10 Video Games Only The Most Skilled Players Can Handle

WhatCulture

Unless you're going to put the time in, just give up.

Transcript

00:00Go back 30-odd years and analyse the gaming landscape, and you'll find home consoles

00:04trying to find their place amongst a consumer base unsure of whether a night's entertainment

00:08could be anything other than TV and film, arcades chock-full of experiences that bring

00:13social circles together, and a general sentiment that video games took practice, effort and

00:18dedication to play, understand and appreciate.

00:22This mentality is still felt today, but the industry itself has demonstrably changed.

00:26That said, while there's plenty of games that have gotten a lot easier, that doesn't

00:29mean that there aren't challenges out there for extraordinarily skilled players.

00:33I'm Jess from WhatCulture, and here are 10 video games only the most skilled players

00:38can handle.

00:3910.

00:40Kerbal Space Program

00:41You know all those people that end any discussion on a faux-complex topic with, it's not rocket

00:46science?

00:47Well, Kerbal Space Program is rocket science, and it's absolutely phenomenal.

00:52An unabashedly complex, unforgiving toolbox of ship components, physics interactions and

00:57rocket propellant, you're tasked with everything from achieving spaceflight, to maintaining

01:01velocity, landing on a number of planets, to even just not imploding in midair.

01:069.

01:07Steel Battalion

01:08The game that shipped with an entire mech cockpit to go alongside, Steel Battalion is

01:13damn fun and an all-round immersive experience like nothing else, provided you can get your

01:18head around literally driving a robot.

01:21Nintendo Labo's robot kit This Ain't has everything from ignition switches to joysticks,

01:26from multiple accelerator and brake pedals to levers all play a part in manoeuvrability.

01:32Add combat and quick reactions to the mix when the game's later levels kick in, and

01:36unless you've become one with your mech and can pivot, return fire and dodge accordingly,

01:41you are toast.

01:42It's really something when even getting your head around a game's controller is the opening

01:46slog.

01:478.

01:48Dark Souls and Bloodborne

01:49The obvious choice for anything like this, for as much as there's always an army of people

01:53who'll spring out either to proclaim that the Soulsborne games aren't really hard,

01:57let's just say they're wrong and move on.

01:59What FromSoftware perfected with their mix of restricted player movement, agile enemies

02:04and animation-prioritizing attacks, was an ethos behind gameplay that demands you re-approach

02:09everything you think you know about action games.

02:11It's absolutely the case that you can become one with this unique ebb and flow, whether

02:16you're playing Dark Souls, Bloodborne or Elden Ring.

02:19Such a sense of synergy is why millions of people proclaim Soulsborne titles as the best

02:23of the best, but overcoming that wall of progress really does take time, patience and

02:28perseverance.

02:297.

02:30Nioh

02:31Carrying on from where Dark Souls and Bloodborne left off, Team Ninja's Nioh was actually in

02:36development for a decade, yet emerged as a spiritual successor to everything FromSoftware

02:41pioneered.

02:42Where once we had belabored movements and a focus on positioning as you approached each

02:46encounter like a chess match, now a faster game engine means you can leap into a number

02:51of frays in quick succession, swapping stances, using items, drinking the game in at a far

02:57steadier pace than anything that came before.

02:59Team Ninja knew that speeding up Souls-like combat could make gameplay excruciatingly

03:03hard if they got it wrong, and it took two separate public alpha and beta demos to refine

03:08everything just right.

03:10These earlier looks into Nioh were only surmountable by gaming's most diehard masochists, feeding

03:15into a final product whose difficulty is as razor-sharp as its visuals are gorgeous to

03:20take in.

03:216.

03:22Super Meat Boy

03:23A game whose reputation tends to precede it, only 0.15% of all gamers on Sony systems have

03:29managed to unlock every last trophy in the game, not to mention how PC and Xbox players

03:34are getting on.

03:35Still, Team Meat's pixel-perfect platformer is one of the most initially accessible, charming

03:40and lovable games of them all.

03:41It invites a sense of playability that belies just how meticulously schooled in its physics

03:46you'll have to be to survive the later levels.

03:49Even the opening stages will best the majority of players, combining skin-of-your-teeth leaps

03:53over buzz-saws and reverse-momentum jumps in mid-air to clear some very intimidating

03:58runs.

03:59Super Meat Boy is very much for the elite old-school gamer, they who shall not smash

04:03the pad no matter how unfair the action on screen can get or feel.

04:075.

04:08Arma 3

04:09There are military-precision shooters, and then there's Arma 3.

04:13Initially born from the desire to make a 3D shooter that carried with it as many aspects

04:17of realism as possible, the franchise quickly developed a hardcore community that reveled

04:22in guns, attachments, bullet drop, camouflage and everything else you can think of that

04:27replicates a real-world combat scenario.

04:29By the time Arma 3 rolled around, developers Bohemia Interactive were completely entrenched

04:34in creating AI scripts and missions that'd challenge a fanbase already hungry to have

04:39their abilities pushed to the brink.

04:41The result was a game that, to this day, is mired by, is it too hard or is it just right?

04:47But no matter which way you slice it, getting comfortable with Arma 3 means putting a lot

04:51of time in.

04:524.

04:53Cuphead

04:54A gorgeous, stupidly beautiful game that was perhaps just a smidge too hard for its own

04:58good.

04:59You need only look at the achievement data to see just how far the average player progressed.

05:03It turns out, to the surprise of no one, only 15% of all players actually finished the game

05:08on normal.

05:10A slightly bigger 20% made it to the final aisle where the game's toughest bosses reside,

05:15but even the first and second aisle completions were 65% and 32% respectively.

05:21Back to the game itself, and Cuphead prides itself on having a brutally old-school mentality.

05:26Checkpoints are rationed out to the extreme, and overcoming any boss requires a solid half-hour

05:31of memorizing every attack that'll come your way before you can ultimately turn the tables

05:36at every last second.

05:383.

05:39Dota 2

05:40King of the MOBAs, Ruiner of Lives, and Lord Master of Reducing Everyday Working Individuals

05:46to Sundodging Husks, Dota is the perfect example of a game whose most interesting aspects get

05:50teased up front, but its learning curve will dominate your life thereafter.

05:55Picking the perfect combination of characters, abilities, and group strategies is arguably

06:00impossible, with each setup being balanced and workable in what feels like an infinite

06:04amount of ways.

06:05Though gameplay boils down to overcoming enemy forces and taking over checkpoints, the minute-to-minute

06:10gameplay of Dota is so enthralling and complex, it was one of the first games of its kind

06:15to become an eSport, attracting millions of viewers to this day.

06:19Getting into Dota is less a hobby or casual pursuit as it is a career, something you can

06:24seldom say about the vast majority of titles on the market.

06:272.

06:28Rainbow Six Siege

06:30It might have launched in a state more befitting an alpha test, but Rainbow Six Siege has blossomed

06:35into quite possibly the most tactile FPS on the market, where Call of Duty focuses on

06:40reaction times and battlefield playing the long game, Siege's mix of ability-equipped

06:45operators and maps riddled with scores of insertion methods is in a league all of its

06:49own.

06:50Destructible scenery means grabbing hostages or taking out opponents can be done from literally

06:54any angle, encouraging fortification and stealth takedowns as much as exploring or map learning.

07:00The result is simply a shooter that exceeds in pure tactics, something that will have

07:04your expectations for breakfast first time around, but slowly lets you become the master

07:09over a considerable amount of time.

07:111.

07:12Any Call of Duty Multiplayer

07:14Speaking of Call of Duty being the game to test your reaction times, if you're not

07:18in that top percentile of those who can draw a gun or move within fractions of a second

07:23of seeing an opponent, good luck.

07:25Notably, COD has become so popular for those exchanges where you've just missed out on

07:29firing a shot, ensuring that to gain the upper hand you'll have to be forever wide-eyed,

07:34putting as much time as possible into returning fire, and having a few contingency strategies

07:39if you make it out alive.

07:41Dropped grenades that can kill from beyond the grave, quick-fire aiming attachments and

07:45drawing your sidearm to finish a foe before they do you, Call of Duty is the pristine,

07:50billion-dollar equivalent of physical athletic competition made digital.

07:54That's the end of our list, but let me know down in the comments what you think are the

07:58best video games only the most skilled players will be able to handle.

08:03As always, I've been Jess from War Culture, thanks so much for hanging out with me.

08:06If you like you can come say hi to me on my Twitter account where I'm at JessMcDonald,

08:11but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more gaming goodness.

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