Top 20 Exact Moments That RUINED Video Games

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VOICE OVER: Rebecca Brayton WRITTEN BY: Ty Richardson

And just like that, everything good about your video game went up in smoke. For this list, we're looking at moments that managed to completely tarnish our gaming sessions. Our countdown includes Blighttown, Xen, The Triforce Quest, Batmobile Sections, The Animus, and more!

Script written by Ty Richardson

#19: Blighttown

“Dark Souls” (2011) We’d happily replay a good portion of the “Dark Souls” series, but when it comes to the first game, our excitement levels aren’t as high as they would be for the second and third games. Dark Souls built it’s reputation on its tough but fair difficulty, demanding players time their moves carefully and knowing precisely when to attack, when to block and when to dodge roll. That all goes out the window when players reach Blighttown, as this area suffers from framerate issues, making it tricky to time your moves right. Thankfully the problem has been fixed in the 2017 “Dark Souls Remastered” … 6 years later.

#18: Stage 4

“PaRappa the Rapper” (1997) PaRappa has always been one of those obscure PlayStation mascots that people fondly remember, but when his first game was remastered in 2017, we were reminded why many of us didn’t see the game through to the end. As if the awkward timing wasn’t bad enough in the first three stages, Stage 4 made the game even more infuriating. Even though it feels like you’re pressing buttons at the right time, the game will constantly throw you between the Good and Bad ratings. What more does this game want!? Hell, if we know! We stopped after hearing the song reset for the hundredth time!

#17: Marauders & Tentacles

“DOOM Eternal” (2020) While “DOOM Eternal” has been met with mostly positive reception, there are two enemies in the game that are the frequent talk of contention. Tentacles often feel like a sucker-punch and lead to a sudden end of many Ultra-Nightmare runs. Marauders, on the other hand, have been lambasted for how they slow down combat, how they can only be attacked during a very specific window, and how they must be fought one-on-one in order for players to stand a chance. It's honestly no surprise that so many players are fuming because of these two, and it has sparked a discussion on removing them.

#16: Xen

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“Half-Life” (1998) One cannot deny the marvel that was the first “Half-Life”. At the time of its release, no other shooter had accomplished the same quality of cinematics and AI. However, there are very few players out there that will defend the Xen Chapters. What made these chapters so odd was how the level design required players to employ their platforming abilities, which is something you don’t force upon first-person shooter players. It didn’t help that the environment was so barren that it made Xen so unbearably uninteresting, and the healing pools slowed down pacing drastically. It’s no wonder that it’s the most forgettable part of the game.

#15: Bunny Day

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” (2020) What was supposed to be the exciting start of seasonal events in “New Horizons” quickly became one of the most resented. All was right on our island paradise until Zipper showed up and started trashing the place with freakin’ eggs everywhere! EVERYWHERE!! Fishing in your river? Egg. Shaking trees? Egg! Chipping at a rock? EGG! Shoot down a balloon!? EGG EGG EGG EGG EGG!!!! The madness had tormented so many players that Nintendo had to reduce their spawn rate. And the worst part of it is you didn’t even need the eggs - just get the DIY recipes and you’ll get that creepy Zipper toy. Our Anime guru Ashley said it best on twitter once the event was over. (“Is it safe to play animal crossing again yet?”)

#14: Finding the Tribals

“Jet Force Gemini” (1999) And here we have one of the rare cases of a fetch quest, within a fetch quest. While the first half of the game has you shooting and exploring your way through a unique variety of alien worlds; The second half of "Jet Force Gemini", you have to go back and collect 12 parts of a spaceship in order to access the last level. One of these parts is locked behind another requirement - finding every Tribal in the game! All 282 of them. A task made unbearable by the game's unreliable save system, as it only records a tally of how many tribals you collected, but doesn’t specify which ones. Because of this, many players never saw the final level.

#13: JASON!

"Heavy Rain" (2010) “Heavy Rain” isn't for everyone, at least not for those looking for action-packed gameplay. However, those who were looking for an intriguing story were treated to an intense murder mystery. That isn't to say "Heavy Rain" was perfect, as some of its unconventional gameplay made the game the butt of many jokes, from its dancing speech commands to requiring a button prompt for literally every action. Of course, we could never forget the insanely ridiculous "Jason" segment. Aimlessly wander around, pressing X to Jason every second? We understand this moment is supposed to strengthen our bond with Jason, but some of us ended turning the game off and leaving the kid lost forever.

#12: The Triforce Quest

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"The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker" (2003) When a game is padding a quest out, it can feel like we're wasting our time. "The Legend of Zelda" has made us feel that way a couple of times, especially in "Wind Waker", which has a glancing blemish on an, otherwise, perfect face. The Triforce Quest will task you with tracking down and collecting eight Triforce shards, but before that you must obtain eight Triforce charts, which requires a lot of backtracking AND they have to be deciphered by Tingle for just under 400 rupees … each. Basically, this is an overly-complicated, unnecessarily long fetch quest, and it caused many players to either quit or remain as salty as the games vast ocean for the remainder of the game.

#11: The Tower of Blades

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#10: The Whole Volcano Sequence

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#9: The Impossible Levels

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"The Lion King" (1994) If you somehow managed to conquer "The Lion King's" convoluted monkey puzzle, then you got the unfortunate experience of playing one of the most difficult platformers ever made. Chances are you eventually became so frustrated that a controller was thrown or you uttered your very first obscenity before officially quitting. What if we told you there was a reason for the game's unforgiving difficulty? According to Louis Castle (co-founder of developer Westwood Studios), Disney believed that if players managed to beat the game, they wouldn't buy it. That's a fair point, but this was a game designed for kids. So, "challenging" wasn't a friendly term to younger players. At least "Aladdin" was easier, more or less!

#8: Smashing a Gate with Demon Babies

“Ghostbusters: The Video Game” (2009) When you force players to use a mechanic that works half the time, maybe don’t make it the primary focus of a puzzle. That’s exactly what “Ghostbusters” did in its final level. To get the Ecto-1 through the cemetery, you have to slime tether flying demon babies to smash open a gate. The problem is that not only is this the only way to defeat this particular enemy, but the slime tether doesn’t always function properly. Most of the time, it’ll smash the nuisances into other things or fail entirely and do nothing. Even on the easiest difficulty, the harassment you’ll endure from the demon babies is enough to make anyone quit, especially since you’ll encounter them again shortly after.

#7: Batmobile Sections

"Batman: Arkham Knight" (2015) For years, fans had been itching to take the Batmobile out for a spin in the "Batman: Arkham" games. Well, developer Rocksteady made it happen for the final chapter in the series, and it was certainly not what everyone was hoping for. Many players felt glued to the Batmobile because of some missions requiring the player to race a time limit or blow up enemy tanks. Don't worry, though! The Batmobile's cannons are "non-lethal". HOW EVEN?! That makes no sense! It's a freakin' tank! "Arkham Knight" wasn't a terrible game (unless you played the PC version), but to many Dark Knight fans, this would be one whimper of a finale.

#6: Speeder Bike Levels

"Battletoads" (1991) "Battletoads" might be known as one of the most difficult platformers in gaming, but there are a few portions that are somewhat doable. What ISN'T doable are the speeder bike levels, which will lull you into a sense of easy patterns before demanding faster and faster reactions. Needless to say, this is not a game for the easily frustrated, as you'll find yourself swearing at your screen and going into a blind rage. We'll never know how some people have managed to beat the game. Then, again, we'll never even attempt it because the cycle of fury will just begin anew. It's best for both us and our masochistic love for "Battletoads".

#5: Iden Versio’s Complete 180

“Star Wars Battlefront II” (2017) Prior to launch, DICE and Electronic Arts touted the single-player campaign as an opportunity to play as the bad guy, a chance to see the perspective from the Empire as they take down those Rebel Scum. Seems like they were ready to show something interesting...in the first half. However, the entire campaign falls apart when Iden suddenly defects to the Rebels because “You destroyed my home planet! I hate you, DAD!” In short, it was less of “seeing through the eyes of a Stormtrooper” and more of a cop out to tell a story that heavily borrows motives and cues from other “Star Wars” stories. Oh, and she falls in love with Del, as if the story couldn’t get anymore tropey!