15 UNFAIR Moments in RPGs

15 Unfair Moments in RPGs

Welcome to MojoPlays, and after our unfair moments in platformers video, I had to move onto one of my favourite genres. You better start grinding, because we’re talking about 15 Unfair Moments in RPGs. Let’s go!

Bed of Chaos

“Dark Souls” (2011)

Most bosses in “Dark Souls” punish mistakes, but the Bed of Chaos feels like it punishes you for simply loading the game. Instead of a proper battle, this thing turns the arena into a collapsing obstacle course where giant arms can slap you into a hole with almost no warning. The actual weak points only take a couple of hits, which sounds easy until you realise reaching them is the whole fight. Dodging is unreliable, the floor keeps vanishing, and success often feels more like good fortune than skill. Even the game seems aware that the encounter is ridiculous, because progress carries over after death. Destroy one weak point and it stays gone. No other boss in the series gets that treatment, which says plenty. I’m putting this at the top of the list because although the game has RPG elements, it’s not exclusively an RPG, though if it didn’t have a genre named after it, most would have considered it an RPG.

The Gate of Finis

“Octopath Traveler” (2018)

Before Galdera even appears, “Octopath Traveler” makes players complete what feels like a full shift at work. You need to finish all eight character stories, uncover hidden quests, enter the Gate of Finis, and then beat upgraded versions of eight previous bosses without a single save point. Only after that marathon does the real challenge begin: a vicious two-phase superboss that requires the entire party. Die at any point and you are dumped back outside, ready to repeat the whole gauntlet again. The earlier bosses stop being exciting once their tricks are understood, so they become little more than a one-hour loading screen. Galdera already demands careful planning, but removing checkpoints discourages experimentation and practically begs players to look up a guide first. Unfair dude, unfair.

Seymour Flux

“Final Fantasy X” (2001)

By the time players reach Seymour Flux in “Final Fantasy X,” the game has apparently decided regular boss mechanics are for cowards. Lance of Atrophy applies Zombie, Mortiorchis immediately follows with Full-Life, and suddenly one party member is dead because healing has become murder. Seymour can also strip buffs, delay turns, dismiss Aeons, and eventually launch Total Annihilation across the whole party. This would be nasty anywhere, but the fight comes after the long trek up Mount Gagazet, when supplies may already be running thin. Zombie-proof gear makes the battle far more manageable, yet the game gives little warning that it is practically required. Arrive unprepared and the game reveals how unfair it actually is.

Magic Master’s Final Ultima

“Final Fantasy VI” (1994)

Two back to back Final Fantasy entries? Lucky me! Or unlucky? Ultima arrives after the Magic Master is already dead, which is a fairly rude way for “Final Fantasy VI” to celebrate your victory. The climb through the Cultists’ Tower is draining enough, since most characters are locked into using magic while random encounters steadily chew through supplies. Once the boss falls, players naturally expect relief. Instead, his final act is to cast one enormous spell that can erase the entire party and every bit of progress made during the ascent. Surviving usually means arriving with Reraise, keeping health carefully managed, or draining his MP before landing the final blow. None of this is properly signposted. And with no handy save point nearby, it feels kinda rude to throw at us.

Matador“Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne” (2003)

Red Capote is the moment “Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne” stops politely explaining its combat and starts checking whether you took notes. Matador boosts his agility immediately, causing attacks to miss and handing himself extra turns through the Press Turn system. Bring demons with poor Force resistance and the fight can collapse before your strategy has even begun. The real problem is timing: players meet him early, long before buffs, debuffs, fusion, and resistance planning have felt essential. Suddenly, all four systems are treated like basic knowledge. Building the right team turns Matador into a fair challenge, but discovering that through repeated deaths is unfair.

Babel Tower

“Xenogears” (1998)

Halfway across a gap, the screen flashes, a battle begins, and Fei’s carefully judged jump is basically cancelled by paperwork. Babel Tower in “Xenogears” forces players into platforming despite the movement and camera clearly being designed for a turn-based RPG, not “Crash Bandicoot.” Narrow ledges, moving machinery, and huge drops already make the climb awkward, but enemy encounters can make it feel completely broken. When combat interrupts a jump, exploration resumes with Fei sometimes losing momentum and falling back down the tower. The player did not miss the platform or press the wrong button; two parts of the game simply collided at the worst possible moment. Repeating a long climb because the PlayStation loaded a fight mid-air is less difficulty and more direct sabotage.

Riovanes Castle

“Final Fantasy Tactics” (1997)

Did you know that one innocent save prompt can turn “Final Fantasy Tactics” into a prison sentence? Inside Riovanes Castle, players are allowed to record their progress between battles, but they cannot leave to buy gear, grind levels, change recruits, or fix a terrible setup. Then Ramza is thrown into a solo duel against Wiegraf, whose ranged Holy Sword attacks can tear through builds that handled everything else without trouble. Lacking the right speed, healing, equipment, or abilities may make victory nearly impossible. Even surviving the duel does not end the problem, because Wiegraf immediately transforms and brings several demons into the next fight. Saving over the only file from outside the castle can trap the player permanently, making one routine menu choice cost dozens of hours.

Chapter 24x

“Fire Emblem: Thracia 776” (1999)

In “Fire Emblem: Thracia 776”, several invisible traps are hidden across the map, and stepping on one teleports a unit into a sealed room filled with enemies. There is no ordinary way back out, so anyone without access to a Warp or Rescue staff may be stuck there for good. That becomes a serious problem because every surviving character must escape for the chapter to end properly. Use the wrong staff earlier, lose too many charges, or send the wrong unit forward, and the map can become effectively impossible. Since the traps have no visual warning, smart positioning barely matters. The real tactical advantage is apparently having a guide open beside you. In 1999, internet still wasn’t a staple in homes, so you better hope someone wrote it down in your journal.

Kangaxx the Demi-Lich

“Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn” (2000)

Athkatla in “Baldur’s Gate II” contains plenty of dangerous secrets, but Kangaxx is less a hidden boss and more an ancient legal loophole with spells. Players can stumble into his quest surprisingly early, only to discover that his second form ignores most normal weapons and follows rules the game barely explains. Imprisonment does not simply kill a character; it removes them from the fight entirely, and bringing them back requires the specific Freedom spell. An unprepared party may not even know that solution exists. Kangaxx also resists magic, survives attacks that flatten other bosses, and can unleash Demi-Lich Howl for additional misery. The problem is not raw difficulty. It is discovering, halfway through the encounter, that your strongest fighter has been professionally stored in another dimension.

Peaceful Rest Valley

“Earthbound” (1994)

“Peaceful Rest Valley” sounds like somewhere Ness should stop for a picnic, not a place where every shrub is giving him the rude finger behind his back. He has to cross the area alone while enemies spread colds, drain psychic points, ruin accuracy, and stick a mushroom on his head just to make directions optional. Then there are Territorial Oaks, which explode after being defeated because apparently dying was not dramatic enough. New players naturally attack them, celebrate the win, and immediately realise the tree has left behind a delayed complaint. The rolling health counter can save Ness if healing is used quickly, but anyone unfamiliar with it may collapse before understanding why victory caused death.

The Cave to Rhone

“Dragon Quest II” (1987)

Take one wrong staircase and half an hour of progress can disappear beneath your feet. That is the Cave to Rhone’s favourite trick in “Dragon Quest II,” a dungeon packed with looping corridors, fake routes, hidden paths, and invisible holes that drop the party onto earlier floors. Mapping helps, although doing that while monsters repeatedly attempt instant murder is not exactly relaxing. Some enemy groups can cast instant-death spells or unload heavy damage before anyone has a chance to react, while limited inventory space makes every healing item feel like family treasure. Finally reaching daylight should be a relief. Instead, the snowy region outside contains even nastier enemies. The cave doesn’t end, it just removes the ceiling.

Bowser X

“Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story” (2009)

No, Bowser X is not the robot hero from “Mega Man X,” although his name absolutely sounds like he should own a laser cannon and several emotional problems. He is actually the final opponent in the optional boss gauntlet of “Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story,” and the game stacks the deck heavily in his favour. Bowser X has huge health, hits like a truck, and must be defeated within a strict turn limit. Worse, whenever Mario and Luigi use a special attack, he inhales it and prevents them from using that move again for five turns. Anyone who relied on one favourite Bros. Attack is immediately exposed as a one-trick plumber. God that’s a solid pun.

The Sleeping Table

“Persona 3” (2006)

Of all the things capable of wiping out a group of armed teenagers, a dining table should rank somewhere below wet socks. The Sleeping Table in “Persona 3” ignores that rule completely. This mandatory Tartarus guardian has no easy elemental weakness, resists several damage types, and repeatedly fires Megidola for huge Almighty damage. Hamaon makes matters worse by randomly killing party members outright, including the protagonist. In the original versions, that single death ends the entire battle, even if everyone else is still standing around perfectly healthy. AI-controlled teammates can also choose baffling actions instead of helping with the exact plan required. Getting defeated by a powerful demon is understandable. Watching some possessed furniture delete the main character while your allies behave like NPCs is hard to accept.

Sephiroth

“Kingdom Hearts” (2002)

Finish every Coliseum challenge in “Kingdom Hearts,” and the game rewards Sora by opening the door to an entirely different level of suffering. Sephiroth is not tucked behind a strange puzzle or hidden item; he simply appears once the regular tournaments are cleared, waiting to ruin the confidence you just spent hours building. His Masamune reaches across an absurd amount of the arena, while his speed makes keeping distance feel like a cute suggestion. He also carries so much health that the bar cannot properly display it at first. Players must keep attacking until the game finally admits he has been taking damage. Compared with the other Coliseum bosses, Sephiroth does not raise the difficulty. He picks it up and eats it.

The Temple of Trials

“Fallout 2” (1998)

So much for building the smooth-talking genius. “Fallout 2” lets players carefully shape a diplomat, scientist, doctor, or gun specialist, then locks them inside the Temple of Trials with no proper equipment and asks them to start punching ants. The opening area leans heavily on melee combat, traps, and a final confrontation with another tribesman, making many perfectly sensible builds feel broken before the adventure has even started. Yes, some threats can be avoided and the final opponent can be persuaded, but a new player is unlikely to know every escape route immediately. Instead, they watch their carefully planned character swing useless fists at insects. The game’s famous freedom eventually arrives, but first everyone must pass the compulsory cave-boxing certificate.