Hardest video game to beat?

[Otter Mii-kun]

What was the hardest video game that you managed to beat? How long did it take you from when you first started it to when you finally finished it?

For me, way back when I was a youngster still in elementary school, I managed to beat Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels (Japan's Super Mario Bros. 2) on the SNES's Super Mario All-Stars package. I didn't think that game was all that difficult originally (since I was so used to playing the first Super Mario Bros. a lot on the NES that I had at the time), but with more recent playings (including the version found on Super Mario Bros. Deluxe and the Virtual Console release (the first time the original FDS version was released outside of Japan) especially), I found it so difficult that I had to restore from a saved restore point multiple times in the same level in order to beat it. Super Mario Bros. 3, despite what some people say, is even worse in this regard, and I don't remember ever beating that one.

[EmeraldSky]

Zelda can get fairly brutal without a Game Genie in the late game...

[Neo Emolga]

Final Fantasy VIII - Ultimecia was hell for me, but I pulled it off. I made the mistake of leveling my characters to 99, which scales up the difficulty and strength of all the enemy monsters (like wtf, the point to grinding is to avoid that problem?). Essentially I made the game as difficult as possible unintentionally.

Getting through Sans on a Undertale genocide run is no easy feat either. That took me several dozens of tries. GET DUNKED ON!

Lastly, the original Metal Gear Solid, I found, was not an easy game. Fun? Oh, definitely, but very hard. And that was pretty much the only MGS game I really played.

[Shieldbearer]

My hardest game must have been Dark Souls 2. It took me a few days to beat it on my first run, and I had unknowingly over-leveled way past the meta, too...

[Sanctus]

Dark Souls 3. First time playing a souls game and I pick a Pyromancer for crying out loud.

[Homura]

Dark Souls 1? I haven't beaten Bloodborne (the undisputed hardest soulsborne game). DS2 and 3 are definitely easier games compared to 1, but probably because of my experience with the souls series by then.

[Shruikan]

Hardest game I actually finished would be Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest. I took on average about 2-3 days to beat each level. The in-game time says it took me 50 hours, and that's not counting any resets...

[ShadowBolt25]

Hardest Game to beat is Pokemon Sun / Moon ( since it is unavalible )

[Neo Emolga]

Hardest Game to beat is Pokemon Sun / Moon ( since it is unavalible )

Only to certain people. The dev team could still beat the game in it's Alpha or Beta format. So I don't think that is applicable in this case.

Beyond that, the discussion is about hardest games to beat that you've actually beaten.

[Elbub]

Hardest Game to beat is Pokemon Sun / Moon ( since it is unavalible )

And yet it's still somehow easier to beat than the first generation implying that newer generations are getting so easy that you can finish them before they're even out.

It's very difficult to say. I mean, I used to find the first two Monkey Island games insanely hard to beat when I was younger because


a) the proliferation of the internet to look for the answers wasn't a thing yet and


b) because my silly child mind couldn't figure out to use the banana on the metronome to distract the piano-playing monkey JoJo, in order to pick him up and take him to the pump controlling the waterfall and use him on it, an 'obvious' nod to the American term 'Monkey Wrench', which I'd never heard of at that point because I was a young English lad.

I also tend to not actually complete video games any more; I much prefer to play open-ended games which don't have a linear story-line. So, uh, going back... Half Life 2? Portal? Plants vs. Zombies? There's also always Fallout: New Vegas and Binding of Issac from more recent times. None of them were particular difficult to beat, but I don't have much choice, so I guess I'd have to say Half Life 2 simply because it's the hardest linear game on the list. And it's not hard.

[Dragon Master Mike]

The hardest games that I've managed to beat were definitely the games in the dark souls series. I've played all three of them and, while I think people consider them to be harder than they really are, they are still pretty hard.

I know the topic is about games you've managed to beat, but Xcom 2 is pretty brutal too. On just normal difficulty I failed the campaign even while cheating by reloading saves frequently.

[Neo Emolga]

I know the topic is about games you've managed to beat, but Xcom 2 is pretty brutal too. On just normal difficulty I failed the campaign even while cheating by reloading saves frequently.

Oh goodie, a fellow XCOM player that knows my pain and suffering with that game!

After a while of playing it on Normal, I threw in the towel, swallowed my pride, and started over on "Casual." The game is actually enjoyable then! Try it! Also, the final mission is freaking ridiculous, even on Casual. And it's crazy considering I managed to beat XCOM: Enemy Unknown on Classic difficulty, but this... forget it.

[Blaquaza]

As a kid, I found the Ratchet & Clank games to be relatively easy, but the final boss battles were always way tougher. Most of them got much easier when I replayed the series, but the one from the first game was extremely difficult because buying ammo during the battle was necessary, and it was very often that you'd run out of ammo, and then run out of money not long after.

I also found it really hard to beat Sonic 3 when I was younger, and I needed my sister's help to get past Ice Cap Zone. Sonic Heroes was worse, though; I struggled to beat the final boss as the team that are effectively 'easy mode' because of how quickly it attacked. In fact, it wasn't even technically the final boss, because you needed to beat it as all four teams in order to unlock the real final boss. To this day I still haven't done that, although I'm getting closer. I can't imagine how tough the final final boss would be, though. :P

[Rival Max]

When i was 10 or 11 i had a hell of time beating the toy Story game. I havent played it since but ill always remember getting super mad and turning it off.

[Suicune's Fire]

Honestly I had a lot of trouble with the Sonic Advance games. I beat the first one, but I think I had trouble with SA2 and SA3. Also, still haven't beaten Dragon Age: Origins. I keep getting used as a mop to wipe the floor. XD To be fair, I haven't played it in years, and I might do a lot better now than I used to. Certainly not saying it's the hardest game to beat either, because it's not.

Personally I haven't played Dark Souls...but I know I'd have trouble with it. xD

[Blaquaza]

When i was 10 or 11 i had a hell of time beating the toy Story game. I havent played it since but ill always remember getting super mad and turning it off.
I remember playing that game as a kid too, and I found it insanely difficult. For a movie tie-in game it was amazing, though. :D

[Rival Max]

I remember playing that game as a kid too, and I found it insanely difficult. For a movie tie-in game it was amazing, though. :D

Yeah it was definitely one of better movie tie in games. I think if I tried to play the game now I would break it.

[Blaquaza]

Yeah it was definitely one of better movie tie in games. I think if I tried to play the game now I would break it.
I almost definitely would. My patience when it comes to really difficult games is strangely much worse than it was when I was younger. :3

[Noblejanobii]

Right now, it's Ocarina of Time. Even with strategy guides I can't get past some of the bosses and it's quite frustrating if I'm honest.

[Rival Max]

Right now, it's Ocarina of Time. Even with strategy guides I can't get past some of the bosses and it's quite frustrating if I'm honest.

Thats my favorite game of all time!

I have a friend who couldnt beat the first boss on kingdom hearts. She almost broke my game.

I think the 2011/2012 Ghostbusters game for xbox 360 was really hard. Mainly because it was so frustrating to get the game started again as loading took forever.

[Noblejanobii]

Thats my favorite game of all time!

I have a friend who couldnt beat the first boss on kingdom hearts. She almost broke my game.
Right now I'm stuck on the boss in the volcano. It's been so long since I played I can't even remember who it is, but I just know I'm very frustrated with it.

[Rival Max]

Right now I'm stuck on the boss in the volcano. It's been so long since I played I can't even remember who it is, but I just know I'm very frustrated with it.

Yeah I kind of remember the play through. Sucks the guide didnt help you. I only beat one of the wind wakers bosses cause I youtubed it.

[Noblejanobii]

Yeah I kind of remember the play through. Sucks the guide didnt help you. I only beat one of the wind wakers bosses cause I youtubed it.

Well a lot of the guides I find are for the original game and for some reason those don't work.