10 Absurdly Hard Games You Never Beat

Since the dawn of gaming, there have been platformers, shooters, and RPGs that were infamous for being brutally unfair. Even though this level of difficulty deterred casuals, veterans flocked to these titles, eager to see if they had the chops to come out on top.

Now, it goes without saying that a lot of early games were challenging due to their hardware limitations (like a lack of save option). Although this shouldn't be a problem nowadays, modern gems like Cuphead, Hollow Knight, and Dark Souls prove there's still a demand for rock-hard games. Sure, it's frustrating to see the Game Over screen again and again, but it makes it more satisfying when you finally triumph.

That is... if you're good enough. Certain titles hit players with so many unreasonable enemies, undodgeable obstacles, and illogical puzzles, few people will have the skill, patience, or willpower to see it through to the end. Despite the fact millions have played these ten entries to death, you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who's beaten them.

(Also, there will be no FromSoftware games here since the whole list would be compiled of nothing but Soulsbornes if that was the case.)

No matter how relentless a game gets, it tends to start simple enough, so players have time to ease into the controls and mechanics.

But Furi doesn't bother with that set-up. The vibrant shoot 'em up is structured entirely around bosses, so there's no filler baddies to practice on. With that in mind, you're expected to master melee combat and bullet-hell dodging in tandem before you've gotten the hang of the basics. Several bosses can only be beaten with parrying, so you might as well call it a day if you haven't perfected this mechanic.

Worse still, there's no breathing room when an adversary is taken out since you move straight onto the next one. Much like Cuphead, every boss fight has multiple phases, so players have to memorise a plethora of combat strategies.

This is easier said than done, especially when an antagonist introduces new techniques that are counter-intuitive to how the earlier part of the battle played out. The difficulty can skyrocket at any moment since these brutes can unleash surprise attacks or change your surroundings with little to no warning.

Furi is a solid title, but casual gamers should give it a miss.