8 RPGs Best Played On The Hardest Difficulty, Ranked

Role-playing games have become so popular in the industry that most developers aim to target the biggest audiences possible. Combat in these titles is meant to be challenging yet accommodating enough to let players with varying skill levels have a great time as they embark on the journey of a lifetime.

Normal is the intended difficulty mode for most titles, but some people prefer to challenge themselves in games that they will walk all over otherwise. This is why the hardest difficulty setting in the following games is so captivating, since players will feel like they’re against the ropes as they bring their A-game in combat.

8

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Insanity Difficulty Is The Hardest It Has Ever Been In A Mass Effect Game

While Mass Effect: Andromeda has its fair share of issues, most people will agree that the combat system is a step above its predecessors. The enhanced verticality and the promotion of aggressive strategies ensure that players will love flying around and flanking their enemies, using a combination of firepower and unique abilities to take them out.

The Insanity difficulty is back and more intense than ever. It’s comfortably the hardest version of this setting in a Mass Effect game and will force players to use every trick in their arsenal if they want to survive against the relentless waves of foes aiming to gun them down.

7

Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne

Hard Difficulty’s Changes Make Combat More Challenging Than Ever

Shin Megami Tensei 3 is one of the hardest JRPGs as is. Buffs are mandatory, and players must curate their party members accordingly to target the weaknesses of certain bosses while being resistant to their elements.

Over time, players will grow accustomed to the game’s difficulty and figure out ways to humiliate bosses. This becomes a thing of the past in Hard mode, where players get less experience, incur more damage, and must pay huge amounts in the shop. This ensures that the challenge remains constant for players who are adept at playing this hardcore JRPG.

6

Persona 5 Royal

Merciless Mode Encourages Players To Cover For Their Weaknesses

Persona 5 Royal

Released

October 31, 2019

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Persona 5 Royal is one of the best video games ever made, allowing players to embark on a unique adventure where they infiltrate the minds of adults and make them go through a change of heart. Combat is certainly less difficult than the Shin Megami Tensei games, and most players will realize just how overpowered buffs are after a point.

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This is why Merciless mode is such an interesting setting for fans. Regular damage isn’t all that high, but players who target weaknesses will hit for immense damage. However, the same applies to the player allies too, which makes it easy for Joker to be downed if an enemy manages to target his weak point.

5

Pillars Of Eternity

Path Of The Damned Is No Joke

Pillars of Eternity was a great game for fans who were craving for CRPGs to come back into the mainstream. The game boasts a great story and a fun, chaotic real-time with pause combat system that’s pretty engaging in its own right.

Players who want to enjoy the ultimate challenge can check out the Path of the Damned difficulty, although they should be warned that the difficulty can’t be changed back. The game is no joke at this difficulty level and bombards players with a high number of enemies who boast more power, making it easy for the Watcher and their allies to be taken down in a flash.

4

Fallout 4

Survival Mode Completely Changes The Way Players Tackle This RPG

Fallout 4 may have split fans down the middle when it comes to the simplification of its RPG mechanics, but this was made up for with what is comfortably the best battle system to feature in a Bethesda game. Shootouts can be frenetic and become more challenging if players opt for Survival mode.

As one would expect from this name, the Sole Survivor must stay fed, hydrated, and rested at all times. The game can only be saved when the player sleeps, damage incurred is higher than on Hard mode, and stronger enemies appear regularly. This, among many other changes, makes it the ultimate challenge to complete Fallout 4.

3

System Shock 2

An Immersive Sim That Becomes Devilishly Hard On Impossible

System Shock 2‘s old-school difficulty makes Normal mode pretty challenging in its own right. However, this statement mainly applies to newcomers who are coming to grips with the game systems before eventually becoming strong enough to deal with the many tough enemies that come their way.

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If players are familiar with this game and want to really challenge themselves, then the best course of action to take is to play the game on Impossible. The game gets challenging in meaningful ways, forcing players to manage a lower number of HP and Psi Points, while Cyber Modules and Replicators are more expensive.

2

The World Ends With You

Players Are Incentivized To Fight On Harder Difficulties To Get Better Loot

The World Ends with You handles difficulty in an interesting way. The game starts on Normal, with both Easy and Hard being locked as players make progress.

Depending on what difficulty players choose, the Noise will drop certain Pins that will help Neku immensely as he tries to figure out what this twisted killing game is all about. This incentivizes players to try out Hard mode from time to time to acquire these rare Pins that will go a long way in making combat more interesting.

1

Baldur’s Gate 3

Honour Mode Changes Everything From Enemy AI To The Moves Certain Bosses Have

Most players familiar with Larian’s games will know how compelling an Honour mode playthrough is. Their turn-based combat is a blast and compels players to perfect their strategies and unleash immense damage on their enemies to secure victory.

Honour mode is back and better than ever in Baldur’s Gate 3, with Larian releasing this difficulty in a post-release patch to make it more meaningful than ever. Bosses get unique Legendary Actions, Restoration Pods can only be used once, and players will lose their Honour mode playthrough if they perish in combat. Thankfully, there’s always the option to restart a playthrough in Custom mode if players manage to lick their wounds and accept their failure.

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