Join Jules and James as they take look at the best games to play on the HARDEST difficulty!! Better when brutal.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Hello all of you little demons, Jules here for WhatCulture.com, back again with another
00:04episode of the awesomely named and awfully hosted Choose Your Own Adventure, the weekly
00:09medieval themed format where I, the crowned Jules of WhatCulture.com, take a list chosen
00:14by you, yes you, the person who has just been told by their employer that they're getting
00:17a fancy new, fancy new 4K camera.
00:21And I'm actually a bit worried, not only because you'll be able to see the cracks
00:24in my horrible visage, but also the amount of cat hair that I just have on all of my
00:28clothing at all times.
00:30Yes you, get to decide what list I dole out to you each and every week, and this week
00:35we have none other than thank them...
00:39Not Productive Productions.
00:41Sounds pretty productive.
00:42For their suggestions of video games that are the best, the ultimate, when they are
00:47on the hardest difficulty.
00:48And when it comes to video games, there are very few things that people can actually agree
00:53on.
00:54We argue about which titles are the best, which consoles deserve our love and support,
00:57and of course, for some strange few, they will choose to die on a hill for the right
01:01to tell people what difficulty mode that people should play their games on.
01:05That's gonna be me today.
01:07Even though, technically, I don't believe in trying to chastise people for choosing
01:11different difficulty settings, I am very much of the mantra that as long as you're enjoying
01:15a game, I couldn't care less what you played in, because I want there to be as many difficulty
01:20modes available for every type of gamer, to make sure that even those that are less skilled
01:24or less able to play games are able to enjoy games to the same extent as those that want
01:28the crushing hard difficulty.
01:29But today, I'm gonna be that guy and say, these games are best when played on the hardest
01:34difficulty.
01:35So come join me, as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 7 video games that are the best
01:41when played on the hardest difficulty.
01:43And you know the drill by now, say hi to me here over in the live chat and pop your suggestions
01:47for next week's episode down in the comments section below.
01:50Now let's get on with that list, shall we?
01:52Number 7, Resident Evil 7 Madhouse Mode.
01:56Now going into Resident Evil 7 for the first time truly is a special experience, I'm gonna
02:01milk that tiny cow, or give it a chef's kiss, I don't know which one I'm doing here, chef's
02:05kiss, because it was so utterly different to that which had come before.
02:09I mean, let's face it, Resident Evil 6 was... a game that had the Resident Evil 6 IP attached
02:15to it, but it left fans feeling where the hell Capcom was gonna take the franchise from
02:19this point onward, and they responded with, first person mate, right up in your grill,
02:24let's go, come on, me and you, sploink!
02:26As you moved from creepy location to creepy location, avoiding the mold and the Baker
02:30family and all of their terrifying forms, it felt like Resident Evil was evolving right
02:34in front of your eyes, especially in VR where it was actually impossible to look away from
02:39the gore and viscera.
02:40Thanks, I hate it.
02:41And it seems that evolution was key to Resident Evil 7's core message, as when the player
02:46completes their first run of the game and unlocks Madhouse mode, things aren't quite
02:50what they first seem.
02:52To those expecting enemies with jumped up health pools and fewer resources, they got
02:56a rather chilling surprise when it turned out that Madhouse mode also altered enemy
03:00spawn locations as well as changing puzzles and key item locations.
03:05In addition, Jack would now spawn in more places, meaning that any safe havens you relied
03:10on in previous runs were now out of commission.
03:13As a result, Madhouse mode wasn't just a new challenge, it was effectively a new experience,
03:18making for a revitalising sorbet, but the sorbet is made of blood and guts and horrible
03:24disgusting stuff.
03:26Refreshing!
03:276.
03:28Alien Isolation Nightmare Mode
03:30So when it comes to Alien Isolation, I can't really decide what scared me the most.
03:34Was it the Xenomorph who was hunting me down as I crawled through all of those desperate
03:38air ducts as I was frantically trying to escape the claustrophobic confines of the
03:43giant space station that I was on, or whether it was upon completing the game for the first
03:48time that I found out the devs were going to launch a brand new update that was going
03:51to include an incredibly challenging new difficulty mode.
03:56Actually I know which one the answer is, it's clearly obvious it's the latter one, because
03:58seriously it made my stomach drop through my bloody shoes.
04:02Yes, this absolute confidence stomper of a difficulty mode was called Nightmare Mode,
04:07and while adding in new features such as an even more aggressive Xenomorph, even more
04:11scarcer resources, it also brought the charming addition of your bioscanner being unreliable
04:16and feeding you false information sometimes.
04:19And all of this combined should have seen me perform the hardest of passes on this mode,
04:24but actually if I'm being honest, it is the best way to play this game for one simple
04:28reason, it now finally feels like a true horror film.
04:33While the Xenomorph was truly terrifying the first few times that you came toe to tail
04:36with it on the base experience, by the end you had enough flamethrowers and powerups
04:40to brush off at least a few of its attacks and then just waltz on out of the door.
04:45Here though, it was a battle of wits that was as intense in the opening hour as it was
04:49in the closing one.
04:51The rogue tech definitely can be annoying sometimes, but it forces you to listen and
04:55react better, and makes the most of the binaural audio that this title touts as a key feature.
05:01My life has been shortened immensely by the panic and heart attacks that this new mode
05:05gave me, but I wouldn't trade it for a single second.
05:09That's a lie, I definitely would.
05:10I want that time back, please.
05:125.
05:13Devil May Cry 3 – Heaven or Hell Mode
05:16Now as we all know, there are some video games out there that take the concept of a super
05:20duper hard mode and use it to pummel the player into the ground like a fleshy tent peg, and
05:26as a result it does lead you to ask the question of who's actually getting enjoyment out
05:30of this, because it's not us, so it must be the devs that are just laughing, pointing
05:33and laughing going ha ha ha ha ha, yeah that is pretty tough mate.
05:38Yet there is one absolutely mad lad of a difficulty mode that was at once crushingly hard and
05:43hilariously funny, and it came in the form of Devil May Cry 3's Heaven and Hell mode,
05:48and how does it manage to do this I hear you ask?
05:50Well everything, including you, dies in one hit.
05:54After slogging through the game's other hard as nails modes, this feels like both a reward
05:58and a punishment for all of your hard work, as now Dante can dish out the pain but also
06:03get absolutely shattered by even basic enemies over and over.
06:07It's incredibly cathartic to topple once mighty bosses in just a single blow, and that
06:11feeling you get from styling and profiling your way through these sections is an unparalleled
06:16power fantasy.
06:17And because you can be sent six feet deep by just a single hit, it means that you have
06:21to enter this kind of zen-like state of playing the game perfectly, meaning that this just
06:26isn't the perfect way to play the game, but it turns you into the perfect player as
06:30well.
06:31Should have included this on last week's list thinking about it.
06:334.
06:34Any Rhythm Game
06:35Now to say that I was obsessed with Guitar Hero and Rock Band when they first came out
06:39is kind of like saying that Motorhead was a little bit loud, aka a massive understatement.
06:44In fact if I'm coming to terms with myself then I would wager that I would have walked
06:48out of my first and second years at university with much higher scores had these games not
06:52existed as I spent so much time with both franchises that I ended up tapping drum patterns
06:57during my lectures.
06:58And remember, I don't play drums.
07:01I play what was it you were playing last week, James?
07:02The harp?
07:03However, one of the lessons that I learned quickly about these titles is that playing
07:06on anything less than expert mode kind of truly sucked.
07:11Now this isn't a slight at those who enjoy playing on lower difficulties, but seeing
07:14as I'd memorised each and every song on pretty much every title's playlist, attempting
07:18to complete a board with fewer notes than that being played threw my internal rhythm
07:23out completely.
07:24It felt wrong to see scores of notes being missed out on well-known solos or iconic riffs
07:28just being boiled down to the bare minimum, and while expert modes on some titles have
07:33been accused of also missing out a note or two here and there, and in some cases adding
07:38in more notes than the real life equivalent, these truly feel like the best methods for
07:42getting the full, I should really start learning this instrument experience.
07:463.
07:47Fallout New Vegas Hardcore Mode
07:50So if you ask any true and blue pig iron on their hip, mojave wasteland warrior what wakes
07:55them up in the morning like a sunset sarsaparilla enema, then they will say without a shred
08:00of hesitation, Hardcore Mode, partner.
08:03Oh, and by the way, you can keep that star bottle cap now that I know what you've done
08:07with the...
08:08Just, you can keep that.
08:10But what makes Hardcore Mode such a brilliant and still a punishing experience is that it
08:14takes everything that Fallout is known best for and doubles down on it, babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
08:44steroids, instead turns its attention to the player themselves. By making bullets contribute
08:50to your weight limit, by only allowing HP to be restored through healing items and not
08:54just through sleeping off a concussion, don't try that at home, and by having hunger and
08:58thirst levels become part of the experience, you start to view the Mojave in a totally
09:03different light. Whereas before you were traipsing through a wild but ultimately desolate world,
09:08here you were moving frantically between locations in order to scavenge food, and each footstep
09:12into the desert was to invite death not only from the more aggressive wildlife, but also
09:17from the environment itself. Oh yeah, and also your companions can permanently die.
09:22Talk about just throwing acid onto some non-healing wounds. Cheers for that.
09:27I love playing New Vegas on this mode, and arguably it makes the best Fallout game ever
09:32somehow even better.
09:342. Mario Kart 200cc
09:37Ah, Mario Kart, the true test of a friendship. This is a weapon of mass deletion when it
09:43comes to your contacts list. Because it's been proven time and time again, even your
09:47day ones will be more than happy to shove a shell up your tailpipe if it'll grant
09:51them even a shot at victory. It's also one of the best multiplayer experiences going,
09:56with Nintendo going above and beyond when it came to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and its DLC,
10:01because this is some of the slickest arcade racing action that you can get your grubby
10:05paws on, and it's one that only gets better the faster you go.
10:09While initially daunting beyond all rational belief when you first give it a crack, 200cc
10:14is the peak of what Mario Kart truly is. It's relentlessly quick, to the point that you
10:18actually have to use the brakes from time to time. I know, they have brakes in this
10:22game? Something which often can't be said of the slower speeds, and you will need to
10:26become one with your kart in order to make it around even one lap. Add in AI that finally
10:32seems to have woken up from a long slumber, and you have a challenge that swings from
10:35bulls**t to bats**t at a moment's notice.
10:381. God Hand – Normal Mode
10:41Now I know what you're thinking, you're about to relentlessly fire up your keyboard
10:45by typing NORMAL MODE on a list that is exclusively about super hard difficulty modes. Jules,
10:51what are you thinking, you stupid fleshbag?
10:54Well before you light up your environment with the sound of mechanical clacking, please
10:58give me a moment to explain. For while Normal Mode isn't actually God Hand's most extreme
11:03difficulty, it's approach to difficulty as a whole is so wildly refreshing that even
11:08the vanilla experience is a sorbet for the soul. You see, in this wildly over-the-top
11:12and downright off-the-wall title, God Hand presents players with an adaptive difficulty
11:17mechanic, meaning that the more damage you dish out without taking any yourself, the
11:21harder the game gets. As such, even on Normal Mode, getting it up to level 6, which is hilariously
11:26just called Die Mode, can make for a punishing and rewarding time in equal measure. Finding
11:32the zen of combat and flowing through enemies and unleashing special moves just at the right
11:36time feels all the more rewarding when the game looks to be sweating buckets just trying
11:40to keep up with you. It's like a friendly rivalry between you and the devs of one-upmanship
11:45that feels right at home in a long-form anime series, and because Normal Mode lets you build
11:50to that crescendo of chaos unlike Hard Mode that just locks you at Die difficulty, makes
11:54the challenge feel earned as well as supremely satisfying to keep up.
11:58And there we go my friends, those were 7 video games that were the absolute best at their
12:03absolute hardest difficulty. I hope that you enjoyed that and please let me know what you
12:06thought about it down in the comments section below and put your suggestions for next week's
12:10episode down there as well because I love to read all of your lovely comments my friends.
12:14Big up to you. But before I go, I just want to say one thing. Hope you're treating yourself
12:20with love and respect my friends because you deserve all of the best things in life alright
12:24so don't let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise. I know I say this a lot but
12:28I truly truly mean it. Just be kind to yourself. Please. It's just the best possible thing
12:34to just be nice to yourself. It's difficult sometimes. Trust me, I know that one. But
12:38you deserve all of the best things. Alright? You do. You really really do. Now go out there
12:43and absolutely smash it today. I believe in ya. As always I've been Jules, you have been
12:48awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.