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Pokémon Patched Crystal is an excellent improvement hack of Pokémon Crystal that makes numerous small tweaks to the game to significantly improve the experience, while demonstrating commendable restraint by not interfering with the game's balancing and not introducing unnecessary fan-made content or changes.

The most significant improvement that Patched Crystal makes to the original game is, in my opinion, the wild encounter changes. Pokémon that were previously unobtainable in Crystal such as Mareep and the Kanto starters are now available in the wild in sensible locations. Furthermore, Pokémon that were previously unavailable until extremely late in Johto, or were Kanto exclusive, such as Skarmory, Houndour and Murkrow, are now available much earlier in the game in areas that make thematic sense and at times of day that are appropriate. These changes massively improve the replay value of Crystal, letting you use more varied teams throughout the game, and are very much appreciated.

Similarly, the evolution changes also increase the viability of various Pokémon by giving you far easier access to elemental evolution stones and trade evolutions. The elemental evolution stones (i.e. Fire Stone, Water Stone etc.) were inexplicably hard to obtain in the original Crystal, being only available randomly from specific Pokégear trainers in Johto. In Patched Crystal however, these stones can now simply be bought from the department store in Goldenrod City. Moreover, most Pokémon that formerly evolved by trading can now be evolved with a new item called the Link Cord that can also be bought from the department store in Goldenrod City. These are fantastic changes that massively increase the in-game strength of Pokémon like Onix and Staryu by letting you actually be able to obtain their evolutions in a timely manner without trading. Yes, having access to these evolutions earlier does make the game slightly easier if you make use of them, but Crystal is already such an easy game that I hardly think it matters compared to the increased gameplay variety these changes provide.

There are numerous other quality of life enhancements made throughout the game that also help to make Crystal a more enjoyable experience without compromising the integrity of the original developers' vision. TMs being infinitely reusable is a great quality of life feature that makes obtaining TMs feeling more special. It makes the game easier, of course, but I think it is a fine trade-off considering the generally weak power level of GSC TMs. The adjusted time of day system is also a nice touch, making morning exclusive Pokémon more accessible and giving the game a little more visual variety. And, of course, the content restoration and numerous bug fixes included in the hack are very much appreciated.

The only really significant core balancing changes Patched Crystal makes are changing the Ghost type into a Special type, and the Dark type into a Physical type. While these changes may upset Gen II purists, and did initially catch me off guard, I think they are, on the whole, good changes. Both Ghost type families in the game are Special Attack oriented, so them being able to make better use of their STAB is nothing but a bonus for them, and thematically Ghost being a Physical type never made much sense anyway. As for Dark, all the Dark type moves introduced in Gen II were retroactively changed into Physical attacks from Gen IV onwards, so this change is very much thematically appropriate; in gameplay terms, this change results in a slight nerf to the Houndour family, while significantly buffing Sneasel and Tyranitar in return. Overall, I think these balancing changes, while somewhat unnecessary, are a net positive for the game. Outside of this, no other significant balancing changes are made, which I am very thankful for personally; it is nice to see an improvement hack that shows restraint, and does not excessively interfere with the original game.

The last notable change Patched Crystal makes is allowing you to rematch the Gym Leaders after you defeat them initially. This is a nice idea, but I think the execution is a bit undercooked. For one, the new rematch text prompts used for the gym leaders are riddled with grammatical errors, which is forgivable, but somewhat jarring compared to the rest of the text in the game. Moreover, Jasmine and Blue specifically also have bugged rematch prompts, where selecting "NO" will still force you into a rematch with them (this was true as of 3.2; this may have been fixed in 3.3 or beyond). However, my main criticism here is that the feature really never amounts to anything beyond giving players an infinite trainer EXP pool, as the Gym Leaders will always rematch you with their initial teams, even if you have already beaten the League and obtained 16 Badges. I think it would be great if the Gym Leaders could be given rematch teams based on their HGSS ones after the player has obtained 16 Badges, since the feature is already there. However, the rematch system as it is is harmless, bugs aside.

Overall, the changes Patched Crystal brings to Crystal do nothing but improve an already excellent game without compromising the original design. I cannot see myself returning to the original Crystal after having played this hack; the creator has done a brilliant job at enhancing this game.

Some changes I would like to see in future versions:

• Raikou and Entei being registered in the Pokédex after initially meeting them at the Burned Tower, so the player can track them without having to first blindly encounter them.
• Grammar and bug fixes for the new text.
• The new optional superboss at Mt. Moon giving the player an option as to whether you want to fight them after speaking with them, instead of forcing players into a fight that they will probably be severely underlevelled for.
• Possibly the implementation of HGSS style rematch teams for the Gym Leaders after the player has obtained all 16 Badges.
• Giving the player a way to obtain Porygon prior to reaching Kanto (maybe as a reward from the Goldenrod Game Corner?).
• Changing the evolution methods of Slowpoke to Slowking, Poliwhirl to Politoed and Porygon to Porygon2 to use the Link Cord for the sake of consistency with other trade evolutions (alternatively, for Porygon2, the Up-Grade could be sold at the Goldenrod Department Store).