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Difficulty Spikes in Video Games
- Thread starter Myriadis
- Start date
BloodMoney
Banned
the entirety of Super Ghouls n' Ghosts
The last encounter in Starcraft 2. As someone who never played an rts before I still managed to steamroll through the entire game, but it took me hours to finally convince myself to drop the difficulty to easy, and even than it was still hard as fuck. Totally ruined my perception of that game. Fuck that game.
The Blue Jihad
Member
I'd venture that the first Geth Armature you face when on-foot on Therum in Mass Effect 1 is an absurd difficulty spike. You've just finished the tutorial levels (Eden Prime and Citadel), when the game is still introducing concepts and all, Therum is definitely the starter mission out of the three the game offers you, and prior to that on-foot portion, you've been driving a fucking tank. But then you're forced to hoof it outside your rolling vehicle of doom, walk basically a few steps and BAM. Swarmed by Geth, snipers, rockets, and a house-sized walking tank that obliterates your crew faster than you can blink.
I know I succumbed to the thing on my first playthrough, but I had forgotten how much of a spike it was until my wife started playing. She insta-wiped. On Normal.
Yeah.
I know I succumbed to the thing on my first playthrough, but I had forgotten how much of a spike it was until my wife started playing. She insta-wiped. On Normal.
Yeah.
See You Next Wednesday
Banned
There is an important amount of people who never got past the Turbo Tunnel on Battletoads
That level broke me. The level itself starts easy enough, so you think you can replay it & beat it, but the final spike at the end of it is damn near impossible.
It depends if the difficulty spike requires brains or twitch skills.
Requirement to figure out a pattern and a strategy is significantly different than requiring that perfectly timed jump or shot. The one specific twitch skill of the latter can literally cause a player to advance no further. That's bad game design.
Requirement to figure out a pattern and a strategy is significantly different than requiring that perfectly timed jump or shot. The one specific twitch skill of the latter can literally cause a player to advance no further. That's bad game design.
The scorpion boss was hard only because he's glitched and cheap as f#$%. Many of his moves can hit you just about anywhere on the tiny patch of land they give you to fight and his attacks extend farther than the actual scorpion model shows. His fight, at least of very hard, is more about luck than anything. Luck than you can grab the little baby scorpions for invincibility frames during the big scorpions big attacks. Often I'd get blocked by the invisible barriers of his body and miss a grab on a little scorpion and then die. He's just a broken boss, which isn't really apparent on the lower difficulties, but is quite noticeable on the higher ones.
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
Worst I've ever seen is in Lord of the Rings: The Third Age: it became incredibly hard once moving to a new area. Second worse I'm not sure counts as it is involving the final boss in Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters who was much, much harder than the rest of the game. I didn't beat the game due to the difficulty.
Dog food is delicious
Banned
Had no problem. What so ever.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Demon Souls NG+. One helluva spike.
sixteen-bit
Member
A lot of people say Alma in Ninja Gaiden, but I think the 2nd encounter is worse.
The combination of that and the story twist are what led me to quit the game.
I hadn't done much crafting and it just became unwinnable for me at that point.
ebullientprism
Member
Straight up the ass.
Fuck you, fuck you so much GoW.
I never got passed this. Everything before that part was piss easy too.
seriously. this was just "end game" for me for awhile, lol
Not Spaceghost
Spaceghost
![Small%20Soldiers%20[U]%20[SLUS-00781]-front.jpg](http://www.emuparadise.me/PSX/Covers/Small%20Soldiers%20[U]%20[SLUS-00781]-front.jpg)
This game had an excruciatingly hard jumping part (maybe I was just too bad at games then) that took ages because I kept falling
I feel like I know the exact part you're talking about, it was some factory style level with laser traps I think?
ALSO THE FINAL BOSS OF ASURA'S WRATH, not DLC.
The whole game was a cake walk and then this guy just shits on me for 2 hours.
Oof, just a titanite shard? I was lucky enough to pull a Black Knight Sword off of him after many tries. Really satisfying.
Holy shit I remember playing this as a kid! I only made it past the first level.
This game is a balls-out awesome 3D Contra until this one level where it tries to be Mario 64. Good fucking luck getting past that level without save states.
JaseMath
Member
I quit Order of Ecclesia because of this fight.
This boss wasn't that bad, but I died multiple times because really "beating" him required that little extra bit that isn't explained or hinted at.
PROTIP: You have to crush him with the the elevator.
I see this mentioned a lot lately, which is strange because its only marginally harder than a first playthrough. Is there something I'm missing?
The_Unitologist
Neo Member
I completely agree with this. I was playing on normal and had to switch to easy 3/4 of the way through the game, made me feel so pathetic as a gamer. Spikes should only come at boss battles or no more than midway through the game, its bad pacing and design. I know people might say your just not good enough but it ruined the game and franchise for me. Which is a pain because it was a well designed game that was ruined for me.
:sigh:
wasn't too hard until she appeared.....
what was so hard about her? I beat her in my first try and beat her again to show the ending to my mon afterwards :S
Valkyria Chronicles Chapter 7 rockets to mind.
This monstrosity turns up leading to a mission where you must slowly take it down while also avoiding its firepower and ability to flat out crush you, how well you succeed partly depends on if your Lancer units are feeling accurate or not and at this early point in the game expect a lot of buggering up from their inaccurate abilities.
Still you'll slowly get there, yep, maybe it's not so bad after all....
And then Selvaria makes her in battle debut, oh gee whiz! just what this mission needed, an invincible superwoman!
ummm I love this game but I quit here. I need to get back to it or read a guide for this level or something. Ive tried it many dozens of times. Never even knew Selvaria shows up after....wtf.
Andrew Korenchkin
Member
Vanquish has some of the most poorly balanced sections in the game, most notably the boss fights. Also, the tentacle creature in Rage just throws off the entire game's sense of balance whenever those things make an appearance. Absolutely loathed those things.
Also, System Shock 2 and sections of the game in general. Don't get me started on that damn Cargo Bay section.
Also, System Shock 2 and sections of the game in general. Don't get me started on that damn Cargo Bay section.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Sorry I meant NG. My DBS used to tear through enemies, its at +2 now and it needed like 15 hits to kill 1 maneater.
NotDreamcast
Member
Cackletta's Soul, (Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga)
The absolute bane of my kid self.
The first boss was the hardest boss in my opinion in Vanquish. It's not clear how you trigger the QTE to damage it and the missile barrage is nuts for a first boss.
You aren't the only one. I never made it past that point either. I tried it a few times, gave up, and sent it back to Gamefly. Really liked the game too, just a big jump in difficulty I wasn't expecting.
Deified Data
Banned
Fog Breath and done. The sort of fight that's either impossible or a cakewalk depending on how you're equipped at the time. Really the most difficult aspect of the fight is that he comes out of nowhere.
Let's talk about SMTIV for a moment, and how it has the opposite of a difficulty spike. Does it count as a difficulty "spike" if it occurs at the very beginning of the game and steadily gets easier from there on out? Because SMTIV starts out rough, even by Nocturne's standards.
Another good example is Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. Tired of curbstomping boss monsters in seconds flat? Take a visit to Bitterblack Isle. I'm sure the room with 3 dragons would like a word.
Dark Souls, Undead Burg on my first playthrough. You get a better feel of the game once you get out of the Asylum, you think you've got a handle on the bonfires and sword swinging and whatnot.
Then you have to struggle through a nasty 4-piece burg. Needless to say, getting through this area without taking damage is very hard on your first playthrough. There's so many surprise attacks that can come from many places and so many people that challenge the Black Knight unwittingly (myself included).
If you manage to get through all of the Burg without wasting all of your Estus (you only have 5 because you're new and don't know about kindling) you run to the top of the tower and have to defeat the Taurus Demon, who is attacking on a narrow walkway, and the demon is so huge you can barely run past him. This guy has a ton of health for a new guy to take him down, and he can kill you in usually 2 or 3 hits. And he has 6 different moves you need to memorize.
AND! If you didn't take out the archers on the tower behind you before fighting the demon, you're royally fucked for this fight. If you die at any time up to and including this boss fight, you have to start from the very beginning of the Burg.
I just think it's funny that it goes from Tutorial -> First Level -> Undead Burg difficulty spike that causes a lot of people to say I QUIT (before I offer my summoning services lol).
Keep in mind you can't upgrade your weapons or your armor yet at that point. If you've played normally and leveled up absent-mindedly, you probably don't have souls to make necessary purchases from the Merchant; even if you knew what necessary purchases to make.
Dark Souls is my 2012 GOTY btw.
Then you have to struggle through a nasty 4-piece burg. Needless to say, getting through this area without taking damage is very hard on your first playthrough. There's so many surprise attacks that can come from many places and so many people that challenge the Black Knight unwittingly (myself included).
If you manage to get through all of the Burg without wasting all of your Estus (you only have 5 because you're new and don't know about kindling) you run to the top of the tower and have to defeat the Taurus Demon, who is attacking on a narrow walkway, and the demon is so huge you can barely run past him. This guy has a ton of health for a new guy to take him down, and he can kill you in usually 2 or 3 hits. And he has 6 different moves you need to memorize.
AND! If you didn't take out the archers on the tower behind you before fighting the demon, you're royally fucked for this fight. If you die at any time up to and including this boss fight, you have to start from the very beginning of the Burg.
I just think it's funny that it goes from Tutorial -> First Level -> Undead Burg difficulty spike that causes a lot of people to say I QUIT (before I offer my summoning services lol).
Keep in mind you can't upgrade your weapons or your armor yet at that point. If you've played normally and leveled up absent-mindedly, you probably don't have souls to make necessary purchases from the Merchant; even if you knew what necessary purchases to make.
Dark Souls is my 2012 GOTY btw.
TMNT on NES. That part where you have to defuse the bombs in the water and avoid the electricity. God, it was such bullshit that part. It was literally impossible to get through it without almost dying. I have no idea how I beat that part tbh.
Also Dark Souls in Sens Fortress was a huge spike the first time through. I hadn't died much up until that point maybe 10 times. Must have died at least 50 times trying to get to through Sens with all of the traps and enemies that were literally killing me in one hit.
Also Dark Souls in Sens Fortress was a huge spike the first time through. I hadn't died much up until that point maybe 10 times. Must have died at least 50 times trying to get to through Sens with all of the traps and enemies that were literally killing me in one hit.
Deified Data
Banned
I quit Order of Ecclesia because of this fight.
Best fight in the game, dude! Revisit that ASAP. That area is filled with places where he can't touch you if you look.
Valkyria Chronicles Chapter 7 rockets to mind.
This monstrosity turns up leading to a mission where you must slowly take it down while also avoiding its firepower and ability to flat out crush you, how well you succeed partly depends on if your Lancer units are feeling accurate or not and at this early point in the game expect a lot of buggering up from their inaccurate abilities.
Still you'll slowly get there, yep, maybe it's not so bad after all....
And then Selvaria makes her in battle debut, oh gee whiz! just what this mission needed, an invincible superwoman!
This is exactly where I gave up
Oh my god yes. I will never forget the day I finally beat that game with my cousins, and proceeded to never play it again.
Deified Data
Banned
Valkyria Chronicles Chapter 7 rockets to mind.
This monstrosity turns up leading to a mission where you must slowly take it down while also avoiding its firepower and ability to flat out crush you, how well you succeed partly depends on if your Lancer units are feeling accurate or not and at this early point in the game expect a lot of buggering up from their inaccurate abilities.
Still you'll slowly get there, yep, maybe it's not so bad after all....
And then Selvaria makes her in battle debut, oh gee whiz! just what this mission needed, an invincible superwoman!
This fight is the one that made me stop feeling guilty about save-whoring, to be honest.
Chief Icaroc
Banned
Force to fight alone...fml.
Thanks for reminding me I have never finished that game despite buying it on several platforms.