Poll of the Day > What are some hard RPGs?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I don't mean grind heavy since grind is just an excuse not to git gud.


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you looking for turn based, but difficult? or can it be action?

if you want turn based then darkest dungeon

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TheOkHornedRat posted...

you looking for turn based, but difficult? or can it be action?

if you want turn based then darkest dungeon

Can be either.... and yes on Darkest Dungeon, I haven't played it since they changed the final boss to be what it currently is, waaaaaaaaay back before the doggo was added

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XCOM, especially on Ironman

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couple more:

Final Fantasy Tactics (especially using the hard mode mod)
Wizardry IV: The Return Of Wedna


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The SMT games are pretty tough

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oh and how could i forget one of the best games of the past 5 years, Underrail

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Mead posted...

XCOM, especially on Ironman

that game makes me mad... and I think it's the miss animations

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Lokarin posted...

that game makes me mad... and I think it's the miss animations

let the mad fuel you

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Far-Queue posted...

The SMT games are pretty tough

This. SMT: Nocturne or Strange Journey are a pretty good introduction to the series. Technically SMT4 too, but I wasn't a fan of that one.

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LuciferSage posted...

This. SMT: Nocturne or Strange Journey are a pretty good introduction to the series. Technically SMT4 too, but I wasn't a fan of that one.

I have previously done Nocturne (twice)... and while I have Strange Journey I couldn't get far in it, not that it was hard specifically, I think I hard switched to Etrian Odyssey 3 at the time

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Actually...

Has anyone ever made a puzzle RPG?

Something like "Platinum objective: win in 4 turns" and there's only one solution that does it like "armour break on turn 1, defend twice, rage-counter" or something weird like that.

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Theres the puzzle quest games

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Mead posted...

Theres the puzzle quest games

That's not 'exactly' what I meant, even though that's literally what I said :V

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Wizardry was always difficult.

I remember Ultima being pretty difficult - but it has been a long time since I've played them.

kukukupo posted...

Wizardry was always difficult.

I remember Ultima being pretty difficult - but it has been a long time since I've played them.

Pagan was the best ultima game in my terrible opinion, and yea, they could be super unforgiving and uninformative

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Icewind Dale 1 and 2
Pillars of Eternity on hard

Icewind Dale 1 also has a sort of new game+ mode that I haven't tried much that makes the game even harder

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Lokarin posted...

Something like "Platinum objective: win in 4 turns" and there's only one solution that does it like "armour break on turn 1, defend twice, rage-counter" or something weird like that.

I feel like I've seen that, but maybe not. (that's a good idea though). the closest thing I can think of atm was the Wii Fire Emblem game playing on "normal" (which is really "hard"), and it's hard enough that some early maps do boil down to having to move and attack nearly perfectly to not die

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Lokarin posted...

that game makes me mad... and I think it's the miss animations

Yeah nothing like being right in an enemy's face and pointing your gun up in the air at the last second and missing.

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Mead posted...

XCOM, especially on Ironman

This. I fucking love XCOM. Start with Enemy Within and move onto 2 (with War of the Chosen) afterwards. 2 + WotC is the "best" experience, but Enemy Within (the "complete" version of the first game, not to be confused with Enemy Unknown) is worth playing. They are connected, but each have their own story and flow, and because EW is less advanced, it would be harder to go back to after WotC. I wouldn't start on Ironman though... learn the ropes and do that second playthrough. It may have been patched by now, but I had a glitch in XCOM 2 where my entire team could do anything other than attack for 1-2 turns at random... and because Ironman autosaves over itself constantly, I pretty much had no way around it and was essentially forced to just get shot at sometimes. Reloading the game from a save that decided I couldn't have a turn would save the no turn part. This is only a problem if you're on Ironman and if it wasn't patched yet. I started a new game without it because it was pretty frequent. Everything is procedurally generated, so it's a different experience each time, sorta like Civ. The feeling XCOM gives you is great. Nothing else like it. You struggle and feel helpless for the first third, even the playing field over the middle third, and by the final third you feel like you're unstoppable and the tables have turned. It's very empowering.

Man, in XCOM 2 I had this one moment where we were evacuating a VIP and it was a slog and a half. We were just about at the pickup location, and my team was pretty beat up and I just wanted to get the hell outta there with everyone alive. I had this perk on my Skirmisher that gave him a miniscule chance at an instant kill shot. I think it was like 2% or 5%, I can't remember. Anyway, I left him on overwatch behind a cement barrier as I moved my other people towards the evac spot atop this building. One of them triggers this Sectopod (huge-ass walker robot that has an overpowered amount of health and armor) that had been ducked down in said building. Because an instant kill is an instant kill, and my Skirmisher was on overwatch, the Sectopod getting triggered and marching past him made him take his shot. It then begins exploding and falls down. I've had some "thank god" relief moments in this series, but that was the king of them all. I went from complete dread and frustration to satisfied exhaustion as everyone escaped in the aftermath.

And I've specifically avoided SRPG's since I tend to be shit at them, but by and large that's where most of the "hard" is going to be just because it's usually not economical to grind for levels in them until endgame or ng+.

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