The Hardest RPGs Published By Nintendo, Ranked

Nintendo may have first risen to prominence with its wide selection of unique and innovative platforming titles, but over the many years that they've been in the industry, they've branched out to a plethora of other genres in an attempt to appeal to as many gamers as possible. One of these has been role-playing games, a genre that has only grown more popular as time has gone on, giving players the freedom to explore a gigantic world while leveling up their characters as they go along, which are central parts of the RPG gameplay loop.

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While Nintendo's games aren't usually known for being very difficult, since they tend to steer more towards accessibility rather than challenge, they still have a handful of RPGs which are pretty unforgiving and will provide a true test of the player's experience with the genre. Therefore, anyone who's looking to sink their teeth into a new RPG title, but still wants the game to provide a good enough challenge to keep things interesting, should try out these fantastic titles listed below which are all published by Nintendo.

6 Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.03

Although the Mario & Luigi series of games never shied away from testing the player when they needed to, Dream Team ramps up the difficulty quite considerably, especially when it comes to turn-based combat encounters. Every time Mario or Luigi attacks an enemy, players will have the opportunity to execute a timed button press to maximize their damage, but these become more or less essential since without them, the brothers can feel extremely weak and will struggle to take down even the weakest of enemies.

The boss battles are also no joke in this game, but while they're already pretty hard due to how hard-hitting the enemies can be, the player will also need to have good reflexes to be able to counter and dodge these devastating attacks in time without getting killed. The items do luckily help to make these encounters a little more forgiving, but if players decide to jump onto Hard mode, they will be limited in how many they can use, which makes the game even more brutal.

5 Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.13

A big reason why Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is often considered to be so difficult for many people, especially newcomers to the series, is that it does a pretty lackluster job of explaining all the complex but important game mechanics that play a big role in the combat system. The Blades system, classes, Driver Combos, and Arts are all techniques and abilities that players can make use of to take down their opponents and develop their party, but actually getting to grips with all of them can take a very long time and a lot of practice.

While the game is also full of difficulty spikes, these can be managed so long as players go out of their way to complete the side quests and do some extra grinding on the side. Although other RPG games will usually keep players in a safe area depending on their level, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 also allows big and frightening boss enemies to patrol low-level environments, which can also be a big hurdle to overcome.

4 Earthbound

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.17

Although Nintendo has become infamous for largely ignoring EarthBound in the past, it still remains incredibly popular thanks to its unique story, lovable cast of characters, and pretty unforgiving challenge which had become synonymous with late 90s RPGs. The game itself follows a pretty simple formula of featuring turn-based combat that plays out through random encounters, but because even the most common enemies are so relentless in their attacks, it can make surviving a battle a real challenge in and of itself.

Players will need to make sure that they're constantly kitting each of their party members out with durable armor and powerful weapons to make it through each of the dungeons in one piece, especially in the first few hours. It's highly advised that players also return to previous areas and dungeons to farm EXP in preparation for future battles, and while the game does become gradually easier as it goes on, it makes it clear right from the get-go that it's far from a walk in the park.

3 Bravely Default

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.17

The core mechanic that separates Bravely Default from other similar turn-based RPGs is the Brave system, which essentially allows characters to perform extra actions during a turn to dish out more damage, apply buffs and healing to their teammates, or afflict the enemy with a status effect. It's an incredibly powerful system when used correctly, but relying on it too heavily can also cause a battle to go horribly wrong.

Unlike some RPGs where the player can turn on autopilot and just cruise through weak encounters without much worry, Bravely Default forces players to bring their A-game with every battle by mixing around their Jobs and trying out new tactics to see which fares the best. There are also a few Classes that can take an incredibly long time to become fully effective, especially the Mages, who will start off dealing next to no damage, but this long grind to the top is ultimately what has made the game so captivating to many longtime RPG fans.

2 Octopath Traveler

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.29

Octopath Traveler was Nintendo's heartfelt homage to the pixel-art RPGs of the 90s, and it's fair to say that the game did an excellent job at capturing the endless charm of those games, along with their hardened difficulty. An important mechanic built into the combat system is the Boost Points, which a character can use up to five times to amplify their overall damage output of an attack, and in a similar vein to the Brave system, this can be somewhat of a double-edged sword and is very hard to use effectively.

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By  Harry Ted Sprinks

Some of the bosses also have some unique gimmicks that can make their encounters extremely difficult, such as Redeye, who is able to constantly switch around his weaknesses every turn, which makes it incredibly hard to deal much damage to him. The game is definitely at its hardest near the beginning when the player only has access to one or two characters, but as they acquire others, there will be more tools and techniques available to them which can help out with a lot of the trickier fights that appear throughout the story.

1 Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.86

Although the Fire Emblem games do incorporate elements of the RTS genre into their core gameplay, they are still RPGs at heart, since they feature some of the genre's most vital components, such as earning EXP and leveling up characters. These games never shy away from pushing the player to their limits, but Conquest takes things to a whole new level due to its map design and enemy variety. The enemy AI is also incredibly smart and tactical in this game, often grouping up on the weakest characters and even blocking their path if they try to retreat to a healer.

While permadeath can be switched off, the game strongly encourages players to keep it on, since it adds so much intensity to the gameplay, and while it does make the whole experience a lot more engaging, it also means that it's very easy to lose a vital squadmate after making a simple mistake. The game also loves throwing hordes of flying enemies the player's way, which are able to move much faster than regular units, allowing them to easily circle around the party and pick them off one by one if they aren't taken down quick enough. Fire Emblem: Conquest is considered by many to be the hardest game of the series, and considering how difficult previous games have been known to be, this gives an idea of just how punishing its gameplay can really be.

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