Gah! I fucking give up.

[Bismark]

A guy I work with never got through any of the FF games because he doesn't like the "grinding" aspect, as he calls it: the fact that you need to purposely do nothing but level every once in a while to stand a chance while advancing. Since I cut my RPG teeth on FF, I guess I never noticed. I actually hate it when I can't do that in games. But looking at it from that perspective, if you're not willing put in some levelling time periodically, I'd imagine that the FF games are pretty hard.
_________________

[Bill]

I think people who have a problem with "grinding" just go too damn fast, so they don't gain enough levels. The only time I can really remember having to grind in a FF was when I kept getting crushed by Atma Weapon in FF6.

At any rate, grinding isn't nearly as much of an issue in modern RPGs. It's mainly an artifact of old school RPGs, along with retardedly high encounter rates.

[Bismark]

I agree that it's people trying to go through it too damn fast. I mean, half of the game is finding and buying better weapons and armor, or learning or earning better magic, so why rush? Plus, I just really enjoy earning an advantage in battle.
_________________

[Jordo]

This is easy. Final Fucking Fantasy X. I'm talking about the bullshit sidequests you need to go through to get the ultimate weapons. Dodge 200 consecutive lightning bolts? Who the fuck wants to do that? Also, the Chocobo Race in that game nearly broke my controller.

As you can tell, I still have some latent anger pent up about that game.

[Bill]

Getting ultimate weapons is supposed to be hard. That's what makes them ultimate.

[Jordo]

Yes, but there's a fundamental difference between skill and monotonous bullshit. Sure, it's a challenge, but challenges in games are also supposed to have some aspect of fun. It's just stupid to wait for lightning bolts to flash and press the X button 200 times.

I could meet you halfway if the prize ended up being a really cool sword, but it's a fucking doll. Come on.

[gotmyphilosophy]

[Arcade Fire]

[Berkley Mist]

Water Temple in Zelda 64? I gave up after falling inside the fish's guts over and over again.

I walked right through Skies of Arcadia.

I got stuck on Sephiroth in FFVII. When I read in a guide that I was a good 20 levels too weak to defeat him, I gave up. I skipped FF 8 and 9 (though I own both) and went right to FFX. I did a lot of leveling at that Orion temple or whatever it's called at the Zanarkand ruins by beating those robot guardians over and over for about a week straight. I didn't do the sde quests to get the ultimate weapon, but I did get all the aeons, including the Magus Sisters. By the time I got to the final fight, I defeated every boss battle without having to regenerate a single character or casting auto-life on anyone. Leveling can be tedious, but I'd rather build my character that way than by successfully dating various women like in 1000 Arms.

I too couldn't get past level one on Turtles. Got stuck on the race in Battletoads. Spent an hour walking around in Legacy of the Wizard without every figuring out what I was supposed to be doing. Got all the way to the last boss in Blaster Master but got killed with just a few shots short of killing him, same thing happened in the Guardian Legend.

On Genesis, I got all the way to the last boss in Super Hydlide (a kind of giant turtle/lizard monster thing) and figured out that his weak spot was his mouth. I found a safe spot on the screen where his attacks couldn't touch me and started firing into his mouth. He flashed to indicate he was taking damage, but he didn't die. I figured I must be too weak to finish him off easily, so I just laid my controller down and wrapped a rubber band around the fire button.

I woke up the next day, and he was still alive, taking damage. I switched over to Fantasy Star IV and never played it again.

[Mike]

[wagnike2]

I have to say the whole game Contra Shattered Soldier on PS2, I think I beat level 1 once and haven't been close on the other levels

[Shamrock]

Lulu's ultimate isn't even worth it. You can synthesize her weapons that are almost as good. But mother fuck Chocobo racing. Every time I got 00:01 seconds I thought I was going to put my fist through the T.V. I imagined myself going to a special ward in the hospital and sitting in a waiting room with a bunch of other people with glass sticking out of their hands because of that God forsaken sidequest. But God it feels great to actually do it.
_________________

[Berkley Mist]

[TLA]

I don't even really grind anymore, by the time I get to any certain area I'm usually strong enough to be there, and for that I'm thankful. It's why I'm on the hedge about Dragon Quest. I got started with Dragon Warrior like some others, but goddamn do I not want to go back there.

[Berkley Mist]

Same here. By the time I earned the Magus sisters by grinding in the Omega Ruins, I was powerful enough to walk right through sin without even having to use Auto-Life. Then I tried my hand at some of the arena monsters and had three levels of shit kicked out of me.

It was like in Kingdom Hearts, where I decimated the final boss, went to the colliseum, and Sephiroth sliced and diced me in under 4 moves.

[B]

My pride was beating Sin in three hits with my pimped out Shiva.
_________________

[William]

This one part in Doom 3 where you're in this crane thing, and have to find an entrace/exit. I didn't want to use a guide, and besides, the whole "no duct tape on Mars" thing was pushing me from the start.
_________________
Chuck Norris frequently signs up for beginner karate classes, just so he can "accidentally" beat the shit out of little kids.

[Mugsy]

Shiva be mean-muggin.
_________________
WAAAOOOOOOOWWWW!

[Berkley Mist]

In the original Spider-Man for PS2, I was so tragically bad at the game that I couldn't get past the Electro boss fight. I couldn't get the pattern down for avoiding his blasts in the tunnel way, and kept getting fried before getting halfway to him.

[Kirbyoto]