Be it a game that’s difficult in its entirety, or a particular challenge in a game that you just couldn’t complete.
For me, there are three that come to mind:
- Super Hostile: Waking Up (Minecraft Custom Map, Hard difficulty). That damn water section…
- Terraria Zenith Mode. Coming from someone to whom Master Mode is fairly easy, this was rough.
- Calamity Death Mode (Terraria). I beat DoG (this was back when a headshot was an automatic death), but I just could not click with the Yharim fight. I also think burnout was at play here because that was a LONG playthrough.
Jedi Fallen Order. I’ve tried a couple times because I really WANT to like the game. But I just can’t stand the fucking souls style of everything comes back when you save. And the boss fights are just too punishing (for me). It’s so frustrating to get stuck on a boss or lost in a zone and come to the realization that I WAS having fun and then the game got in the way of that.
Elden Ring. I had a lot of fun with the game restarting and playing through the first zone on like 6 different characters to try different styles and see what I like. But at some point in the second zone I realized I was just stressed out all the time. It wasn’t fun, it was stressful. I can appreciate the game and I don’t regret spending the money on it, but I realized it just wasn’t for me.
I think I’m done with souls games. They’re just not for me. I really wanted to play Jedi Survivor but I suspect the new cool stuff will just make me more frustrated with the souls aspects, Oh well.
I really wanted to like JFO but I just hated the combat mechanics, it almost seemed like it was lightsaber fighting underwater with how sluggish it seemed, and I hated the number of times I died early on from basic beasts just because you can’t break a 3-button combo so if they dodge ever so slightly that’s a good 2-3 seconds they have to lunge attack.
Dark Souls and souls games in general. But the difficulty is just half of it. I have beaten hard games before. The problem is that everything is so bleak I can’t even feel motivated to try. I’ll do a thing only for some NPC to go “it doesn’t matter, everything is pointless and you’re so insignificant”. Inevitably being spoiled I know that even the single optimistic NPC is not getting it great. Y’all can mope, I’m gonna put my effort where it’s appreciated.
The bleakness is why I assume the “age of dark” endings are the good ones. They’re the only endings that also end all the suffering of those fucked up worlds. The only weird one is Elden Ring. You can end all suffering, but it’s presented as the worst possible end for that particular game.
It’s so interesting how tastes can change everything. The bleakness in the souls games is intoxicating to me and keeps me coming back. I imagine it has something to do with psychology
You might want to try Lies of P. All of the highlights of Dark Souls combat and if you play your cards right pretty much every NPC gets a happy ending.
It’s free on Game Pass right now too, if you have that.
I just might. Some fights were infuriating but so was Hollow Knight and I love that game. As long as the conclusion makes it worth it.
So so so many. Right off the top of my head:
- Guild Wars Season 2, one of the later missions. It was stealth gameplay. I hate stealth. Paid someone 100g to run it for me.
- FTL’s boss.
- Warframe’s Glassmaker season fight with Nihil.
- Currently, Ace Combat 7’s Pipeline Destruction.
Currently, Ace Combat 7’s Pipeline Destruction.
Oof, that was really tough IIRC.
Hollow Knight. I love that game but I am in my mid 40s and my reaction time isn’t what it used to be. And it’s not even the bosses. I just can’t make it past the spike section where you have to air-dash all over the place and can’t be a millimeter off or you die.
In the fighting game scene, reaction time is studied, and the 40+ year olds can hang with the kids at the highest level. Your reaction time is a function of your focus. If you put your mind to it, yadda yadda yadda. Then it’s just up to you to decide if it’s worth sticking to it or getting to bed so you’re well-rested for work in the morning, because that’s what will separate you from beating Hollow Knight in your 40s.
I’ve just moved on to other games. I have a wife and a small kid. I can’t afford to spend hours and hours stuck on a game.
Right, that’s my point. Those things are keeping you from finishing the game, not your reaction times. Those tend to not drop off until far later in life.
For me it’s not even that, i just get lost a lot and run in circles until i put it down and when i pick it back up again i’m even more lost.
I’m guessing you’re talking about the White Palace. It’s required for the “true” ending but you can reach the credits without it. It’s worth watching mossbag’s lore videos on YouTube whether you beat the game or not.
I don’t think so. I only beat 3-4 bosses or so. I think it was a dark bluish area with white spikes, some way down from the entrance.
Personally I got through the “standard” white palace (not the side path. Fuck that).
But I never could beat the Radiance. It’s fast, its attack hitboxes are completely bonkers, and I absolutely hate the fact I can’t properly train against it to make sense of its patterns. Because every time I lose I have to redo that stupid Hollow Knight section again. It’s not even a hard part, it’s just wasting my time and making me more nervous when I have to face the real deal.
Radiance really does have some bullshit about it, especially when attacks overlap each other. I can totally understand the frustration.
The Path of Pain? Yeah I gave up on that too. Also gave up on trying to beat Grim, even in my second play through.
42 yo here, same as you! I tried the game multiple times as everyone was raving about it. Got so frustrated with the bosses that I gave up.
I mehhed out on Outer Wilds because of Brittle Hollow and Hourglass Twins. Great game certainly, magnificent atmosphere, clever-in-a-good-way plot and premise, just not quite for me. Watching my daughter play through it was more fun than playing it myself.
I thought about playing the good and bad endings of Undertale, but it started to feel like work so did not. Plus I estimated that the Sans fight would’ve made be break something.
“True Pacifist” route is worth doing if you enjoy Undertale, it’s not terribly difficult and fleshes out the characters a bit more. If you’re thinking about going the other way, I would say play up through Undyne and see how that feels. Edit: also play Deltarune if you havent
I really want to like Outer Wilds, but it just hasn’t quite clicked with me either. I’ve probably played about 10 hours but just keep bouncing off of it.
I adore the Outer Wilds vibe, but had the same experience and it still doesn’t sit well with me! Years later and the game still comes to mind, but the periodic resets were so unpleasant for me that I didn’t see it all the way through. Maybe this will be the year….
I’m glad I’m not the only one who found the world resets frustrating. I agree that the world is interesting and atmospheric, but as someone who enjoys thoroughly exploring, the resets just kept ruining my immersion into the world. Maybe one day I’ll go back to the game.
I usually never complete the “extreme” challenges present in some games, like path of pain and the pantheons in Hollow Knight, or the B-sides in Celeste. I try them, but when I realize that completion will require lot of time and effort, I really don’t feel bothered enough. But I’m ok with that because this kind of stuff is optional, and it’s actually cool seeing more talented gamers deal with them
Botw master mode sword challenge. Made it to stage 6
I ragequit half way through the final boss after having died for the thirtieth time. The game is absolutely beautiful, but fuck me some of it is tough.
Ended up watching the last bit on YouTube. No regrets.
Thanks for the unintentional recommendation.
Oh, it’s a stunning game, and I absolutely adored it. But that final boss is an utter prick.
I doubt that I’ll ever get that far. I used to play games on “hard” difficulty and explore/find everything. Today I’m just glad if I find the time to play, have fun and enjoy the games, even if I need to play on “easy” difficulty. All the completionist aspirations are gone.
I couldn’t get past the second area(I think?)of Cuphead, there was a dragon boss that was just a wall for me.
That boss was indeed tough but also one of my favorites from that game. I even have a shirt of it (that is suffering from some wear and tear at this point). I probably spent several hours each trying to beat both that dragon and the game’s robot boss as well.
It’s a really hard game but I have to say learning to speedrun it was super fulfilling. Time consuming though haha
If I picked Wolfenstein: The New Order back up today, I’d probably have a better time with it, since it’s been a decade since I touched it last and my gaming abilities have improved since then, but for whatever reason this game was ridiculously difficult for me, even on the easiest setting. It finally came to a point where I just couldn’t finish it, and I’m not sure if I ever will.
I remember it being probably the most difficult shooter I had ever played up until that point. The campaign was genuinely so hard. I (barely) managed to beat it and the boss fight at the end took me real life months.
If Hades didn’t have God Mode (which actually works in a pretty interesting way and isn’t just invincibility or whatever), I would have given up incredibly quickly.
Once I enabled it, shit started to actually feel fun for me.
Now it’s one of my favourite ever games.
Dark Soul serie. After dying for the nth time i gave up. I don’t have enough time to red again and again the same path.
Getting over it, well it do save your progression, especially your mistake.
Subnautica and amesia. I fear void place and it’s too scary.
Fire Emblem: Awakening on Lunatic mode. It just wasn’t fun and I already didn’t like enemies popping up and getting to attack in the same turn.
Stephen’s Sausage Roll.
I play a lot of puzzle games. Some of them are pretty hard (the later levels of Tametsi take quite a while to crack).
But this one is on a completely different level. If there is a more brutally punishing sokoban-family game on existence, I have no idea what it might be.
Stephen, if he exists, is most likely condemned to roll sausages eternally in hell, for the sin of making this game.
Surely, Baba Is You is horrible and awful! By which I mean very good. And either unreasonably hard or maybe I’m stupid. Avoid at all costs!
Baba Is You is fantastic, and I think its difficulty curve is much, much more reasonable in the beginning than Stephen’s Sausage Roll. I haven’t finished it, but I didn’t utterly bounce off it either.
State of decay 2 lethal difficulty. You pretty much can’t fast search. You can’t have a follower because they start brawls needlessly by attacking zombies and they don’t disengage, making running away from brawls impossible. And without a follower a feral spotting you is pretty much a death sentence. Add the insane food usage, overly eager plague hearts / sieges and the undying hostile npcs and I have no idea how people play that
