Does anyone have a good example of an rpg where.....

........ the character's level goes up to 99/100 but it seems as though a single level makes all the difference?

Like say you struggle with one boss right? The moment you leveled up only once they become easy as hell.

This can happen with Pokemon at times. Sometimes one level is all it takes to go from having to two-shot a monster of an opponent that has a decent chance of one-shotting you, and the boss uses Full Heals, to one-shotting it and calling it done.

Roguelikes are this. A really good example is Zettai Hero Project. It's a kind of game where your level keeps resetting, but your base stats, and with that, growth keep increasing. After a while, going from level 1 to level 2 ends up making the difference that used to be going from level 1 to level 30.

Well in Age Of Wonders, there were a few ridiculously overpowered stats and abilities, to the point that a hero could easily become a One-Man Army long before reaching the level cap. There's also a few special units that can chew through practically anything unless they're countered.

I swear it's happened in Star Ocean, Phantasy Star, Metal Walker, and Lunar 2 to me before.

edited 15th Feb '11 12:19:28 PM by lalalei2001

A lot of games with focus on magic and special attacks can do this. Sometimes that one spell can completely change the game

Star Ocean definitely. Also, Suikoden. The very first boss battle can be a game changer depending on your level.

Considering that you level so seldomly, it seems like cheating to say Baldurs Gate here, but that definitely has that.

Final Fantasy IV, you mostly had to get Rydia up to a level where she could use Wall in order to fight a certain boss, and Rosa needed to level up enough to have Float for a couple of dungeons.

Devil Survivor grants you access you better demons every level, which counts for a lot. The level-up in itself isn't that hot, though.

Earlier RP Gs tend to be like this, especially the ones where levelling up takes a LOT of exp.

Try the early AD&D games or Might and Magic.

The ones where it happens the most is when get a new ability or something at a certain level and it makes the fight that much easier. I don't believe many games actually have level as a part of the combat formulas however.

When they do however, it can make a huge difference. The example that comes to mind is World of Warcraft. If you are a lower level than the enemy, then you get a distinct penalty to your damage, and you take more damage. So it can be significant even if all the stats are the same.

Knights Of The Old Republic had some Game-Breaker abilities. Once I got Force Wave, for example, it was all over.

edited 15th Feb '11 6:23:07 PM by JAF1970

I remember the expansion to Dungeon Siege had an invisibility spell, which let you literally stroll through the dungeons without fighting anything, and could be cast perpetually.

There was also an invincibility spell, but it didn't last very long so it takes a ton of mana to maintain.

Well, in the Tales Series, sometimes getting that one arte will make certain fights monster easy. But depending on the game, learning that arte may depend on 1) levelling up, 2) using other artes a sufficient number of times, or 3) finding the book or NPC that will teach you the arte. So I'm not sure if that qualifies.

edited 15th Feb '11 8:11:48 PM by RadicalTaoist

In more D&D-like turn-based games, going from one to two attacks per round. One example that particularly sticks out in my mind was in later versions of an old shareware game called Realmz, where certain races like pixies were added, capable of multiple spells per round, which was a definite Game-Breaker.