High difficulty JRPGs

[Jmustang1968]

Have you given the etrian odyssey games a try? I haven't gotten around to playing them yet but I hear they are challenging

[brunoafh]

AppliCotton, play Demon's Souls. It's not retro, but after reading your first post, I can say it's exactly what you're looking for. It's got that whole "what do I do now?" vibe big time, and needless to say, the difficulty is through the roof. You'll like it.

[nightrnr]

weird. I thought the laws thing was really interesting.

The laws ARE interesting. They require you to have a well balanced group that can handle anything thrown at them.
It's just annoying if you're not used to it or not paying attention before you go into battle; but I like that it makes you think.
I'd be nice if the AI didn't cheat though.

[AppliCotton]

AppliCotton, play Demon's Souls. It's not retro, but after reading your first post, I can say it's exactly what you're looking for. It's got that whole "what do I do now?" vibe big time, and needless to say, the difficulty is through the roof. You'll like it.

Yeah right... A friend of a friend is like the regional champion in Street Fighter IV and he got into it... just today my friend told me he's given up

Not that I haven't been tempted though. I've been getting into shoot 'em ups to give myself a real challenge... by the end of the summer I'd like to 1cc DonPachi and/or finish Battle Garegga with the two or three continues it gives you.

[noiseredux]

The laws ARE interesting. They require you to have a well balanced group that can handle anything thrown at them.

that was my feeling. I guess the laws is the make/break for the game. So yeah, if you're not into the concept, then FFTA is not for you. But really, that was a big part of what I liked so much about the game. Even when I was frustrated by a law, I was having fun.

[Jmustang1968]

The laws ARE interesting. They require you to have a well balanced group that can handle anything thrown at them.

that was my feeling. I guess the laws is the make/break for the game. So yeah, if you're not into the concept, then FFTA is not for you. But really, that was a big part of what I liked so much about the game. Even when I was frustrated by a law, I was having fun.

It didn't break the game for me, I still thought it was decent. But it lessened it. The poor story and make your own map aspect were my biggest gripes.

[MrPopo]

Have you given the etrian odyssey games a try? I haven't gotten around to playing them yet but I hear they are challenging

I loved the Etrian Odyssey series. It's a modern upgrade to the Wizardry formula, so you get to plan out a skill-tree build for your party members, and things aren't quite as ball-crushingly hard. And it's fun to make the map on the touch screen.

[flex wood]

weird. I thought the laws thing was really interesting.

The fuck? How do I block a user?

[Zing]

I found Azure Dreams to be rather difficult.

[ZeroAX]

It didn't break the game for me, I still thought it was decent. But it lessened it. The poor story and make your own map aspect were my biggest gripes.

I loved that game. And while I agree about the story compared to the console version, you have to remember handheld game = shorter playing time, so there should also be less story development. That doesn't mean it excuses the game from having a kind of lousy story (it wasn't that bad imo) cause excellent storytelling involves telling more with less, but that is hardly JRPG game's forte right?