I was wandering around the Gamefaqs.com archives and fell upon what has to be one of the bains of my existence: 7th saga for the Snes.
This game was so incredibly hard that people to this day apparently curse it. Since I am at work, I decided to take a trip to the world of SNES emulators and download a ROM.
First off, it is amazing how much systems have come graphically. Remember the days when programmers concentrated on the actual story and neat stuff in video games instead of delving into ways to make everything look so life like? I sure do.
The story for 7th Saga is as follows: You pick one of 7 characters to go out into the world and fine 7 runes and become king (or queen) of the land. You set out with a map and the knowledge that the six people that are left form choosing are out there like you and trying to get the runes, like you. When you fight them, they are at your level and trust me, the A.I. plays a lot better than you do.
The challenge of this game is to get all the runes, but the game doesn't make it easy. Basically, it is a level up fest. Each area, according to the FAQs I have read, requires a five level gain to survive. Like old school Legend of Zelda: Adventures of Link, you can see your enemies on the map you are provided with. This makes it slightly easier...
When I first rented this game from the local video store back in the day, it frustrated me enough to throw my SNES controller at the wall and watch it explode into little controller parts. It is a lesson in frustration this one is. But, if you beat it, you would truly be a good player. Now adays, it is common to spend 60 + hours playing a RPG, but this one offered that way before our epic RPGs. The replay value, if you get to beating it once, is amazing: you have 7 characters to choose from, so you have 7 endings. And damn, you have to work at them.
I plan on sitting down with this ROM and beating it. If you want a pretty ultimate RPG challenge, download it or pick up a copy of 7th Saga off ebay