Get ready to relive some controller-throwing moments! We're looking at the most frustrating and challenging levels that had gamers questioning their life choices. From precise platforming nightmares to punishing dungeons, these stages pushed players to their absolute limits.
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the video game levels from
00:17the last decade that most made us want to throw our controllers and or keyboards.
00:3010. Fire Temple – The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
00:47Dungeons are a constant in most Zelda games. However, given the open layout of Tears of
00:52the Kingdom, its templates can be hit or miss. And the Fire Temple is definitely a miss, built
00:58around a series of minecart tracks. The goal is to hit a series of gongs with your partner
01:03Unibo to open the boss room. However, navigating the tracks, even with a map, can be confusing
01:09and frustrating. But even if you bypass the card sections altogether, there are plenty
01:14of other aggravations, from Unibo not doing what you want, to confusing puzzles, to simply
01:20falling into lava after running out of stamina. While the Fire Temple isn't difficult, it's
01:25extremely annoying.
01:309. Overgrown Ruins – Returnal
01:37Most levels that make you want to tear your hair out tend to be placed later on. In this
01:42case, it's the first area of the game. Returnal is a roguelike title built around a time-loop
01:48mechanic. Basically, when you die, you lose all your progress except for a few key items
01:52and go back to the beginning. The learning curve when you're making your first few runs
01:56through the area is tough enough. However, even after acquiring better weapons, your upgrades
02:02are brought back to zero too, so even that's not much of an advantage. Particularly since
02:07everything on this stupid planet wants to kill you.
02:118. Ashina Castle – Sekiro's Shadows Die Twice
02:27Given that it's part of the Souls family, rage moments happen frequently in this game.
02:33And while dying against bosses is commonplace, perhaps the most frustrating level is the first
02:38visit to Ashina Castle. The area can feel like a major difficulty spike for many first-time
02:44players. The blue-robed samurai fencers are quite tough, and the night-jared ninjas on the
02:49rooftops can drop in to hit you out of nowhere. Of course, the rage from dying repeatedly to the
02:54tough enemies is only compounded by the castle's layout, which can be tough to get your head
02:59around at first. If your sense of direction isn't great, you're essentially trapped in a nightmare.
03:047. Cortex Castle – Crash Bandicoot 4 – It's About Time
03:23This castle is a maze. I alone know all of its secret halls and passages. Like the one behind the portrait of
03:32Grandfather that opens when you press on his triangular fossa?
03:369. Transforming in Crash games can range from tough but fair to absolute bandicoot dookie. The final level of this game
03:45falls into the ladder camp. Bottomless pits, disappearing platforms, and lasers. Then there's the final leg of the level,
03:52which leaves zero margin for error and which requires constant swapping between the various quantum masks and
03:58using each of their powers. Doing it perfectly doesn't take that long, but nobody's getting through this gauntlet
04:04on the first try. Oh, and if you try to get that flashback tape, you're gonna have a really bad time.
04:106. Temple of Sticks – Hades
04:20Con, is that your way of asking me for your own job, backboy? You will scourge upon every administrative duty to which you were assigned.
04:28Given that it's a roguelike set in the Greek underworld, Hades gives ample reasons for players to rage quit.
04:35But the Temple of Sticks is perhaps the most obnoxious area of the game. Positioned right before the final boss,
04:42the Temple of Sticks can either be fairly easy or a brutal gauntlet, depending on your build.
04:47Oh, and your luck. That's because only one of the five doors you go through leads to the exit, and how many rooms you have to do varies every run.
04:55The rooms being filled with enemies that do poison damage that stacks only make them more of a headache.
05:01You might as well swim the river sticks, cause that might be easier.
05:055. Long Journey's End – Super Mario Odyssey
05:09This Mario title continues the series' tradition of rewarding players for unlocking an extra final level by making it the hardest stage in the game.
05:17Long Journey's End subjects players to a prolonged platforming gauntlet, with minimal health, only one checkpoint, and most of it is set over lava.
05:26While individual sections can be completed fairly easily in isolation, it's the repetition that drives us completely insane with this one.
05:34By the time you reach a new part of it to tackle, you've probably already died an embarrassing number of times just getting there.
05:41And you'll probably die immediately in the new part as well.
05:564. El Fael – Brace of the Hallig Tree – Elden Ring
06:01Essentially, every area in Elden Ring is guaranteed to make someone gnash their teeth or hit their head against a wall in frustration.
06:09But El Fael takes the rage to a new level.
06:12While the environment is beautifully designed, you won't have any time to appreciate it since all of the most obnoxious enemies in the game are back and they're constantly attacking you.
06:22Two Hallig Tree Knights and an Erg Tree Avatar at the same time?
06:27Whose idea was that?
06:28And after all that, you have to fight Melania, one of FromSoftware's hardest, most soul-crushing bosses ever.
06:35Number 3. Path of Pain – Hollow Knight
06:47We'll save this for Path of Pain, at least it's not false advertising.
06:51This hidden area of the White Palace is an unrelenting gauntlet of buzz saws, thorns, enemies, and limited footholds.
06:58The only way through is to pogo-bounce off of mobs and saws to keep from the spikes above, below, and to the sides of you.
07:05You'll die over and over again because death is all around you and the only way through is by trial and a whole lot of error.
07:12Whether the pain you experience is mental or from the inevitable carpal tunnel syndrome, Path of Pain will deliver it.
07:19Number 2. Farewell – Celeste
07:35Every single solitary level of this glorious, endlessly frustrating precision platformer has made someone rage at some point.
07:42And yet, they all pale before farewell.
07:45Not only do you need to use every technique and mechanic you've learned up until this point, you also need to learn a surprising number of new ones just for this level.
07:54In addition to being the final chapter in the game, it's also the longest chapter, so you're going to be dying more than you ever have before.
08:02You'll be asking yourself repeatedly if Celeste's charming and moving story is really worth putting yourself through all of this when you could just watch someone else do it on YouTube.
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08:33Number 1. The Whole Thing – Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy
08:38That's not how I feel about a challenge. I only want the bitterness. It's coffee. It's grapefruit. It's licorice.
08:46Yeah, we're kind of cheating with this one, but this entire game is technically one long level, so we're counting it.
08:53The point of getting over it is to get a dude stuck in a cauldron up a mountain using a hammer.
08:59The obtuse controls and constant lectures from the narrator are infuriating enough, but the worst thing about getting over it is how easy it is to lose not just some, but all of your progress.
09:10That's right, no checkpoints. One wrong move in certain spots and you're back where you started.
09:16Bennett Foddy, we know making this game wasn't technically a crime, but if making gamers rage was against the law, you'd have gone right to jail after completing it.
09:25I dedicate this game to you, the one who came this far. I give it to you with all my love.
09:34Is there a level that made you crash out recently? Keep it mellow and share your picks in the comments.
