Turn-based RPGs were the most traditional types in the genre. The PS1 was no stranger to them with hits such asFinal Fantasy 7. Players could form a party of three, equip their heroes with gear and Materia, attack or cast spells in battle, and so on.
Other turn-based hits on the PS1 includedFinal Fantasy Tactics,The Legend of Dragoon, andWild Arms 2. All of these games were published by Sony who went on to publish many more across their other consoles. Sony also published some games in the action RPG genre, many of which were quite brutal. Let’s see what known and unknown challenges await.
Champions of Norrathwas aDiablo-like multiplayer game that was exclusive to the PS2. It, and its sequelChampions: Return to Arms, are still in fact exclusive to the system as they have never been ported off of the platform. It’s a shame given how big action RPGs and looter games are now in a postDiablo 3world. The game supported four players locally or online, which was a big deal for the era.
It was easier with a full party but the game could certainly be enjoyed alone. Solo players were the ones that got the true challenge of the adventure. Enemies came in large waves and unless players were constantly looking at their health, they could easily wind up dead in the chaos. Thankfully, the punishment was never that severe but no one likes dying in a game no matter what. It’s not the most brutal game of the bunch, butChampions of Norrathcertainly had its difficulty spikes.
Dark Cloudwas Level-5’s first gamewhich is wild considering how good it turned out. It blended a lot of genres together successfully but that doesn’t mean it was easy. The game starred Toan, a young adventurer who survived a genie attack that wiped out his village. Players had to rebuild it by diving into the nearby dungeon where they could save trees, fences, NPCs, and other things. By rebuilding the town, there was a random chance that chests would appear.
If players were lucky, some of these chests would contain treats that would level Toan and his eventual other party members up. That was the only way to increase stats like HP as fighting enemies in dungeons would instead level up weapons. Weapons could break at the drop of a hat and there was also a water management system seen in many modern survival games. One could go on but the point is this was a challenging action RPG that could still rock some hardcore players to the bone.
Demon’s Soulsis credited as the game that beganthe Soulslike genre. The developer, FromSoftware, made challenging action RPGs before this, likeKing’s Field, but they weren’t nearly as elaborate as this. With almost no tutorial, players were thrown into a haunted world filled with zombified men and creatures so grotesque that they belonged in nightmares. These horrific monstrosities looked even worse in the PS5 remake.
It wasn’t enough to make the game hard, FromSoftware had to make it terrifying too. At least it had co-op to lessen the difficulty and to make it slightly less scary. Even in co-op success was never guaranteed. The original PS3 game was something players had never seen before and it’s still a miracle the challenge level kept players coming back because it was also deeply rewarding. Both games are equally hard though but are a good time regardless.
Bloodbornewas the spiritual successorto the Soulslike groundwork that Demon’s Souls laid out. It also upped the horror factor by framing it around a Cthulhu-like hellscape complete with giant tentacled monsters that could appear looming from a distance. Players who experienced that surprise for the first time probably jumped out of their skin.
The grotesqueness of the monsters went beyond these immortal beings though from werewolves to little goblin people. It also kind of felt like the Castlevania reboot Konami was too afraid to fund which turned it into another fun action RPG. The horror aspects were just the beginning of the dread though as it turned into yet another hard game from losing progress to bosses that towered above you.
There are obviously a lot of great Soulslike games on PlayStation consoles such as the aforementionedBloodborneandDemon’s Souls. Of the few that Sony published,Nioh 2mightjust be the hardest. The sequel was a nice improvement over the original which added more magic, locations, weapons, character customization, and so on.
The difficulty was also turned up to eleven as enemies were more aggressive even on the lower side of spawn. The combat took a deep dive into counters which were not as intuitive to pull off as Bloodborne’s counter maneuvers. Like all of these, co-op helped but it was a brutal experience alone.
