Summary
- Some RPGs punish players for using vital skills, like dizzying spin attacks or transformation risks.
- Examples include Kingdom Hearts 2 Anti Form & sacrificing an ally in Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume.
- Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter raises D-Counter upon using powerful dragon abilities, forcing strategic decisions.
Sometimes, games include life-saving mechanics that feel a bit too overpowered, and they are. To balance these mechanics out, they can often have punishing consequences attached. It’s not an RPG, but a recent example includes Death Stranding 2: On the Beach from the master of trolling fans, Hideo Kojima.
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Unlike the first game, players get a ship they can use to fast travel packages around the great continent of Australia and parts of Mexico. However, they will get a much lower grade on those deliveries, making it hard to build relationships and, in turn, unlock upgrades and new gear. So, are there any RPGs that punish players for using skills that are seemingly vital to gameplay? Let’s go through these challenging examples and determine which ones are the most punishing.
The Twisted Tales Of Spike McFang
Beware Your Spin Attack
The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
- Released
- March 19, 1993
- Platform(s)
- SNES
This is a relatively simple example for an RPG, one that not many remember, but it still rules. The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang is an SNES RPG featuring a tomato-loving vampire fighting other monsters of the night. Spike has a few combat moves in this RPG, but one of the most fun ones to trigger involves spinning around to attack multiple enemies.
If players restrained themselves, they could prevent Spike from getting dizzy, but if they went too hard with the spin attacks, they would get dizzy. In this state, players couldn’t move and were vulnerable to enemy attack. Oddly, the line between dizzy and normal was razor thin, especially since it was so much fun to spin.
Kingdom Hearts 2
Sora’s Anti Form
Kingdom Hearts 2
- Released
- March 28, 2006
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Mild Blood, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
Kingdom Hearts 2 added many new mechanics, with the coolest one giving Sora some new combat powers. With the help of Goofy or Donald, players can transform Sora into temporary states like Wisdom Form, which will increase his magic potential. If players use Limit, Master, Valor, or Wisdom Forms too many times, there’s a chance Sora will turn into Anti Form.
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It will be strong, but hard to control, and there’s no way of knowing when it will trigger unless players crack open the data to view it for themselves. Sometimes the Anti Form could be a neat surprise, like during random combat, but during a boss battle, it couldn’t appear at a worse time.
Final Fantasy 10
Rikku Likes To Spend Gil
Final Fantasy 10
- Released
- December 17, 2001
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Mild Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Genre(s)
- JRPG
The Final Fantasy series has an incredible number of abilities that will punish players in various ways. Dark Knight Jobs often have attacks that will strike enemies for lots of damage, but also steal the user’s HP. That’s bad enough, but the one attack that has been present the most in these games is Gil Toss.
The name changes between games, but the typical usage is the same. For example, in Final Fantasy 1 0, Rikku has an ability called Spare Change. Players can throw as much as 100,000 Gil at an enemy to cause 9,999 damage in return. It is non-elemental damage, so at times, attacks like this are useful, but no one wants to lose the equivalent of money in an RPG.
.hack//Infection
The Twilight Bracelet’s Double-Edged Sword
.hack//Infection
- Released
- June 20, 2002
WHERE TO PLAY
.hack//Infection is the beginning of a quadrilogy of RPGs on the PS2. Things start in a fake online game called "The World," wherein the hero, Kite, is bestowed a mysterious power: the Twilight Bracelet. With it, players can turn Data Bugs into keys that are used to progress the story.
Players can also use the Twilight Bracelet on any enemy, and it will give them rare rewards. It’s risky to use carelessly, though, because this will increase Kite’s infection levels. Once those levels hit their peak, he’ll suffer a lot of debuffs, and players will have to battle a lot to get rid of the disease and bring the corruption back down to a manageable level.
Dark Half
Play The Hero And Villain
- Developer: West One
- Publisher: Enix
- Released: May 31, 1996 (Japan Version)
- Platform: SNES
Dark Half is an RPG that most have probably never heard of. That’s because this SNES game was never released outside of Japan, but fans have translated it for a growing online community. Interestingly, the campaign is split into two, with players able to switch between characters; the dark lord Rukyu and the hero Falco.
The entire game is practically built around a system of punishment, as players' movement causes a meter, called Soul Power, to tick down. Movement, being a punishment that leads to Game Over for both sides, is wild, so players have to stay on top of fighting enemies to keep their Soul Power happy.
Breath Of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Dragon Or Die
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
- Released
- November 2, 2002
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- m
- Genre(s)
- JRPG, Strategy
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is the fifth game in the franchise and the last one to hit a console. The game’s challenging difficulty may be why the series has been dormant for so long, despite Capcom reviving many other properties. In this turn-based RPG, players would raise a percentage bar called the D-Counter whenever they did anything.
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The D-Counter increases significantly if Ryu, the main character, uses his dragon powers, which are also a great way to destroy enemies quickly. This gave players a dilemma: Should they use Ryu’s powers and risk increasing the D-Counter, or should they just power through with normal attacks and skills from other characters?
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant Of The Plume
Sacrifice Your Soldiers To Win
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
- Released
- March 17, 2009
- ESRB
- t
- Developer(s)
- Tri-Ace
- Genre(s)
- RPG
This last game, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, is a doozy of an example. While the other Valkyrie Profile games weren’t easy, they were at least simple enough to grind through. Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume is different, a tactical RPG for the DS, with a new character, Wylfred, as the main attraction.
Wylfred could use an item in battle called the Destiny Plume, which would give incredible power to the targeted ally, but then they would die after the boost faded. Sacrificing a character players put time into just to win one battle sounds wild, but Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume is so hard that the choice becomes necessary frequently during a playthrough.
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