Pokémon The Third Element is one of those fan-made GBA hacks that actually feels like a proper new game. You start off in a fresh region with some wild new Pokémon designs—some are hits, some are misses, but it’s cool seeing what people come up with. The battles are classic GBA-era Pokémon, just with a tweaked type chart and a few surprises (watch out for that new "Sound" type).

First thing I noticed? The starter choices are weird in the best way. Instead of the usual grass/fire/water trio, you’re picking between… let’s just say one of them looks like a possessed teapot. The overworld sprites are crisp, though, and the new towns have that cozy, slightly janky charm only ROM hacks can pull off.

It’s not perfect—some of the dialogue feels machine-translated, and good luck figuring out where to go without a guide. But if you’ve burned through the official games and want something that actually surprises you, this’ll do the trick. Just save often—random crashes happen.