this game & lunar 1 is definitely hard as nails rpg games i have ever played even final fantasy is not as hard as these 2 games these are 2 games that you can't just go running around fighting every monster you run into you have to actually spend the time to build up your characters so there strong enough to survive long trips in caves, towers, etc. then the bosses are EXTREMELY CUT THROAT villians that will defeat all of your characters in minutes if you don't have a strategy of attack but the game play, music, graphics, cutscenes & story are so complelling that you feel like your actually there with them.