10 Times Developers Abused Players To Make Better Video Games

2. Swords Of Ditto's Agonising Progression

What They Did: Going back to a top-down Zelda is something even Nintendo seldom do - yet developers OneBitBeyond elected to design something that's just as much Link to the Past and Majora's Mask, as it is Stephen Universe.

The latter only applies to the gorgeous Cartoon Network graphics, but where Swords of Ditto gut-punches these otherwise child-friendly assumptions into the sea, is with a difficulty curve as sharp as steel.

See, Ditto operates on a cycle of five day turnarounds, culminating in a boss battle against a levelled-up lady named Mormo, who unless you did as much combat as possible to XP-up yourself, will flatten you.

Why You Had To Endure It: The twist in the tale is, you're supposed to die. Over and over. And over. Until you finally unlock - across multiple character lifetimes - the ability to hand down equipment across generations, or the knowledge of what lies beneath the Dojo.

Each time you die you'll have to replay a slow prologue crawl back to your predecessor's dropped gear - a slog that batters players with the realisation that almost nothing they accomplished meant anything in the short term run. Even if you defeat Mormo, 100 years pass and everything starts over again.

It's deflating, but pushes you to explore the world and find the key to breaking the cycle. Only then you can you eventually, truly win.