Hardest game you've ever beaten?

I beat Call of Duty World at War on Veteran. Easily the hardest COD I've ever played. The Storming The Reichstag level at the very end almost made me quit the game. Grenade spam everywhere. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus on 'I Am Death Incarnate' difficulty is up there, as well as Ninja Gaiden for Xbox. Probably a lot of NES games that I can't remember. Cuphead doesn't really rate for me, it's not that hard.

mgs1 maybe

Not to derail the thread, but in trying to think about the hardest game I've beaten (Stuntman 100%, as I mentioned earlier), I started thinking about games that just flat-out broke me. Fester's Quest, man. Fuck that game. This video pretty accurately sums it up.

Ori and the blind forest is really hard.

I'm finding myself wanting to mine this thread for games to play. I'm kind of shocked at the ones that keep popping up, Like World at War, Meat Boy, and SMT Nocturne.

I don't know if it counts as "beating the game", but there were some absolutely nuts trophies for Wipeout HD on the Playstation 3 that I got. I'm not sure why I spent as much effort on those things as I did, but holy shit they were hard.

Other than that, I don't really know. I'm not all that great at games, so nothing stands out as being special. Demon's Souls seemed very hard at the time? I've probably beaten a number of NES/Genesis games that are considered difficult?

I just remembered one that obsessed me: OlliOlli in RAD mode (you need to revisit all fifty levels while landing only perfect combos and grinds). That was one of those, "I know I can do it if I completely disregard my needs as a human being: food, water, hygiene, and sleep."

And I was right, dammit. So rewarding, though.

I've beaten Duke Nukem Forever on the highest difficulty and that was infuriating (I've earned every steam achievement for that stupid game). You simply cannot fully grasp what is truly wrong with that game's design if you only played it on normal difficulty. Nearly every boss fight in that game either puts you in a cramped space or nails you to a turret so you have little to no chance to avoid getting "bitch slapped" by a boss. The only way to beat one particular boss on the highest difficulty is to hide in corner behind a truck next to a stash of pipe bombs and toss those pipe bombs at the boss because Duke's fragile ego can't handle having a car kicked in his face.

Probably SMT Nocturne for me too, it was more of a chore than actual difficulty considering I just grind the shit out of it, and you get ridiculously powerful if you are willing to do the time and know how to build your character beforehand.

I don't play many hard games. I just don't find enjoyment in then. The first thing that jumps to mind is probably all the Souls games and Bloodborne and Nioh without any summons.

I tried this and completed it..except on the final level somebody died somewhere even though I didnt kill anybody....

Hmm. Spelunky in 8 minutes was pretty hard. Alpha Centauri on Transcend difficulty. Mass Effect 2/3 on Insanity. Probably forgetting something.

That sounds dope, actually. What are the crucial jobs? I'm guessing Monk, but with the Knight's "wear plate armor" skill (or whatever it was called)? I remember figuring that one out, and suddenly Ramza was a fucking freight train that could heal and remove status effects.

As much as I don't want to say that Dark Souls 1 is the hardest game I've beaten, Dark Souls 1 is the hardest game I've beaten.

I could have multiple answers and almost all are NES based.

Ninja Gaiden 1 on the NES because dying on the last boss only to have to redo the entire last section is complete horseshit. However that game's infinite continue system does alleviate some of that.

The Legend of Zelda 2 because Shadow Link was a bunch of bullshit for 8 year old me.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengance - I actually don't think this game is hard but the last boss requires the use of certain mechanics that the game doesn't teach or force you to use in anyway.

Cannon Fodder. I must do a replay one of these days. I remember it being a little masterpiece.

There are not a lot of "hard games" that I've actually finished but the first title that comes to mind is Elite Beat Agents on the Nintendo DS. I beat the game on all 4 difficulty modes and S ranked every level. It was very challenging but a lot of fun, although I can't listen to Jumpin Jack Flash anymore.

I'm not one to go after super challenging games or raise the difficulty to the highest level (except maybe in sports games). But I did beat Dark Souls 1 and 2 both without summoning any help from other players. Those are probably my most proud gaming achievements as far as difficulty is concerned.

Shovel Knight is hardly a tough-as-nails platformer, but I still felt pretty good about beating it some 3-4 years ago, mainly because I don't consider my current-self to be skilled or patient at all with "old school" games like that.

Super Meat Boy comes to mind. It isn't just that I beat the main game, I also beat the Bandage Girl levels and even some of the ultra hard bonus levels including the I Wanna be the Guy warp zone (context).

Had a lot of time on my hands back then.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma? I dunno. I only really got into challenging games late. Dark Souls felt like more of a commitment but neither really seem that bad in retrospect.

@onemanarmyy: Dude I was stuck on that driver's license test for HOURS AND HOURS. WHY WAS IT SO HARD!? MY TRAUMA!

As an addition to my earlier post, having had some recollection from reading the thread. Super Meat Boy really was goddamn hard, maybe that's actually the hardest I've done? I was contemplating Xcom 2, but I felt like that was more attrition than anything. And once you break through a certain point in the campaign the endgame kinda becomes a joke, so it wasn't THAT hard.

Though in reality it probably is one of the hack and slash games I've beaten. It's just that I kept playing them and it's such a blur and I'm so far removed from how it was to be new and confused in games like souls, dmc, platinum games etc. possibly DMC3? That game sticks out a little bit in my memory as possibly the hardest one I've beaten. The game of the type I consider the hardest is Ninja Gaiden Black, but I never played more than a few hours of it so it doesn't fit the spirit of the question. Maybe I should just go play through that to have a definitive answer lol. :P

Ninaj Gaiden 3 and Batman for the NES.

Not sure how hard they are compared to other games here, but the truth is, I never liked games that advertised "hard" as a feature...

I've beaten the Mass Effect trilogy on Insanity. That's as good as it gets for me.

Insert any dark souls game/bloodborne here. They're not considered super hard by a lot of people, but among the slew of "difficult" games out there, it's a series that I've routinely finished.

Umm, and I guess the Destiny 2 Leviathan Raid on Prestige. That was a real challenge. Those freakin baths were stupid. Going through the vanilla version of it also took some time. The difficulty there was more figuring stuff out than the gameplay itself though.

Felt pretty good beating The Revenge of Shinobi. Not sure if it's the hardest game I've beaten.
I S-Ranked every Thumper level and that took a bit of work. Also got Platinum and 100% everything in Rhythm Heaven Megamix.

F-Zero GX very hard story mode. It was quite hard indeed.

The real answer is probably Super Meat Boy or one of the Soulsborne games, but recently, I would say Celeste. The B and C sides specifically are extremely challenging. I haven't felt such a feeling of satisfaction from finishing individual levels, let alone the entire game, in years.