10 Hardest-to-Beat JRPGs

There are a lot of reasons to jump into a JRPG. It could bring you in because its characters look cool, to bring you back for closure on a story in a sequel, or just because it's popular, and you want to know why no one can shut up about it. Most JRPGs are incredibly vast games with tons of side quests, lore, and characters, and taking one on is a huge commitment for many players.

Video games are unique experiences where sometimes, you get to shoulder the hero's struggles just by pressing buttons and experiencing game overs. There's a certain kind of feeling that comes from literally saving the day after being stuck on tough bosses.

Some players openly seek out these challenges, wanting games to test the skills they've picked up from other titles. If this is you, nice to see you! Me too! So here's some JRPGs that might be what you're looking for.

10 The Legend of Heroes: Trails In The Sky

The Turbo Button Will Be Your Best Friend, If You Have It

From the same genre that brought you the trend of standalone mainline titles like Final Fantasy and Tales of games comes the Trails series. If you've ever wished to stick with one JRPG world across a franchise's multiple entries, the Trails series is exactly what you're looking for.

The only downside is that it's not for everyone. As a franchise that started in 2004, the first Trails game is very mechanically heavy and may put off newcomers to the genre that are only familiar with games like Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. It's also very slow in battles and exploration. If you manage to get this game dirt cheap on console, you'll miss out on the PC-exclusive Turbo button that speeds things up significantly.

Luckily, the Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter remake released last year is highly praised as a great starting point for new players. There's something inherently nostalgic about how the first game looks, though. If you're a bit more used to JRPGs as a whole, and miss how early 2000s computer games looked, then The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky might be worth playing even now.

9 Chocobo Mystery Dungeon: EveryBuddy!

The Cutest Slice Of Humble Pie I've Ever Been Served

When Chocobo Mystery Dungeon: EveryBuddy was announced for Switch, I was excited. A new Mystery Dungeon game when the Pokémon ones were nonexistent! I was definitely going to pick this up! That was my first mistake. Don't be like me.

Compared to the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon titles, EveryBuddy is very much rooted in traditional Final Fantasy mechanics. You have to plan out what team you use and what job your Chocobo will have. These tie into elemental weaknesses and what abilities you can use. These aren't what will make and break runs for you, as some are way better than others. It's the strategy you use in dungeons that will.

Each dungeon plays out differently, and don't let the cute graphics and phoned-in voice acting trick you into a false sense of security. There's actually a lot of thought that needs to go into how you work your way through the maps overall. It's not the hardest game, but it's not a JRPG you can play with your brain off, either.

8 Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

Your Mileage May Vary

It's rare when a Tales game gets a sequel, and it's even rarer when the protagonist goes down in history as one of the most annoying JRPG protagonists ever. Add in motion controls that you can only dodge if you snagged the right PS3 game 13 years ago and an overreliance on the same protagonist in your party and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World has more problems than just its mechanics that make it tough to beat.

Overall, Dawn of the New World isn't truly bad or anything, but it's very hit or miss due to Emil's temperament and Marta's obsession with him. You're forced to keep these characters in your party at all times. If, by any chance, you mess up balancing the elements of the enemies and the elements of the battlefield and Emil and Marta die, you better hope you didn't enjoy Dawn of the New World's monster-catching mechanics. The monsters in your party aren't as important as Emil and Marta, and it will instantly register the fight as a defeat. It's all about what you're willing to put up with.

7 Kingdom Hearts

Never Take Skip Cutscenes Buttons For Granted

If you're looking at the fact that I chose the first Kingdom Hearts for this list and raising a brow, let me tell you a story. I played the original Kingdom Hearts back on the PS2. My friends at the time watched me get to the Ansem-Riku fight. They watched me suffer without Donald and Goofy to help me.

I don't remember how many tries it took me exactly, just that it took a few days of me playing with and without them. In case you didn't know, the original Kingdom Hearts doesn't have a skip cutscene button. I have heard Sora's revelation that Kairi's heart had been inside him all along so much that I'm sure I can still quote it word-for-word to this day. Eventually, I broke through, and beat him. The fight with Ansem and his guardian was up next, and my friends awaited even more suffering on my end with crooked grins.

I beat him in on the first try and knocked the smirks off their faces. At the very least, if you don't think Kingdom Hearts is hard on your beginning playthrough, please just be thankful that newer, grouped-together releases have skip cutscene buttons for my sake.

6 Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song

Taking Time Management To A Whole New Level

The SaGa games are highly regarded for being very non-linear and explorative. You can choose what protagonist you want to play as and go through their story in any way you want. Naturally, this comes with limits. Every game has its rules.

Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song tells players to get a move on by having them manage event ranks. Instead of experience points, the battles you do are tied to an event rank meter, and the higher you are, the tougher your enemies are. This also affects what quests and missions you can do. Meaning, if you try to grind needlessly, you'll find yourself literally softlocked out of the items and upgrade materials you need to get stronger with no enemies or quests to gain money from.

It's recommended that you avoid unnecessary battles in Minstrel Song's early game to avoid getting stuck with no way to progress. At the very least, most of this trouble only comes from messing up early, so any lost playthroughs shouldn't waste too much time.

5 Maten no Soumetsu

The Obscure Challenge You Might Be Waiting For

If you're looking through this list for honest JRPG challenges, then I have an earnest recommendation. Left alone on the Sega Genesis is one title that has frustrated some pretty skillful players. It's called Maten no Soumetsu.

Heroes are known for surpassing unsurmountable odds, but rarely does a game let you feel the pressure of those odds like Maten no Soumetsu does. You have a chance of running into enemies that can instantly kill you from the word "go."

The game is also very impressive for a 1993 Sega Genesis game. It features a working day and night cycle and is known for being very responsive. Because of this, fans have worked together to make an English patch for this title. If you decide to take it on, then I wish you the best of luck, because you'll need it.

4 Xenosaga Episode II

Practically Built To Confuse

I'd be surprised if anyone wasn't at least a little frustrated playing this right out of the box. Xenosaga Episode II is very strange in that it's built to be completely different than the game that came before it, but it also comes right out of the tutorial with such a steep difficulty curve that punishes you if you're unfamiliar with Episode I. Yet, the combat system has changed dramatically.

With a lot of JRPGs and RPGs, even the most fun battle systems get tedious and feel the same after a while. We've all been there where we've taken on the same monster-of-the-minute with the least amount of attention possible. Xenosaga Episode II is not the JRPG to zone out with. If you don't engage with the mechanics it offers you, Xenosaga II will personally bully you and shove you into a locker. And again. And again. Xenosaga II is filled with difficulty spikes, and you'll just have to deal with that if you want to beat it.

3 Final Fantasy 7

A Must-Play That Shows Its Age

Even with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy out there, I will always insist you should play Final Fantasy 7 itself at least once in your life. That said, it certainly isn't the easiest JRPG to get though, mostly thanks to its age. You'll run into navigation that requires you to be pixel perfect to get through that can be very annoying, for starters. If you go in too blind, as well, there's a strong chance you'll go into a tough late-game area completely unprepared with no way forward. I've lost entire playthroughs to this at least twice.

These were the types of growing pains JRPGs had to deal with, though. Final Fantasy 9 learned to notify people of certain challenges ahead, but Final Fantasy 7 just says you won't be able to turn back, and "can't turn back" means you'll be separated and can't adjust your party to better your odds. As long as you heed those warnings, review your team, and go forward confidently, you should be okay. It helps that more recent ports of FF7 have god modes, but if you want an earnest playthrough, it'll take effort.

2 Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter

Don't You Ever Just Want To Go Dragon Mode?

The fifth Breath of Fire game is notably divisive among fans for fair reason as it took everything known about the series and flipped it on its head. Instead of a fantasy theme, Capcom designed Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter with a sci-fi and grunge image in mind. It was the series' first 3D entry, and it was made to be played through multiple times. As part of that, it's rather short and simple, but it also has a gimmick that comes with a save-killer counter.

In order to get the game's true ending, you have to manage the counter just right to get to the true final boss. Considering these titular dragon abilities are immensely powerful and can make quick work of any challenge you fight, the game is practically teasing you the whole time about using them. The punishment is starting over from scratch. It's a balancing act the entire way through, and it's hard not to find it tedious.

1 Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time

Till The End Of Your Patience, That Is

In this list, we've discussed three games that've flipped the standard for every entry before it on its head, and Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time is very much the same. It's a divisive entry for many fans due to how much the battle system and worldbuilding doesn't match the other two games that came before it. At least the combat is pretty good, but for some, it asks them to push their abilities with the game's systems to the limit, and even then, boss HP boxes may be bigger than you can handle.

All in all, Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time is a litmus test for how much you can take. You'll either love what's being given to you, or end up with the urge to throw your controller. It doesn't help that bugs that once got then Enix Corporation and Sony into an argument have not aged well and will likely frustrate players used to more modern games. The PS4 version is very unstable and prone to crashing as well. Either this game will resonate with you deeply, or you'll let it gather dust for one reason or another that'll make you put it down. There's no in-between. Good luck.