Who doesn’t love a good challenge from time to time?
Certainly, it’s never very fun to become so stuck on something that you’re pulling your hair out and screaming with frustration. But, that feeling of finally conquering a difficult challenge and tasting victory? There’s almost nothing that compares, especially in the realm of video games! That’s why, for this list, we’ll be looking at the Top 10 Hardest Levels I’ve Beaten (because there are plenty of challenges in games I haven’t played, and even a few difficult tasks I’ve bowed-out of). Some of these are fond memories, some not so much, but it is what it is!
Let’s jump into it!
(For fun, I’ll include links to video playthroughs of the levels, so you can take a peek at the craziness that unfolds!)
10) Serenity in Ruin ~ Fire Emblem Engage – (LINK)
Fire Emblem Engage is a game that could’ve been hilariously easy, simply because it’s the most overpowered your units can ever be in a Fire Emblem game. Engage avoids this, however, by also allowing your enemies to utilize the same mechanics and techniques that you can. This level, signaling the start of this game’s Act Three, is one of the hardest Fire Emblem maps to date, because it pits you and your team of units (who in this game can merge, or engage with past heroes for a big power boost) against every single named villain in the game, each with their own engaged shadow partner. The result is a grueling and unforgettable showdown against the backdrop of a destroyed port town, where each new foe feels as unsurmountable as the last.
9) Provisional Government Center ~ Code Vein – (LINK)
Code Vein is, to the shock of absolutely no one, a difficult game. You can make it easier on yourself with certain builds (two-handed greatswords) or by using certain party members (Mia), but the enemies and bosses still pose a significant threat. Nowhere is that more exemplified than in the “Provisional Government Center”, the final area before the last boss. It’s a massive sprawling maze filled with every single trick and trap in the playbook, and the toughest collection of baddies by far. Checkpoints are few and far between too, ensuring that you really have to give it your all in order to scoure the place for secrets and survive. The mid-boss is easy, but the final boss is one of the game’s toughest, and the secret extra boss…sucks, but also because of unfair difficulty, adding to the tribulation of this area!
8) Liberation of Fouzen ~ Valkyria Chronicles – (LINK)
Valkyria Chronicles is not an easy series, even in the entries that include an Easy Mode (and especially in this first installment, which does not). Every single battle pits your small squad against seemingly insurmountable challenges, but the truly difficult levels push it even further. It’s hard enough staring down intrenched enemy snipers, heavy-armored tanks, and a battalion of shocktroopers, but what about an invincible mini-gun tank? Any Valkyria Chronicles fan has memories (and perhaps nightmares) of tackling this level, and it’s made especially more challenging because of how fast (and reckless) you need to be to get an A-rank. If you aren’t prepared to sacrifice soldiers to this merciless behemoth, you’d best try the slow-and-steady (and only barely easier) method instead!
7) Defiled Chalice Dungeon ~ Bloodborne – (LINK)
Bloodborne, like all games developed by From Software, is notoriously challenging, and will constantly push you to your limits. But the optional chalice dungeon, the Defiled Chalice Dungeon, really pushes things towards the “unfair” side of things. In this bonus dungeon, not only do enemies have girthy health bars and hit like trucks, but your own health bar has been severely handicapped, to the point where 80% of attacks will kill you in a single blow. This is counterintuitive to Bloodborne‘s gameplay, however, which is built around a “rally” system wherein you can hit enemies immediately after being struck to siphon their health into your own. As one might imagine, this makes this dungeon horribly frustration. Worse, it’s only “optional” if you’re okay with missing out on the secret boss lurking in its depths, and also the PlayStation Platinum Trophy!
6) Unhappy Reunion ~ Fire Emblem Fates Conquest – (LINK)
Arguably one of the most infamous and well-liked maps in the entire series, “Unhappy Reunion” is one for the history books. Taking place at Chapter 10 in the Conquest Route of Fire Emblem Fates, this level is a serious wake-up call for new players (and even experienced ones). For ten turns, you have to defend a narrow strip of road from an almost infinitely encroaching army. If a single enemy touches that road, you instantly lose. At first, your barrier walls and ballista seem like enough, but as the hordes keep throwing themselves against you (and the sneaky enemy commander drains the port’s water to allow land-based onslaught), it becomes a bloodbath that spirals out of control. It’s the fact that this level is so long but can end in an instant because of a single mistake that makes it so rough…and so fun. But heavens help you if you’re playing on Classic Mode!
5) Champion’s Road ~ Super Mario 3D World – (LINK)
It might surprise you if you aren’t aware of this, but Mario games tend to cap off with an exceptionally difficult, length challenge gauntlet that is utterly opposite the family-friendly fun of the rest of the game. Super Mario 3D World follows this pattern, giving players “Champion’s Road” to tackle if you want the coveted 100% completion of this fantastic game. It’s the longest level in the game by far, and forces you to endure a myriad of enemies and tight precision platforming, all without any checkpoints. You can use power-ups that you’ve brought into the level yourself, which is nice, but that hardly alleviates the sheer skill you’ll need to show in order to reach what most would consider to be this game’s true ending. This (and the levels that will come in below this one on the list) are all examples of how practice-makes-perfect.
4) Land of the Livid Dead ~ Rayman Origins – (LINK)
All of the optional content in Rayman Origins is extremely difficult, but if you thought the “Tricky Treasure” challenges were the tip of the iceberg…you were very wrong. After conquering each treasure chest chase, your reward is the secret final level and optional bonus ending, “Land of the Livid Dead”. It’s a testament to the difficulty of this level that it manages to be on this list despite being in a game with infinite retries, and contains multiple checkpoints throughout its huge runtime! The platforming here is just that tricky to overcome, mixing in wall-jumping and wall-running, some enemy combat, expertly timing your swings and floats, dodging fireballs, and besting a big demon monster lady. It’s exhilarating stuff, and a level I actively look forward to on each playthrough, even if I still have constant trouble with it!
3) Infiltration Station Invaded ~ Rayman Legends – (LINK)
This is a weird one, because it’s just a tiny little level and not some epic confrontation of a gauntlet-length final challenge level. If you look at the screenshot, you’ll notice that the optimal score to aim for in completing this level is only 40 seconds. Trust me, those 40 seconds will feel like an impossible barrier to overcome by the time you finally conquer this level. I’d never thought such a short level could be so hair-pullingly frustrating, but I nearly quit the game trying to complete it on my first playthrough (and still struggled immensely on my second). You don’t have a single ounce of wiggle room, and must be pixel perfect in order to achieve victory. This level demands more perfection than any other in the game, and it’s sole saving grace is that it is only 40 seconds long (even if it takes you a 100 times longer than that to win).
2) Blood Stained Sanctuary ~ Cave Story – (LINK)
Cave Story got a lot of hype when it came out, but I feel like it’s become pretty sadly overlooked in recent years. The game is a blast, and that’s best encapsulated in the fun (and very frustrating) “Blood Stained Sanctuary”. After a series of convoluted prerequisites that you’d only ever figure out by following a guide online (and I have to wonder how the first players ever figured it out to begin with), you unlock this bonus level that leads to the True Ending. And it’s so simple! All you have to do is fall down a pit of instant-death spikes, escape a crumbling enemy-filled hallway, fight through a tough gauntlet of tanky foes, defeat a mini-boss who can insta-kill you AFTER he dies by his corpse falling on you, and then take down the three-phase final boss. Simple, right? Oh, and remember that you do all of this with no checkpoints and only a single healing potion IF you’ve conserved it for the entire game until now.
1) The Perfect Run ~ Super Mario Galaxy 2 – (LINK)
The title of this level is not a lie. This level is truly “The Perfect Run”, and it demands absolute perfection from you for the entirety of its massive length. And it’s a nightmare of the best kind. I think it only took me about an hour to complete my first time (which is shorter than some of the other entries on this list), but it was a nerve-wracking experience. I was shaking so hard I felt sick to my stomach, and I’ve gone back to try and replay the level for fun and have NOT been able to do it again (unlike everything else on this list).
You start with a Yoshi obstacle course, swinging between mines and spiked enemies. Next comes hitting a bunch of colored switches while avoiding laser beams. Afterwards, you demonstrate your mastery of the Cloud ability while weaving around electric fences. Then, the hardest part, wherein you traverse a hallway where the platforms switch around each time you jump WHILE you’re jumping over overlapping insta-death fiery rings and avoiding fireballs. Then you’ve got some tight platforming and pull-star shenanigans, capped off by hopping across flipping blocks while escaping from hammer-throwing foes. It ends with a mini-boss fight against a trio of boomerang wielders.
When you land on that blissful island, meet Rosalina face-to-face for the first and only time in this game, and are presented with the star? There’s almost no comparable feeling in all of gaming.
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 