While video game genres span across games of all different difficulties, some genres hold a certain prestige with harder experiences, which makes them more intimidating.
This is usually due to one of the games that kickstarted said genres being challenging, so any game taking inspiration needed to follow suit.
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In this list, I’ll be discussing these genres, the games that started this trend of difficulty, and the notable games that tried to top their ancestors.
Difficulty is the main reason a genre can feel unwelcoming to newcomers, so I’ll try to shoot for ones with very notable, very hard standout titles in their lineup.
Unrelenting, As Is Tradition
As it goes with most games made in the 80s, the firstJRPGswere incredibly grindy, difficult, and a bit obnoxious to play at times, especially with series likeShin Megami Tensei.
While that series has once again continued to be difficult throughout its runtime, more and more JPRGs allow you to choose how hard you want it.
Most games in the genre have a difficulty slider and are more accessible than ever, but compared to Western RPGs, JRPGsstill tend to hang on to tradition.
Games likeDragon Quest 11orPersona 5have higher difficulty settings that make the difficulty spikes in those games hit like a freight train, even if they’re not too grindy.
9Metroidvania
A Trifecta of Tested Skills
Metroidstarted its own genre by combiningMarioandZeldainto a more exploratory kind ofplatformer, andCastlevaniafurther expanded on that idea. This genre, which is born of two series that are known for being incredibly difficult, means that, while Castlevania might be dead nowadays, its legacy carries on.
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Metroidvanias are a notably difficult genre, with the originaters being known for their difficulties, and everything on this list being challenging.
Metroidvaniasusually test you on your platforming, combat skill, and navigation while you explore a massive map, all of which can be pushed to their absolute limits.
Hollow Knight, for example, tests you with intense combat and platforming challenges nestled in an enormous map, and that’s just one example of a tough Metroidvania.
8Real-Time Strategy
Stressful Planning
Outside of a few Nintendo classics, theReal-Time Strategygenre has been almost entirely populated by complex games that ask you to micromanage a hundred things simultaneously.
It doesn’t help that RTS games like theWarhammerseries usually have cluttered UI with tons of small elements, which just looks complicated.
Nowadays, games likeAge of Empires,Company of Heroes, or theTotal Warseries constantly seek to top each other by adding more mechanics.
This makes the entire genre look like a stressful nightmare where you have to perform constantly, but at leastPikminis nice to you.
Survivalgames, if you didn’t know, expect you to survive off of limited resources, scavenge for new stuff, and constantly have the threat of death looming over you.
You could say The Oregon Trail pioneered the genre, but that would be dumb, so instead, I’ll sayDayZandDon’t Starveserved as inspiration for games to follow.
If the idea of being forced to survive under threat of starvation and suffering wasn’t enough, games likeSubnauticapushed it even further into horror territory.
This makes the genre feel pretty unwelcoming on the surface, with most modern survival games even pushing permadeath into the equation.
Highest Skill Ceiling
Easily the sweatiest genre known to man,Rhythmgames evolved from simply tapping arrows to the beat inDance Dance Revolutionto whatever the hell is going on in Beatmania iidx.
It’s known for making you move incredibly quick with your hands and/or feet, as well as requiring supreme hand-eye-ear coordination.
Rhythm games have always been up for massive challenges that push the boundaries of what a human being can achieve, which has given them a very intimidating presence.
It’s not hard to pick up one or two maps in something like Stepmania, but most people can’t play more than 10% of these games without folding.
5Bullet Hell
It Has “Hell” In The Name
You could probably guess thatBullet Hellstend to be games that throw massive waves of projectiles at the player, and you’d be right.
These games just look stupidly hard, and with the reputation thatTouhouhas gotten over its massive history, it’s not lost its intimidation factor even a little bit.
While more casual games take a shoot-em-up approach, bullet hells usually give you limited control, force you to aim with precision, and make you dodge and weave with no remorse.
This has led to these games often feeling overwhelming, with the massive, beautiful bullet patterns on display better left to the experts.
4Roguelike
A New Challenge Every Time
Roguelikeshave built a reputation for being cruel, through permadeath and no permanent upgrades being required mechanics for the genre.
If you skimp out on either of those things, you’re a Roguelite, and withthe Binding of Isaacbeing the leading cause of the genre’s resurgence, it’s only gotten more intense.
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The fact that people are so picky about what makes a game a roguelike and not a lite, on top of the generally difficult gameplay loop, makes it really hard to get into a roguelike.
This is even further bolstered by the hardcore audience that games likeRisk of Rain 2orNoitahave acquired over the years.
3Massively Multiplayer Online
Nose to the Grindstone
For genres that push the limits on how much grinding can fit in a style of game reserved almost exclusively for the unemployed among us,MMOstake the cake.
From humble beginnings of taking hours to walk across the entire map inRunescape, to the insane team-based raids ofDestiny 2.
MMOs usually take the slow-going approach to design, drip feeding you new stuff to do so you don’t get frustrated from the massive grind you need to do for any major progression.
This means the most dedicated players spend hundreds or thousands of hours on the game and it is especially frustrating for anyone looking to do PVP.
2Precision Platformer
Only For the Best
This one almost feels like cheating, as the name “Precision Platformer” alone implies a heightened difficulty and an ultimately less approachable game.
It doesn’t help that this genre manifested with games likeSuper Meat Boyor1001 Spikes, and then evolved into a massive beast withsome of the hardest games ever.
Namely,Celeste, Geometry Dash, and even some Metroidvanias like Hollow Knight are all eligible to be called Precision Platformers due to their intense skill requirements.
Of course, games in this genre can still manage to be accessible, but when one of the requirements is a high skill floor, it’ll be hard to get into.
1Soulslike
The Dark Souls of Genres
Dark Soulswas so good that it inspired a few hundred other games, with pretty much everysoulsliketaking after the incredible difficulty that Dark Souls was known for.
I don’t thinksoulslikes necessarily have to be difficult, but the intense combat, focus on parrying, and moody atmosphere are usually constants.
All of these factors make games likeElden Ring, Another Crab’s Treasure, and for the final time, Hollow Knight way harder to get into.
I know that, personally, whenever I see a game marketed as a soulslike I tend to be wary, since I usually associate it with grueling boss-fights, depressing stories, and games I’d otherwise be open to trying.
