• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Most Insane Difficulty Spikes in games.

Rommaz

Rommaz

Member
Nov 27, 2017
6,267
Kitwe, Zambia.
We all know that feeling. Breezing through a game and then BAM you hit a brick wall in the form of a crazy mission or level. Difficulty curves don't necessarily need to be fair but they shouldn't spike too much.

My recent example is from DK Country Tropical Freeze. The game was relatively easy until I got to world 5. The change in difficulty was very jarring and I lost a whole lot more lives than I expected. It's not even like Cuphead were the game is hard as nails from the start so you're used to it, I got thrown off real bad and took some time to adjust.

What spikes caught all of y'all off guard? Of course I expect someone to say the tank stage(Mission 7) from Valkyria Chronicles 1 so I'm already putting that out there.
 
Funny Valentine

Funny Valentine

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
2,904
Halo 2 Legendary when you get to the Outskirts mission and every Jackal Sniper can kill you in one hit and they are everywhere.
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

533.489 paid youtubers cant be wrong
Member
Oct 28, 2017
30,451
old haven is far more troublesome than anything in borderlands (including the final boss). the game goes from easy to old haven to easy again. its a single area with just a couple of missions and yet you probably spends more time there than in the rest of the game (it helps that is arguably the best part of the game, but still)
 
Noppie

Noppie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,773
2469192-screen+shot+2013-04-13+at+10.20.31+am.jpg
 
SirKai

SirKai

Member
Dec 28, 2017
7,397
Washington
Obligatory Matador from SMT: Nocturne.

Also, the Elder Wyrm from Final Fantasy XII. Really tough fight for the first half of the game with all the status ailments he inflicts. Also the
mandatory Roxas fight
added to KH2 Final Mix near the end of the game is no joke.
 

Rob2K19

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,646
Your no Nai Kuni. Beat the normal ending play through with ease then the first post game (I say post game but the story continues to get the true ending) boss makes you say WTF! Still haven't beaten it.
 
The Unsent

The Unsent

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,439
In FFXII that bird boss at the raithwall tomb is a pain in the arse if you underlevel your archery.
 
OP
OP
Rommaz

Rommaz

Member
Nov 27, 2017
6,267
Kitwe, Zambia.
SirKai said:
Obligatory Matador from SMT: Nocturne.

Also, the Elder Wyrm from Final Fantasy XII. Really tough fight for the first half of the game with all the status ailments he inflicts. Also the
mandatory Roxas fight
added to KH2 Final Mix near the end of the game is no joke.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Speaking of SMT...screw Mem Aleph from Strange Journey. I get it she's the final boss. But the gap between her and what's before is insane. Could almost make you want to do the chaos route to avoid her.
 
Tali'Zorah

Tali'Zorah

Member
Oct 27, 2017
636
Norfolk, UK
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep I found to be very easy until hitting each character's final boss, where it got insanely hard. Legitimately must have spent about 2 hours on the final stage of Terra's final boss
 
Omnicent

Omnicent

Member
Oct 25, 2017
432
Earth
Final Fantasy Tactics Castle Riovanes Castle (the whole fucking thing) on a first time, not grindy, blind run.
Not gonna lie I had to start a whole new game, cause why the fuck would I need more than 1 save slot?
Why is there three pain in the ass fights back to back (Wiegraf, Velius, and then the roof battle)
 
Runner

Runner

Member
Nov 1, 2017
2,727
RIOVANNES CASTLE
the level you have to deal with auto controlled Rafa and Malek, then the level you have to save Rafa from running head first into a pile of super ninjas, followed by the one on one fight with Weigraf, followed by a Lucavi fight with no chance to go back to level up between.

You can Save between though which if you save and can't finish you have to start the game over

Edit: beaten by a roof ninja
 
Petruccis Biceps

Petruccis Biceps

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,538
One that comes to mind to me is a fight in Baten Kaitos 1 about half way through the game I think? Anyway you fight 3 bosses at once and they're pretty tough and you are on an airship and theres no way to get back to the world map until you beat the section. Doesnt seem so bad right? You could just grind around the airship until you're leveled right?

Wrong.

If you ever played the BK games, you accumulate EXP normally, however, in order to level up, you need to use specific save points. There are blue save points which allow you to save and level up, and red ones which just allow you to save. Guess which one is on the airship? Yup, red.

So basically if you're underleveled at this point, you can pretty much lock yourself out of the rest of the game at this point. It doesn't help that the bosses are pretty difficult too.
 

Skulldead

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,454
Baten Kaitos Origin, Holobird can go in hell

Last Boss in Metal Gear Rising, not a single problem on hard... but this bastard i was never able to beat him...

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure is actualy prettty challenging, but when you hit the last world...

DQ 8, I don't even have to spoil it, that midway boss... i know you don't have to grind, but 95% of who pass him had to grind...

Last Boss of Heavenly Sword, such a simple and easy game, THEN BAM !

Growlanser 3, that city fight with like 3 boss... fuck that the game was super easy until that..

Wild arm 5 that infamous 1 on 1 fight....

Final fantasy Tactic same a 1 on 1 fight on chaoter 3 ....


Balancing a game is hard i could continue haha

Petruccis Biceps said:
One that comes to mind to me is a fight in Baten Kaitos 1 about half way through the game I think? Anyway you fight 3 bosses at once and they're pretty tough and you are on an airship and theres no way to get back to the world map until you beat the section. Doesnt seem so bad right? You could just grind around the airship until you're leveled right?

Wrong.

If you ever played the BK games, you accumulate EXP normally, however, in order to level up, you need to use specific save points. There are blue save points which allow you to save and level up, and red ones which just allow you to save. Guess which one is on the airship? Yup, red.

So basically if you're underleveled at this point, you can pretty much lock yourself out of the rest of the game at this point. It doesn't help that the bosses are pretty difficult too.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Remember that one, i was about to give up, but a miracle happen...
 
Certinfy

Certinfy

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
3,476
Vampyr.

The first third of the game you can pretty much complete just messing around. Then you fight a boss in the sewers and unless you grasp the combat and level up your character well, you're f***ed.
 
kubev

kubev

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,533
California
Zodd in Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage for Dreamcast. I was only playing on Normal, and I simply couldn't beat him, despite the rest of the game up until that point not being overly difficult.

 
Omnicent

Omnicent

Member
Oct 25, 2017
432
Earth
Petruccis Biceps said:
One that comes to mind to me is a fight in Baten Kaitos 1 about half way through the game I think? Anyway you fight 3 bosses at once and they're pretty tough and you are on an airship and theres no way to get back to the world map until you beat the section. Doesnt seem so bad right? You could just grind around the airship until you're leveled right?

Wrong.

If you ever played the BK games, you accumulate EXP normally, however, in order to level up, you need to use specific save points. There are blue save points which allow you to save and level up, and red ones which just allow you to save. Guess which one is on the airship? Yup, red.

So basically if you're underleveled at this point, you can pretty much lock yourself out of the rest of the game at this point. It doesn't help that the bosses are pretty difficult too.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Giacomo. Ayme, and Folon fights are rough throught the game.
It's no Holoholobird *SCREAMS* from origins
 
Kino

Kino

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,326
Paper Mario thousands year door final boss was insanely hard compared to everything else in the game. Nothing else in the game requires that level of prep and strat

Jin and malos in xb2 is another boss fight that just came out of nowhere are body slammed me
 
Acquiescence

Acquiescence

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,257
Lake Titicaca
If you were a beginner to JRPGs like I was, you almost certainly got F'd in the A hard by Demon's Gate in Final Fantasy VII. Even now, I still have to make sure I take the necessary precautions before facing off against him.

And Nier: Automata was for the most part a very easy game, but that boss in the desert that consisted of several connecting/disconnecting metal balls forced me to lower the difficulty. Such a hot mess of game design.
 
Wabba

Wabba

Member
Apr 12, 2018
140
killzone2_88gyqqw.jpg


Killzone 2 - The last level and fight with Radec was like going from medium to extreme.
 
Vitor

Vitor

Member
Oct 30, 2017
517
I'm having a really hard time with the last boss in Hollow Knight (I'm pretty sure it's the last boss, it's right after you can see the percentage of the game you completed). It's not like the game was breeze until that point, but I usually could beat the bosses after a couple of tries. I even managed to beat the second trial in the Colosseum of Fools. But the last boss has me stumped for weeks...
 
kaishek

kaishek

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,144
Texas
Steamworld Dig 2's final boss is absolutely insane and it almost made me hate that game. Just dumb.

edit: honorable mention to the Watcher Knights in Hollow Knight as well, garbage DPS check in an otherwise grand experience.

and a famous one, Riovanes Castle in Final Fantasy Tactics. Though I really like that whole 3-part scenario and think it is very well put together and a fair challenge, it is MUCH more difficult than anything before it.

FFIX has Master Gizamaluke which is arguably the toughest boss in the game until Memoria.

and Dark Souls 3 has the biggest skillcheck of any of the Soulsborne games imo with Irithyl of the Boreal Valley, leading up to Pontiff Suleyvahn.
 
Rimkrak

Rimkrak

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,832
TMNT on NES. When you launch the game. As a kid I was not ready.

But seriously the underwater lvl in this game , fuck it all the way to hell ^^
 
Mr. Poolman

Mr. Poolman

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
7,003
Wiegraf from FFT is so hard going blind it actually teaches a valuable life lesson on keeping multiple save files.
 
Se_7_eN

Se_7_eN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,722
God of War (2018) - Give me God of War mode

The difficulty spike is reversed... Starts out insanely difficult as to where even the tutorial learning fights take 50+ tries, then starts to smooth out after 8 or so hours. The weirdest thing about this mode, is they were telling everyone to start the game in this mode, yet it feels like it was a largely untested difficulty.
Deep-end.jpg
 
Kapten

Kapten

Avenger
Nov 1, 2017
1,448
Wabba said:
killzone2_88gyqqw.jpg


Killzone 2 - The last level and fight with Radec was like going from medium to extreme.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

One of my best moments in gaming was when I beat that piece of shit on Elite, pre-patch where they nerfed him.

Was stuck on him for days.

And let out a mighty victorious roar when he finally fell. Fucknugget.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.