Has there ever been a game where your stats start actually going down after you level too much?

[Devsman]

This is such a Western thing to do. There has to be some, like Elder Scrolls or Witcher or something that does it because "hurr durr leveling up is like getting older and it wouldn't be realistic if you just kept getting stronger."

[Dracoco OwO]

There is a Fire Emblem rom hack like that. Actually in OG fire emblem a character could actually lose stats i think by leveling.

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by Here is my card:

I don't recall any such game among of those that I have played.

I remember that there was once a game 4D Sports Boxing, in where your boxer aged and ultimately were forced to retire until you were able to reach the championship, if you weren't aggressive enough in your progress in getting there.

Fight Night Round 3 on the PSP also had aging and decreasing stats when they got older. Loved that about it.

[TRethehedgehog]

I never played Elder Scrolls, or Witcher, but I think you already answered yourself if you just gave examples

[CHROBRY]

yep

[ZZZZZ]

you can play fallout 4 survival mode.. the longer you play the weaker you get.. but its sadly not level related

[gugnihr]

Level up is like training, not getting older. I usually imagine my characters to be immortal so it would not make sense for me, even if I can agree that training in normal situations takes time and therefore it also involves aging. Thankfully games don't necessarily work like that.
Anyway I have heard of a game (a 16 bit jrpg if I'm correct, but I do not remember the name) that punished players who leveled up too much by making the enemies (maybe only the final boss, I don't remember exactly) way stronnger, much more than the player, after a cretain point if you kept grinding.
This is a more interesting concept in my opinion because it logically works both for mortal and also immortal characters too. If you spend too much time training the enemy can get stronger too.
Personally I prefer easy games so I like to grind until my character is ridiculously overpowered, so I would not like a game that works like that, but I can appreciate the logic of this concept more. because It is more versatile than aging.

[Dracoco OwO]

Originally posted by McGreedy:

you can play fallout 4 survival mode.. the longer you play the weaker you get.. but its sadly not level related

Losing the ability to fast travel is effectively the most painfull thing in this mode. Increased difficulty? Not being able to save manually and rely on bed saves and auto saves? Nothing compared to this.

[Devsman]

Originally posted by gugnihr:

Level up is like training, not getting older.

You know it and I know it.

It's the game publishers who I don't trust to know it.

[Electric Cupcake]

Old man Tellah.

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Tellah#Gameplay
His physical stats, aside from his HP, actually decrease with levels, most likely due to his age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9gHRbGCpFk

[Illusion of Progress]

Define "going down", because Final Fantasy VIII actually had drawbacks to leveling up in some regards if I am remembering right. That's not a Western game.

I can't remember all of the specifics to it but basically, leveling up doesn't give you a whole lot of stats to begin with as the junction system was there to compliment it, enemies scale stronger as you level up, and at a rate faster than you if I remember right, and I think there are certain levels that have noticeable spikes too. This is why some people avoid leveling as much as they can in that game as the junction system can be really broken if you know what you're doing. On the other hand, it's not "super bad" to level or anything; missing out on being AS broken strong isn't working against you a whole lot. It's mostly some of the optional side bosses that will absolutely ruin your day. But it's still a net loss relative to your environment to level in that game.

There are some perks to leveling though. I think higher level enemies have better drops and better magic to draw, but this was definitely a case of a mixed bag.

[Ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍]

Originally posted by TRethehedgehog:

I never played Elder Scrolls, or Witcher, but I think you already answered yourself if you just gave examples

I don't remember that in either franchise.

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Originally posted by Here is my card:

I don't recall any such game among of those that I have played.

I remember that there was once a game 4D Sports Boxing, in where your boxer aged and ultimately were forced to retire until you were able to reach the championship, if you weren't aggressive enough in your progress in getting there.

Fight Night Round 3 on the PSP also had aging and decreasing stats when they got older. Loved that about it.

I first ran into that in yet another boxing game on the Genesis. It was a licensed Butterbean game. You know. That bald blob that the squeezed into shorts and gloves like a lump of fat and they let it loose to fall on people. As you career and age advanced you started to lose stat points and it became harder and harder to keep or raise them. I think I nly recall sports games doing that.

[Devsman]

Originally posted by Electric Cupcake:

Old man Tellah.

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Tellah#Gameplay
His physical stats, aside from his HP, actually decrease with levels, most likely due to his age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9gHRbGCpFk

Really?

I love that game, but I guess somehow I never noticed. Did that change in the GBA version or the 3D remake, maybe?

[Devsman]

Originally posted by Illusion of Progress:

Define "going down", because Final Fantasy VIII actually had drawbacks to leveling up in some regards if I am remembering right. That's not a Western game.

I can't remember all of the specifics to it but basically, leveling up doesn't give you a whole lot of stats to begin with as the junction system was there to compliment it, enemies scale stronger as you level up, and at a rate faster than you if I remember right, and I think there are certain levels that have noticeable spikes too. This is why some people avoid leveling as much as they can in that game as the junction system can be really broken if you know what you're doing. On the other hand, it's not "super bad" to level or anything; missing out on being AS broken strong isn't working against you a whole lot. It's mostly some of the optional side bosses that will absolutely ruin your day. But it's still a net loss relative to your environment to level in that game.

There are some perks to leveling though. I think higher level enemies have better drops and better magic to draw, but this was definitely a case of a mixed bag.

Going down has a pretty simple definition, and no, the stats of enemies going up does not count.

[Fajita Jim]

Did one of the 16-bit Phantasy Stars did this? Maybe it was Phantasy Star, it was something on the Genesis.

[Morkonan]

This happens in Warband when your character gets a bit old.

In Rimworld, all colonists have aging effects, mostly mental and with elderly-only infirmity/disease. There is also continuous skill degradation, so skills have to be repeatedly kept in shape.