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00:00Boom. What? Not afraid of death? There are worse things than death. True, true.
00:11Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today our nostalgia is fighting back as we struggle to get good
00:17enough to beat the 20 hardest PS2 games. This party's getting crazy. Let's rock.
00:24Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
00:29about our latest videos.
00:41It doesn't get much more difficult than what's appropriately been coined the Bullet
00:45Hell Shooter. The Gradius series had a long and storied history of repeatedly beating
00:50down players with unending streams of projectiles and screen filling bosses, with equally screen
00:56filling attacks. But somehow, for their last numbered entry in the series, developer Treasure
01:02managed to up the ante even further. With virtually no space to dodge in-between attacks,
01:08even the additional lives Gradius V mercifully gives to players only delays the inevitable
01:14game over screen. Bullet Hell Shooters always demand an almost god-like skill from their
01:19players, and Gradius V forces players to ascend to an even higher plane of existence and near
01:25perfection to even stand a chance of completing the game, let alone the opening levels. Make
01:31no mistake, you will cry, and Gradius will become stronger from your tears.
01:45Chaos Legion
01:53The early 2000s experienced a renaissance of action hack and slash titles, but that
01:58doesn't mean all of them would necessarily hold your hand throughout. Chaos Legion introduced
02:04several interesting mechanics to the mix in which the player isn't fighting alone, and
02:09instead joined by various legions which the player can issue commands to. However, this
02:14also comes at the cost of the player's speed and power, leaving them more vulnerable when
02:19their legion is summoned. The game will routinely send hordes of enemies the player's way, and
02:25with many of the arenas amounting to nothing more than cramped corridors, it's all too
02:29easy to become overwhelmed. Full of forced grinding just to match the enemy's levels,
02:34as well as a system that punishes players upon death by sending them back to the most
02:39recent intermission screen, but with only half the XP they'd earned, this chaos is
02:45not for the faint hearted. Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne
03:05These days, the Shin Megami Tensei series is more widely recognized as the edgy cousin
03:10to the more popular Persona series, but those familiar with the franchise are diehard loyalists
03:16even when the series routinely kicks their asses. SMT's third entry in particular can
03:22be especially difficult for those unfamiliar with the game's systems versus those coming
03:26in from the Persona series to see where it all began. Nocturne's battle system relies
03:31heavily on negotiating with the many monsters and demons you encounter and coercing them
03:36to fight alongside you. However, even with those additional forces at your side, the
03:41game will routinely throw you into battles that can easily insta-kill your entire party
03:47and bosses who aren't above exploiting the player's vulnerabilities. The recent HD remaster
03:53even added new difficulty options to ease newcomers into the series and one of its most
03:58challenging entries. Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter
04:06The Breath of Fire series already challenged its many fans, but Dragon Quarter managed
04:11to weed out even some of the series' seasoned pros. Dragon Quarter introduced returning
04:16players to a new battle system that it also seemed to expect them to know everything about
04:21right away despite the game still teaching the mechanics well into the first couple hours.
04:27Even those who managed to power through these early challenges were met by bosses that could
04:31easily make them feel like they missed an important tutorial along the way. The game
04:35was also designed in a way so that players were basically forced into replaying the title
04:40to experience the entire story as intended, and given how much of a struggle the game
04:44could be even on a single playthrough, that was a big ask of even the most devoted fan.
04:50Airblade
04:56Tony Hawk initiated a deluge of extreme sports titles and while some of them saw great success,
05:02not all attempts to shake up the formula were successful. Just before they were crashing
05:06cars better than anyone else in the industry, Criterion Games tried their hand at a Tony
05:11Hawk inspired extreme sports title and used Back to the Future 2's Hoverboard to do it.
05:17However, whereas the Tony Hawk games were focused on nailing the perfect grind or narrowly
05:22landing that sick trick, Airblade ramped up the difficulty in its challenges by demanding
05:27nothing less than perfection from its players. With stringent time limits placed on the player
05:33and with multiple objectives to complete before the timer ran out, failure was equally punished
05:38with the player restarting the level from scratch. There were certainly some decent
05:42ideas in Airblade, but few made it past the opening levels to experience them.
05:53Devil May Cry 3 – Dante's Awakening
06:05Dante and the Devil May Cry series was a shot of adrenaline for action fans and even though
06:10the Demon Hunter's second outing was a resounding disappointment, Devil May Cry 3 had Dante
06:15return in top form. However, Capcom might have overcorrected after complaints that the
06:21second entry was too easy, as the story of Dante and Vergil's origins managed to beat
06:26the ever-loving crap out of even the most dedicated Devil May Cry fan, as Capcom made
06:31the bizarre decision to have the Japanese hard mode be North America's normal setting.
06:37The decision was so criticized that Capcom even released a new version of the game in
06:42the West to tweak the game's difficulty and added checkpoints to make it a bit more manageable.
06:48Even with this new iteration, however, DMC3 is still regarded as one of the most difficult
06:53games in the franchise.
07:01Beautiful Joe – Super Mario 64
07:10Beautiful Joe might just be one of the PS2's most inventive and downright gorgeous platformers,
07:16but its slick and stylish visuals hide a devilishly difficult game. Joe is imbued with
07:21several powers to combat the many enemies he encounters such as slow, speed, and zoom,
07:27but much like the ghosts and goblins of old, Beautiful Joe won't hesitate to remind Joe
07:32how human he truly is. With random difficulty spikes and enemies that instantly punish the
07:37player and Joe for any minor slip-up, the game demands almost pixel-perfect precision
07:43from its players immediately after the game's tutorial. The game will also routinely send
07:47nearly endless waves of enemies, all with screen-failing attacks and combos. It can
07:52be difficult to keep up with all the action unfolding and all too easy to become overwhelmed
07:57and take a number of what should have been avoidable hits.
08:05Grandia Xtreme
08:08Shin Megami Tensei III wasn't the only challenging RPG on the PS2, as the more action-heavy entry
08:14in the Grandia series, Grandia Xtreme, levied its difficulty not through complicated mechanics,
08:20but by the massive number of enemies and challenges the game throws at them. Having more in common
08:25with the Dynasty Warriors series than its namesake, Xtreme would often throw countless
08:30mindless drones at the player attempting to overload them with sheer numbers. The game
08:35also further hinders the player by limiting their movements with a tank-control-like system
08:40when it clearly needed something more omni-directional. The game compensates for some of these oversights
08:45by giving players far more customization than any other game in the series, but even with
08:50everything fine-tuned to the player's preferences, the game still challenges not only the player's
08:55skills, but their patience as well.
08:58Alien Hominid
09:06Before there was Cuphead, there was Alien Hominid. Based on the Flash game of the same
09:11name, Alien Hominid makes it clear invading Earth is no easy task even for a being capable
09:17of intergalactic flight. Battling an unending stream of government agents, any of which
09:22can instantly kill you with a single well-placed shot, the chaos erupting on screen is more
09:27reminiscent of the bullet hell shooters than the cutesy platformer the game presents itself
09:31as. With enemy projectiles flying in from all corners of the screen, even the various
09:36power-ups and later abilities do little to slow the relentless onslaught preventing the
09:41titular alien from reclaiming his ship. The game also isn't great about letting players
09:47know about key features such as the all-important double jump which can prove life-saving in
09:52the game's later stages. The addition of co-op only adds to the number of broken controllers.
10:06Ring of Red
10:14Strategy games already ask a lot from players, and expect them to plan their moves as if
10:19the game was a chessboard, and they need to see the enemy movements coming at least three
10:23moves ahead, but even by these expected standards, Ring of Red can still easily crush even the
10:30best laid plans. Ring of Red adds yet another wrinkle to tactical gameplay by forcing players
10:35to line up their attacks manually, leaving much of the chance of their strategy in their
10:40hands and their ability to properly aim their shots. The game's super intelligent and aggressive
10:46AI doesn't make things any easier either. Enemy forces can quickly dismantle your plans
10:52in mere seconds and leave you scrambling to recover, which in turn can affect how accurate
10:58your shots are. Ring of Red thrives on the player's anxiety, and wastes no time applying
11:04as much pressure as possible to simulate its mech-based war tactics.
11:16Twisted Metal Black
11:25The Twisted Metal series is known for its bombastic car combat and darkly twisted characters,
11:31but most would agree that Calypso's first car carnage competition on the PS2 was one
11:36of the most challenging. While the core mechanics of the game remain unchanged, destroy your
11:41opponents with outlandish vehicles and weapons before they do the same to you, the AI in
11:46Twisted Metal Black was notoriously more aggressive than ever before. If you don't constantly
11:51maintain your health and have a near-perfect knowledge of the layout of the map and its
11:56many useful power-ups, you're going to be in for a rough time. Most wouldn't even consider
12:01tackling this entry on hard difficulty unless they're just looking for a reason to smash
12:06a controller. Good thing this was still during the era of cheat codes.
12:14Naughty Dog
12:24Naughty Dog made a name for themselves with the Crash series, and while those games could
12:28be challenging in their own right, Naughty Dog's first foray onto PS2 with Jak and Daxter
12:34the Precursor Legacy was a decidedly more laid-back affair. However, when the sequel
12:39Jak 2 was released two years later, more than just the world had changed.
12:53Jak 2 went full GTA and featured gunplay and carjacking alongside its platforming sections,
13:00and while the game was still a lot of fun, those looking for a simple, cutesy platformer
13:05were in for quite a surprise. With a significantly darker tone, a stingy checkpoint system, random
13:12difficulty spikes, and enemies just looking for a reason to one-shot you, Jak 2 completely
13:19flipped the script on fan expectations and created a platformer so difficult, many didn't
13:25or couldn't see it through to the end.
13:36Armored Core Last Raven
13:49Just because Dark Souls wasn't the worldwide phenomenon it is today back on the PS2, doesn't
13:54mean FromSoft wasn't still finding ways to challenge players. While fans of the Dark
13:59Souls series are familiar with FromSoft's lack of hand-holding nowadays, back on the
14:04PS2, this was not a common practice and Last Raven dropped players into a heavily armored
14:10mech and wished them the best of luck before unceremoniously kicking them onto the battlefield.
14:17The Armored Core titles have always been a bit more of a hardcore mech series, but Last
14:22Raven took things to a whole new level, expecting players to instantly master complex commands
14:28all while an AI that clearly understands the game better than the player is mercilessly
14:34beating them into scrap.
14:41Maximo Ghost to Glory
14:43Take the General away and torture him until he dies. Maximo, your fate will not be so pleasant.
14:54Considering that Maximo Ghost to Glory is based on the tough-as-nails Ghosts and Goblins
14:59games on the NES, there really isn't much of a surprise that a 3D modernization is on
15:05this list. Even within a new generation, Ghost to Glory still manages to keep up the traditions
15:11set in place by its predecessor's release, and Maximo can still end up fighting in his
15:16skivvies should he take too much damage. And he will be taking an awful lot of damage.
15:22Death isn't even the end for our hero, however, as he can be resurrected using Death Coins
15:27provided by Death itself, but every time Maximo perishes, the cost of resurrection increases.
15:34Combine the relentless assault from all manner of enemies just itching to literally cut Maximo
15:39down to size, and platforming sections that require near-perfect precision, and Maximo
15:44is going to need more coins than he can carry to complete his quest.
15:57God Hand
16:09Shinji Mikami is nothing if not a madman. After essentially godfathering the survival
16:15horror genre with Resident Evil, and then revolutionizing it again with Resident Evil
16:204, Shinji's final title with Capcom was God Hand, and even with his illustrious career,
16:26it was unlike anything he'd done before. What at first appeared to be a standard beat-em-up
16:32ended up being much deeper and more difficult than anyone expected. Repurposing and reinventing
16:39the old tank controls of the early Resident Evil days, players need to learn an honestly
16:43ridiculous number of combos, and adjust their fighting style on the fly to defeat the various
16:49enemy types they're faced with. The title was moderately well-received upon its initial
16:54release, but has since garnered a following with those looking for a challenging, yet
16:58rewarding beat-em-up.
17:09Guitar-o-Man
17:10Rhythm games might have faded into obscurity in recent years, but Guitar-o-Man was keeping
17:15the beat going before Guitar Hero oversaturated the market. While most rhythm games are generally
17:21regarded as a relaxing time, unless you're playing on Expert, Guitar-o-Man said, hold
17:27my pick, and stepped onto the stage.
17:30Before the age of plastic guitars, Guitar-o-Man combined the analog stick and button prompts
17:35often at the same time to lay down his chords. And did we mention that every song is also
17:41a battle to the death? You and your rival are quite literally in a battle of the bands,
17:46and on higher difficulties, the more often you mess up, the more damage you deal to yourself,
17:52as well as leaving yourself open to attack from your opponent. Guitar-o-Man gives play
17:57for your life a whole new meaning.
18:00Contra, Shattered Soldier
18:02Contra is a name synonymous with difficulty. Growing up, there were many who never would
18:07have finished the original NES title had it not been for the Konami code. Don't let the
18:13new coat of paint and fancy graphics fool you, this is still Contra at its core. Shattered
18:19Soldier switches up the standard formula by sidelining power-ups in favor of rapid weapon
18:24switching, but everything else is strictly Contra, which means an absolute metric ton
18:29of live-die-repeat as you learn enemy placement, level design, and boss patterns. Shattered
18:36Soldier also features multiple endings based on the player's performance, so expect quite
18:41a lot of trial and error as you try to unlock the game's best ending. At the very least,
18:47the Konami code is still present to give you an extra boost starting out.
18:51Manhunt
18:52Stealth games are a bit of a mixed bag. While you have some that have instant fail states
19:07should you be caught, others give you options to adapt a new strategy should the alarm bells
19:12start ringing. Manhunt falls into a very weird middle category. While you can technically
19:18recover from being spotted, the chances of your survival in a one-on-one conflict after
19:23the fact are nearly non-existent, and the game is purposely designed this way to make
19:29the player play the game more cautiously. One mistake, and you end up on the cutting
19:34room floor. In addition to simply trying to survive the game's numerous gang members also
19:39hunting the player, the game grades you on the execution of your takedowns, so those
19:45looking for the best outcome should definitely keep to the shadows. The brutality of the
19:50game is matched only by its difficulty.
19:59Stuntman
20:00Cut, cut, do it again. For all those who ever dreamed of being a stunt driver for
20:14movies growing up, Stuntman will make you rethink your career choices. Stuntman requires
20:20a level of perfection not seen since the tutorial level of the original driver game, except
20:26it's the whole game. With the director's voice constantly in your ear, you need to
20:30follow his directions to the letter or be forced to reset and try the run all over again
20:36from the start because there are no checkpoints. Oftentimes, some of these demands happen mere
20:42seconds before you need to react, essentially forcing a restart unless you know the layout
20:47better than the director himself. The reward for all this is custom in-game movie trailers
20:53using the footage of the scenes you're driving for, but after everything it took to complete,
20:58a real paycheck would have been a better option.
21:07Shinobi
21:08We can do not but wait and watch. Come, let us begin.
21:16Much like Maximo, Shinobi is another old-school side-scroller updated for the then modern
21:22consoles with a 3D treatment that didn't lose any of its difficulty in the transition
21:27and some would argue even raised the bar. With a sword that will constantly eat away
21:33at Hatsuma's health if he's not killing enemies, boss battles that require not only
21:37ninja-like reflexes but also pitch-perfect platforming skills, and virtually no checkpoint
21:43system to speak of, Shinobi manages to give even diehard Sekiro players a challenge they
21:49weren't expecting. Those attempting this title unprepared have a better chance of becoming
21:54a real-life ninja than they do completing this game without breaking a controller.