Rumor: Final Fantasy and XIII call truce

[SargeSmash]

I think Proud mode also doubles the damage you receive.  It would necessitate more strategic battle plans, just to avoid getting killed.  I actually gave it a try in Birth By Sleep, and you've really got to stay on your toes.

And yes, I suppose one could just grind up to make up for it.  But that's a conundrum that all experience-based games tend to run into, unless you scale the enemies with the player.  (And even that brings its own set of issues.)

[Panzer88]

in my experience hard mode in KH1 just meant grind more, you could have a great boss strategy, but if you were at the same level as on easy, the boss would stomp you in 1 or 2 hits, so you just are forced to grind. Not my idea of hard.

[DankPanties]

Not my idea of hard.

I agree.  If it's just a matter of grinding for levels and gradual damage attrition battles, it's not a test of skill, it's a test of patience.

My idea of hard is a situation where you either have to use lightning quick reflexes versus deadly fast enemies (action games---see Ninja Gaiden Black on hard), or you have to devise a super strategy to kill a hellish boss that is immune to grind leveling (JRPGs---see Nocturne's press turn system or any JRPG with level-matching-bosses).

[Garoth Moulinoski]

any JRPG with level-matching-bosses).

Aside from gaining spells and skills, what's the point to the levels in that case, I wonder? You could easily take off levels and experience from the mix and just use items or something to give the player customization abilities. I'm not sure if there's a game that does that (Zelda... I guess... but that's... I don't think that's a good example)

[DankPanties]

Aside from gaining spells and skills, what's the point to the levels in that case, I wonder?

There's a few games which have level matching bosses but not level matching standard enemies.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

There's a few games which have level matching bosses but not level matching standard enemies.

Which are? I know Final Fantasy VIII does this, but the system is so broken I wouldn't have noticed anyway.

[LostTemplar]

If I remember correctly, it's actually the other way around in FFVIII.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

If I remember correctly, it's actually the other way around in FFVIII.

Oh? I don't remember too well myself. I just know that random encounters were always easy (except in the beginning) and that towards the end, bosses were just falling to my characters like flies. :/