10 HARDEST Games of The Last 5 YRS That'll Challenge You

[@PetulantElf]

The best feeling I’ve had in gaming is when Sekiro’s combat really started to click - the sad thing is you only get to experience it once!

[@yoekix]

if you want to there is a really good randomizer on PC, it makes the game feel fresh again as you can encounter more difficult bosses early on. normal enemies are also randomized so you need to lean how to deal with them in combination with other groups of enemies. even skills from the texts are randomized, so the mikiri counter could show up later in the game than normal.

[@antihero9443]

Game+ or ++ is still fun. Try using prosthetic tools or skills that you haven't used in the previous run. Activating the demon bell and give back Kuro's charm and you will get a totally different experience.

[@georgen5882]

Sekiro is an absolute masterpiece of a game. It makes me wonder why they don’t make another of those or update the combat in the other games. Elden Ring was fun but the combat feels so antiquated to me. It hasn’t evolved at all in the past 10 years

[@freemanlegend8169]

I'm on NG+10 and still having a blast. I AM the final boss now.

[@gameranxTV]

👍🏼

[@tubanesoup]

Sekiro's combat system does something really special. If you're able to master the timing and be aggressive, you can essentially become the boss and control the entire pace of the fight. It's incredible

[@georgen5882]

I’ve told so many others the same thing. If you are aggressive the bosses at times fall into a more recognizable pattern that’s easier to counter. Forcing them to block and parry is always a good move.

[@gameranxTV]

👍🏼

[@fullstackweebdev]

Until the last fight when the boss goes “lol nope” and wrecks you. I loved how it made me feel like I’d perfected the game, only to show me I still had a long way to go

[@allahisonenonly]

Exactly, i speedrun this game in 35 mins

[@AndrewB23]

It's the easiest soulsbourne game once figured out

[@nunofreitas6869]

Sekiro was the hardest game I played. The last boss is a nightmare. But still the most fantastic and rewarding game I've platinum... A masterpiece.

[@papafouplays2991]

try crab champion lol, found it much harder than sekiro

[@JLONess]

i beat it with the fan cheat kinda tutorial it was imposible was driving me carzy

[@TheCj5651]

Cuphead was pretty hard

[@gameranxTV]

👍🏼

[@TheCj5651]

@@fitz93 faxxx

[@Roschach96]

00:20 - Number 10 - Lies of P 02:01 - Number 09 - Returnal 03:10 - Number 08 - Ghostrunner 04:13 - Number 07 - Elden Ring 05:47 - Number 06 - Celeste 06:51 - Number 05 - Baba Is You 08:01 - Number 04 - Sifu 09:32 - Number 03 - Darkest Dungeon II 10:40 - Number 02 - Spelunky 2 12:04 - Number 01 - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice 13:33 - Bonus - Fear & Hunger

[@kevlon1996]

Falcon, I LOVE that you do chapters on videos, but please name them like this!

[@Roschach96]

@@kevlon1996 They did name the chapters similarly like this in the past but nowadays they do it like above in the description. I can't blame them because I think (I'm really not sure I'm just speculating) they do the number thingy so people maybe don't jump across chapters with this format(?) Maybe people watch more from the video because they only see numbers(?).

[@kevlon1996]

@@Roschach96 Aye it would make sense that they make more money that way. I skip chapters anyways, most games are not that interesting to watch lol. Yes I believe it is true that they get more money by people watching longer, more ads seen I guess Edit: I skip but I love Gameranx anyways, they can have my views anyday

[@Roschach96]

@@kevlon1996 I feel the same way.

[@midori4713]

im looking for good looking games with a lot of trees like skyrim/elden ring/dragons dogma type of games that are good.

[@foxmind2490]

Sekiro was the first game that challenged me as a person. It forced me out of my comfort zone, and when I eventually beat it I was shouting for joy in my apartment. I LOVE that game

[@unknown-fi9cq]

I totally agree i used to have some audio in the background like a podcast or something while gaming but in sekiro i needed 100% of my focus on it , one of the best i ever played

[@Kistenboy]

Dang i played like 3 hours and then just threw it in the corner. Need to give it another try after lords of the fallen 😂

[@creepymcfeel]

As an oldie with little time to put into games, people talking of the difficulty kinda put me off it...even though it looked totally like my cup of tea. Anyway, I eventually gave it a go last year and its simply brilliant, best game I've ever played and nothing has scratched the same itch since.

[@kristasimpson3139]

@@Kistenboydid you make it to Genichiro? I feel like that’s where you’re forced to deflect and if you don’t you’re gonna have a bad time. But after that everything kinda clicked for me. I hope you give it another try! My bro recommended it to me and I tried for like an hour and was like nah f this game. Then I went back a year later and it’s one of my favorites ever.

[@Kistenboy]

@@kristasimpson3139 im starting again today. I think i killed this first knight on the Horse and went into this burning City? :D

[@sunumaudio]

Isshin from Sekiro absolutely obliterated me. At that time I had played multiple souls games. It took me a straight 7 hour session to beat him. Honestly, the amount of adrenaline/joy I had after beating him will likely never be matched.

[@georgen5882]

I assume you are talking about Sword Saint Isshin. That fight was definitely on another level for me, but at the end it was fair. He tested everything you learned to that point and put you through the ringer. So many Sekiro boss fights were rough but when you got them you got it. I made no progress on Genichiro at one point, then just went in and mauled him. Sekiro is such a brilliant game.

[@hugopfeffer4175]

The moment he enters the third phase, I was already loosing my sanity. I remembered being terrified of him having a fourth phase since 3 phases were unheard of on the other souls games I've played. This game got me on that fight. Awesome

[@kmo-ne2bv]

I recently played sekiro n I beat sword saint isshin I went crazy n somehow my pad went flying across the room🤣

[@youtubeyou7183]

For me it was owl father. Isshin seemed easy after lol

[@threestars2164]

Go up against a blue Tekken player online

[@playstak]

Got stuck on Sekiro's last boss for like a year. Beaten lies of P which helped me getting better at parrying then gave sekiro another try. After 6 hours I mastered the first 2 fases then with some patience finally beaten him.

[@MrJackWorse]

Beating Sekiro was the most satisfying gaming experience I ever had. Such a great game.

[@sprc155]

Gaiden 1 on hardest difficulty for me

[@deepanshupanwar501]

The thing I love about Sekiro is that you cannot cheat in this game by over levelling like other souls game. If you have to beat this game, you just have to get good, there is no other way around.

[@Tech69YT]

trainer exists

[@deepanshupanwar501]

@Tech69YT I'm talking about consoles. Majority of the player base is on consoles.

[@grizzlywhisker]

@@Tech69YT Who the F plays Sekiro with a trainer? That sounds incredibly lame.

[@Tech69YT]

@@deepanshupanwar501 to unlock all the shinobi skills

[@ickytips]

i bought Sekiro when it came out in 2019. it truly humbled me and i didn’t return to it until this year. i was finally able to complete it 100%, and i’ll say that, without a doubt, it was the most difficult (and rewarding) of all the FromSoft games for me.

[@ruigerd]

Sekiro was the first soulslike I played and I really enjoyed getting to 100%. I heard it's a bit different to the other from soft games so I'm not sure I should try those

[@ickytips]

@@ruigerd it’s very different. that’s why i had such a hard time with it at first. i was trying to play it like i would Dark Souls, and you can’t do that; i had to unlearn all the habits i’d picked up playing the other games.

[@ickytips]

@@ruigerd definitely worth checking out the other titles offered by FromSoft, especially if you enjoyed Sekiro.

[@ruigerd]

@@ickytips not sure if I'm gonna like the souls games then, the parrying just felt so good in sekiro

[@NonyaKnees]

⁠@@ruigerdIf parrying is important to you then souls games still have a parry mechanic but the timing window for it is much tighter and honestly never feels as satisfying as parrying in Sekiro. Still worth trying them as they’re just a different kind of enjoyable. Would recommend starting with either Elden Ring or Bloodborne. Elden Ring will give you a taste of the traditional souls gameplay but allows tonnes of flexibility and customisation so there’s a lot more room for different play styles. Bloodborne offers a different sort of gameplay to the others , it’s generally faster paced combat and rewards the player for being aggressive which I liked. Bloodborne and Sekiro were my first two and I loved both, I’ve tried the rest and other than Elden Ring I didn’t find them as enjoyable. Nothing has come close to what it felt like beating Ishin for the first time though.

[@Boss_Fight_Index_muki]

It feels like Elden Ring can be as hard or as easy as you want depending on your choices, to a certain degree.

[@MinorZero]

Your build matters a lot, different bosses are bad/good against different builds. But even the right build is no guarantee for victory, but with a bad build for a boss you are really gonna struggle unless you are very good

[@reed1645]

@NickReilly-iv6jg mimic tear absolutely broke the game lol

[@j24ish]

Yeah it was hard until I started using ashes properly, then it became not really that hard. Also the ability to just go grind out some more levels/upgrades if you want can really reduce difficulty if you want

[@bradp5848]

The number of deaths I racked up in Elden Ring was really sad. Well over 3 out of 5 of which were accidental double jumps on horseback, falling from cliffs or in caves. The only thing more pathetic and annoying was having the Irish Wolfhound looking mutts as my kryptonite/combat nemisis and developing my own mailman-like survival tactics to compensate.

[@DOC_951]

ER was hard for the first half… until I was able to get mimic tear and a dual katana blade build. Even a noob like me beat malenia on my 3rd try, and a majority of second half game bosses on my first try.

[@joeyc9418]

It's so good to see Returnal on this list because i would consider myself as having moderate gaming competence, and once you get use to moving around in returnal (also change the control scheme where you can jump and dodge without taking your thumb off the right stick) the game doesn't feel too challenging. The whole permadeath adds a lot of tension to the game but that may be the most challenging part of the game, take that away and it's not terribly hard... also those damn suicide torpedo squids in the last level are annoying and really discourage you from using anything shy of an automatic rifle... but probably one of my favorite gaming experiences ever

[@robertgarvansnyder4665]

So glad Returnal made this list. One of my favorite games of all time, like Metroid with Souls DNA spliced in. It took me weeks to beat the third Biome. It does get quite a bit easier as you progress into a run and unlock higher weapon levels. Arguably the 1st level is harder than the final biome because of Selene’s weak weapons. 10/10 for me.

[@christopherlyndsay8611]

Yeah it’s one of the most overlooked games imo. It’s masterful in everything it does

[@Xoulrath_]

It would have been better as a 3rd person Metroid clone than as a fucking roguelike/lite, whatever it actually is. I get that a lot of people like them, but it's not a genre for me.

[@murtaugh1761]

Agree! I went from almost rage quitting so many times to, after 400 hours, I could run through the entire game without dying once

[@Raerae705]

I remember the marketing before it came out and they shot themselves in the foot a little. They made it sound impossible to beat. I’m so glad I played it. Solid 10/10 game

[@c4hI0fo2p]

I love Souls types but this one, I just couldn't do. I did however enjoy many aspects of Returnal though.

[@SickMetalAddict]

Souls games found the perfect line between what's really difficult and what's impossible. Their games are always difficult but never impossible. Also the story telling is just badass in these games.

[@MrTrueCaller619]

Imagine a world without Falcon 🦅 ?! Thank U 🦅 for entertaining us for all these years 💚

[@MRJaani-nn2ut]

That would be a lot more peaceful.

[@KapitanPazur1]

Without Falcon? A better world for sure. Even better without low effort channels such as gameranx

[@kekw1544]

@@KapitanPazur1 why you watching then?

[@The_Harsh_Truth]

​@@KapitanPazur1cry

[@Shiki0414]

Cringe fr

[@adi4u48821]

I feel like Armoured Core 6 could have been added as a bonus at least, For someone who only played FPS games, I felt the even the first boss very hard.

[@gameranxTV]

👍🏼

[@REDEEMERWOLF]

👎

[@JW-ff1nc]

Yeah, I’ve beat every from softball game except for armored core six. Imo def the hardest game

[@blakefenslerjr4858]

It was easy what are you talking about lol 😂

[@Scarecr0wn]

Thank you for putting Returnal to the list. So many people often forget about this absolute gem of a game.

[@Xoulrath_]

It would have been amazing if it didn't just repeat the same 30 or so "rooms." I got bored fast.

[@mingdug1824]

Ah yes just like the hidden gem The Witcher 3

[@apersonwhomayormaynotexist9868]

@@mingdug1824 ??? are you trying and failing to be sarcastic or do you actually think that witcher 3 is just as underrated/unknown as returnal?

[@apersonwhomayormaynotexist9868]

@@Xoulrath_ That's just how roguelikes work, if it's not for you that's fine but don't pretend this game is bad just because it's a genre that you personally aren't a fan of

[@Xoulrath_]

@@apersonwhomayormaynotexist9868 it is bad to ME. Roguelikes are fucking stupid. It's a lazy way to make a game and pad out gametime and sell to stupid buyers. The game's underlying mechanics were fucking phenomenal. Replaying the same shit over and over as a "part of the story" to allow for what ended up being an overall shallow game is a joke. Thank God that I didn't actually pay for that trash.

[@lsalvage3228]

Just completed Lies of P and im here looking for a new game to play. Loved the parrying in Lies of P

[@LPJZ456]

One of my proudest moments in gaming was able to beat celeste Its a remarkable game with an amazing soundtrack as well. Please do a list of best modern gaming soundtracks

[@gameranxTV]

👏

[@ahmedisam2533]

Sekiro surprised me It's the first time I see a game that's very hard to learn but easy to master. I used to think that it's a bad design philosophy but when I played sekiro and the nearly infinite replayablity this game offers it bekame my 3rd favorite game of all time.

[@rockkiller124]

Wish I could enjoy as much as you did, unfortunately for me I couldn't even beat first couple of hours and done with the game

[@darkoale3299]

Greatest ninja game ever made!

[@pundokent761]

This is a game for people who have a lot of time to play. I only have 2 to 3 hours to play and I'm stuck on a boss for at least 1 hour and a half?? I love the game, the sound is fantastic. but I can't play. There's still that bonus thing, if you lose to a mini boss you'll have to fight all the "normal" ones again LOL It broke me, it stopped being fun and became frustrating and tiring. But as soon as I have more time to play I will definitely return to this game. When I perform a Mikiri on a difficult opponent the satisfaction is immense 😂😂😂😂

[@Agent47316]

The only fromsoft game ive beaten i suck at the rest but for some reason sekiro is easy to me

[@JohnJohn-pm9wq]

Sekiro was easy to learn but hard to master

[@Mr.Donkeypoo]

I love Lies of P, I'm on my NG3 run now. It does has some flaws though when you play slow weapons. If you run DEX the game is a 10/10 experience from start to finish. I still haven't changed from the starting Rapier, because the fast animations feel so amazing

[@victoresen2974]

As someone who really loves hard games, sekiro really put me through my paces 😌.

[@gameranxTV]

👍🏼

[@sakuranohana1014]

Bro have you ever heard alatreon and fatalis?

[@uhh315]

​@@sakuranohana1014in the new gen? Nah its kinda easy and fun. But if you fight fatalis on the first and the second gen, its just frustating.

[@sakuranohana1014]

@@uhh315 easy what????did you beat them solo first try? Even rathalos in old MH is harder than any monster in the new gen 😂

[@eythorl97k74]

Its tough the first time because you don't know the game tools and mechanics. Learn what tools to use in every fight and learn the fights and it becomez the easiest souls game.

[@frostdragon9773]

I'm very glad to see some love for Ghostrunner. Feels like a bit of a sleeper hit. Absolutely love the game and hyped for the sequel!

[@Harizak]

I thought it was a super good game minus the tower boss. I cannot recall if it even was a boss. I think it was. Been a while. But I recall there being a tower/cable boss like thing and I was like its not impossible but the flow of this is just so much worse than everything else. Because the flow of Ghostrunner is what made it so good. Also that fighting mode where every time you beat a level for 20 levels or something you got a powerup. That was amazing. Though it was super easy once you beat the game.

[@drgonzo123]

I finally tried Celeste because I heard the soundtrack and loved it, so I jumped right in. I’ve never felt so good beating any other game. It was super satisfying and just a really good time. I recommend it

[@gameranxTV]

👍🏼

[@stuartmorley6894]

The soundtrack is fantastic. It kind of suckered me in really quickly because it felt like it would go easy on you like a platformer from twenty years ago but it absolutely doesn't. It kind of felt like a puzzle game to me with each new screen window requiring some kind of planning. I mentioned Hollow Knight in another post. That felt far more like you kind of needed a flow state to just keep moving past one thing after another. I love both though in different ways.

[@Revealingstorm.]

Have you done the side levels? Absolutely punishing

[@K-tw4wb]

Try the postgame content, the true ending stage usually takes people more time than the length of the entire main game stages combined.

[@drgonzo123]

@@stuartmorley6894 that’s part of what I loved was the puzzle element. Each screen was laid out so you would have to figure out the correct path to take. Loved it.

[@MidKnight20344]

I'm so happy that fear and hunger is getting more attention slowly, cause the game is just fantastic and the lore is really good. Most important of all it's maddeningly addicting.

[@Cliv_dude]

You should do the easiest games of the last decade.

[@gameranxTV]

Thanks for your suggestion

[@jimmythegamer2231]

Literally any licensed kid game would probably fall under this category lol

[@galatasaray984]

far cry 6,the AI is almost non existent,finished it on the hardest difficulty with a rambo bow..

[@shanetaylor761]

​@@jimmythegamer2231were you around during the blockbuster days. Kids games used to be bs lol. Like the lion king or Rayman. Adults used to hate children in the 90s lol.

[@aliffaiman614]

​@@shanetaylor761adults used to hate children in 90s??? What did children do😂

[@Bleachdemon88]

Sekiro is so good, best combat system from FS and super satisfying once you more or less master it. The boss rush mode was such a good add on to practice certain bosses for endgame challenges like Mortal Journey. Practicing bosses so you can react to their moves will help a lot when you go to beat mortal journey. Nioh 2 should have been on this list though.

[@Raerae705]

As hard as the last boss in Sekiro was, I still found Genichiro to be the toughest. Only cause by the time you reach end game you’ve got parrying down. Genichiro comes up pretty early on, and there’s nothing you can do until you pass him and his blasted 3 phases.

[@ShinobiDrip999]

Ya i struggled more with genichiro as well.

[@krzysztofmilewski9516]

Sure, he is tough at first, but he also serves as a skill check - if you're able to beat him without cheesing, then you'll be able to complete the entire game. And after you complete the game and try Genichiro again he is just a walk in the park.

[@hoshiedd]

I struggled more with owl father

[@shaanix4811]

Demon of Hatred was the hardest boss for me cause you couldnt deflect and stagger him as if he wasnt designed for that game

[@masternoahplayz2704]

damn i quit the game when i beat genichiro. I beat him in an hour. Maybe i should try sekiro again if he was somehow the hardest boss

[@GameEsthetics]

I think Elden Ring struck a perfect balance of difficulty/fun by letting you decide how hard you want the game to be.

[@darknesswave100]

I think that's what makes the game so good. You decide how hard it is. Sure the game is hard but you can make it easier with your builds and whatnot

[@georgen5882]

I don’t know about that, certain bosses were either overtuned, too large to deal with easily, or too quick. I liked Elden Ring but the boss designs in that game pale in comparison to Sekiro. Malenia is also one of the worst boss designs I’ve ever seen. That and some of the bosses in Wo Long take the cake. Good game but they pull out some cheap moves at times. To be fair the mimic tear or black knife tiche can be a game changer and make it leagues easier

[@muhdamir9157]

@@georgen5882gitgud

[@jordonthompson6317]

@@georgen5882fax like the Wu long first boss should be that hard for people who tryna get into Soul likes that’s how u push money away dumb design

[@kmo-ne2bv]

@@georgen5882nah malenia is one of the best bosses sure it’s hard asf but it should be she’s an endgame boss.

[@PlaytymeLiveGaming]

Proud to say I got to test out Sekiro!!! We had a small QA team that dedicated our time to making sure Activision DIDN’T mess up Fromsoftware's great run in gaming and I'm glad to see it stood the test of time.

[@ahemans777]

You guys did an amazing job. It's still my favourite game. I replayed it so many times.

[@anirudh64]

Curious to know if you or your fellow testers came across a weird glitch that absolutely wipes out all spirit emblems you've ever collected towards the end game? I finally beat Owl Father in the memory and for some goddamn reason, I had 0 spirit emblems after travelling back to the Dilapidated Temple. It's a good thing that the devs were generous with spirit emblems though. The game is already plenty difficult without such frustrating glitches. I'm playing on XB1X.

[@anirudh64]

Seems to be very rare. Couldn't even find like 5 posts that mentioned this issue on reddit.

[@mamtomdauphong1696]

Thx to you and FS, top 1 in my list

[@PlaytymeLiveGaming]

@@anirudh64 I was on the PS4 the whole project so I didn’t find that issue and never heard of that one sorry to hear that tho!!

[@2haka]

Returnal it's just brilliant, maybe the best game ever designed, not only because of its combat system and storytelling , but also because of its achievements and resources. The thing about Returnal is that it's not only about how u master the combat system, but specially about your strategies developing skills and your resources managing skills. Once you get that, you highly improve your chances of success.

[@rasmie8858]

I thought Divinity 2 was pretty brutal. It often felt like everything was stacked against you and you really had to plan out dozens of steps ahead to get the upperhand in every fight

[@Joreel]

Divinity 2 is no joke in the RPG genre. It's hard, but fair, but hair pulling out hard LoL.

[@SirCanuckelhead]

If you want to try a harder and imo a better crpg, get pathfinder wotr.

[@Joreel]

@@SirCanuckelhead Yeah Pathfinder is a very hard but rewarding game once you understand how the systems work.

[@Fh8919]

What? Divinity 2? As in, divinity 2: Original sin? How? The story is nice and all and the combat runs arguably better than bg3 due to a lack of rng (or so in my opinion), but once you've figured out how it works it becomes a snoozefest. I had to mod the game to a point the enemies were 16x times as strong to keep the game entertaining

[@alexhades69]

@@Fh8919 DOS2 have multiple super challenging battles. Like Voidwoken on the first island. Ofc, when you know, where to get broken unique loot, combo spells and when and where every enemy appears, the game becomes easier. But till then Tactician is brutal.

[@pitchblack189]

Sekiro clicked so well with me. Yea the final boss is hard but when you figure out the right way to dodge or parry every attack it becomes trivial

[@JasperDStar]

Techically this one released a little bit off that "last 5 years" time frame But I think Dead Cells is worth talking about, this game is brutal, beating it in the hardest difficulty (wich is required to get the true ending) is a complete nightmare There are a lot more enemies than the lower difficulties; enemies can one-shot you; your healing options are limited, and some of the available healing, curses you; and some other shenanigans that I won't spoil

[@K-tw4wb]

I have been playing dead cells on and off for 3 years and still haven't beaten the true ending yet

[@alangardiner6924]

How many times do you need to finish it to get the true ending? Been a while since i played it but i think i only finished it 3 times and had to stop as it was just crazy hard and the lack of healing potions is brutal.. Playing Summum Aeterna at the minute and it is a very similar rouge lite style of game. I'd highly recommend it to Cells fans. And the previous Aeterna Noctis is a brutal hard game and i put well over 100hrs in to it to finish it and it should for sure be on this list.. Very underrated games..

[@JasperDStar]

@@alangardiner6924 you need to get 5 Boss Cells, have all of them active, and fight the secret final boss after the final boss

[@Vaachz]

If you talk about dead cells you have to point out hollow knight too. Masterpiece of a game but way worse.

[@alangardiner6924]

@@Vaachz not a popular opinion but HK isn't one of my most liked Metroidvanias. Great game dont get me wrong but i preferred others.

[@Mikupigeon]

In general I think Nioh 2 can be pretty hard as well. Once you acquire certain skills and learn how to use ki pulse and change stances, it's also one of the most fun combat games out there.

[@SickMetalAddict]

Agreed 100% though I don't remember doing Ki Pulses, maybe this is why I struggled so much lol.

[@blakefenslerjr4858]

Nioh 2 is far easier then nioh honestly with the yokia skills

[@pythoniste]

Owl (Father) in Sekiro gave me a hard time for sure, like I spreaded dragonrot all around Ashina...

[@I_Cause_ConFLICKt]

The Valkyrie Queen from God of War (2018) on GMGOW difficulty still gives me nightmares.

[@lakshyaprajapati1944]

just play sekrio bro. its will be worse than nightmare for u

[@WampUsThyLampUs2654]

Celeste’s soundtrack is such a masterpiece that I’m willing to play through it all just for them..

[@ImARealHumanPerson]

I played Lies of P at launch. This was right after I beat Elden Ring. My confidence was high. And then it was immediately broken shortly after the basic tutorial from Lies of P 😅

[@gh0stdog89]

Defeating Sword Saint Isshin was the most satisfying experience I've had in gaming. A harrowing experience of course, but satisfying

[@georgevam21]

Sekiro is one of the most difficult games I've ever played BUT the combat system is pure gold for me I've fallen in love with it, once I adapted I was able to enjoy the game more. It is one of my favourite games so far and I would very highly recommend for soulslike fans to play it if they haven't!

[@mattengland653]

Returnal is one of the most underrated games. The 2nd Boss in that game - where your falling through the sky - one of the most incredible experiences in a video game. Insane

[@Krotas_DeityofConflicts]

Imo, Elden Ring's open world is the truest "open world" like, it absolutely mirrors our real "open" world/earth; no indicator, no marks, nothing, only waypoint being listening close to the people you talk to. I know it makes it more hard and also frustrating for some people but if it were up to me, i would absolutely love it if other open world games like for eg. Rdr2 are like this. It be so much more immersive than it already is. Idk, something about no markers on the map, just listening to people or the environmental story telling and cues makes it very realistic for me.

[@Digger-Nick]

Elden ring barely has a story, the entire map is barren and lifeless with nothing to do, and there are literally markers and indicators... It's a horrible open world game and worse than their 3 previous titles. Go play Morrowind for a good open world experience

[@ArtbyOscarMejia]

Returnal is a masterpiece! The story telling is really intriguing and the gameplay is so F…ing smooth, if you die is always your fault because the game handles like melted butter. It has become one of my favorite games of all time

[@imtoohigh9523]

Elden ring was my first souls like, really struggled at first but once it clicked I was hooked. In 13 years of Xbox it’s 1 of 3 games I’ve got 1000 gamer score for. Sekiro is definitely the hardest game I’ve played, can’t get past genichiro😂 absolutely loving lies of p up to chapter 7 currently. Playing it while watching this video aha!

[@georgen5882]

That’s strange that you are struggling on Sekiro but doing ok in Lies of P. Genichiro is the make or break moment. My first time he took me a literal 65 or so tries to do. But once you get him you realize how easy the game can be.

[@blakefenslerjr4858]

Lol did you give up?!

[@PeteBaldwin]

@@georgen5882 - That's because you can get to Genichiro playing Sekiro like you would play Dark Souls - dodging around, creating space, chipping away at their health etc. The same applies for most of Lies of P. You can keep your distance from most enemies and chip away at them. That doesn't work with Genichiro though - you have to get in his face and parry his attacks otherwise you're screwed.

[@talitolaimchen4378]

@@georgen5882 surprisingly, it took me only like 10 tries to beat Genichiro. I found demon of hatred harder.

[@Vicky-ke4es]

Sekiro is my first introduction to soulsborne genre.. damn this game opened up a whole new world for me❤❤

[@LucieOne]

I just became a souls player this year, so now I find myself playing Spidey on spectacular difficulty in an effort to recreate that SWEET hopeless feeling those games always bring.

[@FightYourCouch]

Yoo, same here. Though the enemies become quite spongy. It is pretty difficult before you get upgrades .

[@apersonwhomayormaynotexist9868]

The new game is awesome for this especially because you can set the enemy health and damage separately so you don't have to deal with their health getting just annoyingly high, so you can put the damage on ultimate and the health on spectacular for the best ratio of fun to difficult

[@MJeffSantos]

Try God of War on Give God of War difficulty, it's a pretty close feeling.

[@LoraLindemann]

I got the platinum trophy for Bloodborne, Sekiro and now I'm going for Elden Ring. I defeated Malenia today!

[@BigMobe]

Armored Core 6 was brutal before the patches Alien Fire Team Elite on insane difficulty is also really unforgiving

[@endymion2300]

it took me three days of playing to beat balteus, lol. and then they released the patch that nerfed him a few hours later. good times.

[@BigMobe]

@@endymion2300 The coral spider and ibis weapon were the 2 bosses I had the most trouble with. Some people quit and asked for a refund because they couldn't even beat the tutorial boss helicopter.

[@bilalamir5598]

Sekiro was rlly tough at the start but once I learnt how to parry, it became easier and I honestly think that it’s one of the best games ever. I’ve played it multiple times and every time I fight bosses like the inner owl, it forces me to think cuz those top tier bosses change their attacks last minute, it’s brutal but so fun at the same time 😂. however, I think that it’s game u shouldn’t play if ur just tryna relax or if u don’t have patience 😂, it’s tough, it requires practice but it’s 1000 percent worth it when u get good

[@ledgicyt2929]

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty was my first soulslike experience, and it definitely broke me, and it broke me to the point where I didn't make it past the first boss, I was able to get him beat his 1st life and was like "yay its finally over" to "oh I know you f**king lying".

[@shreder75]

I got about three or four bosses in. I stopped when a boss rushes you with an unblockable attack as soon as you respawn into the boss arena. No offense, team ninja, but that's piss poor design and go f yourself. Uninstalled it after about 20 attempts.

[@JohnSmith-tk7nt]

ya i recommended elden ring to a few friends who were unfamiliar with the games but like assassins creed. they pretty much gave up immediately lol

[@ledgicyt2929]

@@JohnSmith-tk7nt lol like if I would've had more experience with games like that then I would've had a better understanding of it but I'm not built for those games

[@jimmythegamer2231]

Yeah, same. Wo Long is the game that made me appreciate Soulslikes. Cuz before playing the game I thought all Soulslikes were trash and that it was a stupid idea to make a game so overly difficult to the point where it takes hours of retries to defeat a boss. But after playing Wo Long and defeating the first boss - which a lot of people rage quite because of due to the difficulty spike - I realized the value of Soulslikes after feeling the relief and satisfaction of defeating such a hard boss. Honestly, after that, Wo Long kinda feels easy to some extent once you master the parrying in that game. Which is cool.

[@JohnSmith-tk7nt]

@@ledgicyt2929 my first was DS3 and i gave up multiple times and redownloaded multiple times. something just clicks i think when you finally get the hang of the fight and dodge mechanics and it almost becomes second nature. its very rewarding and people arent lying when they praise how great these games are. definitely worth it to keep practicing. im at the same spot with Sekiro right now. have tried it a few times but i dont quite have it down yet so i get pretty beat up. will have to sink some serious hours into just practicing fighting in that one day too

[@Deathlikesensation]

Sekiro gave me the most enjoyment out of a Fromsoft game that I've ever had. That fast paced offensive and defensive dance of combat system was so adrenaline pumping

[@wolfwing1]

Elden ring was great:> And I was so happy when I figured out how to get past the first boss so I could explore and go back later :> Ended up beating him not too long after, but it definetly would have been much more of a nightmare without being able to go level and explore first then go back.

[@franticjack]

Sekiro is one of my favorite games of all time and I have over 130 hours in that game and I have beaten the boss gauntlets. It's a difficult game but it's fair and you feel like an absolute badass once you learn the combat system and how to beat the bosses.

[@ChipLinck]

I loved Returnal. When I would get frustrated, I'd go on runs with reckless abandon. I always seemed to get further than expected when I did that, and it made me better. However, throughout the entire game I was afraid that then ending was going to be what it turned out to be. I was so hoping for a surprise ending. It really disappointed me when the ending was what was obvious. My wife didn't play, but she watched me, and was also disappointed in the ending.

[@SirOnPoint]

So glad you ranked Sekiro No.1 I gave up after 6 hours on the final boss 😅 Fromsoftware love to make beautifully punishing games, Demon Slayer, Dark Souls3 easily could of been on here too.

[@Marksenpai26]

Really glad Lies of P is here. I felt so weak not being able to get pass the first mini boss like monster in the intro lol

[@radubarbuceanu8466]

Sekiro was the best. Once the parrying clicked at around the 3rd or 4th bosses, it became a rhythm game, accompanied by amazing world building. I played it 5 more times right after. I still come back to it once every 3 months

[@alifahmed9309]

Yap, same for me as well.

[@dsappointmnt2448]

Nioh 2 made me shave my head

[@rezanugraha2335]

wow, actually Fear and Hunger made the list (even if just bonus) I'm so happy to that the game get more recognition. It's brutally unforgiving but satisfying in a weird way (like getting to know how to deal with something)

[@bagusscorpion5492]

Nioh 2 can also be brutally difficult especially the depths

[@sofy6657]

Fr

[@FightYourCouch]

I love it, but it hates me.

[@CrolyGiart]

i think choosing the right weapon makes a big difference. i decided to use the gleve or how ever its called. and it made the game so fkin easy, it was not even funny anymore.

[@angrymikko]

The best thing about Sekiro is that once you “learn” the song of the enemies they become easy to beat. You really feel the mastery once it clicks. Takes some time to understand how it’s a rhythm game though.

[@Zylo82]

The Lords of the Fallen is rocking me pretty damn hard atm. Its a thousand times harder then the first instalment.

[@charlieprince8671]

I feel not having Nioh 2 here is a crime lol. It's at LEAST as hard as Sekiro

[@Bleachdemon88]

Correct, that game is insane and the last 5 floors of the depths were among the hardest video game content I have ever played. Combat system and replay value is arguably better than sekiro as well.

[@kinginblack85]

No lie, I've beaten both but DAMN

[@rezonxthepiggert9647]

Your videos always give me that Saturday morning energy vibe lol.

[@jazzycmk6460]

Just played Ghostrunner recently. Brutal. And it adds insult to injury by noting how many deaths you had in each level. The couple of boss fights aren’t that bad, but there are some platforming sequences that really test you.

[@lizardpeople]

LoP is fantastic the combat is addicting I beat the original version with no summons and not since Sekiro have I had this much fun with a game

[@victorafjp]

Lies of P is hard because it is really short if you rush trought it, still a good game. But Sekiro, it's a rythme game, once you adapt to the parrying system and it clicks, and flows... ooooh boy, you are THE MASTER and it really feels like it. Truly for me it is the best FromSoft game, and I really crave for like a Sekiro / Elden Ring game, still I think it is really hard to pull off

[@gogeterdone]

Love me some Ghostrunner! Thanks 4 the mention. Can't wait for the 27th! 😃

[@Intentionally_Inflammatory]

How can you not mention God of War: Ragnarok? I dare you to 100% that game on the hardest difficulty. The end game bosses are among the most difficult in gaming history.

[@eldencashlord356]

Nioh 2 missing on this list is criminal

[@WillyWonka465]

Is Nioh 2 a good game? I only played Nioh 1 and it was the worst game i have ever played i couldnt force myself to finish it.

[@eldencashlord356]

@@WillyWonka465I can’t speak on Nioh 1 cause I didn’t play it myself, but nioh 2 is great, great replayability, the combat is crisp, the coop is great, but idk what made you like dislike the first, cause nioh 2 is a very hard game though

[@shivamrawat3719]

Nioh deserved a place in this list

[@Bleachdemon88]

First Nioh was wonky and unbalanced but Nioh 2 on the other hand 🤌 plus I think Nioh 1 came out in 2017

[@horizon5856]

Tbh sekiro is only unforgivingly hard in the first playthrough, starting from the second everything becomes much easier. Not just because you kind of already know some of the attack patterns, but just because you grasped the combat and really start feeling the flow of it. When you mastered it it's nothing more than a (deadly) sword dance. I've got to a point where I will literally boot up the game, and warm up by fighting inner isshin. It's just fun and such an amazing fight that truly makes you feel like a badass.

[@purson8]

Sifu is one of the most fun games I've had in a while. I've basically only dodged, and forgot about blocking, and it just turned inti a rythm game. There was a point where it was like a spider sense for me and i could just not get hit.

[@gustavocoimbra2398]

Returnal was SO good! I can only hope that future Mass Effect games may have a combat system so fast and responsive.

[@gameranxTV]

👍🏼

[@Adam-de9wq]

I'm missing Nioh 2 from this list. That was a nightmare to me, much more harder than Elden Ring. Or only to me? :D

[@SilverSkywalker]

Malenia was so frustrating cause I would get her down to literally 1 more hit and then boom, dead. Had to fight her damn near 15 times, but finally got her!

[@j24ish]

Took me a lot more than 15. Eventually just defaulted to ignoring my sword and just pounding her with glintstone. And Tiche

[@whit3shad3]

It took me a long time to grasp Sekiro's mechanics. But once I finally did, it felt SO AWESOME!!! Best combat mechanics ever!!!

[@patrickhasachannel]

I love games like Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro but absolutely the biggest bear of Sekiro is the parry The aesthetic was probably the reason it's the one soulslike ice put more time into than any other

[@georgen5882]

The combat and parry mechanic is what makes that game great. I can’t wait until they do another or something like it. At least I hope they do.

[@MJmusikstix]

I am new to the souls game craze with Elden ring being my first official souls to finish (before the “easy” patches). After, I’ve messed with a bit of dark souls one and even demon souls. Nioh 2 has become one of my most favorite games of all time and Wo Long has been very fun to beat. However………Sekiro keeps me awake at night and deathly scared to touch it to this day. These days I’m beating out Lords of the Fallen, but Sekiro?……… That scares me so bad 😅

[@Rorschach87]

Lies of P is almost certainly harder than Elden Ring if we talk about just the critical path. The last 3 main story bosses are harder than any of the mandatory Elden Ring bosses imo

[@Terron29]

never heard of that fear and hunger game! Looks interesting. Will check it out!

[@SpiderHulkThing]

Thank you hard games for allowing me to save my money and time by not playing you. I have a job and limited time and I don’t need the hit to my blood pressure. So keep making them hard and I’ll keep saving my money, Thanks!

[@Chizuru94]

2:60 - For people with ADHD, these games can usually be what we can focus on best. Also why I love the Souls games and Monster Hunter games so much :) Also love when I have to memorize 5 different paths and where they lead and where I went already etc.

[@bontentengu]

You feel like a legend when you get into a flow with Sifu! Like, you are The One!

[@abi2512]

Sifu is an underrated game. I can never get tired of replaying the levels. It's fun to master and the soundtrack is awesome especially in the club level. I did play elden ring and got as far as the second boss ( took me hours to beat Margot but beat Godrick in 10 attempts without using summons). But I already spent 50 hours just exploring and doing random stuff and I got sidetracked with another game(Cyberpunk lol). I should get back into it cos I did enjoy the gameplay. The sheer size of the open world in this game can be a bit overwhelming.

[@UtkarshKumar0105]

I am a noob, I have only just started lies of p and i am sweating because of it. However there's one game which was very tough and also rewarding once you finish a mission - Snowrunner. It is probably the toughest slowest game you cant stop playing in existence. I have loved every minute of playing it because you might think you have planned enough and that you're patient enough, the game will still find ways of beating you

[@faville]

I have Elden Ring, Sekiro, and Celeste in my library. The only one I will pretend I have the possibility of beating is Elden Ring. Celeste I put aside for good at Chapter 3. Sekiro I don't see myself finishing, but I am still at least having some fun honing my skills, even though I'm at a skill wall in multiple areas.

[@marcioviannajunior9684]

I love Sifu, I started playing in the medium difficulty but had to complete the game in the easy difficulty because I aged too much in the boss of the third level and wouldn't be able to finish the game (it's 5 levels with one boss at the end of each), even going back to previous levels and aging a lot less than the first run. And I'm glad I did so because the last boss is completely unforgiving and it would be just impossible for me to complete in the medium difficulty.

[@paulkinder8440]

I've only played Returnal out of the games you mentioned. I struggled so much with the game and at times thought about quitting. Eventually i did beat it, ironically with a weapon i didn't use as much as my favoured weapons. I feel it was down to a secondary ability of the weapon, Replicating Hits, it helped me massively to eventually beat the game, but i did really struggle with it.

[@grizzlywhisker]

Dude go buy Elden Ring and Sekiro, best couple of games to come out in the last 5 years.

[@PeteBaldwin]

The best explanation I heard regarding Sekiro and how it differs from other Souls games is that in Dark Souls and Elden Ring, you're trying to survive whilst in Sekiro, you're trying to control the fight. Instead of jumping around avoiding hits and chipping away at their health when you can, you have to be right in your opponents face punishing any mistakes they make. As the final boss says repeatedly when you die, "hesitation is defeat." That's why so many Souls players find Sekiro so difficult. All the muscle memory you've learned becomes useless and works against you. Once it clicks, I think it's actually easier than some of their other games.

[@Dezzyyx]

I've never understood the hype around Sekiro's last boss, we can't have been playing the same game I have the exact opposite experience, probably one of the easiest bosses. I was super disappointed after that hard game. He took me 4 tries. All you need to do is go in, hit him, go out, at a certain distance in a certain pattern and you won't take a hit.

[@Envyz22]

Sekiro feels like a dance once you completely master the game it’s so beautiful ❤️

[@solgodhand]

My body wants to keep my blood pressure balanced, and my mind wants to lose constantly with a grain of salt... love the challenge, but damn. it's the yearn to destroy that boss... pride is not edible until it is humbled. Love the selection, Keep them coming.

[@RandomPS5Guides]

Platinum hunt souls type games. Only one I haven't played from this list yet is lies of p because I'm currently doing other games but.. Sifu took 3 days to platinum. Elden ring took 14 days to platinum. Sekiro took 32 days to platinum. And Returnal the rogue like game, i also done which took 29 days to platinum. Sekiro was the hardest to platinum. I'd say it's the hardest soulsborne/souls like game out there atm. Probably my favourite aswell and I've done almost them all at this point lol

[@TheSuicune7]

Sekiro was tough, but fully fair. Every boss attack has a punish that can be used. Even the guardian ape’s terror scream can be countered with the Phoenix Lilac Umbrella

[@2ogres1cup50]

For a while, I though fear and hunger was going to be at #1, but you're right. It's straight up not a hard game when it's something that's impossible to beat haha.

[@lukeandrew3335]

I have a challenge for you! For 10 videos straight - whatever the topics - you cannot reference any game that has been in the previous vids, even bonus picks.

[@bsb3210]

I didn't think Elden Ring was difficult at all. I had trouble with Malenia, but even she didn't have me frustrated and cursing.

[@bradleycrowe6487]

Man Lies of P is my GOTY and Neowiz and Round 8 studios absolutely nailed it with this masterpiece!