Highlights
- The Game Boy Advance offered a new era of handheld gaming, with RPGs that provided hours of entertainment and challenging gameplay.
- Some of the GBA's RPG offerings, like Dokapon: Monster Hunter and Final Fantasy Legend 2, can be surprisingly difficult and require strategic thinking.
- Pokemon Emerald, Yggdra Union, and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon are also challenging GBA games that offer complex gameplay mechanics and tough obstacles to overcome.
The launch of the Game Boy Advance in 2001 welcomed the new century with a vast upgrade for portable consoles, ushering in a new era of handheld devices for gamers back in the day. Accompanying the GBA are games that equally made their mark in mobile experiences, with some of them being RPGs boasting a few solid hours’ worth of entertainment.
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However, some of the GBA’s RPG offerings have become more challenging than players anticipate. Those looking for the most complex RPGs for the Game Boy Advance should expect multiple reloads and potential resets, especially since some handheld titles have proven ruthless to GBA players.
10 Dokapon: Monster Hunter
Players who want a more fantasy take on the Pokemon experience should try Dokapon: Monster Hunter. Set in Poponga on Dokkano Island, players create an aspiring adventurer who wants to achieve their monster hunting license by completing missions. While equipped with trust weapons like in Monster Hunter, Dokapon has a creature capture mechanic that allows them to use monsters they captured as party members to fight other foes.
While others criticize Dokapon for its lack of story and primary gameplay loop, the game does try to innovate the RPG genre. Combat in the game is a hybridized rock-papers-scissors experience, requiring some tactical maneuvering on the part of players. However, what makes Dokapon both challenging and frustrating is that dying in the game means losing all of the character's possessions, with an autosave after death disabling opportunities to reload saves.
9 Final Fantasy Legend 2
While Final Fantasy Legend 2 carries the Final Fantasy handle, the Square title is not related to the acclaimed franchise. Instead, Final Fantasy Legend 2 is the international release of SaGa 2: The Treasure Legend, another franchise. Although Square attached the Final Fantasy name to the SaGa 2 release, it’s not a slouch regarding gameplay. Set in a sci-fi world, Final Fantasy Legend 2 tasks players to travel worlds connected by the Pillar of Sky to find powerful stones.
Despite offering staple Final Fantasy mechanics, Final Fantasy Legend 2 provides a more challenging experience. On top of weapon durability, randomness in both encounters and leveled-up statistics can force players to grind for units to meet their maximum efficiency. Its straightforward combat demands a bit of planning on the part of players to succeed, especially in later levels.
8 Final Fantasy 6 Advance
Essentially a port of Final Fantasy 6 for the Game Boy Advance, Final Fantasy 6 Advance still tells the story of the amnesiac half-esper Terra as she explores the game's steampunk-inspired world to find answers about her origins. As with other classic Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy 6 Advance carries over the series tradition of Job-switching for efficient builds, Desperation Attacks at lower HP, and grinding to make fights easier.
However, the game features its fair share of innovations, such as Relics, which adds effects to attacks, and Magicite, which gives its wielder access to special spells. While Final Fantasy 6 plays like a traditional Final Fantasy game, its speed-based Active Time Battle system, coupled with monsters with unique patterns, can make certain game sections much harder than players anticipate.
7 Pokemon Emerald
Pokemon Emerald
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Game Boy Advance
- Released
- May 1, 2005
- Developer(s)
- Game Freak
- Genre(s)
- RPG
As the solo version of the Generation 3 slate of Pokemon games, Pokemon Emerald again occurs in the Hoenn Region as players work their way from newcomer Pokemon Trainer to Pokemon Master. As with other games, Pokemon Emerald gameplay allows players to explore Hoenn Region, capture Pokemon, and even level them up according to their preference.
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However, while overleveling a Pokemon can make combat much easier, restrictions such as playing within the same level range of an enemy Trainer or Nuzlocke rules make Pokemon Emerald one of the most challenging games in the series. Mechanics-wise, Emerald also demonstrates a difficulty spike across Generation 3 titles, courtesy of upgraded Gym matches, more common Double Battles, and rematches with Gym Leaders with Double Battles that feature non-Hoenn Pokemon.
6 Yggdra Union
Despite featuring childish sprites and cheerful music, Yggdra Union boasts one of the most complex battle systems compared to its siblings in the Dept. Heaven series. Starring runaway Princess Yggdra, the young heiress must wage war to reclaim her besieged nation of Fantasia from the Bronquian Empire. However, where Yggdra Union appeals to hardcore fans is its gameplay that blends tactical RPGs and card games.
Matches in Yggdra Union occur in a grid board where participants can only attack once per turn. Key to this premise are Unions, or formations of different units with their stats. Players can manipulate battle with skills that grant bonuses and other effects thanks to cards. These mechanics combined can make for a deep RPG experience, especially with the game's rather complicated stages.
5 Castlevania: Circle Of The Moon
While Aria of Sorrow may be considered the most critically acclaimed Castlevania entry among its Game Boy Advance titles, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is the hardest of the series offerings. Set in 1830, the series newcomer Nathan Graves arms himself with the Hunter Whip, secondary weapons, and unique movement options to banish Dracula. The game also features a Dual Set-up System mechanic that lets players mix and match two cards to unleash powerful magic attacks.
However, compared to other Castlevania entries, Circle of the Moon, even on normal, could be punishing for players given overall low item drop rates, rare healing items, and limited movement options. While unique DDS combos can break the game at this difficulty, Nathan still needs help finding their constituent cards.
4 Rebelstar: Tactical Command
Fans of X-COM may want to dip their toes into Rebelstar: Tactical Command, a Game Boy Advance entry of the Rebelstar series, another franchise also designed by Julian Gollop. Set in the 2100s, youngster Jorel leads a human resistance against the colonizing Arelian race. While boasting an anime aesthetic similar to Final Fantasy Tactics, the gameplay of Rebelstar: Tactical Command gives a unique take on the turn-based tactics formula.
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As with X-COM, players of Rebelstar use action points to accomplish all aspects of combat, be it moving, attacking, or interacting with objects. Experience is awarded based on actions done in a match while leveling up gives players opportunities to have units specialized in specific skills. This degree of freedom in customizing teams meshes well with the game’s challenging missions, some of which have an increased level of complexity compared to other RPGs.
3 Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
Heralding the arrival of the Fire Emblem series on the Game Boy Advance is Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. Set in the continent of Elibe, the game follows the journey of the young nobleman Roy as he leads an army against the Kingdom of Bern. Like other Fire Emblem entries, The Binding Blade is known for its Weapons Triangle Mechanic, grid-based to side-view combat, and its infamous permadeath.
However, The Binding Blade and its inclusion of only normal and hard modes makes it one of the most difficult Fire Emblem entries to date. The lack of tanky units at the game's onset, on top of brutal first encounters, can make The Binding Blade difficult for newcomers, with the game's increasing challenge across levels demanding a lot of tactical prowess from players.
2 Mega Man Zero 2
While the entirety of the Mega Man Zero saga takes place 100 years after the events of the Mega Man X series, it's Zero's adventure in Mega Man Zero 2 that may be considered one of the most challenging RPGs ever to grace gaming. Now caught in a crossfire between the warring Neo Arcadia and Resistance forces, Zero once again dons his Z-Saber and Buster Shot to fight new threats. Added to the game are the Shield Boomerang and Chain Rod, giving Zero access to more combat options.
Players can also use new features to improve their performance, such as unlockable Forms that alter Zero's overall performance, and EX Skills that "copy" boss abilities when Zero completes a stage in A/S Rank. The game's focus on memorizing boss patterns and customizing skills make Mega Man Zero 2 a complex RPG, primarily when one-time assists from Cyber Elves can also drastically affect one's level performance.
1 Dragon Quest 2
Dragon Quest was the closest Final Fantasy got to a competitor, and Dragon Quest 2 became quite the acclaimed title for its innovations in the genre. Set in a fantasy world, players take on the role of the Prince of Midenhall as he and his cousins are tasked to defeat an evil wizard named Hargon. The game was praised for its expanded three-party system, larger areas, and a more expanded magic system.
However, Dragon Quest 2 became notorious for being among the most challenging games ever to grace the market. Aside from the traditional grind, certain monsters can dish out party-wipe spells against players and max-heal AOE towards their allies. It doesn’t help that the Prince of Cannock, one of the three main characters, doesn’t offer much value to the party around the story's midpoint.