Haha, I remember playing a rpg game where you had to kill this undead boss, it's kinda hard but it turns out if you cast heal on him it killed him in 1 hit.

(spoiler alert) there is an undead boss in Final Fantasy 8 who is incredibly hard but can be killed using a "Phoenix down" (which is an item that revives dead players). As a kid, I got a real kick out of it.

This is actually what you are meant to do when you go to “purgatory” in MGS3. After walking up a river and meeting the souls of every single person you’ve killed that game, there is a boss who is already dead (so it is impossible to kill him).

The only way to win is to die and get a game over screen. THEN use a revival pill!

Spoiler alert in FF2, IMO the single best RPG ever created in the history of history, there were a number of enemies that you could only kill by first casting a wall on one of your party then bouncing a spell off that wall onto the enemy. Great times...

For clarification to slightly younger readers who may not immediately think of it, unless this same boss style is repeated (which I don't believe is the case), you're talking about North America's original FF2 / Japan and modern release FF4 on the SNES starring Cecil & Co. with the first big appearance of the ATB gauge, not Japan & Modern NES FF2 starring Firion & Co. with the per-weapon experience and code-word system, correct?

Sorry, no disrespect meant — I couldn’t help but read this paragraph in my head as The Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy.

None taken! I know I sound pedantic, but I sincerely meant it to help anyone who grew up post-FF7.

Yep. The game had a “Wall” effect which would bounce any spell you cast on them back on yourself.

But, what if both the players and the monsters both had Wall active? That situation would have an infinite recursion problem. The solution for the game was to say that a spell could only bounce once. That solution led naturally to monsters that always had Wall up and would cast a lot of spells so that you could defeat them by using Wall on yourself.

Secrets of Mana, and Chronos Trigger, are my favourites.

As well as Shinning Force, Breath of Fire, Phantasy Star, and Illusion of Gaia.

I just replayed Secret of Mana on an original SNES co-op with my spouse and it was truly awesome. Many people who have played a lot of JRPGs still haven't played it.

And I'll second the Octopath Traveler recommendation!

Oh yes, Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana! So good! By the way: Octopath Traveler came out for Nintendo Switch a few weeks ago and is awesome (a modern JRPG). Its stories are good but not as deep. Gameplay and music are really great.

Planning to get it at end of October. Can't wait. Everyone has nothing but good things to say.

The music is phenomenal. Soundtracks are floating around on YouTube and such if you don't have time to play the game. I found it great to listen to while working.

And in FFX...underwater resurrected dragon, dead with two Phoenix Downs.

I remember fighting hard through that train level and being down to just a single Phoenix down for my battered party and no healing potions when that boss appeared. It was a kind of "here goes nothing" moment and I was so relieved when it worked.

It's a great Hail Mary play and I appreciate how well it works. I remember an LPer or reviewer (much the same honestly) was able to use L Mag-RF and Triple Triad to get Raise at that point, and that worked out pretty much the same. I do remember the first time I ever played it; I was honestly a little freaked out by that, "YounG LADY!?" line. For all the criticisms people level at FF8, there were several very well-scripted moments throughout the game that really got their intended mood across even in text.

And Final Fantasy IX with soulcage. An undead tree weak to fire, but if launched a fire based attack at him, he would power up greatly. But since he was an undead, a phoenix down or any reviving spell would kill him instantly

I think there were also some games where this happened accidentally... you'd have a difficult boss with 32767HP, cast heal on that, and surprise integer underflow.

Great, yet common trope with a long history in fantasy RPGs:

http://allthetropes.wikia.com/wiki/Revive_Kills_Zombie

Most Final Fantasy undead monsters are vulnerable to healing or life-giving magic/items.

Was it Final Fantasy VI (also known as Final Fantasy III in the US)? There's definitely a boss in that game that can be 1-shot with Phoenix Down.

Hmmmm I don't think it was FF. It was on SNES. Trying to find the name.

Edit: mate said "Most likely FF Mystic Quest. Heal 2 different bone skeletons to kill."

Final Fantasy VI/III was a SNES game. The other 2 SNES Final Fantasy games were Final Fantasy IV (Final Fantasy II in the US) and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.

Mystic Quest came to mind for me too, but I was thinking one of the final bosses takes 9999 damage if you use a heal spell on him. You have to do it a few times to kill him.

The phantom train in VI/III, yea.

There was a part in Kings Quest where I got stuck trying to cross a bridge from an island, and one of the planks kept falling out, and no matter what it seemed like I couldn't get by. Never played it again after trying what I felt like was everything...

I think that was in KQ4? Those games were all pretty much impossible to solve without a hint book or getting help on Prodigy/Compuserve back in the day.

The first one had a bridge that you could only cross once. Any subsequent times it would collapse. Really nasty "puzzle", especially in a semi-open map game.

thank you. that was a lifetime ago, but I feel like my life is more complete. :)

I believe that same logic was used in Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail.