10 Most Difficult Video Games Of The Decade
They hurt so bad, but felt so good.
Difficult video games are just great.
It's almost masochistic. We want these games to test us, to cause us pain, to make us question how we’re managing to sit here for so long in absolute agony and why we continue to love it so much.
Some video games are difficult by design, containing an extensive list of patterns and counters that will need to be learned in order to progress, whilst others are simply a test of patience, of how many times you can get knocked back and keep on trudging hopelessly ahead.
Then there are those that are excruciatingly painful combinations of both.
The past decade has brought us more than enough stellar examples of video games that require a special kind of persistence to beat, and thus the ancient art of video game difficulty lives on in these titles.
Before we begin, it is fitting to prefix this with an honourable mention: Super Mario Maker 2. With some user submitted levels being absolutely soul-destroying, this could potentially be the most difficult game ever created, due to player creation input. The only limits are the potential scope of your malevolent imaginations.
10. Cuphead
It’s pretty terrifying placing a game like Cuphead at number 10 on a list of difficult games.
Cuphead blends classic retro animation techniques with classic retro gaming difficulty. It can be easy to look at it for the first time and assume it’s something wholesome to spend the afternoon with.
Good god, no.
Cuphead is a run and gun/boss fight game that pulls no punches. You must go from difficult boss to even more difficult boss, defeating each of them as per a contract with the Devil himself.
Bosses will be fought on foot or in the air, firing bullets from finger-guns, or airplane weaponry. Although the game can be played in single or multiplayer, neither mode is particularly easy, with the final two boss fights being among the hardest bosses in gaming history.
Becoming popular exactly because of its difficulty, and therefore being a great feat to actually finish, Cuphead quickly rose up the best-selling charts. Everyone wanted a chance to see a little cup shattered to pieces over and over again.