The 20 HARDEST PS2 Games

The 20 Hardest PS2 Games

Welcome to MojoPlays and today our nostalgia is fighting back as we struggle to “git gud” enough to beat the 20 hardest PS2 games.

“Gradius V” (2004)

It doesn’t get much more difficult than what’s appropriately been coined “the bullet hell shooter”. The Gradius series had a long and storied history of repeatedly beating down players with unending streams of projectiles and screen filling bosses, with equally screen filling attacks, but somehow for their last numbered entry in the series, developer Treasure managed to up the ante even further. With virtually no space to dodge in between attacks, even the additional lives Gradius V mercifully gives the players only delays the inevitable game over screen. Bullet hell shooters always demand an almost God-like skill from their players and Gradius V forces players to ascend to an even higher plane of existence and near perfection to even stand a chance of completing the game, let alone the opening levels. Make no mistake, you will cry, and Gradius will become stronger from your tears.

“Chaos Legion” (2003)

The early 2000s experienced a renaissance of action hack and slash titles but that doesn’t mean all of them would necessarily hold your hand throughout. Chaos Legion introduced several interesting mechanics to the mix in which the player isn’t fighting alone and instead joined by various “Legions” which the player can issue commands to. However, this also comes at the cost of the player’s speed and power, leaving them more vulnerable when their legion is summoned. The game will routinely send hordes of enemies the player's way and with many of the arenas amounting to nothing more than cramped corridors, it's all too easy to become overwhelmed. Full of forced grinding just to match enemies’ levels as well as a system that punishes players upon death by sending them back to the most recent intermission screen, but with only half the XP they’d earned, this chaos is not for the faint hearted.

“Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne” (2003)

These days the Shin Megami Tensei series is more widely recognized as the edgy cousin to the more popular Persona series, but those familiar with the franchise are die hard loyalists even when the series routinely kicks their asses. SMT’s third entry in particular can be especially difficult for those unfamiliar with the game’s systems versus those coming in from the Persona series to see where it all began. Nocturne’s battle system relies heavily on negotiating with the many monsters and demons you encounter and coercing them to fight alongside you. However, even with these additional forces at your side, the game will routinely throw you into battles that can easily insta-kill your entire party and bosses who aren’t above exploiting the player’s vulnerabilities. The recent HD remaster even added new difficulty options to ease newcomers into the series and one of its most challenging entries.

“Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter” (2002)

The Breath of Fire series already challenged its many fans, but Dragon Quarter managed to weed out even some of the series’ seasoned pros. Dragon Quarter introduced returning players to a new battle system that it also seemed to expect them to know everything about right away despite the game still teaching them mechanics well into the first couple hours. Even those who managed to power through these early challenges were met by bosses that could easily make them feel like they missed an important tutorial along the way. The game was also designed in a way so that players were basically forced into replaying the title to experience the entire story as intended and given how much of a struggle the game could be even on a single playthrough, that was a big ask of even the most devoted fan.

“Airblade” (2001)

Tony Hawk initiated a deluge of extreme sports titles and while some of them saw great success, not all attempts to shake up the formula were successful. Just before they were crashing cars better than anyone else in the industry, Criterion Games tried their hand at a Tony Hawk inspired extreme sports title and used Back to the Future 2’s hoverboard to do it. However, whereas the Tony Hawk games were focused on nailing the perfect grind or narrowly landing that sick trick, Airblade ramped up the difficulty in its challenges by demanding nothing less than perfection from its players. With stringent time limits placed on the player and with multiple objectives to complete before the timer ran out, failure was equally punished with the player restarting the level from scratch. There were certainly some decent ideas in Airblade, but few made it past the opening levels to experience them.

“Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening” (2005)

Dante and Devil May Cry was a shot of adrenaline for action fans and even though the demon hunter’s second outing was a resounding disappointment, Devil May Cry 3 had Dante return in top form. However, Capcom might have overcorrected after complaints that the second entry was too easy as the story of Dante and Vergil’s origins managed to beat the ever-loving crap out of even the most dedicated Devil May Cry fan as Capcom made the bizarre decision to have the Japanese “Hard” mode be North America’s “Normal” setting. The decision was so criticized that Capcom even released a new version of the game in the West that tweaked the game’s difficulty and added checkpoints to make it a bit more manageable. Even with this new iteration however, DMC3 is still regarded as one of the most difficult games in the franchise.

“Viewtiful Joe” (2003)

Viewtiful Joe might just be one the of PS2’s most inventive and downright gorgeous platformers, but its slick and stylish visuals hide a devilishly difficult game. Joe is imbued with several powers to combat the many enemies he encounters such as slow, speed, and zoom, but much like the Ghosts n Goblins of old, Viewtiful Joe won’t hesitate to remind Joe how human he truly is. With random difficulty spikes and enemies that instantly punish the player and Joe for any minor slip-up, the game demands almost pixel perfect precision from its players immediately after the game’s tutorial. The game will also routinely send nearly endless waves of enemies all with screen filling attacks and combos, it can be difficult to keep up with all the action unfolding and all too easy to become overwhelmed and take a number of what should have been avoidable hits.

“Grandia Xtreme” (2002)

Shin Megami Tensei III wasn’t the only challenging RPG on the PS2, as the more action heavy entry in the Grandia series Grandia Xtreme levied its difficulty not through complicated mechanics but by the massive number of enemies and challenges the game throws at them. Having more in common with the Dynasty Warriors series than its namesake, Xtreme would often throw countless mindless drones at the player attempting to overload the player with sheer numbers. The game also further hinders the player by limiting their movements with a tank control like system when it clearly needed something more omnidirectional. The game compensates for some of these oversights by giving players far more customization than other games in the series but even with everything fine-tuned to the player’s preferences, the game still challenges not only the player’s skills but their patience as well.

“Alien Hominid” (2004)

Before there was Cuphead, there was Alien Hominid. Based on the Flash game of the same name, Alien Hominid makes it clear invading Earth is no easy task even for a being capable of intergalactic flight. Battling an unending stream of government agents, any of which can instantly kill you with a single well-placed shot, the chaos erupting on screen is more reminiscent of the bullet hell shooters than the cutesy platformer the game presents itself as. With enemy projectiles flying in from all corners of the screen, even the various powerups and later abilities do little to slow the relentless onslaught preventing the titular alien from reclaiming his ship. The game also isn’t great about letting players know about key features such as the all-important double jump which can prove lifesaving in the game’s later stages. The addition of co-op only adds to the number of broken controllers.

“Ring of Red” (2001)

Strategy games already ask a lot from players and expect them to plan their moves as if the game is a chessboard and they need to see the enemy movements coming at least 3 moves ahead, but even by these expected standards, Ring of Red can still easily crush even the best laid plans. Ring of Red adds yet another wrinkle to tactical gameplay by forcing players to line up their attacks manually, leaving much of the chance of their strategy in their hands and their ability to properly aim their shots. The game’s super intelligent and aggressive AI doesn’t make things any easier either. Enemy forces can quickly dismantle your plans in mere seconds and leave you scrambling to recover which in turn can affect how accurate your shots are. Ring of Red thrives on the player’s anxiety and wastes no time applying as much pressure as possible to simulate its mech based war tactics.

“Twisted Metal: Black” (2001)

The Twisted Metal series is known for its bombastic car combat and darkly twisted characters, but most would agree that Calypso’s first car carnage competition on the PS2 was one of the most challenging. While the core mechanics of the game remain unchanged, destroy your opponents with outlandish vehicles and weapons before they do the same to you, the AI in Twisted Metal Black was notoriously more aggressive than ever before. If you don’t constantly maintain your health and have a near perfect knowledge of the layout of the map and its many useful power ups, you’re going to be in for a rough time. Most wouldn’t even consider tackling this entry on hard difficulty unless they’re just looking for a reason to smash a controller. Good thing this was still during the era of cheat codes.

“Jak II” (2003)

Naughty Dog made a name for themselves with the Crash series and while those games could be challenging in their own right, Naughty Dog’s first foray on PS2 with Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy was a decidedly more laid back affair. However when the sequel Jak II released two years later, more than just the world had changed. Jak II went full GTA and featured gunplay and car jacking alongside its platforming sections and while the game was still a lot of fun, those looking for a simple cutesy platformer were in for quite a surprise. With a significantly darker tone, a stingy checkpoint system, random difficulty spikes, and enemies just looking for a reason to one shot you, Jak II completely flipped the script on fan expectations and created a platformer so difficult, many didn’t or couldn’t see it through to the end.

“Armored Core: Last Raven” (2006)

Just because Dark Souls wasn’t the worldwide phenomenon it is today back on the PS2, doesn’t mean FromSoft wasn’t still finding ways to challenge players. While fans of the Dark Souls series are familiar with FromSoft’s lack of hand holding nowadays, back on the PS2, this was not a common practice and Last Raven dropped players into a heavily armored mech and wished them the best of luck before unceremoniously kicking them onto the battlefield. The Armored Core titles have always been a bit more of a hardcore mech series but Last Raven took things to a whole new level expecting players to instantly master complex commands all while an AI that clearly understands the game better than the player is mercilessly beating them into scrap.

“Maximo: Ghosts to Glory” (2002)

Considering that Maximo: Ghosts to Glory is based on the tough as nails Ghost ‘n Goblins games in the NES, there really isn’t much of a surprise that its 3D modernization is on this list. Even within a new generation, Ghost to Glory still manages to keep up the traditions set in place by its predecessor’s release and Maximo can end up fighting in his skivvies should he take too much damage, and he will be taking an awful lot of damage. Death isn’t even the end for our hero however as he can be resurrected using Death Coins provided by Death itself, but everytime Maximo perishes, the cost of resurrection increases. Combine the relentless assault from all manner of enemies just itching to literally cut Maximo down to size and platforming sections that require near perfect precision and Maximo is going to need more coins than he can carry to complete his quest.

“God Hand” (2006)

Shinji Mikami is nothing if not a madman. After essentially godfathering the survival horror genre with Resident Evil and then revolutionizing it again with Resident Evil 4, Shinji’s final title with Capcom was God Hand and even with his illustrious career, it was unlike anything he’d done before. What at first appeared to be a standard beat ‘em up ended up being much deeper and more difficult than anyone expected. Repurposing and reinventing the old tank controls of the early RE days, players need to learn an honestly ridiculous number of combos and adjust their fighting style on the fly to defeat the various enemy types they’re faced with. The title was moderately well received upon its initial release but has since garnered a following with those looking for a challenging yet rewarding beat ‘em up.

“Gitaroo Man” (2002)

Rhythm games might have faded into obscurity in recent years, but Gitaroo Man was keeping the beat going before Guitar Hero oversaturated the market. While most rhythm games are generally regarded as a relaxing time, unless you’re playing on Expert, Gitaroo Man said “hold my pick” and stepped onto the stage. Before the age of plastic guitars, Gitaroo Man combined the analog stick and button prompts often at the same time to lay down his chords, and did we mention that every song is also a battle to the death? You and your rival are quite literally in a battle of the bands and on higher difficulties, the more often you mess up, the more damage you deal to yourself as well as leaving yourself open to attack from your opponent. Gitaroo Man give “play for your life” a whole new meaning.

“Contra: Shattered Soldier” (2002)

Contra is a name synonymous with difficulty. Growing up, there were many who never would have finished the original NES title had it not been for the Konami Code. Don’t let the new coat of paint and fancy graphics fool you, this is still Contra at its core. Shattered Soldier switches up the standard formula by sidelining powerups in favor of rapid weapon switching but everything else is strictly Contra which means an absolute metric ton of live, die, repeat as you learn enemy placement, level design and boss patterns. Shattered Soldier also features multiple endings based on the player’s performance so expect quite a lot of trial and error as you try to unlock the game’s best ending. At the very least, the Konami Code is still present to give you an extra boost starting out.

“Manhunt” (2003)

Stealth games are a bit of a mixed bag. While you have some that have instant fail states should you be caught, others give you options to adapt a new strategy should the alarm bells start ringing. Manhunt falls into a weird middle category. While you can technically recover from being spotted, the chances of your survival in a one-on-one conflict after the fact are nearly non-existent. And the game is purposely designed this way to make the player play the game more cautiously. One mistake and you end up on the cutting room floor. In addition to simply trying to survive the game’s numerous gang members also hunting the player, the game grades you on the execution of your takedowns so those looking for the best outcome should definitely keep to the shadows. The brutality of the game is matched only by its difficulty.

“Stuntman” (2002)

Cut! Cut! Do it again! For all those who ever dreamed of being a stunt driver for movies growing up, Stuntman will make you rethink your career choices. Stuntman requires a level of perfection not seen since the tutorial level of the original Driver game, except it's the whole game. With the director’s voice constantly in your ear, you need to follow his directions to the letter or be forced to reset and try the run all over again from the start because there are no checkpoints. Oftentimes some of these demands happen mere seconds before you need to react, essentially forcing a restart until you know the layout better than the director himself. The reward for all of this is custom in-game movie trailers using the footage of the scenes you’re driving for but after everything it took to complete, a real paycheck would’ve been a better option.

“Shinobi” (2002)

Much like Maximo, Shinobi is another old school side scroller updated for the then modern consoles with the 3D treatment that didn’t lose any of its difficulty in the transition and some would argue even raised the bar. With a sword that will constantly eat away at Hotsuma’s health if he’s not killing enemies, boss battles that require not only ninja-like reflexes but also pitch perfect platforming skills and virtually no checkpoint system to speak of, Shinobi manages to give even die-hard Sekiro players a challenge they weren’t expecting. Those attempting this title unprepared have a better chance of becoming a real life ninja than they do completing this game without breaking a controller.

Which PS2 game left you with a few extra broken controllers? Let us know in the comments.