8 Ways Video Games Punish You For Breaking Their Rules

8. Valkyrie Profile 2

Valkyrie Profile 2, a tactical RPG released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006, is notorious for its particularly punishing difficulty. Naturally, instead of trying to get good, several players tried to use cheat devices, like GameSharks, to make things a little easier.

Turns out, developers tri-Ace didn't just think of a way to counter said cheating, but instead decided to come up with one of the most savage punishments ever devised.

If the game notices you're cheating, it will flag your save file. Attempting to use the save file will cause Valkyrie Profile 2 to crash. No biggie, right? You can just create a new save file and start again, or revert to a previous save file instead... right?

Turns out, nope, Valkyrie Profile 2 doesn't just flag that one save file - it flags EVERY save file on your memory card, including the save files of other games. If you want to play the game again, you'll have to delete every single save file on your memory card. Even if you use a new memory card, somehow Valkyrie Profile 2 will infect that too, if you haven't deleted the save files on the previous memory card.