Over the years, the Nintendo Switch has stacked upquite the catalog of RPG titles, many of which have gone on to become some of the best games in the genre over the last decade. In classic RPG fashion, many of these games provide quite the challenge, and can be downright brutal if players don’t take the time to build up their characters and gain enough EXP to take on the many menacing foes that await them.
While the intense difficulty can make the experience a lot more fun for many of these games, there are others which canfeel a little unfair in their mechanics, something that will either infuriate or excite gamers depending on who you ask. These are the RPG Switch games that are generally considered as the hardest on the system and that will require a little extra EXP grinding than usual.
The firstBravely Defaultis often praised as one of thegreatest RPG titles released on the 3DS, but it was also very tricky due to the tanky many of the boss enemies were and the very difficult combat system. While the sequel to that fan-favorite RPG isn’t necessarily harder, it definitely still poses a very reasonable challenge that is sure to satisfy hardcore fans of the genre who love grinding out EXP and taking a more strategic approach to their battles.
The gameplay largely revolves around the ‘Brave’ system which allows a character to use up future turns so that they can perform additional actions. This simple mechanic doesadd a lot of strategy to the gameand really helps it stand out from its peers, but it’s also incredibly risky and can easily lead to a team being wiped out. It’s very easy to try and finish off bosses quickly by using three attacks on the same turn, but this tactic becomes much harder to pull off for later encounters which will punish the player for acting too rashly.
Fire Emblemoften falls into the sub-genre of"tactical RPG"which essentially means that it plays like a strategy game, but also features all the leveling up and side missions that are usually found in a typical role playing game.Three Houseshas gone down as one of the most popular entries in the series, and while players do get a choice of difficulties once they boot up the game, it still doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to the challenge, especially when playing on Classic.
When choosing this option, all units will be permanently killed if they fall in battle, and while this does become a much rarer occurrence later on when everyone’s settled into their classes,the game can be incredibly difficultto start off. It’s always worth remembering that the units are always going to be pretty much defenseless when just starting out, so it’s best to lure enemies in and pick them off one-by-one as opposed to rushing in and inevitably needing to rewind time in case something goes wrong.
Final Fantasy 8is often viewed as one of themore divisive gamesin this beloved JRPG franchise, and a big reason for this is the baffling Junction mechanic which is essentially the magic system with a bit of a twist. Despite being an extremely important mechanic which is vital for taking down specific enemies and bosses, the game does a very poor job at actually explaining how the Junction system works, but to put it simply, the player will need to draw out magic from spells and items to then enhance the character’s base stats.
Knowinghow to use Junction effectivelyis only one of the many challenging aspects of this game though with another being the fact that enemies will level up alongside the player, making it virtually impossible to become overpowered. In classicFinal Fantasyfashion, the game is also littered with brutally hard bosses who provide some great challenges, one of the most well-known being the terrifying Omega Weapon which has probably caused more game over screens than any other enemy.
The fact that a new difficulty was added to the game after its launch because the ‘easy’ option was still seen as far too difficult gives a good indication into just how challengingDivinity: Original Sin 2can be in its gameplay. The side content is more or less essential in this game since doing nearly anything will guarantee a reward either in the form of items which can be sold later or EXP which is especially important duringthe first few hoursupon reaching Fort Joy.
Despite being one of the starting areas, it’s actually not recommended to engage in any fights here until reaching at least level 10, but since there are plenty of non-combat encounters to jump into, it at least makes grinding pretty fun and entertaining. The game does get a lot easier as players go along and level up their party, but each fight will require a lot of strategic thinking and careful planning, especially on arenas with plenty of terrain that can be utilized.
Even thoughDark Soul’s: Remasteredisn’t usually considered one of the hardergames developed by FromSoftware, this isn’t to suggest that it’s easy by ay means. The game includes everything that players have come to expect from the Soulslike sub-genre, such as grueling boss encounters, plenty of weapon upgrades, and fairly unforgivingBonfire systemdue to how spaced out a lot of these save points are between each other.
Since the game is intentionally designed around its difficulty though, it makes it extremely satisfying to even push a little further through an area, or to finally kill one of the many memorable and menacing bosses that show up very often.Dark Soul’s: Remastereddoesn’t exactly go out of its way to explain essential mechanics like the Upgrade Paths and damage types that which are all essential for making progress. So while the game is definitely very difficult for seasoned Soulslike fans, it can be especially intimidating for brand-new players.
Often touted by fans as the hardest game Atlus have ever made,Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturnealmost feels like a game that is looking for the player to slip up so that it can punish them for it, but the captivating and rather dark story makes it worth pushing through to the very end. The gameplay inSMT 3actuallyisn’t too deep or complex to understand, the player’s controlled characters will gain an extra turn in battle if they exploit a weakness, but this also goes for the enemies. Therefore, if the party are unlucky enough to stumble upon a group of monsters who just so happen to specialize in elements that the party are weak to, it can take them from full health to completely wiped out in no time at all.
While Demons are undoubtedly very useful allies to have in the midst of battle, they still won’t be able to revive the player once they’ve been defeated, and with the amount of enemies who can cast Instant Death, it’s easy to see why the mid to late game would become so arduous. With that being said though, the music, visuals, and story ofSMT 3are all fantastic, so it’s worth trying to overcome the challenge to see all that the game truly has to offer, and why it’s so fondly remembered by fans.
If there’s any game that will truly test a player’s patience, it would have to beDarkest Dungeon, a game that has become synonymous for its incrediblydemanding gameplay and progression systems. The steep learning curve can definitely be a little off-putting for anyone looking to play a casual and carefree RPG game, especially since there are a handful of mechanics that are purposefully designed to make each decision in combat as intense as possible.
In fact, players should expect to have their team completely wiped out in the first few hours, even when choosing the Radiant Mode which was added in a past update, probably due to the fact that many players were complaining that the game was literally unbeatable upon release. The lack of healing items andvery lengthy dungeonsall contribute to the challenge, but what really ramps it up to another level is the Light Meter. When the party’s Light is at maximum level, they will receive numerous buffs which can make battles easier, but a lower Light Meter will offer more rewards while making enemies much harder to defeat. This is an incredibly unique system that adds a tremendous amount of strategy and risk to the core gameplay, and is just one of many systems that actively work to make this addictive RPG as hard as it can be.
