Hardest RPG you've beaten.

[Helios]

We all have that one RPG that was extremely difficult to complete. So, what's yours, and why did you find it difficult?

Mine is Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna. It's a pretty old RPG for PC, so unless you're big into cRPGs, you've probably never heard of it. Now I've played a ton of RPGs throughout my lifetime, but none of them have been anywhere near as difficult as Wizardry 4. Among most RPG veterans it is considered the hardest RPG ever made.

Now, why is this game so hard? The Return of Werdna is considered an extremely difficult game, considered by some to be the most difficult RPG ever made. It is equally unforgiving of mistakes and bad luck as its predecessor trilogy, but unlike the trilogy, there are no experience points for defeating enemies, and therefore no reward for surviving difficult battles, or opportunities to grow stronger at the player's pace. The only way a player may grow stronger is to fight their way through the current level, and find a pentagram on the next level, no matter how overwhelmingly difficult the foes on the current level may be. Some of these foes include ninjas capable of killing Werdna (main character) instantly with a critical hit, mages with area-effect spells that can wipe out entire parties of monsters (party members), thieves who can steal items that are critical to completing the game, and clerics capable of resurrecting Werdna's fallen adversaries.

Like the previous trilogy, mapping out levels is vital to avoid becoming lost. But the difficulty of mapping out levels is increased exponentially. While the previous games included occasional traps that could throw the player's maps off, such as dark areas, teleporters, pits, chutes, and rotating floors, these traps and many more are abundant in The Return of Werdna. An early level contains a minefield, with an invisible safe path that can only be discovered through exhaustive trial and error. Another level is a series of seemingly identical intersecting pathways, with rotating floor tiles on each intersection. At the top of the dungeon is the Cosmic Cube, a 3D maze consisting of dozens of rooms, connected by passageways, chutes, ladders, and teleporters, all of which have their own unique tricks, traps, and mapping difficulties. In addition, some of the most deadly foes in the game roam the cosmic cube, and because it contains the final pentagram, no further strengthening is possible.

I have only managed to beat this game once by using the aid of the guide, and I still couldn't get the Grandmaster Ending, an ending for the truly elite players. If you ever meet someone who has earned this game's Grandmaster Ending without using some sort of guide, kneel and pray, you have just met the lord of RPGs.

[RosettaStoned]

I think it was FF4. Not hard persay, just confusing.

[Pikagirl_777]

I think it was FF4. Not hard persay, just confusing.

]
FF4 and FF5 were my hardest ones.

But the hardest RPG for me was Etrian Odssesy. Has anyone played it? It's like an old school dungeon crawler for the DS. You draw your map of the dungeon (It's not a randomized dungeon though) and try to reach the bottom. Not much in the story department, the game starts out really hard, and sort of stays that way, unless you REALLY powergrind. It's a good game, and I liked it. But I don't think people who really need a story to keep them going in a RPG won't like it.

[Fell]

Magical Starsign.....Obviously,

The bosses had TONS of HP and it took serious leveling up tp beat them.

[Water ☮]

Star Ocean:Till the End of Time

OMG don't even get me started :)

[amplas]

I've gotta go with FF2 beating it without killing your own people was like impossible.

[Water ☮]

I've gotta go with FF2 beating it without killing your own people was like impossible.

Ahh yes that is my second favorite ff game, have you tried the extra bosses?

[amplas]

I've gotta go with FF2 beating it without killing your own people was like impossible.

Ahh yes that is my second favorite ff game, have you tried the extra bosses?

Yeah. They are really hard. I haven't played it for awhile though so I don't remember their names. I beat one of them though.

[Allegretto]

Well Eternal Sonata took me a while to actually get everything in the game, Plus the last boss is awesome to fight because he has around 4 million health! such an epic battle  ;D

The last boss is actually!
[spoiler]Fredric Franqouis Chopin[/spoiler]

[Methree]

Well, I've played a lot of hard RPG's, but I've only really beaten like 4 RPG's.
Might as well list them all.
Final Fantasy VII
Golden Sun
Paper Mario
Paper Mario 2
Tales of Symphonia
Kingdom Hearts
and that's really about it. That's sad considering how many RPG's I have.

[Seanguy]

ff4. ff9 was epic(ness) final fantasy 9 was confusing at parts and one of the longest RPGs i ever played,
also the funnest.

[Wolfpika]

Kingdom Hearts I, don't look at me like that! I did the hardest diffilculty for the first time and it was hard!

[FruitFlow]

If you think those were hard, try beating Star Ocean: Till the End of Time w/ out dying consecutively and having to start from the beginning of a level after getting far :P

That was very frustrating

[Magnum]

I've never faced a RPG that didn't get to hard for me to beat. Heck, I beat Final Bosses my friends can't beat on Their on file.

[Flying Chickens]

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean