Looking for fun and challenging fantasy RPGs, suggestions?

[Arcainess]

I'm currently looking for some engaging fantasy RPGs that have some difficulty and require a fair amount of effort to 100%/plat them. I've recently gone through DS3 and BB, will finish up DS1 tomorrow and have plans for go through Divinity: Original Sin and Dragon's Dogma, if anyone has suggestions along with some brief info on the game it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! ?

[Remilia Scarlet]

Diablo III and its expansion Reaper of Souls are perfect for what you are looking for. Earning the platinum requires a fair amount of dedication and multiple playthroughs, and it offers a dozen difficulty levels as well as a permadeath mode. It can be played with up to three friends online as well as offline!

 

EDIT: Also, welcome to the forums!

Edited April 11, 2018 by Daft Gamer

[Arcainess]

1 minute ago, Daft Gamer said:

Diablo III and its expansion Reaper of Souls are perfect for what you are looking for. Earning the platinum requires a fair amount of dedication and multiple playthroughs, and it offers a dozen difficulty levels as well as a permadeath mode. It can be played with up to three friends online as well as offline!

Ooooh I was thinking about that one actually, thank you for the suggestion, seems like a game that will take me a while and I'm all for it, merci! ?

 

[Remilia Scarlet]

2 minutes ago, Arcainess said:

Ooooh I was thinking about that one actually, thank you for the suggestion, seems like a game that will take me a while and I'm all for it, merci! 

 

 

If you want three platinums, get D3 and both the PS3 and PS4 versions of its expansions, as all three have their own lists. Just a fair warning, though: Reaper of Souls drastically changes quite a bit about the vanilla game, so I would highly recommend playing and beating the basic version first.

[Arcainess]

Just now, Daft Gamer said:

 

If you want three platinums, get D3 and both the PS3 and PS4 versions of its expansions, as all three have their own lists. Just a fair warning, though: Reaper of Souls drastically changes quite a bit about the vanilla game, so I would highly recommend playing and beating the basic version first.

Do you know if any of the trophy list requires multiplayer? As far as I know it's mostly grinding, which is a lot of fun for me unlike most. 
Just wondering if I should go out hunting for people to play with or not as I don't have many PSN friends who are into RPG/Horror.

[Dr_Mayus]

OK...this is not the greatest game in the world but I had a ton of fun playing it.  I know I am in the minority but if you want a game no one has really heard of check it out

 

 

 

[Remilia Scarlet]

28 minutes ago, Arcainess said:

Do you know if any of the trophy list requires multiplayer? As far as I know it's mostly grinding, which is a lot of fun for me unlike most. 
Just wondering if I should go out hunting for people to play with or not as I don't have many PSN friends who are into RPG/Horror.

 

If I recall correctly all the trophies can be earned in single player, but some are definitely easier with a partner. Also, I own both PS3 versions of D3, so feel free send me a friend request if you want to team up together!

Edited April 11, 2018 by Daft Gamer

[Auto-Tomato]

Similarly to @Dr_Mayus, two other Deck13 games, Lords of the Fallen and The Surge are worth a look, especially picking them up cheap now.  Not quite the quality of a Souls game but I was part of a minority that enjoyed them too.

 

Nioh, Nier and Nier Automata are all quality games with rpg elements and good longevity.   Prey if you like an rpg-esq tactical shooter, had a blast with that.

[Beyondthegrave07]

These are all PS4 games, but I would highly suggest them. Each one is difficult in it's own way if you've never played them before. I suggest doing a blind playthrough without cheats for each game before going for the platinum. Final Fantasy 9 is by far the hardest of the lot to platinum and will definitely eat your time for 10,000 kills.

 

• Dark Cloud
• Rogue Galaxy
• Final Fantasy 7
• Final Fantasy 9
• Persona 5

[Zondares]

May not be the best choice if having a high challenge is a priority, but Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a great fantasy RPG. It’s kind of a breeze on its hardest difficulty setting though, at least when I played with the ranger/rogue/thief-escque character, but it’s quite a long adventure if you intend to complete everything.

[Melty]

Tales of Berseria 

[undefinedmike]

If you liked BB, Nioh was very good and similar in many ways. Think BB, but as a samurai and more humans are alive around you. ?

[Redgrave]

Obligatory The Witcher 3 recommendation. Quite a lot of stuff to do in that, along with it just being a great game in general. If you want challenge there's Death March difficulty that you have to do for a trophy anyway. You can even start the game on Death March and despite the name it isn't mercilessly hard, but knowing what you're going to be fighting and preparing helps a lot.

 

But if you liked Dark Souls and Bloodborne, I don't want to say the combat is similar but compared to a lot of other games, there's some strategy involved with fights and not just simple slicing and dicing. Another thing is crafting potions and oils that can buff you and your weapons, so they can help a long way if you're struggling with a monster or boss.

 

Also if you liked Bloodborne, you might definitely like the badass monster slayer feeling you would get from it.

Edited April 11, 2018 by Redgrave

[DARKB1KE]

Pillars of Eternity is by far the more pure RPG game you will ever find.... plenty of reading! 

[Arcainess]

12 hours ago, RedMustang72 said:

Similarly to @Dr_Mayus, two other Deck13 games, Lords of the Fallen and The Surge are worth a look, especially picking them up cheap now.  Not quite the quality of a Souls game but I was part of a minority that enjoyed them too.

 

Nioh, Nier and Nier Automata are all quality games with rpg elements and good longevity.   Prey if you like an rpg-esq tactical shooter, had a blast with that.

Ooh yeah I was also interested in both Nioh and NieR:Automata, they're pretty cheap now too!

[DrBloodmoney]

12 hours ago, RedMustang72 said:

Similarly to @Dr_Mayus, two other Deck13 games, Lords of the Fallen and The Surge are worth a look, especially picking them up cheap now.  Not quite the quality of a Souls game but I was part of a minority that enjoyed them too.

 

Good shouts - I’d agree on Lords of the Fallen being not nearly as high quality as the Souls games, but I actually think The Surge comes very close - it’s a really fantastic game, and the wildly different setting and tone goes a long way to helping it stand out.

 

[Auto-Tomato]

On 4/11/2018 at 3:50 PM, Arcainess said:

Ooh yeah I was also interested in both Nioh and NieR:Automata, they're pretty cheap now too!

Both Nier games are up there as my 'best of all time' games, I'd recommend playing both, if you're looking for engaging characters and story you can't go wrong with them!

 

On 4/11/2018 at 4:10 PM, DrBloodmoney said:

 

Good shouts - I’d agree on Lords of the Fallen being not nearly as high quality as the Souls games, but I actually think The Surge comes very close - it’s a really fantastic game, and the wildly different setting and tone goes a long way to helping it stand out.

 

That's fair, The Surge is definitely a vast improvement on LotF.   I really enjoyed TS too, bought the dlc and enjoyed that as well, but  LotF does get a lot of criticism, most of it fair, but I thought it had merit and was nowhere near as bad as some make out, I actually had a good time with it.   I wrote a lengthy post on one of TS threads, a mini review of sorts, and as much as I thought it was great, it lacked in areas too.  The 'diesel souls'/industrial vibe was great and it's a game I'd recommend (LotF too given how cheap it is now, think it was £5 in the last sale) but there is plenty room for improvement again.

[DrBloodmoney]

1 hour ago, RedMustang72 said:

Both Nier games are up there as my 'best of all time' games, I'd recommend playing both, if you're looking for engaging characters and story you can't go wrong with them!

 

That's fair, The Surge is definitely a vast improvement on LotF.   I really enjoyed TS too, bought the dlc and enjoyed that as well, but  LotF does get a lot of criticism, most of it fair, but I thought it had merit and was nowhere near as bad as some make out, I actually had a good time with it.   I wrote a lengthy post on one of TS threads, a mini review of sorts, and as much as I thought it was great, it lacked in areas too.  The 'diesel souls'/industrial vibe was great and it's a game I'd recommend (LotF too given how cheap it is now, think it was £5 in the last sale) but there is plenty room for improvement again.

 

Yeah, I played LotF and never disliked it, it had some good stuff - to be honest, the worst thing I think can be said about it is that the variety isn’t there - at it’s best it is quite similar to Demons Souls, and at it’s worst it is a pale imitation, but there was never really a section where I was wowed when I saw it for the first time.

 

The Surge, on the other hand, I was continually going “awesome, look at this area!”. The DLC for The Surge is also totally awesome. I’m super happy that the game is getting a sequel!

 

To the OP - if you enjoyed the Souls games, I’d highly recommend Salt and Sanctuary. That game is a 2D Souls game, through and through. The art style is phenomenal, and the level design, bosses and combat variety are all on par with the Souls games.

Edited April 12, 2018 by DrBloodmoney

[Arcainess]

22 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

Yeah, I played LotF and never disliked it, it had some good stuff - to be honest, the worst thing I think can be said about it is that the variety isn’t there - at it’s best it is quite similar to Demons Souls, and at it’s worst it is a pale imitation, but there was never really a section where I was wowed when I saw it for the first time.

 

The Surge, on the other hand, I was continually going “awesome, look at this area!”. The DLC for The Surge is also totally awesome. I’m super happy that the game is getting a sequel!

 

To the OP - if you enjoyed the Souls games, I’d highly recommend Salt and Sanctuary. That game is a 2D Souls game, through and through. The art style is phenomenal, and the level design, bosses and combat variety are all on par with the Souls games.

I'm keeping an eye on LoTF just now, I mean it's pretty cheap but I've been told it's a very clunky game with sluggish gameplay, as for The Surge it's not really fantasy enough for me, nothing really catches my attention with it sadly. ?

[DrBloodmoney]

1 hour ago, Arcainess said:

I'm keeping an eye on LoTF just now, I mean it's pretty cheap but I've been told it's a very clunky game with sluggish gameplay, as for The Surge it's not really fantasy enough for me, nothing really catches my attention with it sadly. 

 

It’s not quite RPG, but have you considered the Dishonored games? The world building in those games is unparalleled, and defined scratched my Fantasy itch, and the games are an absolute masterclass in level and area design.

[Arcainess]

4 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

It’s not quite RPG, but have you considered the Dishonored games? The world building in those games is unparalleled, and defined scratched my Fantasy itch, and the games are an absolute masterclass in level and area design.

I haven't thought about those actually, still pretty new to it all so I think stealth would be a little too much for me to handle for the time being. ?

[starcrunch061]

On 4/10/2018 at 8:50 PM, Arcainess said:

I'm currently looking for some engaging fantasy RPGs that have some difficulty and require a fair amount of effort to 100%/plat them.

 

I would say that Dragon Age: Inquisition has you covered. While not as technically demanding as Dark Souls, the plat requires play on the hardest difficulty, which in turn requires more than mere spell slinging.

 

The Witcher 3 is another one. Again, you have to play on the hardest difficulty, and while it doesn't make you pull out your hair, you need to think about what you're doing. Plus, you get to play Gwent!

 

On 4/11/2018 at 10:10 AM, DrBloodmoney said:

Good shouts - I’d agree on Lords of the Fallen being not nearly as high quality as the Souls games, but I actually think The Surge comes very close - it’s a really fantastic game, and the wildly different setting and tone goes a long way to helping it stand out.

 

That's actually exciting for me. I personally enjoyed LotF (though I clearly saw all of its incredible flaws), but passed on The Surge when the developers threw the publisher of LotF under the bus, blaming them for all of the ills of that game (obviously, many of the problems were the developer's fault). Hearing that The Surge is good makes me want to reconsider it.

Edited April 13, 2018 by starcrunch061

[DrBloodmoney]

4 minutes ago, starcrunch061 said:

That's actually exciting for me. I personally enjoyed LotF (though I clearly saw all of its incredible flaws), but passed on The Surge when the developers threw the publisher of LotF under the bus, blaming them for all of the ills of that game (obviously, many of the problems were the developer's fault). Hearing that The Surge is good makes me want to reconsider it.

 

I didn’t know that story about the dev / publisher stuff with LotF, but to be honest, given the stark increase in quality in virually every aspect of The Surge by comparison, I’m inclined to believe them.

 

I’d argue that anyone with even a passing interest in Souls games should check out The Surge.

 

For me, the order of the Souls games from best to least-best (I cant say worst, as even the lowest on the list is higher than a lot of games I’ve played, and I’ve really enjoyed every game on this list!) is:

 

Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin

Salt and Sanctuary

Dark Souls 3

The Surge

Bloodborne

Demon Souls

Dark Souls

Lords of the Fallen

 

(note - I haven’t played Nioh, though I do own it, and from all accounts, it is fantastic!)

 

[MMDE]

You did DS1, DS3 and BB... time to do Demon's Souls and DS2.

 

Anyway, a bit of the problem here is that you say "challenging", else there's plenty to recommend.

 

On 4/11/2018 at 4:37 AM, Beyondthegrave07 said:

• Dark Cloud
• Rogue Galaxy
• Final Fantasy 7
• Final Fantasy 9
• Persona 5

 

Not sure I would classify Final Fantasy 7 as "challenging", nor Dark Cloud with if you abuse the exploit, but would definitely recommend them, and they definitely take effort. May as well include FF10.

 

https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/4485-romancing-saga-2

 

Like Final Fantasy, just harder, remake of a SNES game.

 

Nobody else have suggested these, but Kingdom Hearts series actually takes quite a bit to 100%, all great games, at least the main entries are.

 

I still like Rainbow Moon, which is harder than you'd think a turn based RPG would be.

 

I would definitely recommend Resonance of Fate, which is quite difficult and requiring, and a good game in general. Gets a bit repetitive with the arena at the end though, but battle system is pretty good, and love the gun customization.

 

Hand of Fate 1 and 2 are great games, very difficult to get the platinum, not just luck but skills are required to get the plat and 100%. Very interesting games overall.

[malachi1987]

Dragon age inquisition goty edition will take you awhile