Highlights
- There are several challenging games published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3, including Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 and Drakengard 3.
- These games require players to overcome difficult boss battles and utilize game mechanics effectively to survive.
- The level of difficulty in these games can be attributed to factors like limited resources, unbalanced enemies, and intense combat encounters.
After making themselves known for their incredible storytelling and innovative gameplay mechanics during the eras of the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2, Square Enix carried over that momentum into Sony's next console, aiming to broaden their horizons while still emphasizing their amazing RPG titles. While there was once a time when their Final Fantasy series would have undoubtedly been cited as the company's hardest game series, this wasn't quite as true for the PlayStation 3, as Square Enix had begun implementing this challenge into many of their other games, resulting in some truly unforgiving gaming experiences.
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Still, considering just how many games Square Enix managed to publish during the seventh console generation, it only makes sense that there would be at least a few that turned out to be brutally difficult, especially with the gradual rise of the Soulslike genre at the time. These are the most challenging and difficult titles that Square Enix put out when they were still publishing games for the PlayStation 3.
7 Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.18/5
Lightning Returns actually breaks one core tradition of the series, and that's the decision to feature only one character in battle for the whole game, as opposed to an entire party. Because of this, it means Lightning can't rely on anyone else to heal her or supply her with buffs to stay alive. Instead, she must switch between Paradigms herself to overcome an opponent, but this is much easier said than done, considering how fast a lot of the enemies are.
Additionally, because of how insanely overpowered a lot of the bosses can be, with the most infamous example being the fiery dragon known as Aeronite, it means that it's more or less essential to gain as much EXP as possible through the side quests before moving on with the story.
6 Front Mission Evolved
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.2/5
It's fair to say that Front Mission Evolved takes a drastically different approach to its gameplay compared to previous entries in the series, with the biggest difference being the change from a tactical RPG to a third-person shooter. This inevitably makes the game much faster paced, granting the player an extremely short amount of time to plan their attack strategy before the enemy "Wanzer" mechs arrive at their doorstep.
In order to make it out of enemy encounters in one piece, players will need to make sure they use each and every one of the tools that the game offers them, along with customizing their Wanzer to have the best weapons and armor possible. The E.D.G.E mechanic is incredibly important since this allows players to slow down time, something that becomes essential later in the game when the enemies start becoming much faster and more vigilant.
5 Drakengard 3
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.27/5
Drakengard 3
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 3
- Developer(s)
- Access Games
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG , Fighting , Adventure
Square Enix has shown recently just how well they can merge the RPG genre with hectic hack-and-slash gameplay with Final Fantasy 16, but one of the earliest examples of this being experimented with was actually Drakengard 3, a game often likened to the fan-favorite Nier. The regular ground combat is fast, fluid, and pretty fun when the enemies aren't moving at lightning speeds and dodging every one of Zero's attacks, which is a very common occurrence.
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While there are four weapon types, it's also made clear very early on that some are far stronger than others, with the swords and chakrams being more or less useless due to their clunky animations and lack of damage. The game also suffers a lot from performance issues, particularly frame rate drops, which will usually occur during intense boss fights, making the encounters much harder than they were probably designed to be. Nier fans should still definitely give Drakengard 3 a go, but they should also be prepared to face some pretty unbalanced enemies during their playthrough.
4 Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.3/5
After a rough period of RPG releases for the PlayStation 3, Square Enix eventually picked up steam with the release of the latest entry in the beloved Star Ocean series, The Last Hope. While the game still retains the real-time battle system as seen in previous games, the enemies, this time around, are noticeably a lot more aggressive and dangerous, especially in the early game.
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It's so easy to use up every last Healing Berry in the first hours of the game, considering just how damaging the enemy attacks can be, to the point where the healing points become literal beacons of hope to aid in the player's survival. There are definitely a few techniques that can make the experience more manageable, such as Blindsiding, for example, which essentially works as a counter, but the game still feels much harder than fans are normally used to with this long-running series.
3 Final Fantasy 13
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.5/5
Final Fantasy 13 may not grant players quite as much freedom in choosing their party members as the other games do, but it does at least offer them the opportunity to build specific characters in unique ways by upgrading them through the Crystarium system. That said, because the characters are always getting split up into groups of two for story purposes, it can result in some very uneven builds that make the game so much harder.
For example, if players decide to build Lightning as a Mage early on, once she becomes paired with Hope, who is also a mage and a healer, it means they have virtually no physical damage output together, and this is just one example of how this can turn out. So long as the player is smart about spending their Crystarium points, the game poses a decent challenge, but it can be made so much more difficult for anyone who tries to experiment and break away from the developer's intentions.
2 Moon Diver
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.61/5
Moon Diver was a small arcade game that Square Enix released for PSN in early 2011, but while the game was fairly short and featured a pretty barebones story, the main reason so many people paid closer attention to it was the difficulty. The game is very reminiscent of Strider in the sense that it's a 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash adventure with a few platforming segments thrown in for good measure, but because the screen is often packed full of enemies, it can make it incredibly difficult to earn points and stay alive.
The lone protagonist is also very vulnerable to damage and can be killed with just a few hits from the weaker enemies, meaning if the player takes their eyes away from the screen for even a second, it could spell an early demise. Moon Diver provides a short, but extremely challenging experience that will push the player to their absolute limit.
1 Scarygirl
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 4/5
On the surface, Scarygirl can seem like little more than a fun and quirky platforming game, but it actually poses a pretty significant challenge due to its level design and brutal boss encounters. While the movement itself is very easy to get a grasp of, with Scarygirl being able to run, jump, slide, and use a tentacle grappling hook, because of how awkward a lot of the platforms can be, it's very easy to miss a jump by an inch before seeing a Game Over screen.
There is some combat featured in the game, but it's clear that this was far less of a priority than the platforming, since Scarygirl's attacks feel extremely weak and hard to chain together. She can admittedly become a lot stronger if the player spends Crystals to acquire new moves, but these can take a long time to acquire. Some of the bosses are also pretty ridiculous, with one of the hardest being Warmachine, who is able to shoot fire down at Scarygirl while also launching a barrage of rockets and bombs her way.
