There are many games that can be difficult for players to complete. This could be due to complicated gameplay, a high level of difficulty through its levels and bosses, or both of those elements combined. Some games are just so difficult that they made players rage-quit rather than keep trying to reach the games' goals.
No matter how hard some of these games are, however, some are absolutely worth grinding in many hours to complete. This could be due to the games' fulfilling stories, the difficulty itself making the games more engaging to play, and their various stories and fascinating characters. There are some games, however, that are better left not playing because they're just too difficult.
10 Worth The Grind: Celeste's Challenging Platforming Is Worth It For The Story
Celeste is a platformer video game where the protagonist takes control of the heroine Madeline who faces her inner demons, troubling puzzles, and other obstacles in order to reach the mountain's summit. Many players were surprised by how difficult the gameplay was, but dying multiple times in the game was encouraged to properly figure out all the great puzzles and other strategies to get past obstacles.
As players unlocked more abilities throughout the game, they found more creative and fun solutions to get to the end of each level, making the game more engaging despite its difficulty.
9 Not Worth The Grind: Bravely Default II's Battles Are Incredibly Difficult & Made Players Rage-Quit
Bravely Default II is the third game in the Bravely Default series, despite its naming. However, it received criticism from fans due to its high difficulty levels. In fact, the first demo's difficulty was so high that fans sent in many complaints when developers surveyed their initial responses. Unfortunately for some fans, the final game still proved too difficult to beat, even when set on easier modes of gameplay.
Many fans blame this game's difficulty on the gameplay prioritizing those that were the speediest to go first instead of the traditional turn-based model, as well as the lack of a sidequest log to keep track of the numerous sidequests in the game.
8 Worth The Grind: Resident Evil Village's Difficult Gameplay Makes Its Horror More Engaging
Resident Evil 8 was an incredibly difficult game for players. From shooting down enemies constantly pursuing you to forcing you to run away from enemies while completely unarmed and vulnerable, players had difficulties trying not to die while investigating the entire village, as well as defeating enemies like Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters.
However, these difficulties were what made the horror element of the game even more engaging. No matter how frustrating it got trying to survive the events of the game, players just wanted to keep coming back for the high-stakes tension that the game gave them, despite the frustrating bosses and many plot holes.
7 Not Worth The Grind: Zelda II Is The Worst Game In Its Franchise Because Of Its Difficulty
The second Legend of Zelda game, Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link is considered one of the worst games in its franchise. One of the reasons for this is due to how difficult it is. The gameplay controls are finicky, which doesn't help when going up against enemies, let alone bosses such as Dark Link.
It also doesn't help that it's a side-scrolling game, rather than the top-down design that most Zelda games have in the non-3D entries of the franchise. Both the imprecise controls and unusual design choices made players grind their teeth with frustration before rage-quitting. Some fans would prefer to find difficult shrines in Breath Of The Wild instead.
6 Worth The Grind: Sonic Unleashed Is Fun Despite Its Difficult Gameplay
Sonic: Unleashed was a game with a mixed reception from fans. Some enjoyed the darker take on the Sonic franchise, while others were more frustrated with the gameplay and controls. Despite the issues, however, fans found that the difficulty was worth it due to the game's engaging story and seeing Sonic switching between his normal and "werehog" forms depending on what time of day it was.
Some fans still hope this game gets a remastered version for the Switch in the future despite remembering it as one that was difficult to play.
5 Not Worth The Grind: Dark Souls Is Only Satisfying For A Very Specific Type Of Gamer
Dark Souls is a game that encourages exploration, and for good reason; without finding alternative solutions to sneaking past or beating enemies, it's extremely easy for players to die. It's so easy to die, in fact, that early in the game, one can die multiple times just from taking a few hits from enemies.
Some players didn't mind this slow learning curve, but many others grew frustrated and rage-quit the game after dying many times. This is a game best enjoyed when watching other players struggle with the slow learning curve, rather than playing it yourself.
4 Worth The Grind: Cuphead's Striking Art Style Make Its Difficult Gameplay More Enjoyable
Cuphead is a difficult run-and-gun action game that features multiple difficult bosses. However, this gameplay was well-received by fans despite its difficulty, partially due to the whimsical graphics, learning the enemies' strategies while dying multiple times. It also helped that the players had multiple lives and could still keep all their items despite dying so many times.
This encouraged players to keep playing the game instead of rage-quiting and to keep dying in order to learn enough about their bosses and other enemies to beat them. The difficulty made the gameplay more engaging than frustrating. The story of the game, as well as its quirky characters, also helped.
3 Not Worth The Grind: Ninja Gaiden's (2004) Bosses Can Easily Beat Even Experienced Players
Ninja Gaiden's NES version was already difficult to play, but the 2004 reboot takes it up a notch. Even experienced players of the NES version found themselves struggling with the difficult bosses presented in the 2004 version. If players are not careful, they can easily be beaten in a few hits, no matter if they're playing the very first battle or the very last one.
Some players were still amused by the difficult gameplay, but many others quit the game out of being unable to beat the bosses, especially the later ones in the game.
2 Worth The Grind: Hades' Difficulty Gives You A Sense Of Progress With Each New Run
Hades is a roguelike action dungeon-crawler game where dying multiple times in the game is actually encouraged. This is because the player, as Zagreus, can use gained treasure to improve certain attributes, or unlock new weapons and abilities, to improve their chances of escaping the Underworld and heading to Mount Olympus on subsequent runs.
The game is built to be difficult to navigate so players feel more encouraged to keep trucking through after they gain these new attributes, weapons, and abilities to beat the areas where they last fell.
1 Not Worth The Grind: Ghosts N' Goblins Is Near-Unbeatable
Ghosts N' Goblins is a sidescrolling game that frustrated many players. Not only could the protagonist easily die in two hits, but after completing the game, it's revealed that the first playthrough was a "trap devised by Satan" and players must complete the whole game a second time to actually finish it.
This second run-through, however, was significantly more difficult than the already-troubling first time around. Many players quit the game out of frustration and cite it as a game that's near-impossible to beat.