Hardest modern game you've played and finished?

Old classic NES games aside, what are some of the hardest games you've played and finished from current or last gen? Not really asking about base difficulty like in Soulsborne games, but the hardest difficulty modes in games that would otherwise be a breeze to go through.

Never had the patience to even try single save file, no checkpoint modes (such as Ironman in Xcom) or die-and-start-all-over modes (Dead Space), but I definitely enjoy harder difficulties as long as they don't require absurds amounts of time. They make you appreciate some games a lot more. In some cases, they remind me of how it felt not being able to get past some sections in old 90's games and taking turns with whoever was there with you.

Do you enjoy hard difficulties SW?

I hate hard games.

I did get the platinum for Uncharted 2. So I guess that as it’s one of the few games I was able to beat on the highest difficulties.

Cuphead comes to mind. That game was hard, I'm talking Battletoads hard! And yes, I finish the entire game, but still lots of retries and I kept losing my patience.

I've played on the second to highest difficulty was the last of us on survivor difficulty. Kept things really intense but you can run away from most of the fights. Will try grounded mode later.

Last gen, Ninja Gaiden 2 master ninja. Disgusting lol. NGB on master ninja is extremely difficult, but fair. NG2 is just abusive, and I'd never do it again, mentor difficulty is satisfying enough for me on replays.

Do you enjoy hard difficulties SW?

If well executed, sure. I prefer a good honest challenge, though generally I find that a lot of devs are "lazy" about stepping up the difficulty, taking the game from something balanced into cheap or annoying territory.

Unless I know and trust a devs track record for difficulty scaling, I'll usually start a game on normal to feel things out. Then step it up if the game feels like a pushover.

Dont like souls games, but did like nioh, did not beat any of them tho 😆

Legendary on halo-3 probably, makes you cheese alot with plasma pistol but I did that..

I hardly ever play on the hardest difficulty, usually the one right before hardest.

Divinity 2 I started playing and that game is hard for me... More because I dont know what I should be doing and I end up starting missions before getting side stuff all done. Game does not hold your hand at all... Great game but kind of annoying sometimes, feel like I waste alot of time just trying to figure out where I need to go. Combat is killer tho

Finally finished Dark Souls Remastered on the Xbox One this past weekend. Aside some absurdly cheap moments such as Capra Demon, Bed of Chaos, and those two archers in Anor Londo is was a pretty fun challenge. Currently playing through it again in NG+.

I typically play through the Halo, Gears of War, and Call of Duty games on the highest difficulties. Played through Halo 5 and Gears of War 4 on the highest difficulty. Haven’t done that with Gears 5, yet.

@ajstyles: Ha! I'm currently replaying the first three games on crushing and going for the platinum in each on PS4 (the collection was free with PS+). Some sections are definitely hard, but it's not that bad. I'd say they are as hard as DS games. Problem is it feels really cheap at times, like getting 1-shot before you even get to cover. Very fun though!

There's a new, harder difficulty and some other extra trophies in the remastered versions. It's called "brutal", but since it's not required for the plat, I won't even bother.

I think feeling like replaying games on harder difficulties speaks volumes of how good they are.

Probably race-sims like Assetto Corsa.

Mainly because I don't know what the **** i'm doing.

Spent more time hitting the wall than staying on the road.

Yeah, in most games they just ramp-up the damage and that's it, making for some really cheap and rage inducing sections.

@Arkhalipso: For Uncharted 2, I only had trouble in 2 spots.

1. When the train derails and you are stuck in the train cart and you have to survive the waves. No where to go. Believe the grenades would get me.

2. In the theatre when they first introduce the guys with riot shields/shotguns and rocket launchers. That was ridiculous! Just stupid hard. No cover anywhere! You just keep on rolling/running and spray&pray lol

Felt like that while playing F1 2011 split screen with a friend a long time ago (he's a fan of racing games). The first and only trophy I got was Have You Considered DiRT3?, which requires you to perform a 10 metre drift... in a F1 game... yeah. Not my best gaming moment.

@Arkhalipso: Yeah definitely.

Yes! When the two guys with gatlings show up both me and drake said something like "ELENA WHERE THE F*** ARE YOU?!"

IMO the hardest crushing section out of all 5 games (Lost Legacy included) is in Uncharted 4, during one of the final chapters when you're inside an old mansion in Libertalia and dudes start spawning non stop for 10 min. It was ridiculous. I have no idea how many times I must have tried that section.

I go back to playing TLOU on NG grounded from time to time even though I already have all trophies. So intense. I don't know why people say the game isn't fun. Must have finished it like 20 times.

I think its the original, pre nerfs to the difficulty, Divinity Original Sin 1. At the very beginning, this game was significantly harder on Normal mode than Divinity 2 on Tactician. On Hard the game was ridiculous. I've never tried the Definitive edition of the game, but i've seen some streams, and compared to how the game was when it first launched, it felt like they nerfed the difficulty by over 50% wtf.

The Queen of the Valkyries in gow was annoyingly difficult, mainly because of the camera. And getting chicken flight or whatever it's called in Guacamelee 2 was rough.

I beat DMC5 on DMD. Used more revives then I would have liked but w/e

I made it past the bridge on the first level on Mentor and decided I'd had enough.

Simplistic mind kinda figures cars were just skiing round corners like Mario Kart, apparently really life is a bit different.

I have honestly yet to encounter a game in the post N64/PS1 period which was even in the ballpark to as challenging as some original NES games. Ninja Gaiden for the 360 (I think? Has been a while), which was widely touted as incredibly difficult was a *joke* compared to the NES games.

Recently, maybe Dark Souls III? Some of the bosses were tough, though oftentimes once you found their tricks they difficult went from "Perfect or die" to "Learn a few tells and then respond to them appropriately and you're fine". Haven't played things like Super Meat Boy, and I've only dabbled in Cuphead though.

Nothing comes to mind, though I can think about games I couldn't finish because they were too difficult, Sekiro being the last. Homeworld 2 comes to mind, though quite old, I just remember you carry units between stages and the last levels really require you have everything you need to get through it. Took me quite a few attempts to nail it down.

There are games though where repetitive play is less about beating it and more a desire to achieve a perfect run. Bayonetta 2 for instance, not a challenge to beat but a challenge to earn Platinum trophies on the various stages and difficulties. Thumper for instance has such a quality, I have beaten it, but damn, earning better scores on later levels is super challenging.

Wait, you mean other NES games in general, or the Ninja Gaiden NES games?

Because yeah, there are some NES games that are tough as nails, but the difficulty of the NES NG games has always been way overstated. I was beating those games in a single sitting when I was kid. Got NG2 for NES on my 9th bday and beat it that afternoon lol.

The very first stages of both NGB (Xbox) and NG2 (360) on master ninja difficulty, are harder than anything the NES NG games throw at you. And they only get much more difficult from there.

NG1 has that bs where it knocks you back a stage if you lose to the last boss, NG3 is unforgiving on health, and all three of the original games have asshole hawk spam, but nah, they're not on the same level as the modern Itagaki games.

@uninspiredcup: I've seen that happen countless times actually. A car biting the dirt, losing control and spinning out of control for 10 seconds straight.

Demons Souls

I'm gonna say Doom 2016 on the easiest difficulty because even on easy the game kicks your arse and is so manly and makes you a hardcore gamer.

That or

RE2 Remake on normal is sooooo hard that you to save over 50 times in 4hrs which funnily enough makes you manly and a hardcore gamer.

@i_p_daily: I see what you did there. Funny he hasn't shown up.

You see, that's interesting. I remember the old Ninja Gaiden games being *really* tough, whereas some of the other notoriously tough ones (Battletoads, Kid Icarus, Snake Rattle N' Roll, Megaman 1) were a lot easier for me. The new Ninja Gaiden games though? I loved them, and they were *way* longer than the old ones, but I never found them nearly as hard as I remember the NES games being. Maybe it speaks to my development as a gamer, but I found the newer games to just be a matter of a bit of practice for a few tough spots, and then it wasn't that bad.

And damn... Was the first of the new Ninja Gaiden games for the original XBOX and not 360? Time is flying. Some of those games don't seem THAT old to me.

Alien Isolation

Were you playing with a wheel or gamepad? Racing sims are much easier with a proper wheel and pedals setup.

@PernicioEnigma: Pad, not into genre enough to invest in such a thing.

Ha, yeah man. Every time I see a thread about "It's X games 10th bday!" I'm like what, thought that was just a couple years back. We're becoming old timers lol.

But yeah, NG was 2004, NGB was 2005, and I believe NG2 was 2008.

Was my first thought. In my youth, I had more patience when it came to tough games, but generally had less skill.

And to be fair, there is a level of subjectivity to what one considers difficult. Though personally, in this case, I find the modern NG games to be significantly more difficult.

Yeah, but those would put hair on your chest tho still lol.

For me it was stuff like The Adventures of Bayou Billy, Street Fighter 2010, TMNT (original), Blaster Master, and Legacy of the Wizard (still haven't beaten that one). Among others of course, but those always stood out to me.

I suck at hard games so generally avoid them. I think the last one I played on its hardest was TLoU on grounded. That was at times pretty difficult to get through. Bricks and bottles for the win.

Recently it was Modern Warfare, the game featured a no-HUD mode, so I had to beat that.

Cuphead and Souls games. I like the kind of hard Cuphead was though. At least you got a nice presentation out of the entire thing though.

Hollow Knight. There were moments where I thought I'd have to give up, and I almost did at one point. Soldiered through and it feels good, man.

Ori and the Blind Forest. The platforming will work your thumbs down to the nub, but it's so good.

And a few years ago I beat SMT: Devil Survivor. That game was tough as all hell towards the end.

Boshy

Souls games I guess. Sekiro was challenging, but more so in a cheap way to me. I'd say pure challenge and ONLY bordering on cheapness was Bloodborne defiled chalice (story progression defiled). You're obligated to fight bosses that one shot you across the board.

Hollow Knight

Probably Dark Souls 2. Not because the bosses was hard or anything but the game was gank squad heaven. The amount of enemy in a room in this game is so damn high they are actually harder to deal with compared to the boss of the area. I died more time en route to lost bastille boss than the boss itself which I killed in my 2nd or 3rd try.

Still loved the game more than Dark Souls 3 though.

getting to the highest career tier in Dirt Rally

beating the original Dark Souls also felt like a quite an accomplishment (the sequels less so because I started summoning)

Dark Souls 3, Cuphead and Getting Over It(if you count it).

@Archangel3371: All this time, I thought i was the only one whom Capra Demon gave the most trouble! He literally took me off the game and series for 2 years. 2 Years. Longest grudge against a boss Ive ever had. (i didnt try every day for two years, but maybe start another playthrough every couple months, get to Capra, die 100's times, give up).

Man I hated that guy.


I would say for me would be Bloodborne since it was the first soulsborne game i ever played AND completed and had to learn the "System" from scratch.

Getting to stage 3 on one credit in Ikaruga was tough. and f'n great.

I don’t play video games

@davillain-: lol cuphead is not battletoads hard

Probably Dark Souls and Nioh. Though I don't think I could have done it without coop help. Maybe that's why Sekiro just destroys me. I can't even get past the f*cking chained ogre. Honestly, I like a challenge, but some of these get a little ridiculous with the difficulty spikes.

@ajstyles: Uncharted 4 on Crushing difficulty is insanely difficult especially the sneaking missions near the end if going for a no alert run.

Master Mode Sword Trials in BotW :P (Was harder for me than the entirety of Sekiro.)

Cuphead.

Divinity OS 2.

I never finished Homeworld Deserts of Kharak because it wooped my ass so much.

Dark Souls and Super Meat Boy come to mind.