Top Ten Harshest Difficulty Curves in Video Games

[@Thesaurus_Rex]

"I dare anyone to defend Death Mountain" I dunno, Rabbid...those enemies seem to be doing a really good job of defending Death Mountain...

[@mb778_]

Thesaurus Rex and go right

[@hiro2protagonist]

Yes, they are. As a somewhat serious defense, once you beat Death mountain you are ready for the rest of the game and also, it makes sense as a progression of the story from the original game. Like, you go through Death Mountain in the original and are like...wow, that was hard. Then, you have to go back again and deal with it all over again.

[@ForGlory]

I just did.

[@chocolatelover19]

Dare anyone to try defend death mountain he said

[@salazar7223]

that is genius sir

[@Mostlyharmless1985]

"Try and defend death mountain." Okay! here's a conjecture to consider. I propose that this ball smacking hard levels early in the game were intended to be "weekend killers." Game developers weren't big fans of game rental, they didn't have any kind of rental agreement with places like Blockbuster, basically, the rental stores would buy the game once, then let other people play it for a fee. The developer got nothing but a single game purchase. The weekend killer, a crazy spike relatively early in the game would ensure that people playing rentals would not progress to the end, making it less popular to rent, while people who owned the game would presumably stay at it until they succeed. Remember these games were like, infinity money to buy, you didn't have these vast opportunities for cheap games like we do now, you'd buckle down and master death mountain, because damn it, mom isn't going to buy you another game till like, Christmas, and that's 8 whole months away!

[@Avarioth]

Way underrated comment, LOL.

[@Vellione]

That really makes sense.

[@oceanicblue8463]

Oh hell yeah!

[@gerudokupo2225]

That's so interesting! Is it a confirmed part of game history or just a super-smart theory?

[@ActionGamerAaron]

@@gerudokupo2225 I kind of doubt it since this kind of technique was more commonly seen in the following generation of games. Further, the Famicom version is just as hard while Japan's rental service industry was quite small and of little concern. It was just more common for developers to make challenging games, notably Nintendo was much less afraid of giving in to the lowest common denominator compared to now.

[@thegreatmajora5089]

"Battle toads is as hard as Sonic 06 is glitchy" *MY GOD*

[@turbomanmechachrist]

And still the world record holder beat the hoverbike part blindfolded on a live stage in Sweden this year, it's impressive as fuck lol - Guy's called TMR, or The Mexican Runner

[@VaughnJogVlog]

Jan I actually did this before KZbin was a thing and my grandma could even make it to the snake level. When a friend and I beat Battletoads in college, the Internet didn’t even have accurate information on how it ends.

[@OrElseEllipsis1945]

Jan TMR is great, and his commentary is hilarious. His run of Cuphead at AGDQ was great. And, as a Mexican myself, (although I'm sure it applies to anyone) I find his Spanish exclaimations when he's upset with something entertaining. No mames.

[@icy1007]

It’s not though. lol

[@pikmaniac2643]

The Great Majora I imagine that replacing 06 with Boom is going to be more accurate

[@the8thark]

"Mario games are like a switch" That's a pun of the future dear sir.

[@pinkamenadianepie1094]

Whitney's Clefairy isn't something that you just IGNORE. It knows Metronome, so it can use any attack. It. Can use Sacred Fire, Aeroblast or any other ridiculously powerful move. If that Clefairy gets lucky, it can devastate your team.

[@liambraithewaite6415]

I love how with Aztec, you don't mention the fact that you have a good chance of dying within the first 10 seconds when you get assaulted by guards on both sides of the room

[@MeowHype]

I’d honest to God rather die immediately than all the way at the end of the level.

[@GeertWilders-dg9ui]

why would i defend death mountain if the enemies are allready doing it for me?

[@RavenRyy]

Death Mountain. . . it was well named?

[@darthlazurus4382]

Seems that way.

[@charadreemerr4195]

Pretty much nailed in the nail of unfairness pass the limits of the frustration board

[@adamaus8770]

I realise that I probably sound like a bit of a twat but I never really had an issue with Death Mountain, my issue with the adventure of Link was the 2nd continent.

[@RavenRyy]

Adam Aus87 Nah, there's always one.

[@fungusonus]

Adam Aus87 me either

[@the8thark]

"Difficulty in Nintendo games is like a switch" Oh how you didn't know that your statement here was 4 years ahead of it's time.

[@kennethmoureau5123]

2nd level in The Lion King for the SNES. I think it's for sega genesis too

[@JoviLevi]

Hells yes. That level is hard as fuck.

[@senhordesconhecido6290]

bob Says You're crazy. To this day, the Genesis version of the level still gives me trouble.

[@DijaVlogsGames]

It's not hard, just really, really long and annoying. If you know what you're doing you can rush through the level no problem.

[@davemarx7856]

That was a memory challenge.

[@victoriabrown6561]

I finally beat the game after years and years of practice and trouble... On easy mode. Fucking hell

[@AmbientDreamsStudio]

My worst was when I had to play the original donkey Kong in DK64

[@Dargonhuman]

The worst part wasn't finishing it, but finishing it TWICE to get the coin, and the second time was even harder than the first, and you only had one life.

[@Corrupted]

The chest chases were amazing and the modern 2d games are insanely good in general, its just made for the players that played the old rayman games and grew as an audience probably, I love the really beautiful speedrunny pace and flow you got in the really late stages and especially music runs.. but yeah, some of the challenge maps were extreeeemely tough later on - but both games are must plays for old rayman fans

[@badluckclover251]

Rabid, you rival JonTron in levels of great game reviews/top 10's. Keep going.

[@Ratmus1]

I made Death mountain my bitch when I was 10 years old. What is this generation's excuse?

[@nwawallace]

You and I were much alike at 10 then. Only at 10 years old I had so much more time to practice and build my skills, to memorize the paths and to restart over and over after countless game overs. I don't have those privelages anymore, and since most gamers you associate with today are probably working class people like me and you, we don't have the time to build game specific skills anymore on top of games simply getting made easier. That's what happened to us. I can still do this, but it takes time. Time is something you have alot less of when you not 10 years old.

[@LuciusC]

Torturing children is frowned upon nowadays. :p

[@Frothenbath1]

I overcame Death Mountain as 10 year old as well. It prepared me for games today like Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Why can't so many today handle it? Well, they didn't go through the old-school NES boot camp some of us did, haha!

[@nwawallace]

I am a huge souls fan. But I think it's safe to say now that dark souls at least is a wildly popular game. It just sat in the shadows and didn't catch on straight away so people didn't quite come to realize just how huge the game has become. March 11th I booked 3 days off work to crack into my DS2 Collectors edition. I'm expecting the servers to be swamped.

[@Tydaxer]

Well, 'this generation' is very used to having... what are they called.. oh yeah, checkpoints, so having to reset the entire game is kind of a turn off. Besides that, 'this generation's' hardest games are Super Meat Boy, Dark Souls, Binding of Isaac... actually Rogue-likes in general, VVVVVV, etc. Check these games out, and you'll find some similarities and some differences, the differences being... well, the entire game engine. Rogue-likes are played on a 2D plane, either top-down or facing the character, the later being the 'old school' perspective, like Mario and Zelda 2. These types of games, however, don't have checkpoints, if you die, you start back from square 1, the difference being is that you can buy upgrades for your character each time you die, and become more powerful as you go on. Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 has a 3rd person perspective, and is played like an RPG. You start out incredibly weak, meaning just a few hits will kill you. It doesn't help that your starting weapons are weaker than the first sword and shield you find. Afterwards, as you get stronger, so do the enemies, the difference being they get moves like curse, which will almost always kill you. The bosses have an insane amount of HP, as well as cheap moves (the scaleless dragon, for instance). However,, there are frequent checkpoints that restore all of your HP and allows you to level up. After using one, enemies respawn, meaning you can grind and level almost indefinitely... if you have no life, that is. VVVVVV is a 'classic' platformer; 2D sidescrolling, with amazing music, might I add. You die in one hit, no matter what, but there are frequent checkpoints. Then look at Zelda 2's Death Mountain. No checkpoints anywhere. The enemies are extremely high leveled in comparison to you. Lava pits that instantly kill you. Enemies respawn if you leave, and considering dead ends are everywhere, you'll have to face them over and over and over. Just as well, you don't have any great items or magic during this part, and are relatively low level. Add that to what other people on this comment chain say, about the people playing them now having more important things to do than sitting in front of the screen for hours on end and having to work, people don't have the time or patience to play a game over from the start because of one level. After all, you completely reset from one death, unlike Rogue-likes. No saved weapons, no saved levels, nothing. This would have been annoying when it was first released, but now, where games have checkpoints and upgrades, people will get fairly annoyed of having wasted a few hours of their time. Add this to what RL said, and you see why your 'generation' has been able to do that, because, at 10, you had the time and patience to replay the game as many times as needed to beat that one level. Besides, if people get annoyed by a game, they could just play another from the mountains available, unlike the days of the NES.

[@WobblesandBean]

How is Ecco the Dolphin not on this list??

[@ImSquiggs]

+Amelia Bee I'm convinced they didn't even bother programming a level after the octopus, knowing no one would ever make it there.

[@WobblesandBean]

+leadergld LOL! Fair enough. I beat it but I admit I had to use the invincibility cheat. And even then I died like crazy on those stupid sky levels and The Machine.

[@demontorch]

Maybe the dude didn't play it yet

[@dragames]

it's a difficulty SPIKE. Echo was just difficult.

[@ActionGamerAaron]

Ecco only got real hard at the machine. Granted, many on this list are towards the ends as well. Otherwise the game is just tedious and taxing on your patience.

[@graytheroninofstrife9787]

"Up next, we got the CARPAL Tunnel of Love." - RabbidLuigi.

[@Snap717]

I would not consider the 3 green star trials a difficulty curve, for the reason being it's an extra. You don't need to do it, it's just a bonus from the real gameplay. A difficulty curve in my opinion is a spike in difficulty from the main game, because lots of bonus content is purposely made hard. Though if you're 100%ing the game then it sort of is.

[@timecrokba4142]

+Great Great Note, quiet a few of levels are optional.

[@JoelHernandez-tz3vk]

+Great Great At the same time, that's the reason they're not higher on the list. I imagine Aztec Complex could even surpass Death Mountain if it were the final level rather than a bonus one.

[@cult_of_odin]

If your not going 100% you are doing it wrong.

[@Dargonhuman]

@@cult_of_odin Unless you're just playing for the fun of it and don't care about the annoying or unfun side content. Or just playing for the story, if the game has one. Or you don't have the time to do everything and want to just get through the main content to say you did.

[@facerip356]

*The way your videos are structured is like a nostalgia finger gently tickling my brain. I love your intro music, love the voice over, you get right down to it while showing video game clips, there's just something about this style of video game review. I love the Top 10 list format, I love the current and retro video game discussion. It's all like candy for my eyes. It reminds me of all my favorite KZbin reviewers who sadly, don't make the same style of reviews that they used to. There's a 1000 people trying to do the whole "Video Game Reviewer" thing on KZbin, but you, my friend, are one of the best. You nailed it.*

[@torgor6320]

+Think Before You Type I see what you did there

[@roby9631]

Think Before You Type badum tsss

[@SparksHardcoreMusic]

That cleffairy is actually just about as dangerous as Milktank, just not a physical wall so it can't take a well invested hit. But that metronome could end your day before it starts, say you're like "Ok, Whitneys up, lets bring out my rock Pokemon" and first thing Cleffairy does is hydro pump it...Strategy out the window.

[@lotusauer4785]

That scene you showed in Jak II was my hell as a child and I’ve still never played the game past that bullshit. I even got the walkthrough and guidebook and all they said for that stage was pretty much git gud

[@fearedjames]

Does no one in the comment section understand what a fucking difficulty curve is? A hard level does not mean a sharp difficulty curve. A hard level after relative easy gameplay is a sharp difficulty curve. A good example of a sharp difficulty curve and a just plain hard part in one game would be Persona 4, with Shadow Yukiko and Shadow Mitsuo. Yukiko is not that difficulty a boss, but previously you barely needed strategy at all, and you haven't had time to build a strong Persona or two to fight bosses with. She's also only like 6 hours into the game. That's a sharp difficulty curve. Mitsuo is the toughest boss in the Persona series (I havn't played 1) and can not only utterly crush a team, but can create a gigantic 1400 health shield in two turns which causes him to constantly remove progress at a random rate. But this is a boss that not only appears I'd say 30 (Half way through the game, I cant remember when I fought him) or so hours into the game, and you've had ages to build a strong Persona or 2 that potentially could flatten him, as well as had to fight some fairly challenging bosses to reach him. He is not a sharp difficulty curve. He's just a very very hard boss.

[@Mickspad]

Like the fucking Pier from Jak 2 *turns away to cry for a minute* The game was difficult, but it was about a 7 on a scale of 1-10, but the pier is a fucking 11!!!!!!!!!! WHERE IS THIS SHIT ON THIS LIST!!!!!

[@fearedjames]

Mickspad Really? I found Jak 2 pathetically easy except for the very end of the game. I cant remember what this pier is tho, as I havn't played the game for like 4-5 years.

[@Mickspad]

The pier is that level with the endless hoards of guards trying to get you while you have to make your way back into the city after picking up some device. I don't remember it too well, but I remember is being where I rage quit for the final time.

[@michaelmaney6567]

Rainbow Dashtruction I remember crash bandicoot and the road to nowhere level. go from 28 lives to 0 in no time.

[@Blazingice26]

What about paranormal chaos from luigis mansion 2, the rest of the game is relatively easy if you know what you're doing, but paranormal chaos is extremely difficult, especially if its your first time and you don't know whats happening

[@Bacon_Hamilton]

I respect your opinions to the extent of subscription.

[@themumbles5808]

Why can't more people like you exist???

[@reshint]

*tips fedora* Nice meme, m'gentlesir

[@Bacon_Hamilton]

...How trite of you to use something so incredibly rude in the presence of something that was once decent. Shame on you, Rodger.

[@PupdudePwns]

Dante Martin I concur. That was incredibly rude of him. Oh, pardon me, IT.

[@theresayi2420]

Dante Martin Mr. Phoenix Trite. XD

[@Enderborn55]

DRIVER 1'S FUCKICK TOUTORIAL

[@halogeorge1]

The Reverse 180 gets me every time

[@KingNefiiria]

Could never get past a burnout. I actually had to have someone do that for me when I was younger.

[@catethps]

fuck that tutorial

[@invenblocker]

That stupid sewer with the rising water in the original Ratchet & Clank.

[@firibiri67]

I still have PTSD from that section in Rilgar...

[@brendanrisney2449]

Ratchet and Clank in general had some _really_ big difficulty spikes.

[@noah-kh3mc]

Ummm Rainbow road? Anyone? Not hard anymore, but on your first times playing Rainbow road and hearing all the stories about how fucking hard it was, it had you screaming at your tv and causeed you to throw your wii remote at the screen. I hate Rainbow road, i would think that nintendo cursed it.

[@blackbirdlore]

Wii remote? Excuse me, young 'un, I think you meant your SNES controller. I would have even accepted 64 controller. Ahh, to be young again.

[@noah-kh3mc]

blackbirdlore Dude, Mario Kart Wii. Da fuq, why did you think i meant SNES?

[@AceofJays15]

Because Rainbow Road on the Wii isn't shit. The original Rainbow Road is the one everyone talked about, the original is the one the you got carpal tunnel trying to beat.

[@blackbirdlore]

I didn't THINK you meant anything. I'm TELLING you Rainbow Road on Wii ain't shit. AceofJays knows what's up.

[@crumpus5815]

Somebody clearly never played the Banshee Boardwalk and Yoshi's Canyon on the N64 version. I would take Rainbow Road over those any day of the week.

[@Brickfall]

"I ain't doin' anymore stupid-ass climbing" -Rabbidluigi 2013

[@teamzebaidark5521]

"I beat battletoads in one try" said no one ever

[@Lockirby2]

I got lucky with Death Mountain. My first instinct was "Go right when possible" and that pretty much does it.

[@soylentgreenb]

I used a pen and paper, but yeah roght when possible is the trick. The trick for the lizard axe throwers is just to duck jump over the thrown axe and hit them in the face. You get enough level ups and magic bottles to not have to die.

[@loffel1700]

Exactly lol. Like only 3 or 4 zones and you're there

[@legs0fsteel]

ornstein and smough from dark souls should be on here but again dark souls is a bit of a recent game and most of these lists are 95% based on nostalgia

[@Green.n.Purple]

Dark Souls isn't hard, you just suck. Get Good

[@curtisklemme5395]

UGH Get good makes you sound like an ass. Use it when you get raged at in PvP, not in KZbin...

[@WonderfulDeath]

LOL dude dark souls isnt a recent game its been around since 2011

[@SentientTrafficConeMan]

Wonderful Death And the games in the list are from the 90s and early 00s. It's pretty fucking recent in comparison.

[@WonderfulDeath]

John Smith recent doesent mean 3 years and "recent" usually isnt used in comparison

[@NickSharpx]

How about that one level in Jak 2 where you have to make it through the docks and there are robotic cops coming at you with their ships from everywhere and shooting you? Getting to the end is very very very hard, it's defenetely a big difficulty curve into the game, and I think it deserved #3 or something close to that. After many tries I managed to get to the checkpoint by simply spamming the punch attack as it gives you some sort of boost and avoiding all of the cops, but I gotta say that's quite lucky and I made it with only 1 life bar left... Defenetely hard in my opinion, a lot harder than the rest of the game.

[@NickSharpx]

Yeah, it took me like 2 days and then I figured out that other would've worked on the internet..

[@NickSharpx]

xD, yeah cause even playing it safe and what not, it's hardly possible!

[@NickSharpx]

Yes.. Actually the class races are quite easy if you use the shortcuts, there are other bullshit missions later in the game (at about 70%)

[@NickSharpx]

Yeah, I have to agree. Most of the times even a little fail could cost the victory, which can get annoying quite easily...

[@gushers114]

nicksurvives/NickSharpx I LOVE the Jak and Daxter games. I've played and beaten the first three. I've beaten the first and third more times than I can remember. Do you know how many times I've beaten the second one? Once. Fucking. Once. I've played it numerous times, but I've only beaten it one fucking time because it's just so damn hard. Good story, though, Naughty Dog is good at that kind of thing.

[@KrankuSama]

I wish content creators didn't make 30 second intros that consist of various gameplay footage and loud music with their name just etched over the top. apart from that this video was actually decent.

[@FixTheWi-Fi]

He fixed that recently.

[@Chillwave6]

Every KZbinr nowadays has like their intro some god fucking epic song which is loud also the screen flashes and their name spins rapidly on screen. I'm gonna use my own intro as some calm song and the name simply showing up at some part of the screen.

[@JimbobHarrigan1984]

I gave up on Battletoads, turbo tunnel claimed another victim

[@reneabrego1658]

Same. We rented it back in the day and never got through to the end of this level.

[@nicholasfarrell5981]

My people, there is a webcomic I read which features a running gag of the protagonist and her childhood friend trying (and failing, a lot) to beat a Bland Name Version of BattleToads. It's 100% right in that regard.

[@Nintenbrony]

Why does everybody think Whitney's Miltank is difficult to beat? There isn't any "learning curve" be be learned. Every Pokemon trainer should already know if you gung-ho against a bulky Pokemon with zero strategy other than hitting it head-on, 9-out-of-10 times, you are going to get your ass whooped. All you need is an Onix that can use Screech three times and a Machop with Karate Chop. I took that cow out in one hit! If you want to put up a real worthy Pokemon game with a learning curve, put Generation V on the list before putting up a Miltank nobody prepares for.

[@MacyPooh196]

He said the list is "difficulty thrust upon a new player". Not difficulty for a seasoned Pokemon veteran.

[@CopperotonGaming]

I know!!! Miltank is so easy, it took me one try and I figured out how to kill it.

[@wildefice1]

:P i just used sand attack on it until my pidgeoto fainted and turned it into a battle of attrition

[@harleymitchelly5542]

I'd guess it's a noob bitch slap thing. It got me tons of times, but I actually can get past it regularly now. The big problem comes if you have issues getting a decent sp. attacker or a really good attacker.

[@harleymitchelly5542]

DeadpoolPlayz Dumb luck is dumb luck I suppose.

[@Ultrazoop]

Miltank used Milk Drink!

[@zacharycarlini5907]

What self respecting adult female animal would drink the juices that came out of their own friends and families' tits?

[@Ultrazoop]

now i think the main difference here is that it's a cow

[@speedyblupi]

Zachary Carlini Well you can buy human breast milk ice cream...

[@yuhengggg]

speedyblupi WHERE?!

[@SuccubusEllie]

More than likely Japan.

[@basti329]

Monster Hunter - Sooner or later you hit a brick wall and think to yourself "What the fuck happened"

[@isenokami7810]

For me that was trying to trap that damn blue bear. I try to place a trap or heal, and it charges me during the animation and wrecks everything.

[@eelektreigon9616]

Now I'm gonna be honest here. If you are saying that capturing Arzuros was a difficulty spike... Well good luck

[@basti329]

Eelektreigon To be fair here , if its your first MH then yes , arzuros would be a spike. =D

[@isenokami7810]

Just when I feel like I'm getting into the game, it throws that behemoth at me and tells me to take it alive. Not a chance.

[@Blackpapalink]

Green Plesioth or Blue Kut Ku, pick your poison.

[@DevillJin]

well hating slow speed isnt Difficulty Curve... why not put something new but more appropriate for such list like Predator concrete jungle? Most thing's on the list arent Difficulty Curves... more like bugs or annoying game mechanics ...

[@toshiroyamada2443]

Kristaps Rieznieks I enjoyed the goldeneye one as a speed runner for the game I can tell who ever was playing in the footage shown is new to the game lol their movment was horribly and understanding of the level was awful. Only real tricky but of aztec is the head shots on Jews and even that's not too bad with some practice.

[@Dafawfulizer]

I honestly think one of the worst is Roxas from kingdom hearts 2 final mix

[@slycrino1396]

I hear that!

[@Wyatt_James]

Dafawfulizer how...?

[@Dafawfulizer]

Wyatt James He's way harder than all of the other bosses in the game. The only one that came close was deminx

[@Wyatt_James]

Dafawfulizer ohhhhhhh I thought you were talking about one of the bosses that Roxas faced when you played as him, not Final Roxas XD sorry for the mishap I guess, I personally haven't completed KH2FM/FM+ yet. Back when I was really into KH, I beat the normal game (without dying) the first time I ever played it, which was on Normal, so I didn't remember him as a boss fight. But then I was replaying the game in FM+, but I kinda got burnt out of KH and never finished it. Also my controller got a bit messed up part of the way into FM+, so lost the urge to play it pretty quickly.

[@Dafawfulizer]

Wyatt James From what I understand, he was only a boss in final mix. In the original the fight was just a cutscene

[@PanchocoloMan]

Pokemon gold/silver is harder than others, in my opinion. I love it. Is my favourite PKMN game :)

[@PanchocoloMan]

Idk, maybe is because it is HARDER. is harder to level up, at least for me.

[@camerondickenson8848]

***** The reason is because if you catch a pokemon there, it is harder to level up and If you are level grinding it will take very long

[@j9794]

you still have 8 extra gyms and red's battle anyways

[@Swordkiller55623]

j9794 That's what I think the diffuculty curve was, since they throw INSANE lvs at you but the wild pokemon are insanly low lvs

[@j9794]

Arthur Moebius I actually don't remember having difficulties first time I played it (like many years ago), but I got stuck at the E4 playing in an emulator in my phone because the mystery road pokes didn't help me grind exp :P

[@Naruto200Man]

Dirha: I defend death mountain! Dirha 2: I think it's easy :D Dirha 3: DEATH MOUNTAIN IS THE SHIT WITH THE MAZES :3 Dirha 4: trololol hay guys this place is kinda hard :3 Dirha 1,2,3:

[@nethus]

I was playing through psyconaughts recently and the meat circus stopped me in my tracks.... Still need to go back and finish it haha

[@comicking428]

DEFINIELY agree with F-Zero and Rayman, but with Sonic, I think Carnival Night from Sonic 3 is a bigger difficulty spike. And it's not because of those spinning barrels, even without them the time is your worst enemy in that stage, as I've ran out of time on that A LOT.

[@Jaricko]

The barrel is not a difficulty curve. Its a lack of instructions about how to play the game.

[@BzaafiedTheFerocious]

Donkey Kong Country 2 holds a a special place in my heart because I grew up as a Disney movie-kid that never really cussed or swore like a sailor up until I got to MOTHERF**** WEB WOODS in that very game.

[@monsterlovers100]

i hate it how people just asume the fps gernre is just for causual gamers just because games like cod and battlefield

[@Shadowsoftime99]

That was sarcasm in the video. He then effectively goes on to say "Have you *played* this game?" Because the Aztec complex in particular is... Not exactly casual.

[@gregperianayagam4522]

OH MY GOSH, that intro is just nostalgia to me

[@TLB95Switchblade]

I think the water elemental boss fight in Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex was quite high in comparison to the other fights and the generally easy feel of the basic levels.

[@music79075]

Dwarf Fortress has a harder difficulty cliff

[@Denamic]

Not quite the same thing. The initial challenge is to understand the mechanics of the game and how to actually control it. The gameplay isn't actually that difficult... well... depending on how much death spawned in the area where you settled down.

[@music79075]

Denamic I always set all danger to maximum because i am a masochistic, suicidal maniac.

[@Ukiby3000]

Whitney will forever haunt my nightmares, and they were able to make her even more TERRIBLE AND UNFORGIVING AND NOT FUN on Heart Gold/Soul Silver due to one thing: Attract. Unless you have an all female team or you have a female Pokemon that can take Miltank, you are pretty much boned. I dunno if I was unlucky or whatever, but whenever my Pokemon bacame infatuated, they would NEVER ATTACK IN ANY TURN EVER. Letting Miltank free to Rollover them over and over without taking damage ever.

[@metroidgaminponyz1623]

The Milk Drink burden...... UUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGG!

[@Jacoby1071]

Ukiby3000 You have not seen the true Hax God crap that she does in the Drayano ROM hack of HeartGold and SoulSilver, but even then Misty is more of a threat than her from what I hear in that ROM hack.

[@oilerfan871]

Ukiby3000 Claire was worse in my opinion. She has a Kindra, which only weakness is dragon, a type that you do not have

[@MrDarkmario777]

I had no trouble with SS Whitney. Sure, it took a while, but I did it first try. Using Metronome.

[@H33lios]

Ukiby3000 my starter was a female XD

[@maskkid]

6:28 ALL I DID WAS PRESS A

[@BrUSomania]

I can confirm that the engine/gear/something room in Rusty Bucket Bay is a shitstain on an otherwise extraordinary game. I always hate it when I come to that particular section in Banjo Kazooie.

[@MarioMastar]

It does remind me of the first time I visited Grunty Industries in the second game. Vivid memories of getting every jiggy in every stage but only having one in GI because I had no idea how to enter the stage in the first place. You wanna talk difficulty curves? at LEAST RBB is at the end, GI is world 6 of 8, and you have to know you can call the train and need the train to get in there. And forget navigating that maze of a stage with the Washing machine. (though in fariness, RBB is significantly harder than Mad Monster Mansion, and funnily enough, you CAN at least do the engine room first and only have to do it once (a bit more for the few notes in there). Click Clock wood though...You die, just brutal of a punishment. XD (Always have 10 notes to go, just to fall off the top of the tree in Fall or Winter). Oh and also, Mr. Patch Boss fight. Not hard "damage" wise, but for the third boss in the game, he's a HUGE pain.

[@skeith804]

Mario Mastar I've gotten pretty good at RBB over the years so I can at least take a deep breath before I torture myself. GI though...ugh. Yes there were the days spent trying to figure out how to even get in but even inside it's just not fun at all. I've only every 100%'ed Banjo Tooie once and this level is one of the reasons why. *sigh*

[@BrUSomania]

The memories... They will never fade away :(

[@IceRenamonTRA]

Skeith804 Am I the only person who went through rusty bucket bay without a second glance at difficulty? I mean, I wasn't able to play it until it came out on xbox arcade, so they might have changed something.

[@skeith804]

Maybe so. Now it's no problem, but now I know to do the engine room first and I have way better motor controls than when I was 6-7 years old.

[@RamRam.720]

straight lines? what about dwarf fortress

[@Solidsnake856]

Um Dark Souls? What the actual F*ck? Must just be a nintendo/sega fanboy doing these top 10's.

[@DanielLearmouth]

It's hardly a difficulty spike if the game is hard all the way through...

[@Solidsnake856]

um hello? ornstein and smough were a HUGE difficulty curve compared to the previous bosses.

[@darkdemon9013]

I died most to sif, but the four kings were more annoying. Didn't feel like they should have been a boss fight, they werent similar to any other bosses in any way, like the others, if you died, you made a mistake but with the 4 kings i found it was just luck whether they decided to do their grab or aoe shit

[@dwizzlejerk]

I am no Dark Souls veteran, but with 7+ clears on the first, I can say that most difficult instances in the game can be overcome easily with proper strategy. I think the video's point, however, was that the game's difficulty curve was not bad because the difficulty remained about the same throughout. The only thing that I've ever really been stumped on (aside from a few botched rolls during a boss fight or two) was the two archers in Anor Londo.

[@statichue]

DORK SULS HARDEST GAEM EVAR

[@NeonFXx]

Boost Guardian in Metroid Prime 2:echoes

[@JasonLorelei]

Spider guardian

[@justkevin09]

Much easier on wii

[@JayEm1325]

Ah, goold ol Rusty Bucket Bay, kids go inside, men come out

[@xDoubleChocMuffinx]

My god Whittiny was the biggest b***h in pokemon

[@henrycardona2940]

She is a fat cow who sucks on her pokemons udders

[@Ancientarch3]

Haha I didn't mind her all that much. pokemon gen 1 had starmie as the fuck you over pokemon with its high critical % chance with bubble beam...

[@henrycardona2940]

@golum pawelec an udder is those hanging pink things on cows where milk comes out.@TheAnimeGamer O god i hated Misty! Especially if you start out with charmander!

[@Kuchiri]

Death Mountain is the area of the game that forces you to grind your levels before tackling dungeons 3-6. It also isn't the hardest Death Mountain in the franchise. (Zelda 1 Dungeon 9 was 'Death Mountain') Considering most jRPGs of the era and now give you a challenge that forces you to grind. This isn't any worse than Whitney.

[@sypoth]

Actually, Zelda didn't start out as a JRPG, the first few games like with Sonic were made in the U.S. and then migrated over to Japan where they got a whole lot lamer. And yeah, Death mountain on Link wasn't all that hard. Then again none of the stuff on this list is hard I can name a game that is almost identical to all of these whose difficulty curve is much much steeper.

[@dayolpoi]

IT IS WAY WORSE THAN WHITNEY. Whitney, if you had gotten an Onix or traded for the Machop that girl in the Department Store offers, was pretty easy. Those two had advantages over Miltank(Better tanking/Type Advantage). Death Mountain had a maze, enemies that don't give two shits about your only line of defense, and FUCKING LAVA PITS, MAN. Whitney was ranked low on the list because you had ways to bypass her being a pain in the ass. You get no such respect from Death Mountain. Death Mountain in the first one made sense, being the last dungeon. This hellhole was the SECOND. It buried an axe in your head, burned the body, pissed on the ashes, and told you your mother never loved you.

[@sypoth]

dayolpoi You mean you didn't map it? And Death Mountain in the first game made no sense at all with entire areas that has direction maps puzzles, and you had to visit it three different times before you could even do the dungeon there not to mention monsters that made no sense. In Link it was just a single puzzle and if you had the right gear an easy one as well, you needed nothing more than a candle, a sword, a piece of paper and a pen and you were done. Simple, easy, clean, only challenge I had in that game was in the one dungeon that had the hole too small for you to fit down into where you needed to go.

[@captainfiteer7360]

That intro... just OMG I love it.

[@Darthzim950]

Borderlands 2 had some fair difficulty curves. Then the Hyperion Bunker came along with the BNK-3R boss fight. DAMN THAT AREA!

[@MrRANDOM1100]

was hoping he would say borderlands, but atleast someone agrees.

[@lucacoleman2064]

That part was easy and I'm 13

[@lucacoleman2064]

12 at the time

[@lucacoleman2064]

Actually I was 11

[@xxSupernovaStar]

Where is Dwarf Fortress on this list?

[@MildlyImpolite]

not so much a difficulty curve as a difficulty cliff.

[@Samqdf]

I agree completely with all the points here, it's stupidly hard and need a lot of effort to even know what's going on

[@EtoGmajor]

Uhghhhghghg! That one part of Jak 2 you showed, with the hoverboarding on the uneven walkway, where you can't fall in the water or you die, where you can't run into anyone, or else you fall into the water and die, where you can't even try to fight or you die, where you can't make a wrong turn or else you're forced to fight... and die. It's the hardest part of the game, and it comes out of nowhere.

[@dksdman]

Don't remind me

[@airiakizuki5592]

RPGs (in general) the climb from "Main Game" too "Post Game"

[@kirk7528]

Eve Online.

[@88magicmariodude88]

Such headaches XD

[@Stumperific]

EVE online didn't have a difficulty "spike". It is simply ALWAYS THAT HIGH.

[@sunnysurfer101MA]

Raining Blood from Guitar Hero 3?

[@WGUKNOW]

You mean Through the Fire and The Fames?

[@sunnysurfer101MA]

That was at the very end, where at least the songs before raining blood were passable, raining blood just to a very harsh turn

[@zeke1220]

***** That was the song that made it take a week longer to get El Jefe than I thought it would.

[@sobosswagner]

***** Raining Blood was also near the end. It was still however a huge jump from what you were used to

[@Otagemu]

Satch Boogey from GH On Tour Decades was even worse. It was hard on easy

[@merkwadvasilios9354]

i would have thought that a water temple would have made it

[@nin10dohgirl16]

You forgot Wizpig from Diddy Kong Racing(the second phase is easier than the first......What the WHAT!?)and Gork in Joe & Mac 2(Lost In The Tropics). After getting all of the rainbow stones, surviving the Boss Rush and making it all the way to his hideout, you fight the big baddie himself. But don't think it's over just because you got him! It may LOOK like you've got him where ya want him and gotten the Great Crown, but then...... HO. LEE. SSSSSHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-TAKE MUSHROOMS!!

[@XEyedN00b]

dude, it's 21st century already, get out of 90's games...

[@LeCrownGamer]

Rayman Legends..?

[@Bretillia]

Hey, respect the classics

[@benthegamer2566]

Trevor Golter I hear ya Travor!

[@benthegamer2566]

BenTheGamer sorry trevor

[@bonetonelord]

BenTheGamer In my school jazz band, Travis, Trevor, Taryn, Tyler, and Taylor are all right next to each other. We get them mixed up all the time. Specifically, there have been several times where our director has addressed the first two as Trevis and Travor.

[@GameAW1]

My thoughts on each: #10: It is unless you play Pokemon like I normally do (Raise only one pokemon all game) but then the game will just collect on that difficulty spike one way or another. #9: Too perfect. No comments #8: I didn't like it either, but at least the water levels were perfected with S3&K and Colors. #7: As you said, I would choose Grandmaster Galaxy instead, since I STILL can't seem to beat it, but I see where you're coming from. #6: Read my #9. #5: I actually never played Goldeneye, so I couldn't really comment here. Sorry. #4: While I agree they're challenging, I wouldn't say they're all that hard. And personally, I found the deaths all part of the fun. #3:@#%*^&&@&!)$*^#)&$@!^!#%!!!!!!*panting* Sorry... Bad memories... Proceed. #2: Kinda obligatory. We all knew it'd show up sooner or later. #1: I never actually got that far, so no opinion here. Nice list, by the way. Really well done

[@ekimmak]

Depends on whether that one Pokémon you raise is male or not. If it's male, you're going to get a full taste of "The RNG hates you" as you're hit with a 100% attract activation while she builds up a full strength rollout to flatten you.

[@GameAW1]

Not necessarily. By the time I got to Whitney, my Feraligatr was around level 39. Really, a Slash or Bite was pretty much enough to one-shot it. And if it did get attracted, I could always switch to a decoy to faint so Feraligatr could come back perfectly fine. But man, oh man... Red is where it came back to bite me in the ass. VERY HARD

[@ekimmak]

GameAW1 Uh... doesn't a level 39 Feraligatr reek slightly of overgrinding?

[@GameAW1]

I just go through each trainer with just one pokemon and the level just goes up itself

[@ekimmak]

***** Considering that this is the third gym, by which the average trainer is at level 15? Yes.

[@Yoyo18247]

21:23 My eyes......

[@SquarecowStudios]

Why are Jaws and Oddjob even in the GoldenEye game? They weren't in the movie.

[@dlausactor6373]

How about the Womb levels in The Binding of Isaac? After you beat Mom in the Depths, the game suddenly turns fucking brutal, as each hit now takes not half a heart like before, but a FULL FUCKING HEART!!! Granted, the difficulty depends on what items you've gotten up to that point, but if you don't have a lot of health upgrades or soul hearts, you're going to have a really bad time... The Necropolis levels from Wrath of the Lamb could also be put on here, as they have some of the cheapest enemies I've ever seen, enemies made specifically to whittle you down to nothing! Those jumpers that can leap into the air and land on you, the spikes that charge at you when you get in their path, those goddamn knights that can only be attacked from behind, but turn on a dime when you try to slip behind them, those FUCKING MASKS!!! And if you get the Mask of Infamy as the first boss in the Necropolis, then prepare to swear at your computer for a very long time as that fucking prick keeps trolling you while you try to hit her weak spot! Like the Womb, the difficulty isn't too bad if you got plenty of powerful items and health upgrades before, but you're going to learn to hate the Necropolis most of the time...

[@martyd4582]

Personally the whole womb was a piece of cake the last time I played it. Then again I had the best setup lmao

[@5434345]

Marty D ZC DEATH KNIGHTS. One-hit-kill!! One-hit-kill!! One-hit-kill!! One-hit-kill!!

[@curtisklemme5395]

*cough*DRFETUS*cough* no seriously I managed to beat Mom and Mom's heart(AND almost killed Satan) when doing the Doctor's Revenge....

[@Shadowsoftime99]

The major thing that makes Necropolis such a cheap difficulty spike is that it's a random(?) replacement for the SECOND pair of levels in the game.

[@kisamehoshigaki6912]

I HATE THE MILTANK FROM WITHNEY -.- !

[@mdebourg35]

who doesnt despise her miltank-_- mooove along whitney plz go away

[@GmanTheTank]

Norman is so much worse in R/S.

[@mdebourg35]

hmm ive played thru ruby and really didnt find him hard

[@BlueDevilVR66]

GmanTheTank his slacking was kind of a pain in the ass, but I found Watson to be harder

[@mdebourg35]

thanks to Whitneys cow all other bulk users are easy to me:P

[@rabbid-runner8626]

Dota 2

[@razor1199]

This, a thousand times.

[@AprilsMoon92]

Turbo tunnel was easy, what about the hell that was rat race?

[@duskRenn]

It's his opinion...

[@skullbro7348]

***** but rat race was one of the last levels soyou knida expect a very hard level( even when this level is impossible)

[@duskRenn]

Like what Swagblast said, Turbo Tunnel is straight at the beginning of this game. Maybe you're not used to the controls yet or have slow reaction times? You *will* die. Turbo Tunnel is a spike in difficulty, while Rat Race comes more at a time when you're accustomed to the difficulty.

[@epiccat8876]

+AprilsMoon92 I think the thing about turbo tunnels is if you beat it you can do it over and over again but yeah fuck that fucking rat

[@EntityofDarkness696]

+AprilsMoon92 Because at the point you get to Rat race, you expect the game to beat you to the ground and keep kicking you until you're mush. You don't expect that at Turbo Tunnel.

[@evanmccarty4079]

What about freeing the slaves is assassin's creed 3?

[@AlainReyes]

i hate the levels where only with being spoted is game over

[@evanmccarty4079]

Alain 'Reyes I know right

[@DingleWeeny]

AC is so easy it's sad...

[@imperialguardsman9141]

AC isn't the hardest game ever, in fact that's so true it dosent deserve to be on a list like this, while Ac does challenge you sometimes, there's no way you can say AC had any difficulty spikes, or anything of that nature, that compare to anything on this list -_-

[@283leis]

To be fair t Death Mountain, it lterally has "death" in its name and its a mountain. I'd say it does a good job at living up to its name

[@masonhyde9411]

You have to take into account the age you were when you played these stages. If the trial galaxies gave you more trouble, I could probably guess you were younger when you first played them compared to when you played the second game. For some reason video games become easier with age.

[@gloomycandy101]

It's too bad that the F-Zero speed bomb mission was so difficult it basically killed the entire franchise :(

[@keyreper]

*cough* Dwarf Fortress *cough*

[@zachtac]

oh my gawd yes so much depth

[@MarginalOrb]

*HHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNGGGGGHHHHH*

[@GrammarOGs]

I beat witny first time and i didnt know she was comeing.

[@GrammarOGs]

metallijames Im dislecsic

[@LtcClover]

i beat her on my first try too but i did know she was coming my typhosion had 1 hp lol

[@ukguy]

why no Demon's/Dark Souls???

[@iXephyr]

Because that's not a difficultly curve. It goes in a vertical line.

[@RyonMugen]

***** HILARIOUSLY true.

[@ukguy]

***** What do you mean, it's really easy at the beginning in the undead asylum.... and then BOOM you gotta fight the asylum demon lol.

[@iXephyr]

That's what I mean. It goes straight at first then goes into an angled vertical line.

[@TheTFPChannel]

While Demon's/Dark Souls are both very difficult games, if you actually play the games in proper sequence they never really spike the difficulty by a ton. It challenges you anew all the time, but it never becomes a giant slap in the face I think. Well, until the Flamelurker boss in Demon's Souls anyway. Have fun with that!

[@psi-blast]

Not to fucking mention that Meat Circus was actually TONED DOWN because it was so hard. And it was stilllllll ruthless!!!!

[@LEWIS1992]

Shame this channel only ever really looks at Nintendo games, otherwise I would have subscribed.

[@vittoriopugliese3352]

Goldeneye 007 is not Nintendo. Neither is Sonic nor Okami.

[@SiphonRayzar]

One: This is an older video. Two: Its not just Nintendo game on here, you moron. Clearly you didn't watch the video completely through. Three: If you don't like Nintendo stuff, too bad. Its everywhere, get used to it.

[@EBPygmy]

Reeeeeeetaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrd

[@ActionGamerAaron]

It's almost like Nintendo games are good and worthy of mention or something, huh!

[@vaporelz]

Whitney from Pokemon? What about the Elite Four in Diamond and Pearl? They're much more of a spike in difficulty.

[@Zelkiiro]

The Elite Four in DPPt were pussies. Cynthia, on the other hand...

[@vaporelz]

***** In Platinum they were, but DP, the level gap was massive!

[@Knuckx117]

The Elite Four are basically a series of final bosses, meant to test what you've learned about battling up to that point.

[@gliscorpropagandaaccount1764]

True, but at the time it was extremely difficult.

[@vietthangho9262]

Champion Vaporelz No, Cynthia is MUCH harder.

[@Levyathyn]

1:40 "... but I'm RamblingLet'sgo" I thought it was RabbidLuigi

[@shawnfields2369]

I thought the same thing. Is he rambling, or is he RabbidLuigi? Or, is he both?

[@caedanclarke490]

If you thought Aztec Complex was difficult, WAIT 'till you see All Eyez Station in Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion!

[@MrRyangrrr]

MK9 when you get to Shao Kahn on story mode

[@jrpludacrous]

as Liu Kang or Raiden?

[@MrRyangrrr]

shelby4369 Lui Kang. Lui Kang's X-ray move does barely any damage to Shao Kahn but Shao Kahn does butt loads of damage with 3 regular attacks.

[@catethps]

took me a few tries the learning curve on most fighting games is steep

[@MrRyangrrr]

Joseph Zammit The only thing that taunted me was the restart screen. God, Shao Kahn was annoying.

[@IceCreeeaaam]

The original trilogy when you get to Shao Kahn! Holy fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! I was only young when I played those games but I remember that was the first time I legit raged out at a game.

[@Teddiursa518]

welcome to planktopolis, minions...

[@Blackpapalink]

Goddammit, That last fucking statue...

[@exterioremma]

That level took me two fucking months of dying and being sent back to the start of that last area. It is the worst part of the Spongebob Movie game.

[@TheEpicPikachuD]

That took me about 11 1/2 MONTHS TO BEAT

[@dasaikobunny]

5:05 he went from a British guy to a freaking mafia crime boss in about 5 seconds.

[@finalhazard883]

Lol

[@BizmoBimblar]

I still come back to this vid after 8 years

[@chobitsgnarlslover]

try the souls series. bosses that can 1shot you if you've no idea how to counter, a story which is linear/part open, but they NEVER give hints, and newgame+ modes that multiply that by 1.5 each time

[@bari2799]

chobitsgnarlslover Git Gud

[@thrasher698]

chobitsgnarlslover the slogan for the Souls series is "prepare to die". if you read that and expect ANY semblance of an easy time, that's your own damn fault

[@TLtimelord]

Whitney was easy as shit in Heartgold for me, and I never saw her coming, since my first Pokemon game was Firered.

[@potatofishsunday791]

Thank god! I was worried that I was the only one that found it easy...Pokémon is easy all the way through any game in the series actually!

[@adampain1748]

***** Three year olds play it, what do you expect?

[@potatofishsunday791]

James Ryan Just ignore the haters, it's just cause they can't think enough to figure out how to play, it requires too much thinking for them in other words, shooters are easy, need no strategy, and require only the ability to move 2 anolog sticks and press one button to be a great first person shooter gamer...that and haters like that are just attention seekers who can't respect others opinions. It's just cause people are scared to have a different opinion these days and if they find someone with another opinion they have to pick on them, degrade them, humiliate them so they can feel better themself! The exact opposite of what I do...I'm going to use bronies as an example, I may not like MLP in any way possible (even though I can't find anything bad with it per say...other than the cheesy lines...though I watch the Pokémon TV show so that doesn't bother me) but I can respect the fact they like it and they do bring up good points in their reviews but I don't hate on them and I'm even friends with some bronies...Still...haters gonna hate, in short, flag, ignore, forget.

[@TLtimelord]

In my honest opinion, though, a couple of the early CoD games don't get the fame they deserve. COD has the worst fanbase next to even Sonic's.

[@adampain1748]

James Ryan I have only played one of the newer COD's and COD 2. What does my post have to do with COD anyway?

[@freddywilliams9837]

Anyone here sick of those 'wow [List number] was easy for me' comments? It's just 'I'm better than you' with different wording.

[@toshiroyamada2443]

Freddy Williams idk I find aztec easy but I've spent perhaps 100 or so hours refining my run pretty much comes down to how much you play. I suck at pokemon games only one I ever finished was emerald lmao.

[@dmas7749]

yeah though i disagree with number 1, it should be number 10

[@dmas7749]

@@toshiroyamada2443: i'm your opposite amazing at RPGs (though i don't play pokemon) shitty at FPS'es/other reflex-heavy games

[@linkshaoran2891]

IDK, to be honest, I get kind of annoyed when something gets a reputation for being "insanely hard" when I don't think it is; so it's nice sometimes to see people fight against that reputation.

[@dmas7749]

@@linkshaoran2891: yeah i don't agree with death mountain it's a difficulty spike but one that feels in line with the game

[@TYLRMN8R]

Aztec wasn’t that bad in GoldenEye... it was my favorite mission actually, and was some excellent fan service, as I loved Moonraker

[@evanboone5570]

You didn't mention that the Miltank both paralyzes and attracts you, so that you have a 1 in 4 chance of actually attacking.

[@AceAviations2]

Honestly Ultra Necrozma has since dethroned Whitney for biggest difficulty spike in Pokemon at this point, Ultra Necrozma is a level 60 when the strongest pokemon you've faced was level 50 (if you're on level with the game you're 10 levels or more below it), not only that but it has +1 in all of it's stats (accuracy and evasion being neutral) with the coverage to make it hit damn near everything for at least neutral damage. This isn't even taking into consideration that Ultra Necrozma has the 3rd highest base stat total of all Pokemon with it having a higher BST total than ARCEUS ITSELF. Ultra Necrozma makes Whiteny look like Diantha in terms of difficulty, and is a garbage fight because of how buillshit it is if you don't use cheap tactics. It's an absolutely unnecessary level spike for now good reason that the game doesn't get back to until the final battle of the main game. Seriously, in the same year that we got Slave Knight Gael, without a doubt one of the best boss fights of the DECADE so far (seriously the fight is that fucking good) GameFreak gives us Ultra Necrozma which does difficulty COMPLETELY wrong and makes the Bed of Chaos look like a decent boss.

[@g.garcia7639]

It wasn't much of a power spike because it was only one pokemon, you could just poison him on the 1st turn and just wait for him to die while he wiped out your team. Heck, you could even bring a lvl 1 magnemite with sturdy to thunder wave it if Speed on your team is an issue and stomp it to death. If it were a team of lvl 60 pokemon, it would have truly been a power spike. Ultra Necrozma was just unexpected, not hard.

[@jacoblau9355]

​Ultra Necrozma was a decent boss for someone with a "standard" team. Everyone talks up the toxic approach but if you never loaded there's a chance you'll miss and die. For me, I just used a Mimikyu with Destiny Bond and let Ultra Necrozma kill it taking it down with me. Honestly, Pokémon isn't really a very challenging game if you do the research and think outside the box.

[@ninjadog123able]

What about dark souls? In the very beginning you're trusted into a boss fight and without knowing how to properly play you're going to get smashed, then there's the rest of the game where if you aren't on your toes at all times utilizing all aspects of the game you're gonna have a very hard time

[@Kro-RissaVirus]

thats not a difficulty curve... thats difficulty right off the bat. a difficulty curve is a sudden spike in difficulty with little warning

[@phantasmic1000]

technically its a hard game so it doesnt really count

[@Kro-RissaVirus]

phantasmic1000 thats literally what i said....

[@phantasmic1000]

zach livernois i was responding to him

[@Kro-RissaVirus]

phantasmic1000 yea, by saying what i literally said to him

[@LarsLuron]

Huh. Gotta say, wasn't expecting to see a clip from one of my demo vids for the MM fangame I've been working on in the intro for this vid.

[@Grigeral]

I get that these are opinion pieces, but throughout the first half, practically all videos started with "I know this might be pushing 'difficulty curve' a bit, but..." Truth is, there are so many options that could be included. Like any game in the Tekken series, or Mortal Kombat. How Ninja Gaiden didn't make this, I have no idea. That game had a tutorial boss that required pin-point accuracy and I remember it taking me about 30 times to defeat him... On the tutorial ffs...

[@callinater6133]

+phoenix67nw yes but the TUTORIAL shouldn't rip you to shreds, throwing you into the deep end right away, making it a candidate for this list.

[@yumnyburger8226]

No, it doesn't, a stupidly difficult tutorial paves the skill level needed for this game, if you have the skill then you should be fine, this list is all about games that essentially give you a false sense of security difficulty wise and then smack you round the face later.

[@Grigeral]

Matt Young But that's not the 'point' of a tutorial. The concept of a tutorial is to teach you the game... Certain games teach by punishment, sure, but still...

[@gubungodupenhageniii1195]

The fact that it is the tutorial is what makes it ineligible for the game

[@samueljackson3512]

Grigeral Ninja gaiden doesnt HAVE. a tutorial.

[@eiriseven]

Chapter 7 in F-Zero GX is WAY harder than Chapter 6 IMO

[@tymestalker3]

+eiriseven True, but he's talking about the spike in difficulty from one level to another. So would you say the difficulty upgrade from level 5 to level 6 is greater than from level 6 to level 7?

[@Bacxaber]

XCOM: Enemy Unknown should've been on this.

[@brianphelps2415]

I agree, XCOM can definitely be an unforgiving game (especially on Legendary) XCOM however works on a reverse difficulty curve when the game actually gets much much easier as you progress.

[@danpowell806]

XCOM works on a strange curve: It gets easier when you succeed, but the penalty for making a mistake goes up.

[@austindanger6332]

I hear that XCOM: Enemy Unknown was ultra hard from the comments, but I have nothing but good memories. I know I restarted a lot... but about to play XCOM2. We'll see if it jogs my memory.

[@wackywong]

Some games come to mind: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 'Wrong Side of the Tracks' mission Timesplitters 3 When the developers ran out of good ideas at the end of the game and decides to throw invisible enemies at you.