The Official Hardest RPGs Ever Made
Many gamers enjoy a good role-playing game, be they simple affairs like the classic Final Fantasy games or something grander like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. RPGs offer unique experiences that, like snowflakes, are never the same. This is especially the case when it comes to the difficulties of these individual games.
Not all RPGs are tough, but some of the toughest games ever happen to be RPGs. One should look no further than the likes of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna, both of which will bring even experienced RPG players to a breaking point.
Wizardry IV Was Made for Masters
Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna, in contrast with previous installments, has players in control of the title character, Werdna. The problem is that Werdna was the antagonist of the preceding Wizardry games, meaning that the heroes stripped him of his ability to use magic.
As such, players are expected to painstakingly work to get Werdna’s powers back. It mercifully gets better by the end of the game, but it does answer the question as to why fewer games in general have villains as protagonists. Conext aside, Wizardry IV truly was made for those who had mastered previous Wizardry games.
Underrail Is Hard for an Indie RPG
Underrail takes place underground, which happens to be the only habitable part of Earth that remains. Living underground is no picnic, with residents often facing a food crisis of some sort. The player’s character has to navigate the South Gate Station, which is one of the least orderly places in the titular Underrail system.
For an indie RPG, Underrail is not exactly the most forgiving game out there. Given how limited resources are in this world, players have to painstakingly craft items and never modify them afterward. Even then, these items will hardly help players against the weakest enemies, who appear in droves.
Darkest Dungeon Will Stress Players Out Immensely
Darkest Dungeon has the player inheriting a large estate from their ancestor. It turns out this estate includes dungeons, which are filled with all sorts of dangerous monsters. The player hires a team to help navigate through these dungeons, all the while they discover what secrets lurk within.
The fact Darkest Dungeon is a roguelike is already a telltale sign that it won’t be the easiest RPG to play. However, that fact pales in comparison to the game’s central mechanic: the stress system. If the stress levels of each character reach 100 percent, it completely hampers their ability to heal and attack.
Final Fantasy Tactics Changed the Classic JRPG Series Forever
As a tactical RPG, Final Fantasy Tactics contrasts with the standard RPG mainline Final Fantasy games, incorporating more strategic elements. The protagonist, Ramza Beoulve, finds himself embroiled in an ongoing war. He and his team must stop certain forces from taking the throne of Ivalice.
By nature of it being a Tactical RPG, Final Fantasy Tactics is considerably harder than the mainline Final Fantasy games. Whether it is the permadeath factor — which forever eliminates a member of the player’s party — or the many save traps that can permanently stall the player’s progress, the game shows no mercy.
Fear & Hunger is Designed to Be as Cruel as Possible
Fear & Hunger is set in the year 1590 in a medieval fantasy world. This world is ruled by an array of competing Gods, many of which seek to outdo one another with regard to what creatures are unleashed. Four adventurers, led by the player, are working to stop these Gods from consuming the world out of spite.
The game is a deadly combination of survival horror tropes and traditional RPG mechanics. What’s worse is that there are crucial parts of the game where actions are determined by a literal coin toss. In these cases, Fear & Hunger is almost completely randomized, meaning players can expect to die just as often as they succeed in moving forward.
The 7th Saga’s Biggest Flaw Is Its Localization
The 7th Saga has the player, one of a party of seven, take on Lemele, the now-rogue king of Ticondera. What went wrong with the king is uncertain, but it may have something to do with an evil entity that has been terrorizing the world for centuries, or even millennia.
Whereas The 7th Saga was just a little hard back in Japan, its U.S. localization is nigh-unplayable. What went wrong is that the team tasked with bringing the game over made the characters substantially weaker, all the while the enemies were granted higher stats. This means one is better off playing The 7th Saga in its original Super Famicom form.
Vagrant Story Can Only Be Played by RPG Prodigies
Vagrant Story sees Ashley Riot, agent for the Valendia Knights of the Peace or VKP, taking the blame for the death of a prominent duke. The Duke was alleged to have ties to Müllenkamp, a notorious cult whose influence reaches Ivalice’s political sphere. Ashley must now investigate how deep the duke was within the cult.
Ashley Riot is dubbed the Riskbreaker, with Risk certainly being a crucial, if not aggravating, gameplay mechanic that can result in enemies killing the player in one hit. It’s bad enough that players must use specific weapons against certain enemies, but they must also constantly worry about the Risk meter, regardless of what they do.
Shin Megami Tensei III Is as Tough on Enemies as It Is Tough on Players
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is set in a post-apocalyptic world, more specifically in Tokyo. It is here that the main protagonist, who is half-human and half-demon, must decide whether to join human survivors in restoring the world to its former glory, or join the demons in ruining it even further.
The game has a useful attack system that, whenever the player or the rest of their party land a critical hit, it counts as an increase to their stats. The bad news is that enemies benefit from this as well, meaning if players falter at attacking while the enemies land their hits successfully, it’s all but an automatic game over.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker Is Harder Than Its Tabletop Counterpart
Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a video game adaptation of the Pathfinder series of tabletop games. Kingmaker sees the player, at the bidding of the ruling monarchy, running the Stolen Lands, a desolate region filled with many hostiles. The player and their party must work to make the land habitable and peaceful, which will not come easy.
It’s clear that Pathfinder: Kingmaker’s target audience is those who have played the tabletop games, considering just how brutal the game can get for non-Pathfinder players. Those who go in with little experience will find that the enemy stats outstrip players’ starting stats, which are less than paltry.
Demon’s Souls and Its Remake Are Atrocious
Demon’s Souls is set in Boletaria, a kingdom hanging by a thread due to a misuse of magic. This has resulted in the kingdom being consumed in darkness, with the only hope being a hero, as controlled by the player. The player must fight the forces of darkness and restore the land to a pristine state.
Whether it be the 2009 original or its 2020 remake, Demon’s Souls is utterly hazardous to play. The game’s infamous World Tendency system doesn’t help matters, with areas becoming too difficult to safely fight in. Even worse is that, when players die as humans, they are revived with only half their HP.
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