What makes you dig your heels in during games?

[Mad Maniac with axe-firing chainsaw]

We've all had that experience. The game is beating you. Badly. Maybe that's your fifth straight respawn in a shoot-em-up. Maybe your favourite fighting game has treated you to a series of curb-stomp battles where you came off worse each time. Or in a sports game your opponent seems to have the omniscient ability to see where you're going to place the ball. You're frustrated, demoralised, and at the point of packing it in.

And then you just dig your heels in and beat the game anyway. It's kind of like Yahtzee said when offered the option of skipping a level. "This shit will not beat me."

Most recently this happened to me in Soul Calibur. I'd been fighting through the same level for around ten straight defeats, with different characters, and I suddenly decided "Screw it, I'm going to win this if it takes me till midnight." So I just selected my favourite character, loaded up the level, looked the bastards straight in the eyes... and kept fighting till I won. I wasn't even trying to be skilful or clever, I just went into raw agression mode. It took about another five consecutive tries to win, but in the end the resistance crumbled (Cue massive shout of triumph.)

I've had similar experiences in other games, most notably Halo 2 in the second hangar bay in the first level on legendary. (I must have died about twenty times at the same point but still eventually won.) Anyone else had this experience of hitting their heads against a brick wall and winning through sheer persistance?

 

[Sassafrass]

Hell yeah. Numerous times on FF X when fighting Seymour. Tried to get clever, murdered.
Tried to predict his attacks, murdered.
Screamed RAGE!!! and just went bat shit crazy on him? Worked like a charm.

 

[lostclause]

Saints Row is a constant source of this since there are so many activities.

 

[Monocle Man]

On Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (first Monster Hunter game)
Die Congalala!
-Dead after 15 minutes
-Dead after 5 minutes
-Dead in 10 seconds. That one made me really angry. I entered the zone, charged towards it after which it instantly turned around as I swung my sword, blew me away with his wretched fart-attack, then it instantly charged at me and finished me off with a breath-attack before I could even recover from his first attack.

After finally beating that thing it was easy slope for a little while till... Yuan Garuga.
Got beaten by it a few times, then I suddenly feel like I'm lucky.
I managed to chop of his tail, he's almost dead and I choose to launch another attack before healing because I still had half of my health bar left. I'm attacking BEHIND his legs, then Garuga leaps FORWARD and I'm dead. Nothing hit me! His tail was too short to touch me, there was still a lot of distance between me and his legs and wind pressure does pretty much no damage.
RAGE QUIT!

I'm taking a break from it now.

 

[stu_thomo]

Rachet and Clank. I kept dying in the final boss fight just before i could kill him. After completeing the second game, i decided to go back and it took me 3 hours to do it but i finally sucseeded ... and was disappointed with the ending

 

[Distorted Stu]

I like to progress because it helps me become better at the game. Fighting games are a good example of this for me, I just love to fight the hardest people of Tekken and DBZ, much more satisfying win!

 

[Johnn Johnston]

Mile High Club, No Fighting In The War Room and One Shot, One Kill on COD4 Veteran. I actually gave the mooks that spawned in certain positions names during the roughly 6 cumulative hours I spent on those three, quite short, levels.

 

[El Poncho]

Pokemons Platinums elite 4 got me for a while then I thought fuck tactics, got my fav pokemons out then fucked 'em up...after a few trys on the champion I forgot about.

 

[Mad Maniac with axe-firing chainsaw]

Pokemons Platinums elite 4 got me for a while then I thought fuck tactics, got my fav pokemons out then fucked 'em up...after a few trys on the champion I forgot about.

I remember doing something like this in Red. I'd only raised my Charizard up any levels the whole game through. (yeah, I know, stupid. I was a kid ok?) So naturally the elite four had real fun with me. That didn't stop me from finally winning on something like the thirtieth try. I think I won by just waiting for Charizard to level up until nothing could stop him.

 

[vivadelkitty]

Oh yes. The Meat Circus level from Psychonauts (specifically the escort section w/Little Oly) was the cause of much frustration. I try to rush through it, the kid dies. I take the platforming carefully, the kid dies faster. After about an hour and a half of watching that miserable child die, I decided, eh, screw it. Tried it one more time and I beat the entire section without him dropping below half health.

 

[Chrono180]

Usually when I get really frustrated, I have to take a break in order to beat the level because trying to do it when I am tired means I can't focus my full concentration on it, while starting fresh I can focus harder.

Or, as I like to say it, "beating your head against a wall won't make the wall move, but coming back later with a sledgehammer and power tools might"

 

[Desert Tiger]

Me and my team getting repeatedly owned on MGO by an amazing group completely kitted out with XM8s and with only a few deaths left until we lost, at which point I bought the DSR (one shot, one kill bolt action sniper rifle) with no sniper rifle weapons skills and proceeded to open each of them up in turn.

 

[Spudgun Man]

Hmm this is actually happening at the moment for me and Risen, after finally getting to a decent level and now wearing a busload of armour and weliding a Dante sized sword I have hit the brick wall that is the Lizard men.

Those fuckers take so long to kill on your own and they can whittle your health away with around 3 chain hits.
But if there is a time to dig the heels in, now it is.

 

[MarsProbe]

More sections than I care to mention in Gears 2 on the highest difficulty level.

When you plug away at a section and, upon finally beating it, realise you've spent well over an hour solid playing through the same few minutes of gameplay, you know you are determined!

Also, the final stage of Gitaroo Man. Oh, how I tried....Sadly, I have never even came close to overcoming that one. Also, Ouendan (1 & 2). Whenever I got to a stage that seemed insurmountable, I would keep stabbing at it until I finally got through.

 

[Smowy]

Getting the mano a mano achievement on Batman:Arkham Asylum. I did it at the hardest possible spot on the hardest difficulty and it took me over an hour. Finally I managed to do it, what a relief

 

[Xyphon]

Elizebet's fiend form from Ninja Gaiden II. I almost broke my T.V because I was so fucking pissed off at her. It was almost fucking impossible for me to dodge her homing blood spear attacks. Took me precisely 40 tries to FINALLY kick her moth looking ass into next year.