People love the role-playing genre, with elements of these games integrated into pretty much every mainstream title to date. Of course, there's a huge difference between an actual RPG and a video game with RPG elements, with the former being something that a lot of people love. The focus on numbers, status effects, and everything else along the same lines is something that fans will have a great time with.

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A lot of these games feature a wealth of party members that players can recruit to make things easier for themselves. While most of these characters can be found as players explore the game world at their own pace, there are some secret characters that require quite some effort from the player's end to recruit, with most people finding it pretty hard to get these party members without using a guide or something along the same lines.

5 Yuffie Kisaragi

Extremely Annoying To Recruit Without A Guide

With the modern Final Fantasy 7 trilogy making waves in the industry, it's easy to see why so many people are willing to give the original game a shot just to see why this title is so beloved by the masses. Unlike the remade games, Yuffie is an optional party member that players have to seek out if they want her to be a part of their team.

Players must encounter her in one of four forested locations on the overworld, with the chances of her spawning increasing as players go through the game. However, players can't get lackadaisical here. After reaching the screen where they can recruit her, players must refrain from opening the menu or saving, since she will disappear. Even if players initiate a conversation, they must pick the correct response, otherwise, she still steals something from the party and flees anyway. It's a frustrating case of trial and error that most people would get annoyed by if they didn't have a guide instructing them on what to do.

4 Leena

An Obvious Decision Makes Her Impossible To Recruit

Chrono Cross is a sequel to one of the greatest JRPGs ever made with a massive cast of characters that almost makes it feel like a Suikoden game in some instances. As a result, it's easy to see why there are some characters that players won't recruit, with some of these optional party members being unattainable if players perform some innocuous actions beforehand.

A great example of this is Leena, a recruitable character that most people aren't even aware of, and it's easy to see why this is the case. If players recruit in a previous conversation (an action that most people would go for) then Leena can't be acquired in the party for the rest of the game.

3 Gogo

Most People Who Don't Know How The Zone Eater Works Will Be Bamboozled

Final Fantasy 6 is one of the greatest video games ever made, and players need only step into the World of Ruin to see the amazing scope of this title. From the moment players control Celes, the only mandatory party members are Edgar and Setzer. Everyone else is optional to recruit, although the process to obtain these characters is still pretty engaging and not exactly hidden.

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A notable exception to this rule is Gogo, a Mime who resides in the belly of the Zone Eater. Players must let themselves be inhaled by the Zone Eater in a random section of the overworld to access a secret dungeon full of tough enemies, with Gogo residing at the very end. It's not the most obvious path players can take to recruit this character, especially with Gogo not being present in the World of Balance as is.

2 Buckets

Players Must Win The Deadly Game Of Russian Roulette 10 Times To Get This Party Member

LISA: The Painful is an RPG full of dark humor and disturbing themes, set in a post-apocalyptic world where all the women have passed away. However, the protagonist of this harrowing tale, Brad, finds a girl named Buddy who is subsequently abducted, forcing him to go on an adventure to save his adoptive daughter. During this journey, he'll find a wealth of recruitable characters who can join him on his journey.

One of these characters is a gunslinger named Buckets who's pretty powerful in combat, using his powerful ranged techniques to overwhelm the opposition. However, to obtain this party member, players must go through the dreaded Russian Roulette game ten times. Only players who are willing to lose their party members or save-scum will be willing to endure this grueling ordeal to recruit Buckets into their team.

1 Cloud Strife

Recruited After Players Complete A String Of Events

Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the most beloved spinoffs in the series that players can't get enough of. There are numerous secret characters that players can recruit in their team, and fans of the series will be pleasantly surprised to know that one such character is none other than Cloud Strife himself. As one would expect, the steps required to recruit this character are pretty convoluted.

Players have to accomplish many things before Cloud can be recruited. They must obtain some auracite required to activate a dormant Construct 8 and help out Besrudio, the father of Mustadio Bunansa. Following some story events, Besrudio will activate a dimensional portal device but lacks the means to activate it. Following this, players must hear a rumor and defeat Construct 7 to obtain another piece of auracite, which lets Besrudio summon Cloud, who promptly runs off. After this, players must purchase a flower from a girl who looks like Aerith before defending her from a bunch of thugs along with Cloud to recruit the main character of Final Fantasy 7 once and for all.

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