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Challenge accepted: 5 of the most difficult games you’ll ever play
I recently had a strange urge to go rummaging through my gaming treasure chest. I had this unquenchable want to play a classic title from my past. After quite some digging, and a few nostalgic moments, I finally found it. As I started playing the old quirky puzzle-adventure game (which features on this list) one thing immediately became apparent. It was the first time in ages I felt like I was truly being challenged.
Then, I decided to take a look into some current games. One by one I tried my hand at these games and with each passing title my frustration grew tenfold. I then realised that most of the games we play today are no longer challenging. So a new thirst grew within me. Why have most games become so easy? To counteract let’s take a look at some classic games that will cause you to lift your mouse/gamepad/keyboard/neckbeard in rage and smash it against the wall.
Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth
Hardest Game Ever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glBTtGpkvo0
Yes, this is the actual name of the game and it definitely lives up to it. The game design is very simplistic and doesn’t seems intimidating at all. You play as a red square. Your objective is to collect all the yellow dots, while avoiding the blue ones before you can exit to the next level. “That does not sound very complicated,” you might say. Well, I dare you to complete this game. There are a total of 30 levels. You can only submit a high score once you’ve completed all these levels. Your high score is calculated by the least amount of deaths. I think you’re starting to get the picture. As the makers so eloquently put it: “Hardest game ever is not for pathetic people who get anxiety or emotional over simple logic problems that require quick thinking, this game is for winners.” There is also Version 2.0 that’s even harder and contains 50 levels. If you enjoy having mental breakdowns, play the game.
Contra
Devil May Cry 3
But Devil May Cry 3 stands out as being an extremely challenging game, even on Normal. The original version was so hard that the creators had to release an entirely new version with the only change being the decrease in difficulty. Some of the main reasons contributing to the original’s insane difficulty were swarms of hard-to-kill enemies attacking you all at once. Losing concentration for a mere second meant your imminent death and, if you died, you were forced to start the level again. Being enveloped in fits of rage and frustration would be putting it mildly when it comes to Devil May Cry 3.
Demon’s Soul
If you decided to go in, you were in it for the long haul (or until you saved again by a bonfire). But probably the most terrifying part of Demon’s Souls is that if you ever die in it, you will lose all experience you’ve gathered throughout the game. The only way to reclaim any of this is to run back to where you died – but in a sad twist, enemies once dead, suddenly respawn. Demon’s Souls doesn’t take any shit, or give any.
Mollycoddling, checkpoints, walkthroughs and cheating with in-app purchases
What happened to skill? In brief: in-app purchases. These quick-fixes usually come in the form of power-ups and bonuses, and can only be obtained for a price. There is no skill involved. You are buying cheat codes for your game. Has the great art of gaming really sunk to this level? The rewards now go to those with the thickest wallets instead of those who greatest skill. It’s a sad and desperate method of reward.
And what about walkthroughs? These are tome-like guides explaining step-by-step, the process it takes to finish a game. If you are stuck at any point in the game all you have to do is minimize, do a quick Google search and before you know it you’re laughing at how simple the solution actually was. What’s the point in playing the game then, do we not buy games for the challenge? But like in-app purchases, these are only present as an option to the user, not a mandatory requirement. And unlike in-app purchases, walkthroughs are free.
Even if you resist the urge to take a peek at a walkthrough, there is still so much working to your advantage. Checkpoints in most recent games are so regularly found that you easily accept your failure and just try again. The quick save function alone has changed the landscape of gaming difficulty. Essentially, you’re creating your own checkpoints.
It feels like most games no longer require the type of skill that classic games presented. Games now are made to guide the player by their hand instead of test them. Why? As games are a money-making business, with guided single player modes tacked on to please the core gamers, leaving online multiplayer to pick up the slack (see Battlefield 4 as the latest example of this). I’m a gamer, I want to game. Challenge me, test my skills. It’s okay, I want you to.
Image via deviantART