Easiest and hardest RPG you've ever played?

[Zetshiro]

I'm sorry if this has already been asked, I was just interested in hearing your stories about the easiest and hardest RPG's you've ever played.

For me, the easiest would probably be Silva Saga II, since you have 3 separate parties and 2 of them automatically fully heal after every single battle. It made the game pretty much a breeze and within 2 days I had finished it.

Hardest would have to be Final Fantasy V because I BARELY made use of any strategies and as a result spend the last part of the game getting chewed to death (the last boss was especially nasty, ugh...). That's what I get for rushing the game!

How about you?

[Gideon Zhi]

Dunno about easiest, I've played so many. Maybe Rhapsody.

But it took me a year and a half and a dozen or so restarts to get through Final Fantasy Legend 2. So.

[Zetshiro]

But it took me a year and a half and a dozen or so restarts to get through Final Fantasy Legend 2. So.

Oh, Final Fantasy Legend 2! I actually played the DS remake last year or so, though I completely forgot about it. I'm not sure if they tweaked the difficulty or anything, but I remember some of the boss fights (Odin and Apollo...) being unnecessarily mean.

[mz]

Easiest: Chrono Cross. It was impossible to die and you never needed to think to beat bosses.

Hardest: Vagrant Story. When I played (more than 10 years ago) I couldn't even understand the English it used... Also, it had an in-game manual that seemed like a huge encyclopedia back then. Maybe I'll play it again someday, now that I'm older.

[Recca]

Same here, one of the easiest RPGs that I've played to date was also Silva Saga-II. Those mercenaries sure were incredibly powerful and the fact that they auto healed after every battle made the game even easier. Heck, I even beat the last boss with them. But hey, I'm not compaining. It sure did make beta testing for it quite easy!

As for the hardest RPG, I'll have to say 7th Saga. The first half of the game is okay, but later on you seriously have to level grind a lot when reaching a new area or the enemies there will literally cream you in one or two hits (especially if they use magic, which they often do). Even with level grinding though, you still have to use magic or items to double your attack/defense (along with speed sometimes) during not only boss fights, but also random encounters. But overall, I still think it was a great game and beatable if you're patient enough. I've found that having Lux as the lead character and Esuna or Valsu as a partner made the game a bit easier, but of course you can play and beat the game with whomever you want (just make sure to have a fighter and a mage, blocking before attacking is also useful as it increases your strength during that turn).

[Spooniest]

Easiest RPG I've played would have to be Chrono Trigger. I can't recall dying much, and even the last boss isn't that hard if you know what you're doing.

Hardest, bar none, was Final Fantasy II for the Famicom. I challenge anyone here to beat that game without cheating (by hitting yourself or using the cancel-button grinding method). It's just so goddamn frustrating that it borders on the ridiculous.

[geishaboy]

Not a JRPG, but Baldurs' Gate is the hardest RPG I have ever played. That game seriously kicked my ass.

I'm not really sure about easiest though. I tend to forget easy games and only remember the ball-breakingly hard ones

[DankPanties]

Vagrant Story is pretty tough at first, but after beating it not long ago, I'd say it gets rather easy once you figure out its kinks.  MZ you should definitely give it another go though, that game is god tier awesome.

I almost beat Baldur's Gate about two years ago, but after 40 hours I was so bored with it I quit.  I made it all the way to the actual city of Baldur's Gate though.  That's another game that is hard at first, but once you get some a decent tank and some support mages you're set.  I felt bad for quitting playing it, I would have finished it if only the story was worth a damn whatsoever.  But I felt like I had no real impetus to continue, plot-wise.

So let's see... the hardest RPG I've ever beat?  I would have to say SMT Nocturne, on normal difficulty.  It took me 50 hours and without any walkthrough or strategy guide, those fiends were really tough.  Not to mention the ball breaking dungeons.  It was a great game though, hence why I put up with the rape your face difficulty.

Easiest RPG?  The first thing that comes to mind for me is the N64 Paper Mario.  That was a fun game but it certainly wasn't challenging.

[KaioShin]

Easiest definitely Devil Children for GBA. It was so easy I quit translating it because it wouldn't have been worth anyone's time to actually play it. The game could be -easily- beaten with permanent emulation turbo mode on and just letting the auto battle function do its thing, including bosses.

Hardest would be Nocturne when going after Lucifer.

[Nec5]

Legacy of the Ancients (C64) is pretty hard if you try doing the mapping by yourself.  Ugh.  Fun game though.  Another hard one is Pools of Darkness for the PC (gold box game).  Man, there's some one shot kill deals in there that force you to restart many many times.

I don't know about easiest.  FF Mystic Quest?  Another fun game though.

[Gideon Zhi]

Hardest would be Nocturne when going after Lucifer.

I dunno, I still say that FFL2/SaGa 2 is harder. SMT is at least mostly fair - you have to plan and prepare, but however difficult that prep may be, so long as it's done well, you should do okay. FFL2 actually saves your RNG seed when you save your game, so if you're going after the boss whole-hog using all your best weapons and attacks, you'll get the exact same result every time. Combine this with attacks that deal major damage to your whole party ("Arsenal launched the Smasher!") and inadequate healing options... urgh.

[justin3009]

Easiest RPG would definitely be Tales of Symphonia.  Seriously.  That game was just cake.

As for hardest.. hm.. I honestly don't recall what the hardest one I've played is.  I know I had a huge number of issues in Chrono Cross but that wasn't the hardest, but I'll throw that there.

[Chpexo]

Mother for the famicom is the hardest I've played. There's so much grinding and most of the time you do not know where you're going since the maps are so massive.

Though a lot of early RPGs are hard...   

[Bregalad]

Easiest is hard to guess but I'd say Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is really easy.

Some of the TOSE-remade Square Enix games were made much, much easier than the original game they're based on.

Hardest, bar none, was Final Fantasy II for the Famicom. I challenge anyone here to beat that game without cheating (by hitting yourself or using the cancel-button grinding method). It's just so goddamn frustrating that it borders on the ridiculous.

I second this totally.

[Square711]

Easiest: Wild ARMs 2. Pretty much every regular enemy would die in a single hit... and the bosses didn't take much more than that, either.

Hardest: Final Fantasy II. I used more savestates to get through the final dungeon than in all the other games I've played combined. No kidding.

[Talbain]

Does stuff made by From Software count?

Anyway, as for easiest... I dunno.  The Final Fantasy series post-SNES era I guess?  There really aren't a lot of good, difficult RPGs that I can think of, mostly because grinding in-substantiates so many of them as "hard."

[SargeSmash]

For some reason, I don't remember Final Fantasy Legend II being all that hard.  But I had more patience as a kid, too.  The remake saw me get my butt kicked multiple times, though.  It feels like they really ratcheted up the pressure for that.  Maybe it's like it used to be, though.  Maybe it's time to retroactively play FFL2.

[Panzer88]

Easiest - The Legend of Shenja - Genesis Innocens

Hardest - Unlimited Sa-Ga

[KingMike]

Hardest: Final Fantasy II. I used more savestates to get through the final dungeon than in all the other games I've played combined. No kidding.

The LAST dungeon in FF2, for the Famicom? That was one of the easiest parts for me. By then I had Aspir leveled up so I could just spam it for practically infinite MP. Helped I think I had a magician with like Cure Level 12 and the primary attack spells at like Level 8 (since I had to grind magic experience earlier in the game).

[Panzer88]

I agree with KingMike, FF II had a steep beginning, but once you get into the bulk of the game the difficulty evened out for me.

The Soul of Rebirth chapter in the PSP version though was a mother-f***er though