Top 10 HARDEST Video Games of 2025 So Far

WatchMojo

From brutal Soulslikes to mind-bending puzzlers, these 2025 titles will test your skills and patience. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down the most challenging video games released this year, so far.

Transcript

00:00Oh, may all the saints be praised. I was afraid you'd never wake up again.

00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we are counting down our picks for the most

00:12challenging games released so far this year.

00:15You're happy. We must have it.

00:26Number 10. Post-Trauma

00:36Inspired by older survival horror games, particularly those of the PS2 era,

00:41Post-Trauma is designed to make you think. It follows a train conductor trapped in a strange

00:46dimension full of deadly creatures. Newcomers may be thrown off by some of the more retro-inspired

00:52choices like the fixed camera angle, but there are also some really obtuse puzzles that will

00:57leave you wandering around in the darkness. While long-time players may know what to look for,

01:09there are still moments where how to progress will be completely lost on you. That's not to mention

01:15the monstrous enemies lying in wait to tear you apart. The blend of resource scavenging,

01:20brain teasers, and narrowly avoiding demise makes Post-Trauma a worthy successor to its inspiration.

01:27Number 9. Atomfall

01:45To be fair, this post-apocalyptic survival game comes with several difficulty options, and even ways to

01:51adjust certain aspects of the gameplay within those. That's why we're placing it low, since you can

01:57tailor the game to whatever kind of experience you want. However, the game labels Survivor as the

02:03recommended difficulty, the fourth out of five options. Survivor keeps combat, survival, and

02:15exploration elements at the challenging level. So if you play Atomfall the way the developers intended,

02:22it can be a pretty tough game. Enemies will appear in fairly intimidating numbers and behave more

02:27aggressively. Resources will be scarce and you'll be at a disadvantage when exploring without any waypoint

02:33markers. It definitely doesn't hold your hand.

02:36The original Crypt of the Necrodancer was a pretty challenging roguelike rhythm game,

02:59and although this spin-off is a fair bit easier, that's not to say it isn't hard. At its simplest,

03:05players are required to push certain buttons at the proper moments to defeat enemies that march towards

03:10them. However, some enemies are a bit trickier, like taking more than one button pressed to go down,

03:16or jumping back and forth across the three lanes to trip you up.

03:28Boss fights are where things really heat up. The structure is switched up, adding directional inputs

03:33to dodge incoming attacks. And overall, everything comes much faster at you here. You might find

03:40yourself dropping the difficulty during a few of these encounters.

03:51Number 7 Ender Magnolia – Bloom in the Mist

03:55The Metroidvania genre is always a good place to look if you want to challenge yourself. A sequel to

04:082021's Ender Lilies Quietus of the Nights, Bloom in the Mist follows Lilac, a girl who sets out to save

04:15her kingdom from corrupted homunculi. While it has a lot in common with other Metroidvanias, Lilac doesn't

04:22tend to fight enemies herself. Instead, she summons the cleansed homunculi to her side.

04:37Naturally, this type of combat can take some getting used to. The game is certainly easier

04:41than its predecessor, since the developers included adjustable difficulty settings this time around.

04:46Still, on normal, you might find yourself overwhelmed unless you're a seasoned player. And that's

04:52particularly true during boss encounters.

05:04Number 6 Tales of Iron 2 – Whiskers of Winter

05:16While this is another case of a game being easier than its predecessor, players shouldn't go into

05:24it thinking they're in for a stress-free time. Sure, like others, there are difficulty settings to

05:29choose from, but since it's a follow-up to a game inspired by Hollow Knight and Dark Souls,

05:34you can imagine that the combat can be fairly challenging.

05:38The Blaze destroyed the last of the nest, but Arlo had no time to rest. The Slitherscale had returned.

05:47As Arlo the White Rat, you set out to bring peace to a land ravaged by the Darkwings,

05:52a clan of vicious bats. However, there are plenty of other deadly creatures to hunt down in order to

05:58gain resources for different upgrades. Elemental effects to weaponry makes each fight more varied, but

06:04don't be surprised when enemy forces swarm you.

06:17Number 5 – Blue Prince

06:29Inspired by old-school puzzle books and tabletop games,

06:33Blue Prince tasks you with navigating a mansion in search of its 46th room. It isn't as simple as

06:39just exploring, though. Most rooms are filled with puzzles, some of which connect to other rooms,

06:45requiring you to backtrack. There's also a roguelike twist. Each time you play,

06:50the rooms will be in a different order, and each time you enter a new one, you're given the option of

06:55three different blueprints. Some rooms have dead ends, and entering a room uses one of your 50 steps,

07:06with you forced to start over when you run out. Note-taking is essential to keep all the puzzles in

07:12order, making for quite the head-scratcher.

07:15Until the dawn of the following day, I will have nothing more to say.

07:23Number 4 – Beyond the Ice Palace 2

07:27The original Beyond the Ice Palace was released way back in 1988, and got a lot of comparisons

07:41to Capcom's ultra-brutal Ghosts and Goblins series. While the sequel comes with several

07:46quality-of-life advancements from across the decades to make its difficulty feel less cheap,

07:51it will still bring frustration to even the most hardened platform players.

08:03Following a cursed king who rises from the dead to reclaim his throne,

08:07the game is generally hard throughout thanks to tough enemies and tricky platforming mechanics.

08:12This is increased ten-fold during the game's final stretch, as checkpoints become scarce,

08:18forcing you to replace sizable sections each time you die. And because the game is hard, that'll happen often.

08:32Number 3 – Commandos Origins

08:35I'll be right over. I admit, not the most common tool.

08:43Like the Metroidvania, games that highlight tactics and stealth are also those that usually

08:48highlight high difficulty. The first new entry in the series in nearly 20 years,

08:53Commandos Origins is a return to form. Even with some modern tweaks to make things smoother and

08:59more manageable, you'll still be punished if you aren't careful.

09:08With six different classes of soldiers to utilize, you must infiltrate enemy encampments for different

09:14missions. Since your team is small, doing so without planning and stealth will make for a bad time.

09:20The maps are huge, too, with sprawling designs filled with dangerous foes with intelligent AI.

09:26Each situation demands you approach with the utmost care, and every mistake risks disaster.

09:32Guess you were there, too.

09:36This guy is way too stucco.

09:38Number 2 – Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

09:41Just like the first game, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 seeks to provide players with the most realistic

09:56medieval experience a video game can offer. And because it immerses you so heavily into that life,

10:02every aspect, from design to mechanics, can be tough to wrap your head around.

10:15The game follows Henry, a soldier who helps lead a resistance against the forces of a usurper king.

10:21It's an incredibly well-crafted experience, and the realism on display is impressive.

10:26But it's a game that requires you to devote a ton of time to it. It's not something you can simply pick

10:32up and play for short bursts. If you try, you'll likely find yourself overwhelmed and frustrated.

10:42Number 1 – The First Berserker, Kazan

10:55It likely comes as no surprise to find a Souls-like game at the top of our list.

11:00The First Berserker, Kazan, puts players in the role of a general,

11:03framed as a traitor and imprisoned before he escapes to seek vengeance.

11:07Unlike FromSoftware's games, players do have the option of an easy mode.

11:11However, while that will make dealing with enemies easier,

11:14the game's boss encounters will be challenging no matter what.

11:18Just like the games that influenced it, boss fights require you to study,

11:31learn, and adapt to immensely overpowering patterns, with almost no grace period at the

11:37beginning of the game. Even the most seasoned Souls-like fans will find themselves exasperated

11:42as the deaths rack up, even on the easiest difficulty.

11:53What 2025 game left you enraged by its difficulty? Share your pain in the comments.

12:00Can't recommend that. Not unless you're keen to get yourself shot, or burned to a crisp.

12:12Do it typically!

12:17See you, guys!

12:22Go to the end!

12:24Slip!

12:31Selim back!

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