky Strike to the field rewards, and also added one additional Lucky Strike each for Donald and Goofy, to further enrich your Level-2 runs. How are these Lucky Strikes obtained? Well, in the spirit of KH1... you gotta go out and look for them!
Level-Up Chart:
The rest of Sora's Level-up abilities start at Level 9 (just like the pre-Final Mix Level-Up Chart) and continue through to Level 75.
Taking a page from VonFrank42's mod, the level-up chart's two remaining Combo Plusses are replaced with Lucky Strikes to help aid with Synthesis Item farming on normal runs. These are in addition to the three new Lucky Strikes obtained from the field, as well as Donald and Goofy's level-up Lucky Strikes, for a total of seven Lucky Strikes.
Blitz, Hurricane Blast, and Ripple Drive are left on the level-up charts; this is because their usefulness is entirely dependent on Sora's stats, which are way too low on a Level-2 run for them to be of any use. These finishers also make great "selling point" abilities for the level-up charts, too: you can pick the Staff if you want to get Ripple Drive the earliest, but if you want all three combo finishers early you gotta pick the Sword!
In an effort to make things more fair for everyone, the Sword and the Shield each have an additional Max MP boost (so they can catch up with the Staff's default extra MP at Level 1), and the Staff's second extra Max MP Boost is moved to Level 100 for all three charts, and is replaced with a Strength Boost on the Staff chart instead. Item Slots are equalized across all three charts as well. If Sora gets the all of the same abilities by the end of all three charts, he should also get the all of the same stats by the end of all three charts as well (Disregarding the negligable AP/STR/DEF differences that can be made up for with AP Ups/Power Ups/Defense Ups anyway).
[Keychains and Weapons]
Sora, Donald, and Goofy's weapons have all been reverted to their exact pre-Final Mix stat balance. Metal Chocobo, Oblivion, Donald's Dream Rod, and even more weapons are now all useful again!
There are only two exceptions to this: the Kingdom Key and the Jungle King both get a boost in Recoil, so that the Kingdom Key has a Recoil of 60 and the Jungle King has a recoil of 30. This is to make the Kingdom Key more competitive in the late-game and give the Jungle King some semblance of being a little bit more useful.
The Final Mix exclusive keychains retain their intended Final Mix stats.
[Treasure Hunt]
Bored of the game's common, underwhelming chest rewards? Annoyed that the "extremely rare" Mythril ores and Mythril Shards are so ubiquitous amongst these finds? Wish that Sora's hunt for treasure chests resulted in finding a wider variety of items that you'll actually be happy to find? Well, this mod has a fix for that, too!
In the optional Treasure Hunt version of the mod, there are 5 synthesis items that can be obtained by the time the Item Workshop opens:
1 Power Stone
1 Serenity Power
3 Dark Matter
This is enough to make the EXP Earring right off the bat, while only needing to conventionally obtain the Fury Stone and Mythril Stone beforehand.
There are also 5 Frost Gems and 5 Thunder Gems scattered throughout various worlds, enough to synthesize both the Rune Armlet and the AP Up before you even set fin in Atlantica. After that, though, you'll need to use the conventional methods to farm Frost and Thunder Gems to finish the Synthesis list.
There are even more modded synthesis items to be found in chests than this; be sure to poke around everywhere and see what you can find!
Since this obviously breaks the intended Synthesis item balance, the Treasure Hunt version is an optional alternate file.
I'd like to start with a massive thanks to VonFrank42 for his research into the btltbl.bin file, as well as the ideas of his that I used for this mod.
[Introduction]
There have already been two other mods so far that alter Sora's ability progression in KH1: VonFrank42's Ability Rebalance Mod, and REZXAR's Revision R.
Ability Rebalance's goal is to create an experience similar to KH2, where every combo modifier in the game is moved to the field rewards; Revision R, on the other hand, seeks to move only a small handful of abilities to the field rewards and keep true to the original KHFM's content as much as possible.
This mod's goal lies in-between those two positions; move as many crucially-needed abilities from the level-up chart to the field as possible, and do so while preserving KHFM's original overall feel as much as possible.
[Moveswaps]
This mod is an evolution of my earlier "Sonic Arts Purist" mod. As such, only three attacks are altered here:
Bash Swipe replaces Sora's standard side-to-side swipe attack with Bash #2 (from Ars Arcanum).
Counter-Vortex replaces Vortex's animation with Counterattack.
Gravity Bash replaces Gravity Break's animation with Bash #5 (from Ars Arcanum), adding a "Finishing Plus" effect to the attack.
Every other animation in this mod is completely unmodded, including Sora's iconic standard single-target ground combo. As a result, you'll by-and-large feel like you're playing the original Final Mix version of the game; the only noteworthy difference being that you'll actually equip Vortex and Gravity Break this time around.
[Ability Progression]
Level 2:
Guard is learned at Level 2 for the Sword and Staff, and (due to missing animations from the Shield's moveset in the Dive To The Heart) at Level 3 for the Shield. This is the only simple way to put Guard right at the start of the game, meaning that a "true" Level 1 run with this crucial ability is impossible. That said, the stat bonus for Level 2 in this mod is changed to a boost in AP, so a Level 2 run in this mod is still functionally identical to a true Level 1 run.
Field Abilities:
The following abilities are moved from the level-up chart to the field:
Counterattack
Combo Plus
Air Combo Plus
Air Combo Plus
Slapshot
Sliding Dash
Counter-Vortex
Aerial Sweep
Stun Impact
Scan
Treasure Magnet
Treasure Magnet
These are, in my opinion, the attack abilities and quality-of-life abilities that all KH1FM players, regardless of level or Dive To The Heart choice, are able to appreciate. Additionally, they are the abilities that can easily be added to a Level-2 run without missing the whole point of it in the first place.
The unique accessories that these abilities replace are still obtained in the worlds you're supposed to obtain them in, only now they're hidden in chests and other reward spots that are often obscured and out-of-the way. Make sure you look everywhere for them!
In addition, I also moved Sora's Lucky Strike to the field rewards, and also added one additional Lucky Strike each for Donald and Goofy, to further enrich your Level-2 runs. How are these Lucky Strikes obtained? Well, in the spirit of KH1... you gotta go out and look for them!
Level-Up Chart:
The rest of Sora's Level-up abilities start at Level 9 (just like the pre-Final Mix Level-Up Chart) and continue through to Level 75.
Taking a page from VonFrank42's mod, the level-up chart's two remaining Combo Plusses are replaced with Lucky Strikes to help aid with Synthesis Item farming on normal runs. These are in addition to the three new Lucky Strikes obtained from the field, as well as Donald and Goofy's level-up Lucky Strikes, for a total of seven Lucky Strikes.
Blitz, Hurricane Blast, and Ripple Drive are left on the level-up charts; this is because their usefulness is entirely dependent on Sora's stats, which are way too low on a Level-2 run for them to be of any use. These finishers also make great "selling point" abilities for the level-up charts, too: you can pick the Staff if you want to get Ripple Drive the earliest, but if you want all three combo finishers early you gotta pick the Sword!
In an effort to make things more fair for everyone, the Sword and the Shield each have an additional Max MP boost (so they can catch up with the Staff's default extra MP at Level 1), and the Staff's second extra Max MP Boost is moved to Level 100 for all three charts, and is replaced with a Strength Boost on the Staff chart instead. Item Slots are equalized across all three charts as well. If Sora gets the all of the same abilities by the end of all three charts, he should also get the all of the same stats by the end of all three charts as well (Disregarding the negligable AP/STR/DEF differences that can be made up for with AP Ups/Power Ups/Defense Ups anyway).
[Keychains and Weapons]
Sora, Donald, and Goofy's weapons have all been reverted to their exact pre-Final Mix stat balance. Metal Chocobo, Oblivion, Donald's Dream Rod, and even more weapons are now all useful again!
There are only two exceptions to this: the Kingdom Key and the Jungle King both get a boost in Recoil, so that the Kingdom Key has a Recoil of 60 and the Jungle King has a recoil of 30. This is to make the Kingdom Key more competitive in the late-game and give the Jungle King some semblance of being a little bit more useful.
The Final Mix exclusive keychains retain their intended Final Mix stats.
[Treasure Hunt]
Bored of the game's common, underwhelming chest rewards? Annoyed that the "extremely rare" Mythril ores and Mythril Shards are so ubiquitous amongst these finds? Wish that Sora's hunt for treasure chests resulted in finding a wider variety of items that you'll actually be happy to find? Well, this mod has a fix for that, too!
In the optional Treasure Hunt version of the mod, there are 5 synthesis items that can be obtained by the time the Item Workshop opens:
1 Power Stone
1 Serenity Power
3 Dark Matter
This is enough to make the EXP Earring right off the bat, while only needing to conventionally obtain the Fury Stone and Mythril Stone beforehand.
There are also 5 Frost Gems and 5 Thunder Gems scattered throughout various worlds, enough to synthesize both the Rune Armlet and the AP Up before you even set fin in Atlantica. After that, though, you'll need to use the conventional methods to farm Frost and Thunder Gems to finish the Synthesis list.
There are even more modded synthesis items to be found in chests than this; be sure to poke around everywhere and see what you can find!
Since this obviously breaks the intended Synthesis item balance, the Treasure Hunt version is an optional alternate file.