Nintendo has done incredibly well with theNintendoSwitch, the portable handheld console. In the space of three years, it has now outsold both theSuper Nintendo Entertainment Systemand theXbox One. During this time, Nintendo, as well as countless other incredible companies, has made some genuinely stellar games for the console.
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But out of all of those released, what are the most difficult games for the console to date? Are they Nintendo’s own creations? Triple-A studio games? Or are they incredible indie titles, as the Nintendo Switch is the perfect home for such games? We take a look.
10Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition
This game is a must-play forThe Legend of Zeldafans out there, especially with all effort and the little details they have added to it to make it a trueZeldatitle at heart. As well as having the heart of Zelda, they also have a mindblowing amount of content in this hack and slash title.
There’s a lot of adventure mode maps, and of course, it’s best to start from the very bottom because the difficulty is designed with this in mind. The game expects you to have the best weapons unlocked in the game from the other maps, but if you don’t, these maps are challenging. Another reason for the difficulty is the friendly AI is dreadful, so you more or less have to do everything yourself.
9Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Near the start of the game is one of the hardest moments of thisJRPG. As you have the chance to explore this massive lush world, however, if you choose to do so, you’ll be chased halfway around the world by higher-level monsters than you, or get one-shotted like a fly. The aggro on some of these monsters is crazy.
The RNG of this game is the other reason why it’s difficult, because to get the legendary cores in the game, requires a lot of grinding and a lot of luck to get them, and the more you find, the harder it becomes to acquire them.
8Super Meat Boy
Have you got bandages handy? Because your thumb is going to be in pain very soon.Super Meat Boyis an indie 2D platformer, which is an incredible game and its premise is straightforward. You play as a lump of meat trying to save your meat girlfriend, and to do this you must transverse deadly obstacles, such as sawblades and moving sawblades, to get to the exit of the stage. One hit and you’re dead, and each stage gets noticeably tougher as you progress.
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The controls are so fluid and so precise that if you die, it’s 99% of the time not going to be the games fault. However, when you finally complete a stage, a replay of every single death appears on screen at once, and it’s hilarious to watch.
7Celeste
Celesteis anindiepixelated 2D platformer, which has an incredibly deep emotional story behind it. The main character is trying to climb the tallest magical mountain while fighting her inner demons. Upon starting to climb, she gets granted a dashing ability off a bird that allows her to dash in mid-air, this is the most crucial mechanic in the game.
The gameplay is very much likeSuper Meat Boy, get to the exit of the stage. Each stage is a puzzle, and as you progress through the story, the game will get notably harder and you’ll have to use all the controls in tandem multiple times, to reach the exit.
6Darkest Dungeon
The indie title theDarkest Dungeonis an incredibly hard game indeed, mostly because of its extremely steep learning curve. At the start of the game, there is an awful lot to learn, it throws tons of knowledge at you, and says go experience the game with this in mind.
In this game experience is power, you can’t expect to complete it on your first playthrough. However, the game gives you all of the tools and knowledge needed to beat it, but it’s how you process and use that information is the difference between success and failure.
Indie rogue-lites are becoming more and more common, andDeadCellsis one of them. It’s an amazingly fun rogue-lite that should not be taken lightly at any cost. It’s very heavily based on luck, as what weapons and equipment you’ll find on your run is completely random and is based on what you’ve unlocked. As you kill enemies, they have the chance to drop cells, which then can be used to unlock new equipment, although some can take 20 cells to unlock, while others might take 100 or even 300 to do so.
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The game truly opens up when you’ve completed the first run and killed the boss, as he drops a boss cell, which unlocks hard mode, and then finishing that and using another boss cell will make the game harder still.
4Cuphead
Popular indie titleCupheadis one of the most graphically gorgeous games out there, as it’s completely hand-drawn. Every frame of animation is unique and it’s truly a fantastic work of art. However, taking away its art style, you’re left with an incredibly tough game at its core.
This title is a platforming shooting game partially mixed with the bullet hell genre, so it’s also a game about patience and learning. You have to fire and kill everything on the levels, as well as dodge enemy fire. Bosses, for around 80% of the game, will telegraph their attacks, and it’s in your best interests to know when these are coming, otherwise you’re going to die. So don’t stop firing and dodge.
3Enter The Gungeon
Indie bullet hell rogue-likeEnter The Gungeonsees you traverse a dungeon going deeper and deeper finding new and unique weapons to kill your enemies with. However, at the same time, rooms of enemies will also be firing at you, and you only have limited health, so dodging everything is advisable.
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Each enemy has a different way of attacking, so it’s best to learn who is the most significant danger in a room and deal with them first. At the end of every floor, there is a boss that has to be killed to move deeper in, but these bosses are no joke, so unless you’ve picked up some good weaponry, you’ll be in for a hard time.
2Binding Of Isaac
Another indie roguelike appears, and this one was one of the first to become massive due to its popularity, but what was truly special about this title that it doesn’t hold your hand in the slightest. Like most roguelikes, finding weapons/items is essential to be able to continue onwards. However, withBinding of Isaacwhen picking up new things, it does not tell you what it does, you have to find that out for yourself.
So you could be having an amazing run and picking up that one new item could destroy the run entirely, and in the next hit, it could be all over. You have to learn what things are good and what are bad.
1Ikaruga
Ikarugais one of the best bullet hells of its genre, and because of that, it’s incredibly challenging to master. The mechanics of the game are quite simple, but playing and mastering are two different things.
They are two types of enemies white/blue and black/red, and your ship can change its polarity to both of these colors but only one at a time. This means at white polarity, you may absorb enemy fire from white/blue enemies, but black/red will kill you, and of course, both are on screen at the same time, so you have to decide what color is best in certain situations. This game needs both skill and experience to master; it’s genuinely an intricate masterpiece.
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