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If you’ve ever played a Souls game, you know — pain is part of the experience. 😤
From impossible bosses to cruel traps, these 10 moments define why Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring are the ultimate tests of skill and sanity.
🔥 Relive the most stressful, heart-pounding, controller-smashing moments in Souls history!

Prepare to rage… and respect the grind. 💀
Transcript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're looking at those butt puckering moments in Souls games
00:11that had us squeezing our controllers to the point of breaking. This isn't just about tough
00:15bosses, these are the 10 most stressful moments in Souls games. Let's wipe our brows and do this
00:21thing. Fishing Hamlet and Shark Giant Bloodborne.
00:30Welcome to the Fishing Hamlet, annoying enough on its own but home to one of the most annoying
00:39enemy types in Bloodborne, Shark Giants. Narrow walkways, limited cover and swarms of aggressive
00:45foes force players into annoying spots for swinging swords, leaving almost no room for error. Then
00:51there's the Shark Giants, the hard-hitting enemies whose attacks can one-shot or stagger. Don't even
00:56bother thinking you can duck this section with aggressive healing because it's strikingly
01:00limited. Let me quote the great, a good hunter from Reddit. What am I missing here? What can I
01:06learn, practice and get good at to reliably kill this enemy? Nothing, Hunter. Nothing.
01:11The Lake of Rot, Elden Ring. The Lake of Rot in Elden Ring is one of the game's most stressful areas,
01:37placing players in unrelenting danger with almost no room to relax. The stress of navigating this
01:42area, reaching every corner, solving the puzzles and fighting the bosses is turned up to 11 with
01:47Scarlet Rot infecting you almost instantly, a status effect that steadily drains health and demands
01:52constant cures or meticulous preparation. Movement is sluggish and punishing while lurking enemies and
01:58environmental threats heighten the pressure. Every resource must be carefully managed as the
02:02inevitable rot builds. Combined with its oppressive atmosphere, unsettling music and pervasive sense
02:08of helplessness, the Lake of Rot turns each step into a tense gamble for life, which is also the name
02:14of my autobiography.
02:23Arno Londo, Dark Souls.
02:36Have you tried to move through Arno Londo in Dark Souls? Trust me, if you had, you'd never forget it.
02:41First off, flying buttresses are infamous for breaking newcomers, and then the section of Arno Londo with
02:46the silver knight archers has become a true rite of passage, testing whether players can stay calm while
02:51being relentlessly shot off narrow ledges into the abyss. Many gave up here entirely. Those who persevered
02:58soon faced another war. Ornstein and Smaug, the game's most brutal boss duo. Without solid dodging skills and
03:05careful stamina management, players were doomed to repeat the fight until they adapted. For many, this section was the
03:10ultimate test of patience and rage. And stress.
03:20Frigid Outskirts, Dark Souls 2.
03:34On to another stress-inducing section, we have the Frigid Outskirts. All of the Dark Souls 2 DLCs are
03:40notoriously tough, but none compare to the misery of the Frigid Outskirts in the Crown of the Ivory King.
03:45This area features some of the franchise's worst enemy designs and one of From Software's most
03:50punishing boss runs. Much like the Tomb of the Giants, a blinding snowstorm limits visibility,
03:56while reindeer enemies charge out of the whiteout to knock you down and deal heavy damage,
04:00something Elden Ring players would have experienced years later at about 10% the annoyance.
04:05After minutes of wandering aimlessly, players finally reach a boss fight against two re-skinned versions
04:09of Ava. The fight is easier than the Trek itself, but guess what death means? Repeating the entire run.
04:24The Ritual Path, Demon's Souls.
04:26I mean this with absolutely no hyperbole. I googled the Ritual Path so I could revisit it
04:37before writing about it, and in all my days at Mojo, I've never seen so many Reddit posts about
04:43how the hell do I get through this section. The Ritual Path in Demon's Souls is notoriously
04:48difficult because it combines oppressive design with brutal enemy placement. Placement that requires
04:52a complete knowledge of the area, as walkthroughs will often have you cheesing kills with well-placed
04:56shots and magic before even getting there. The area is shrouded in darkness, making navigation tricky
05:02and giving enemies the advantage of surprise. Reaper enemies summon waves of lethal shadow creatures,
05:08forcing players to either rush the Reaper or risk being overwhelmed. The narrow pathways leave little
05:12room for maneuvering and a single mistake often results in death. Add in powerful black phantom enemies
05:17and a deadly fall to the abyss below and the Ritual Path becomes a test of patience.
05:22I'm not interested in repeating.
05:30Old Yharnam in Bloodborne is stress on stress on stress. From the moment you enter, you're greeted by
05:43Jura's Gatling gun raining down bullets, forcing you to dash between cover while beasts swarm the streets.
05:48These stressful moments would be well and truly enough to get it onto this list, but it goes on.
05:53The level's vertical design makes you feel constantly exposed, with enemies lurking around
05:58blind corners. Most foes inflict poison, punishing hasty movement while also forcing you to fight with
06:02speed. It's just an impossible combo. Old Yharnam teaches you that rushing ahead is deadly,
06:07yet lingering too long is equally dangerous. A lot of this list is about stressful areas,
06:11but this one stays with me personally more than most.
06:26Blighttown Dark Souls
06:28Even by modern Souls-like standards, no poison swamp compares to the nightmare of Blighttown in
06:41the original Dark Souls. It's lake of rot on crack. Even the path to get to this infamously
06:46sh**ty swampland is stressful. Inside Blighttown, players must navigate a ramshackle vertical maze of
06:52rickety platforms and awkwardly placed ladders, all while exposed to enemies at every goddamn angle.
06:58Hulking ogres hurl cleavers, toxic darts shooters drain your HP, and insects lash out with blood and
07:04fire. This area is achievable now, with everyone having their methods pinned down.
07:08RING CITY DARK SOULS 3
07:29Yay, Dark Souls 3 made it on this list. Oh no, it's because of the RING CITY.
07:34The RING CITY DLC for Dark Souls 3 stands among the hardest content in the entire trilogy.
07:39Traversing its ruined streets is brutal, with Ringed Knights arguably the series' toughest
07:44standard foes, and don't forget the relentless Angels. This city requires complete, unfiltered
07:49mastery of combat fundamentals. Designed for endgame characters, the enemies here are stronger
07:54than anywhere else in DS3. Its bosses, especially Dark Eater Medea and Slave Knight Gale,
07:59push players to their limits. Is it cheating to include the entirety of a DLC in an entry?
08:05Maybe. But I'm gonna.
08:11The Obsidian Greatsword Dark Souls
08:24Dark Souls is infamous for its grueling challenges, but the Artorias of the Abyss DLC pits players against
08:30the legendary boss Black Dragon Kalameet, whose overwhelming health pool and punishing attacks
08:35test every part of a player's skills. Beating Kalameet is already a monumental task, but obtaining the
08:40Obsidian Greatsword from him is even tougher. The weapon can only be acquired by severing his tail,
08:46a near-impossible feat, requiring precise timing, rare openings and immense patience. It's truly like if I said,
08:54you need to defeat Mike Tyson in his prime in a boxing match, and then I said, I'll also give you a
08:59billion dollars if you can take one of your socks off.
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09:27Gauntlet of Strength Mortal Journey, Sekiro Shadows Die Twice
09:41Truly, any of the Gauntlet of Strength challenges could be considered the most stressful sections of
09:45any Souls game, but we're focusing on the Gauntlet of Strength Mortal Journey challenge,
09:48because it demands perfection over an exhausting marathon of some of the hardest boss fights
09:53available. Players must defeat a Gauntlet of Sekiro's toughest foes back-to-back without checkpoints
09:59or healing between battles, aside from limited healing guards. The sheer endurance required
10:04makes even minor mistakes costly, as losing late in the Gauntlet means starting all over again.
10:09Pressure builds with each victory as the fear of slipping up grows heavier.
10:13Mortal Journey pushes players mastery, patience and nerves to the limits, amplifying stress right
10:19throughout. It's easily an hour of your life and it can disappear with the clink of a sword.
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