The Hardest Games You'll Ever Play (And Never Beat)

Encaen

New member
May 6, 2005
999
0
0
The Hardest Games You'll Ever Play (And Never Beat)

Despite the painful memories, we've painstakingly compiled a list of some of the most challenging games we've ever played, from the early 90s to present.

Read Full Article
 

InvisibleMan

New member
Mar 26, 2009
93
0
0
I will disagree (marginally) on beating Metal Arms: A Glitch In The System? that's one of the few games I actually finished! And I did it on both normal and the unlockable hardest mode (forgot the name). A very rewarding game to beat, I might say. The gameplay is extremely varied, and it was one of the best shooters on the Xbox. I put it up there along with Halo: Combat Evolved. I didn't feel the driving chapters were the hardest, though, and I would even say those were too short.

I wish the developers would find a way to bring it back in an HD version! That game had a lot of love poured into it...
 

gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
4,419
0
0
I adhere to the fact that theres no problem in Dark Souls that cannot be solved with either a Longbow, a Claymore, or backstab fishing careful manuvers.

Hell, even DarkSydePhil managed to beat Dark Souls... eventually.

And this is just a highlights reel.
 

Sigmund Av Volsung

Hella noided
Dec 11, 2009
2,999
0
0
I just went through Tomb Of The Giants in Dark Souls, and that area is waaay more irritating and cheap in comparison to Anor Londo.

For the archers, you can just run up to them, strafe to lure one away from the range of the other archer, and just treat it like a normal black/silver knight encounter.

Dog Skeletons are BS though.

Aside from those few tidbits(and Blighttown to be sure), the game isn't that difficult. It's just demanding, in the same way that say, Shogun 2 is demanding. If you just Ctrl+A and Right Click in that game, you can have your s**t ruined rather quickly, but use proper tactics and the fight becomes balanced, similarly to how paying attention(in the non-cheap areas) results in safe exploration.
 

Tiamat666

Level 80 Legendary Postlord
Dec 4, 2007
1,012
0
0
Am I the only person in the world who likes Terror From the Deep more than UFO Defense?
I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I played TFTD first. After that intense, cuthuluesque atmosphere, I just couldn't get into the stereotypical presentation of aliens in the original. A couple of times I had that X-Com itch, I fired up UFO Defense to "finally check it out", and 10 minutes later I quit and go back to TFTD. I can't help it.

I agree that some of the Terror missions, especially the 2 level Ship missions, can be LONG. But I somehow enjoyed sweeping through them, checking every nook and cranny. If it was full of lobsters you were screwed however.

Also, Super Avatar Brothers deserves to be on this list. That jumping was just insanity. Especially considering that loading a game after death took like 4 minutes or so.
Also: "Tricks of the Trickster, Chapter 1: Exploding Books".
'nuff said.
 

iniudan

New member
Apr 27, 2011
538
0
0
Tiamat666 said:
Am I the only person in the world who likes Terror From the Deep more than UFO Defense?
I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I played TFTD first. After that intense, cuthuluesque atmosphere, I just couldn't get into the stereotypical presentation of aliens in the original. A couple of times I had that X-Com itch, I fired up UFO Defense to "finally check it out", and 10 minutes later I quit and go back to TFTD. I can't help it.

I agree that some of the Terror missions, especially the 2 level Ship missions, can be LONG. But I somehow enjoyed sweeping through them, checking every nook and cranny. If it was full of lobsters you were screwed however.

Also, Super Avatar Brothers deserves to be on this list. That jumping was just insanity. Especially considering that loading a game after death took like 4 minutes or so.
Also: "Tricks of the Trickster, Chapter 1: Exploding Books".
'nuff said.
Me I prefer Apocalypse, as it is the first one I played, the strategic map gameplay of the first two might be better, but tactical map and interface is so much better in Apocalypse, that I always had a hard time with the first two, even if I can see they are overall better game, due to better pacing mostly.
 

xxobot

New member
Jun 2, 2014
57
0
0
iniudan said:
Me I prefer Apocalypse.
Me too - I never managed to get all that far into the first two. TBH though Apocalypse was WAY easier than the first two.


I also wouldn't mind seeing an apocalypse reboot... As long as they brought back the ship combat too.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

Alleged Feather-Rustler
Jun 5, 2013
6,760
0
0
I can honestly say I will never understand the Dark Souls phenomenon. Yes its hard. So is reading a book in a language you don't understand. Yes its unforgiving. So is a nun with a ruler and a scowl. Yes players are almost cultists in their elitism and smugness....
Can't really think of a good analogy to that one, but why bother?

And before you go smug on me, yes I DID play it. And yes I DID get several hours in. And it was just more of the same. Despite my character moving forward and gaining levels, I felt as if no progress was being made. In terms of gameplay, scenery, equipment and character development I couldn't point to a notable difference between me of the now and me of the six hours of gameplay ago.

So I proudly agree that I will never beat Dark Souls. I hope it feels smug at the bottom of my game collection.
 

Saika Renegade

New member
Nov 18, 2009
298
0
0
Ninja Gaiden, Metal Arms, Terror From The Deep... yeah, I remember playing those to the end, especially how Metal Arms left us hanging with a sequel hook that never actually went anywhere. Dammit Blizzard, why'd you have to go and waste everyone's time by putting them on Ghost? We could have done with a sequel to iron things out.

Each was frustrating in its own way, that's for certain, but each one had something going for it. Ninja Gaiden had an interesting story for its time and fun weapons, Metal Arms had the humor and visceral thrill of blowing up Mils, and TFTD was more XCOM, which I loved growing up. Then again, wicked platforming, hard gimmick sections, and hard combat do have a way of ruining the fun.

Ghouls N' Ghosts I can only claim through the NES (and later SNES under the Super Ghouls and Ghosts remake) due to not having one in my local arcade, and man did that thing like to punish me on short notice. Nothing like fighting an aerial boss with a torch you accidentally picked up.
 

iniudan

New member
Apr 27, 2011
538
0
0
xxobot said:
iniudan said:
Me I prefer Apocalypse.
Me too - I never managed to get all that far into the first two. TBH though Apocalypse was WAY easier than the first two.


I also wouldn't mind seeing an apocalypse reboot... As long as they brought back the ship combat too.
It indeed was much easier, mostly due to giving you good equipment from the start and ability to raid, which target will usually be the alien cultist, as they will never like you and they don't sell anything anyway. Thus why I think the first two had better pacing.
 

Tiamat666

Level 80 Legendary Postlord
Dec 4, 2007
1,012
0
0
iniudan said:
Me I prefer Apocalypse, as it is the first one I played, the strategic map gameplay of the first two might be better, but tactical map and interface is so much better in Apocalypse, that I always had a hard time with the first two, even if I can see they are overall better game, due to better pacing mostly.
I tried Apocalypse once, but that mix between real time and turn based combat was confusing me, so I went back to TFTD. :D
I admit I didn't try very hard though. Maybe I will check it out sometime, and try to be more patient about it.
 

small

New member
Aug 5, 2014
469
0
0
Ive actually got the strategy guide for terror from the deep next to my computer and it actually states the developers made it harder on purpose because of complaints from players the first game was "too easy"
 

CaptainMarvelous

New member
May 9, 2012
869
0
0
Silentpony said:
I can honestly say I will never understand the Dark Souls phenomenon. Yes its hard. So is reading a book in a language you don't understand. Yes its unforgiving. So is a nun with a ruler and a scowl. Yes players are almost cultists in their elitism and smugness....
Can't really think of a good analogy to that one, but why bother?

And before you go smug on me, yes I DID play it. And yes I DID get several hours in. And it was just more of the same. Despite my character moving forward and gaining levels, I felt as if no progress was being made. In terms of gameplay, scenery, equipment and character development I couldn't point to a notable difference between me of the now and me of the six hours of gameplay ago.

So I proudly agree that I will never beat Dark Souls. I hope it feels smug at the bottom of my game collection.
If you got six hours in and none of your equipment changed then at the very least you had to have more skill since the enemies just get stronger. Saying you didn't feel like you were making progress either means you kept wandering around the same area without advancing or you ignored ringing the bells and reaching new and horrible areas (Scenery wise, the shifts from Undead Burg to Blight town to the Forest are pretty vast)

o_O it's a very weird claim to seem so proud of is all
 

Issurru

New member
Jun 13, 2010
582
0
0
A sense a disturbing lack of Battletoads, I'm slightly disappointed now :(

I also don't believe Dark Souls or any of the Souls games are really THAT hard. ANoyying, kinda but hard? eh not so much
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
24,759
0
0
I didn't play many of those games, but I did beat Ninja Gaiden.

phoenixlink said:
The original TMNT game on the nes with that damn electrcic seaweed. many rage qq tears
And that. Seaweed still gives me nightmares, though.

To be honest, I don't really miss games like that.
 

briankoontz

New member
May 17, 2010
656
0
0
Sigmund Av Volsung said:
Aside from those few tidbits(and Blighttown to be sure), the game isn't that difficult. It's just demanding, in the same way that say, Shogun 2 is demanding. If you just Ctrl+A and Right Click in that game, you can have your s**t ruined rather quickly, but use proper tactics and the fight becomes balanced, similarly to how paying attention(in the non-cheap areas) results in safe exploration.
I completely agree. There are way harder games out there - I Wanna Be the Guy for the ridiculous manual dexterity and trial and error it requires, Angband for it's brutal punishment of even a slight bit of impatience or lack of preparation.

I can only assume all of these people stating how difficult Dark Souls is are young gamers who don't have much experience with gaming beyond the modern AAA hand-holding market. After a stint of Call of Duty, Dark Souls must seem like some kind of sadistic nightmare.
 

Sigmund Av Volsung

Hella noided
Dec 11, 2009
2,999
0
0
briankoontz said:
Sigmund Av Volsung said:
Aside from those few tidbits(and Blighttown to be sure), the game isn't that difficult. It's just demanding, in the same way that say, Shogun 2 is demanding. If you just Ctrl+A and Right Click in that game, you can have your s**t ruined rather quickly, but use proper tactics and the fight becomes balanced, similarly to how paying attention(in the non-cheap areas) results in safe exploration.
I completely agree. There are way harder games out there - I Wanna Be the Guy for the ridiculous manual dexterity and trial and error it requires, Angband for it's brutal punishment of even a slight bit of impatience or lack of preparation.

I can only assume all of these people stating how difficult Dark Souls is are young gamers who don't have much experience with gaming beyond the modern AAA hand-holding market. After a stint of Call of Duty, Dark Souls must seem like some kind of sadistic nightmare.
I don't think its even that. I think the game has a reputation for being demanding(after all, the PC version is called "Prepare to Die", and the preceeding game, Demon's Souls was stupidly difficult at times), and its more of an outsider's perspective into the game.

The game can even become easy, once you have the right equipment and/or you have farmed souls for a decent amount of time.
 

Pink Gregory

New member
Jul 30, 2008
2,296
0
0
small said:
Ive actually got the strategy guide for terror from the deep next to my computer and it actually states the developers made it harder on purpose because of complaints from players the first game was "too easy"
And later someone realised that there was that bug that set the difficulty of UFO defence to the easiest setting despite choosing higher difficulties.

Or something like that.

heh.