You’ll know that I’m a proponent of games being as hard as their creators desire them to be but that doesn’t mean that I don’t find frustration with game difficulty from time to time. However, there is a special type of frustration that I occasionally come across. If I consider a game to be poorly made or unfairly difficult, I’ll just stop playing it but, if I truly love a game, then facing a difficulty roadblock can be distressing. In these cases, I’ll buckle down and keep persevering until I become good enough to overcome the obstacle. Even then, there were times when I thought to myself “What if I’m never able to beat this?” and so I thought it might be interesting to share some moments in video games when I almost gave up.
One of the most vivid moments when I experienced this was when I was playing Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice for the first time. As someone who loves the games of FromSoftware, I was excited to play, at that point, Hidetaka Miyazaki’s newest game. While the combat system took some getting used to, I found myself quickly enchanted by the rich world, incredible bosses, wonderful exploration etc. However, I had heard tales that the final boss of Sekiro was perhaps the hardest FromSoftware boss ever but I was sure, with my prior Dark Souls experience, that I was up to the challenge. I will refrain from saying who the final boss is, since it’s an amazing moment when you realise who it is, but I quickly found myself being destroyed by them. As I fought against them again and again, I slowly began to lose faith in myself and considered the distressing possibility that I might never finish Sekiro. However, the boss’ design is truly impeccable as it’s a test of almost every aspect of combat that you’ve been learning throughout the game and I managed to eventually overcome them. Last time I played Sekiro, I managed to defeat them in one try, showing how fair they become once you’ve mastered the combat and I consider the game as a whole to be a masterpiece.
I recently mentioned how I was playing Celeste for the first time and was finding the B and C sides challenging. However, when I wrote that article, I had yet to get the feeling of distress that I might have to give up. Unlike Sekiro where there was only one point where I questioned my ability to finish the game, Celeste had two. When I first played through level 7 C-Side, the final screen proved to be far tougher than any other screen in the whole game up to that point. As I slowly grew better at the level before getting worse due to fatigue, I began to ask myself whether I was capable of completing it. I eventually overcame it and thought to myself that the hardest part of Celeste was behind me. How wrong could I have been?! I started playing level 9 and thought to myself that it was hard but not anywhere near as hard as level 7 C-Side. I then reached the part of the stage where it taught me a new technique. I was stunned when I realised what the game expected me to do and I slowly began to question my abilities. A particularly brutal room saw me having to use this technique in tandem with another advanced technique to stay on a floating block as I avoided spikes. It was at this point that I almost believed that I was incapable of victory. However, I managed to get through that room and I’m incredibly glad that I did as the last few parts of level 9 are incredible, just like the game itself.
Interestingly, my next story comes from a game that is nowhere near as famous as the previous two. Having played Lovely Planet and found myself enjoying it, I decided to take a look at Super Lovely Planet, an odd but very enjoyable spin-off that traded challenging first-person shooting for precise 3D platforming. While certainly challenging, I found myself enjoying its unique take on 3D platforming. However, when I got to level 58, the final level in the game, I found myself struggling in a way that I hadn’t before. Unlike in previous levels, there was no way to restore your health and the level, being much longer than any other in the game, proved to be an endurance test of health management, precision platforming and speed. When I finally beat the level, I was mortified to learn that I’d gotten a B-rank, I needed A-rank for the last achievement, and set about improving my speed and precision. Thankfully, I managed to achieve A-rank when I next beat the level but I distinctly remember the cramping in my hands from repeatedly inputting precise commands in quick succession.
I love the Mega Man franchise but it’s fair to say that the franchise is renowned for its difficulty. Having played through Mega Man 1-11, Mega Man X1-8, Mega Man Zero 1-4 and the two Mega Man ZX games, I have encountered numerous bosses that I found incredibly challenging but the only time that I can recall being driven to the brink of total self-doubt was the final boss of Mega Man X5. This may’ve had something to do with the fact that I had played Mega Man 1-10 and Mega Man X1-4 a couple of years before that and Mega Man X5 was my return after a break but I found the fight with Sigma, the antagonist of the Mega Man X series, to be unbelievably challenging. His first phase was decently hard but the second phase saw me struggle to damage him as I attempted to avoid his barrage of attacks. I did eventually beat him but I can remember wondering whether I had enough skill to overcome him and, having since played through Mega Man X5-8, Mega Man Zero 1-4 and the two Mega Man ZX games, I still think back to that fight as the most difficult I faced in the franchise.
It’s interesting to look back at these moments in video games where I almost gave up as they were all to do with games that I truly enjoyed and would’ve been upset if I was unable to finish. However, the fact that I’ve beaten these challenges is something that I’m truly proud of. Let me know your thoughts on my moments in video games where I almost gave up, what video games that you enjoyed but almost gave up on because of how hard they were, what some of your favourite memories are of overcoming a challenging video game and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.