VIII has level scaling, so if you’re not Junctioning properly you’re going to get wrecked.

But the hardest FF game is definitely XIII overall. It actually demands that you understand the combat system.

Yes, FF8 is the one you can't out-grind. None of the other FF titles are like this, so if that's your main strategy, you should be fine.

If you instead want to win while being under-leveled, I think the hardest one is FFX, while ironically, the easiest is probably FF8.

The DS ports of III and IV like someone else mentioned are brutal.

As for original releases, FF II has a unique leveling system, and while I don't remember the game being too hard, people say it is up there in difficulty. The unique leveling system adds to the challenge. I had fun with it though.

Final Fantasy Tactics is probably the hardest FF game I've played. But, only because I haven't found any of the main entries to be too hard. And I've played them almost all of them(I haven't gotten too far in V or XIII)

Yeah, it's 100% FFXI. That game has challenge at every corner, and while lots of levels and talent points can help as well as great gear, if you don't know exactly what you're doing, your role in the party, and how it synergizes with others, you're dead. And not just dead, but you lose 1/10 (iirc?) of your experience points to the next level.

Just leveling was an insane challenge originally, to say nothing of seeing all the lore of the game. I played through all the stories from the original base game until Wings of the Goddess, and started Adoulin but the story there wasn't complete yet.

You will not only die in FFXI if you don't know what you're doing, but you also won't even be able to trigger story quests or likely even navigate the world without some kind of guide. It throws you in and says "good luck, better talk to more experienced players, or you're f***ed."

What's insane is that with the level of challenge and obtuseness comes a series of "aha!" moments that are nearly never-ending, allowing a near-constant state of player discovery. That applies to the main stories, the side quests, the battle mechanics, and a lot of the bizarre side-modes that have been dropped through the years (like going to Al'taiu for AF2 gear runs).

Around every corner in FFXI is another gameplay mystery to be solved, and most of them want to kill you.

The challenge in other Final Fantasy titles isn't even remotely close.

FFXI is what finally convinced me to give Square's harder, more obtuse series SaGa a try, and now I like it even more than Final Fantasy.

The question was "hardest Final Fantasy games?"

Whether or not you agree with SE's decision, FFXI IS a numbered, mainline Final Fantasy game. It's an MMO...RPG...made entirely in Japan...with levels, theorycrafting, build management, and a narrative...how exactly is it not a JRPG?

DS version of III and IV are by far the most difficult.

As for VIII, you make things a lot harder for yourself by leveling up. The more you level, the more important it is to make good use of the junction system. As for tips... I have none. I played this game by avoiding gaining levels and drawing at least a 100 of everything, so it was easy.

Tactics. If you are going by numbered titles only and no MMO, then 2, because that final dungeon is a beast. You can grind stats all you want. At the end of the game you have a super tough multi level dungeon with limited inventory for potions and no saves.

Imo, FFXIII Lightning Returns is the hardest. It's real time action combat and I suck at blocking on time because all the enemies have different tells and I can't tell what the shit is gonna happen next.

XI, pain and lack of friendship

8 was hard when I was a kid. Now it’s the easiest. Me smart adult now

I find IV DS to be punishing for the stupidest of reasons. The augment system is irreversible, so good luck if you gave the party members the wrong one, the process to getting ultimate weapons is annoying and as grindy as the OG, the monsters have all been buffed from the OG, and frankly the way they dispersed QoL changes is inconsistent and far too light.

II is grindy, but that's its hallmark, and is easy once you grinded enough.

III is grindy in all versions, and has a hefty spike towards the end, but you can make the argument the rest of the game is just too easy here.

V... is nice.

VI is many, many excellent things, but it's definitely not a challenge. Really relaxing to get stuck into though.

VII is challenging, right up until you learn how to break the game in two. Secrets are hidden everywhere in this game, and I love it.

VIII actively punishes you for levelling up too early. Take that as you will.

IX does something similar, but outside of superbosses, it's not too bad. Some of the strategies are bizarre though (ah yes game, clearly I was meant to use a TENT here).

X separates levels and stats nicely. It is the only game to do it optimally IMO, which makes it all the more frustrating that they stopped doing it after this game. Difficulty wise, it's fine.

XI is a notoriously finicky MMO, that's very much an acquired taste for difficulty.

XII has OG and Zodiac. OG gets reeaaal annoying at times. Zodiac however is fine.

XIII shouldn't be difficult, however there are a couple of issues. Fights don't drop Gil, so you have to grind for items to sell, the auto battle system is... less than efficient, grinding efficiency fluctuates rapidly, and your levelling is restricted behind story chapters. Add this to the fact that there are some teething issues (you lose if party leader dies, you rarely have the best party for certain boss fights in early chapters), and it's reasonably difficult.

XIII-2 fixes pretty much all these issues; turns out the game is a lot easier when you do that.

XIV is an MMO, but a relatively intuitive and more sensible in comparison to XI. Still has superbosses of course.

XV... is hard for me to judge. The difficulty is either absurd or tremendously easy, and I struggle to find a healthy in-between.

XVI is easy >!until the FF3 cast betray you, kill your brother, and you're forced to find the Heroes of Dark to form your new party.!< >!From then on, you are forced to use the DK bongo drums to play the rest of the game, making it much harder!<

That was a fake spoiler. Probably.

Overall, FFXI is probably the hardest.

XIII has the hardest mandatory content IMO.

If you’re including optional stuff, then XIV takes the cake. It has bosses that are so hard that they take dozens of hours of practice.

3 has a bitchass spike in difficulty at the very end making it perhaps the hardest to finish, even if it's not hardest overall. Some games are only hard on optional side content, like 10 but are easy otherwise.

Maybe 12 if we're going by the average difficulty of the overall experience?

FF12 was by a wide margin the easiest of the series for me.

The damage cap makes late-game bosses like zodiark (a boss that can make itself invincible and just spam insta-kill moves) harder than any super bosses in any of the other FF games I think

I am surprise that people found F12 difficult. I guess the gambit system isn't that intuitive to most people. I am glad we are out of the license board era though. I though both Sphere Grid and License Board were way to limiting in choice and I would prefer traditional leveling rather then the illusion of choice in an overly complicated skill tree. Let's bring back the Job system!

My experience with FF3 on the DS was the first half was very easy and then suddenly it got so hard I had no choice but to give up

It’s either FF3 or FF2, depending on your tolerance for unfair gameplay.

FF3 has a job system that strongly encourages specific lines of play for certain dungeons and bosses, and is topped off with a brutal 2 hour stretch in the final dungeon without a single save point along the way- die, and you will be starting over from the beginning.

FF2, at least in its original incarnation, has a difficulty spike so nasty toward the end of the game that if you haven’t built your party correctly, it can literally become impossible to beat. What’s worse, in the NES version, your stats can decrease if certain actions are not taken in combat. It can be tedious, repetitive, and fruitless if you aren’t prepared for it.

Pick your poison, but these two are the “hardest” in my opinion due to how unbalanced the game design is at times.

If you’re looking for a challenge that is well balanced and fun, but requires a lot of strategy and planning, FFX is a solid choice. There are a lot of bosses that take full advantage of X’s combat system and it creates a solid experience overall.

I guess that is a player type difficulty because I was very good at FF12 both versions. The gambit system just click with me and I was able to create some awesome combinations and solutions even when I was underleveled in some scenarios. I would like to see the job system return. I want to know how that would play in an Action RPG type game that isn't an MMO.

I often see people that have problems in FFV. But when you beat it once and know the bossess, the game is not that much challenging.

The FFIII (original NEs version) has the most difficult last area in franchise. There is no discussion about that. It's so hard, even devs apologise for that.

Many depends on version you play. FFI - III is peace of cake in PR, but in their true, original form, beating them, as intended (without save states and other emulation cheating) is much more difficult than beating any other game in FF series.

I don't count extra/end game challenges. I think about difficulty of "main story" game. The discussion about difficulty in extra content is totally different thing.

Excluding the MMORPGs, if taking about 100%ing, definitely FFX. If just beating the story, probably FFIII because not being able to save in the crystal tower, getting merc’d by CoD and then having to replay the last 2hrs was horrible.

Original FFIII. You cant save at any point in the last dungeon and Dark Cloud literally only spams one attack which is basically throwing a truck at the party.

Yep, I've been playing FF for 2 decades, and I still suffer to manage every single member to act as I want. But still, I can say FF4 3D is a good entry on the series, the story and objectives are really simple, even the difficulty is between easy-medium most of the time.

The only downside I see on this game is the 5 members party.

Yeah. That Chocobo battle, and the one when Gaffgarion's treason happens, still haunt me.

If you concentrate on the minimap for movement of the player and just brute force a pass to tidus > jekkt special you will win any game effortlessly.

Hardest Boss Battle :

Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy V

Hardest Random Encounter :

Final Fantasy II

Hardest through the Whole game :

Final Fantasy XIII

Having played and beaten every main series entry except 2, the 13s and 15, it would have to be Famicom 3 for me, and it isn't particularly close. The endgame dungeons are long, the encounter rate is high and the final boss is a challenge even if you're over leveled. Famicom 2 gets an honorable mention, not b/c it's hard per se, it's just so bad I couldn't finish it.

I'm currently playing through FFXIII and about half way through and I don't think that's an easy game by any means!

13-2 DLC. Fuck that DLC. Still the only task I have yet to finish in the franchise

I remember FF1 being difficult when I was young, but I can speed run it in about 4 hours now. I quit 2 because I was completely lost. For me though with the rest, the challenge is doing the extra stuff. Nemesis in 10, for example.

Hardest mainline game is III.

Extending to the rest of the games, I'd say Lightning Returns is really hard.

None of them are very hard, but I guess maybe FF1 or 2 on NES/Famicom are a bit hard, especially if it's your first time.

Tactics is the hardest I’ve had to deal with. Just because grinding can backfire in your face, with monsters scaling. coupled with party members ability to permanently die.

4 on DS.
Tactics is also quite difficult if you go into it without any knowledge and dont look things up.

FFXI before they nerfed the grind

Here is the thing, if you think that Final Fantasy X is hard but Final Fantasy VIII is easy, is because you didn't put the same time to understand the mechanics of either game. Which means that Final Fantasy X can be beaten without understanding the mechanics of the game, and that makes it really easy.

Braska's Final Aeon can be pretty difficult, too, if you didn't do sidequests and don't cheese with something like Trio of 9999.

Which version of 1 are you basing this on?

Also, VI is easy before Ultima. Terra and Celes can easily heal the entire party to full in one cast for most of the game, and things like Edgar's tools and Sabin's blitzes can take enemies out extremely quickly. And Osmose makes it trivial to maintain full MP.

And for XVI, I don't think you should judge the game based on the use of what are essentially cheat items. But I'd still rate the game in the easiest tier (at least until you get to Final Fantasy difficulty in the second playthrough).

I beat FF1 (Pixel Remaster) first time without a walkthrough.

Yes, I wasted an unbelievable amount of time going in circles and talking with absolutely every npc searching for clues.

Early game there's a dancer in the first town that guides you on what to do next but for some reason she stops giving you information and from that point I was on my own.

Why did I refuse to get help? Guess I'm somewhat of a masochist lmao.

I just finished it a couple hours ago. Definitely one of the harder ones. It's easy to over extend in the first 1/3rd of the game and run out of resourses. Combat gets easy after you get lost forever and unintentionally grind like crazy. I had to google the canoe location. I had no idea you could walk out the edge of town into the woods. I actually got stuck there in 2003 and never came back untill last week.

When I found the caravan I was pissed.

Chaos healing for 9999 can really be a drag, also. I beat him on attempt 2, but barely.

I actually have more deaths in this one (3) than most final fantasies. A healing staff and gauntlet made grinding easy, but the wishy washy difficulty spikes and rampant status effect put this in the sweaty category for me.

I also really struggled with Evrae as a kid. The two guardians before Yunalesca could also be very tough.

I can't replicate it, though. After numerous playthroughs, the bosses I struggled with as a kid are a complete walk in the park as an adult.

I mean if this list is taking game knowledge into account, then X should be rated way easier. It's harder on a first playthrough going into like 2 bosses, but otherwise it's incredibly easy to break (though ofc not quite as easy as VIII).

FFIV (westernized and released here as II) was pretty damn hard for me at 9 years old lol. It's always held this status to me as the hardest FF game even though with replays it's actually not hard. Like I didn't learn basic stuff like front row/back row until FFVI

Youll never really find an official game thats harder than FFIV on the DS, generally final fantasy games get easier with time, the original japanese version of FFIV on SNES for example had a pretty decent difficulty, then it got easier and easier with every single rerelease to the point where the pixel remaster version became a joke. Final Fantasy XV has a decent difficulty if you play with the no experience accessory and dont use the weapon called "Ragnarok" and the super armors (free weapon and armor added with a dlc and both are ridiculously busted), It also has a Hard mode patch made by fans that limits the item usage in battles and raises the enemies stats which makes the game a lot more fun.

Final fantasy tactics can be difficult if you haven’t built your job classes more balanced and mindfully. The “mid game” boss story arch can be almost impossible if you aren’t equipped properly. There’s points in the game where you start a plot point that takes you into a series of consecutive battles you can’t leave, so you can ruin your progress if you aren’t in the habit of making multiple save slots.

FFIV DS is sadly the hardest FF game so you already experienced the peak in terms of difficulty. FFIII is an option but difficulty mostly comes from the final dungeon, unlike FFIV.

An interesting option is FFV. It's moderately challenging for FF standards and the gameplay is a lot of fun.

FF Tactics if you don’t understand the combat.

FF2, 3, and 13 are probably the three most difficult ones in the series. 2 for its unique levelling system, 3 for its gimmick dungeons and marathon finale, and then 13 due to the speed in which enemies can end you if you’re not playing carefully or being observant.

I feel like FF8 was one of the easier ones, but only because it's so easy to abuse the Junction system.

I agree with others that FF13 is probably the hardest one. It required frequently switching your tactics, even for normal battles. It throttled progression by story, preventing you from overleveling and even overgearing content. It forced you to use the whole party throughout the story, further requiring you to adjust your playstyle. Also because you healed to full after every battle and there was no MP, they were able to actually make normal battles pretty challenging since the difficulty focused on actual risk of dying over the older "difficulty by attrition" style of trying to wear down your resources.

People often complain that it was just a matter of hitting "auto" all the time. But I think that completely ignores the macro complexity of the Paradigm system, and also clearly forgets that many of the early games involved a whole hell of a lot of hitting Attack/Fight repeatedly since the standard basic attack was your strongest ability for most of the game (no cost, quick selection, usually high damage). Also "auto" would often choose unnecessary abilities, like casting Veil when the enemy doesn't use status effects, or prioritize things poorly.

The older games like FF1 and FF3 are difficult, mainly due to their lacking a lot of quality of life mechanics. The DS version of FF4 is a nightmare. The ramped up the difficulty from the older versions and ordinary monsters can wipe out your entire party in 2 turns if you're not over-leveled.

The later games are generally easier. As others have said, FF13 does have a harder main story cause you can't over-level. The battle system requires you to think and move fast as a means of winning. The extra content at the end is incredibly difficult as well.

Of the later games, FF15 is definitely the easiest. It's horribly easy to over-level waaay too early in the game. Most people don't even realize they're doing it. Even without over-leveling, you just can't die. The game constantly gives you every opportunity to get back on your feet even if you die. You just need a handful of potions and phoenix downs, which aren't expensive btw.

FF1, FF2, and FF4 are all pretty hard. FF2 is hard because of its extremely unorthodox leveling system. If you take a few hours and grind up your stats, you'll get through the game. FF1 and FF4 can be pretty unforgiving though. I remember back in the PlayStation era, I got FF8 for Christmas one year, then played FF7, and then picked up Final Fantasy Chronicles, and found FF4 was much harder than anything I had played to that point.

I'll say 6 is probably the easiest. It doesn't take much to overpower the entire cast, and they can all learn the full arsenal of magic.

Personally, I insist 13 is one of the harder games. Some people claim otherwise so maybe I've played it wrong. But 1) money and upgrading is very limited through the entire game, you'll never upgrade all your equipment. 2) The upgrade path of each character is restricted by bottlenecks in the game, so you cannot grind encounters and fight a tough boss at a higher level. 3) It's very easy for ordinary battles to go completely south and you game over if your leader alone falls, so it's not like you can play to the last standing and recover so long as they have LIFE or a phoenix down.

Easiest FF4 i beat it when i was 7, hardest just on story not late game sidequests would be FF3 the end boss run is nuts hard imo.