These Games Will Make You Smash Your Controller. 5 Difficult Projects That Aren’t Dark Souls

I’ve spent the last few days reading. No, not books, but rather a massive internet debate about the difficulty of the recent Elden Ring expansion. And in that case, a thought occurred to me: have athletes forgotten that the industry has always had difficult games?

Forgot? Then today I will remind you about 5 difficult games, and I will even try not to mention Dark Souls.

1. Hollow Knight

And we’ll start with the most famous modern metroidvania.

Everyone knows about Hollow Knight. Everyone is waiting for its sequel. More than half of them probably haven’t finished it.

And all because behind the facade of a melancholic and in its own way cute game there is a rather hardcore action platformer, in which at first it is difficult even to navigate.

But the peak of local difficulty is, of course, the bosses. Each one requires a unique approach, attentiveness and high reaction speed. The fight is difficult, interesting, and each defeat causes not only frustration, but also genuine excitement.

If you haven’t played any of the best indie games of the last generation, now is the time to do so. And after passing a million, which since 2019 year is waiting for the sequel. Sooner or later it will come out.

👉 Buy on Steam: 275 rubles

2. Head of the Cup

One of the most stylish games of our time is also the most difficult.

Yes, this is the game from the game journalist meme. In 2017, VentureBeat contributor Dean Takahashi failed to complete the Cuphead tutorial. He couldn’t figure out how to use the jump.

But there is something to offer to casual players as well. Cuphead belongs to the run’n’gun genre, which is not as popular as it used to be. Its closest analogue is the Contra series. And Cuphead repeats one of the main features of the genre: artificially high difficulty in places, so that the player spends as much time as possible on the project.

Basically, each level in Cuphead is a short run followed by a long and grueling boss fight. Each boss here has a different set of attacks, requires a different approach, and the fight usually lasts longer than the level before it. There is also co-op, and if you want to have a tense but fun time, then this is your choice. Just don’t throw a gamepad at your friends.

👉 Buy on Steam: 293 rubles

3. Ninja Gaiden Black/Ninja Gaiden 2

The original Ninja Gaiden series was released on the NES (Dendy, if you prefer) and was very difficult in itself. The remake trilogy by the eccentric Tomonobu Itagaki treats its Indo-language fans with respect. And that’s why the modern Ninja Gaiden is still considered one of the most difficult slashers in the industry.

The philosophy of the series is based on the fact that even an ordinary enemy can do almost the same as the player, you are in absolutely equal conditions. This is not encouraged. n. button mashing (press all the buttons, maybe something will happen), but on the contrary, attentiveness, tactics and reaction of the player are valued. In the entire trilogy, even the very first fight, out of habit, will end in death more than once or twice, until the player understands that you need to carefully watch not your own movements, but the movements of your opponents.

And Ninja Gaiden is a very brutal game. The main thing here is the ability to separate any limb from the body and use the advantage wisely. An enemy without legs will regroup and try to jump on you and cut off your head. An enemy without arms will first try to close the distance and blow you up with a gunpowder shuriken clenched in his teeth.

And there are a lot of such unexpected moments here, not to mention the bosses with their individual behavior logic. Tomonobu Itagaki also made the Dead or Alive fighting series, and boss fights are largely built on the logic of fighting games.

If you want to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of a bloody and stylish action movie about ninjas, demons and beautiful women, then I do not recommend passing by. Especially if you have an Xbox, it has the best versions of these games.

👉 Buy on Steam: not available in Russia

4. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

And let’s talk a little more about the Japanese industry, but still not about anime. Many people in our country have heard of the JRPG genre and even played it. Even those who have never played it know the main genre of the series. But in Japan, in addition to Final Fantasy, there is another old genre that still lives to this day. And its name is “True Reincarnation of the Goddess” or Shin Megami Tensei.

What’s the gist? Each installment in the series is a dark, oppressive mix of post-apocalypse, religion, occultism, and moral choice. Each game centers on the death of the familiar world, the war between Heaven and Hell, and the protagonist, who will have to accept one of the paradigms of existence one way or another.

In SMT, a lot depends on chance. A regular enemy can suddenly destroy the player’s entire squad with a critical attack. There is a meme about this on the Western Internet, you can find it on Google by searching for “Shin Megami Tensei Moment”.

In addition, the entire series, and especially Nocturne, is not friendly to newcomers. It is difficult to navigate the space and understand where to go next in the plot. Because of this, it is easy to get lost and miss important information for serious battles.

But behind this high threshold in THANKS is an amazing gameplay, great music and a philosophical plot with ambiguous themes. Now you can get acquainted with the series on PC and current consoles. If you want real hardcore, try Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. And if you prefer a lighter and more modern game player with Russian translation, I recommend the fifth part of the franchise. You don’t necessarily know the previous parts.

👉 Buy on Steam: not available in Russia

5. Session: Skateboarding Simulation

And to finish this material, I suggest an unexpected skateboarding simulator. Yes, many of you (like me) played the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, and in some places it even seemed difficult due to the multi-stage combo system. But the session: Skate Sim is much more difficult.

The thing is, Session tries to recreate the whole experience of controlling a real board, only with a gamepad. Just pressing the stick up and you won’t be able to go here. Because the gamepad sticks here are responsible for the position of the feet on the board. Depending on the stance of one foot (stick), you will push off the ground to accelerate, and place the other on the surface of the skateboard and set the direction.

And, accordingly, it is also not easy to do tricks here. For example, for a basic jump (ollie, to use technical terms) you need to pull the right stick down, and then pull the left one up, that is, you click and move the board. That is, literally repeat with the sticks the movements that you would do with your feet on a real board. And so with absolutely every technique.

With physics and control mechanics thought out to the max, every ride in Session: Skate Sim is a real test of muscle memory, and every successfully executed trick becomes a real event. If you’re not afraid of difficulties and miss summer days in Vans sneakers and bruised elbows from falls, then it’s definitely worth a try.

👉 Buy on Steam: 299 rubles

Complexity in games should not be intimidating. It is a strength

Of course, there are plenty of examples of difficult games, in fact. Some projects are hardcore in detail, some are deliberately unbearable and unfair. I encourage you to add to the list, as always, in the comments and I wish everyone a good day!