The harder the game, the more rewarding the experience. At least, that is what some people believe. However, when a game is so difficult it results in smashed controllers and vulgar profanity, players might start to wonder if they are actually having fun. Still, there is no denying that finally beating that one impossible boss or making it to the end of that nightmare level produces an amazing euphoria of accomplishment that keeps gamers coming back for more.
With the remake of Demon’s Souls on the minds of many gamers, extremely difficult video games are being looked at through a fresh lens. While there is no denying that Demon’s Souls is painfully frustrating, it is nevertheless just another rung in the ladder of challenging video games that make players want to pull their own hair out.
10 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Every painstakingly difficult game has that one level that manages to work its way into the nightmares of players. For Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, that level is without a doubt the bathhouse. The protagonist and stealth expert, Sam Fisher, must infiltrate a Japanese bathhouse filled with goons who shoot to kill.
The tight quarters, troublesome security systems, and abundance of enemies make this level unforgettably punishing. Even compared to a previous chapter where Sam is unable to kill any enemies, the bathhouse is truly a level where dreams go to die.
9 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Not being able to fast travel on command across an open-world game’s map might seem like a myth to most modern gamers. However, those who have played The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind are quite aware that fast traveling when one simply wishes to isn’t an option. Furthermore, the combat system relies on a hidden scale that determines whether an attack hits an enemy or not, meaning a player can slash at a vicious bandit countless times and still miss each swing.
There is no mission guidance or map icons, but there is plenty of ways to fail quests. Morrowind quietly drops the player off in a strange and fantastic world and waits to see if they survive.
8 Grim Fandango
Video games that destroy a user’s hope in humanity by killing their character time and time again are a pain in the behind, but titles that make players feel stupid and then mock them are a whole different breed. Grim Fandango is a hilarious trip into the Aztec afterlife via a film noir, but the gameplay is anything but easy.
Players may not be able to die (they are already dead), but the impeding puzzles that they must face are truly baffling. Gamers will have to use their brainpower to overcome ridiculous challenges while navigating a colorful cast of characters who have no interest in assisting them.
7 Hotline Miami
Dying in a video game is usually just a minor nuisance that the player is able to overcome by learning from their mistakes. Hotline Miami not only tests the patience of its players but it also outright punishes them. This indie top-down shooter features death and bloodshed waiting around every corner as the mysterious masked protagonist navigates a 1980s neon underworld filled with Russian gangsters.
The player has the ability to choose a gameplay style via the mask they wear, with each one offering different abilities. Although no matter which mask is picked, death is a certainty as this fast-paced shooter doesn’t allow for any mistakes to be made when clearing a room of vicious thugs.
6 Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy
Rarely do difficult video games comment on their own adversity, but Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy is an exception to that. The gameplay involves a man in a cauldron named Diogenes using a sledgehammer to climb up a mountain filled with obstacles while Bennett Foddy, the game’s developer, provides commentary on philosophy and failure.
This silly premise may sound simple enough, but the lack of checkpoints and demand for perfect timing makes this more of a horror game than a platformer.
5 Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening
Some games are just crazier than others. Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening tries everything in its power to be the craziest. Half-demon but fully reckless, Dante hacks and slashes his way through armies of monsters as if they were nothing but teddy bears. What makes this entry in the series so difficult is the abundance of insane boss fights that Dante must take on.
From a manic jester to a demon whale’s heart, players have their work cut out for them in this brutal excursion. And just when gamers think they are past the worst of it, they have to fight the bosses all over again.
4 Cuphead
Video games that look cute and innocent can sometimes be the most deceptive. Cuphead is a perfect example of this. While the art style is playful and a callback to cartoons from the 1930s, the gameplay is fiendishly unforgiving and has no doubt resulted in many broken controllers.
Perhaps best known for its incredibly frustrating boss fights, this run and gunner from hell forces players to buckle down and move their fingers faster than the devil himself.
3 Nioh
Extremely difficult games seem to take influence from other exceptionally hard games. Nioh takes strong cues from the Souls series in its combat and boss department, while also deviating in many other ways, such as story and setting. Regardless, Nioh loves to punish players any way it can, leading many gamers to debate which one is more painfully frustrating.
It takes a special kind of gamer to accept the challenge something like this series offers, but players looking for a skill test of mythical proportions need not look further than Nioh and its recent sequel.
2 Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Stealth games carry their own set of maddening difficulty with the patience and precision required to avoid guards and stay hidden in the shadows. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin never lets the player off easy, as even the tutorial is painfully infuriating.
Enemies seem to always know where the player is located, making necessary stealth movements more annoying than they should be. Exasperating maps filled with highly alert guards and plenty of ways to botch an assassination makes this one of the most irritating Hitman games ever. Still, nothing beats that satisfying feeling when all goes according to plan and the target dies in a horrible “accident.”
1 Ninja Gaiden (2004)
Ninja Gaiden is a romp through a futuristic Japan filled with swordplay and demons alike. The intense gameplay is filled with horribly disheartening boss fights, long levels with few save spots, and an unforgiving combat system that rewards skilled moves but punishes mistakes with certain death.
The default difficulty in the original game was so punishing that the developers re-released the game as Ninja Gaiden: Black with an easy setting that lightly mocked the player for their weakness. On the other hand, the new version made the harder difficulties more ruthless.
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