Older Japanese role-playing games from the 80s and 90s didn’t usually offer different difficulty settings. Players improved by leveling up their characters, though some games were better balanced than others. While leveling up is still a common way to get stronger in modern JRPGs, many now include difficulty options to appeal to a wider range of players.
Even well-designed games with adjustable difficulty can sometimes have surprisingly hard sections. These games aren’t unbeatable, but they often feature sudden, unexpected jumps in difficulty.
Final Fantasy 10 HD
Beware The Dark Aeons
The original Final Fantasy 10 had moments that were noticeably more difficult than others, especially with certain areas and bosses. While it was generally a well-balanced game for its time, the HD version changed things. Later in the game, players might unexpectedly encounter very tough enemies called Dark Aeons while exploring dungeons.
These incredibly difficult bosses were added to the international PlayStation 2 release, originally found in the Japanese version. While not required to beat the game, they can unexpectedly defeat players in a single turn, which feels unfair since there’s no warning.
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
A Job’s A Job
In Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the game is set in Hawaii and plays out as expected if you complete some optional side quests and don’t shy away from battles. Players familiar with turn-based combat should find it fairly easy.
Around the middle of the game, things get noticeably harder. Enemies become stronger, requiring players to really master their character’s abilities and carefully choose which skills to use in combat. Players will also need to spend time earning money to buy better equipment, or they’ll find themselves using a lot of healing items to survive.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership
Replay The Game, Again
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a new role-playing game featuring Mario and Luigi on an adventure in a magical world beyond the Mushroom Kingdom. Similar to other Mario & Luigi games, it’s fairly easy to play if you quickly learn how to avoid and respond to enemy attacks.
Just when players think they’ve finished the game, they’ll discover they need to revisit some earlier areas. These revisits aren’t a complete replay, but they’re made more challenging with tougher enemies and increased damage. This means earning experience will take more effort and time.
Octopath Traveler
No Shared EXP
In Octopath Traveler, you start by choosing one of eight characters, but you can add the other seven to your team later. Battles are fought with a party of up to four characters, and players often become reliant on their first recruits. While you can switch things up as you unlock more characters, sticking with the same team for too long is a common mistake.
Many JRPGs use this idea, but it creates a challenge in Octopath Traveler. Unlike most games, experience points aren’t shared after battles. Each character has a unique storyline, and you have to have them in your party during those specific parts. This can lead to frustrating difficulty spikes later in each character’s story, as you constantly have to level up characters who haven’t been playing as much.
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy
The World Anew
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy is a classic JRPG, reminiscent of the early Final Fantasy games. While you control a small party of only four characters, the game’s Job System allows for extensive customization and growth.
Players should be able to progress through the game normally without a lot of repetitive grinding, until a surprising turn of events near the end. Without giving away spoilers, this involves a lot of revisiting old areas, and from that point on, enemies and bosses become significantly tougher, almost like you’re starting the game over. This is also the case in the remastered version on Switch 2.
Xenosaga Episode 2: Jenseits Von Gut Und Bose
Learn The Mechanics Or Else
The initial Xenosaga game can be challenging, but it’s definitely beatable and the combat system becomes clear with practice. However, Xenosaga Episode 2: Jenseits von Gut und Bose is significantly harder, and the difficulty continues to ramp up as you play.
The game’s battle system is tricky to master, and while players will improve and gain levels, they’ll eventually hit a really tough challenge around the midpoint. It’s a rewarding experience if you stick with it, but you’ll need to be patient.
Radiant Historia
Time Is A Fickle Thing
Radiant Historia is a special JRPG centered around time travel. A core part of the gameplay involves facing challenging enemies, realizing you’re underpowered, and then using time travel to alter events or conversations and make the game more manageable.
As players progress, challenges will become easier overall, though there will always be some ups and downs – it’s a bit like riding a rollercoaster. The last section of the game will be a true test of everything players have learned about combat, and those who didn’t pick up on all the strategies will likely struggle.
Ni no Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch
Not So Cute Anymore
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch begins like a classic Pokémon game, transporting players to a magical world brimming with adventure. In battles, you can fight directly as a human character or command powerful creatures called Familiars to do the fighting for you.
The game maintains a good level of challenge for most of the experience, but it becomes significantly harder once you acquire your third companion, Swaine. After that point, you’ll likely need to spend a lot of time leveling up to keep pace with increasingly powerful enemies. Even before Swaine joins, the game throws in occasional tough boss fights within dungeons – these bosses are usually much stronger than the regular enemies you’ve been facing.
Breath Of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Starts Hard, Gets Worse
Like other PlayStation 2 Japanese role-playing games such as Xenosaga Episode 2, Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is challenging from the beginning and steadily becomes more difficult. A unique feature of the game is a meter that fills up with almost every action you take, whether you’re exploring or battling.
Ryu can turn into dragons to simplify fights, but doing so quickly fills up a special meter. If the meter gets too high, players will need to start a new game with their progress – a feature similar to New Game+ – and try again, hoping for an easier experience on their second, third, or even fourth playthrough.
Lost Sphear
The Mechs Won’t Help You
Lost Sphear was the second game developed by Tokyo RPG Factory, a team within Square Enix created to make JRPGs reminiscent of older titles from consoles like the SNES and PlayStation. The beginning of the game is fairly straightforward, featuring turn-based battles where characters attack and use skills.
The game gets significantly harder once the Vulcosuits (powerful mechs) are introduced. Around the ten-hour mark – about a third of the way through – the difficulty really ramps up. While the Vulcosuits are helpful, they aren’t invincible, and without them, enemies are either very damaging or take a long time to defeat. This creates a major difficulty spike early in the game that continues until the very end, even considering the different difficulty settings.
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2025-11-24 01:06