Nintendo Switch: 10 difficult games on eShop for those who love challenges

Nintendo Switch

The essence of the video game, at least understood in its most classic form, has always been the challenge: this is why the difficulty element has returned so strongly to the foreground recently, between the relaunch of arcade forms through indie titles and the now prevailing trend. of roguelikes and soulslike ones. For those who love challenges, therefore, we offer in this article a selection of 10 Nintendo Switch games that could prove to be particularly stimulating, available digitally through the console's eShop.

It can only be a partial list, like all selections, because 10 positions are few to cover all the florilege of proposals, genres and titles that have emerged in recent years in search of gameplay solutions more similar to the origins of the videogame, but in the meantime take the following as a possible guide to follow to deepen even similar games and related types.

Ghosts' n Goblins Resurrection is an excellent example of modern recovery of a classic respectful of its difficulty. therefore to mention a series of games that represent challenging but also stimulating challenges, following the more classic principle of the video game as a constant test based on skill. Those who already played video games at the time of 8-bit know what we are referring to: the sweaty purchase of a cartridge for NES led to days and days of games, attempts, training and self-improvement to get to the bottom of games that perhaps turned out to be very short. but they forgave absolutely nothing. The rigid discipline of skill with the controller is back in fashion, also as a reaction to an excessive reliance on narrative and cinematic superstructures and invasive tutorials of modern titles, and this pleases many players.

If you feel particularly in line with this spirit of adventure and sacrifice, capable of giving rise to the greatest satisfactions, take a look at the list below.

Cuphead

Cuphead recovers the ferocity of the classic shooter in a wonderful guise The result of an unwavering passion that led to a development that lasted several years, hand-drawn and practically carried on by the work of two brothers, Cuphead turns out to be one of the best shooters released in recent years. Beyond its undeniable artistic merits, being one of the most beautiful games ever to see, the gameplay is designed to the millimeter to offer a constant high-level challenge. Initially conceived as a long boss-run and then partially modified into a Treasure-style run and gun, the original setting is still clearly visible considering how the boss fights are certainly the most spectacular and challenging moments of the whole game.

Success in Cuphead depends on the classic principles of the genre: memorization of patterns and perfect execution, that is a truly old-fashioned challenge, as also emerged from our review. Find the game on eShop at a price of € 19.99.

Ghosts' n Goblins Resurrection

There are eternal games, whose formula remains valid regardless of the historical period and which therefore can simply be recovered as they are. Or, you can simply build new levels starting from the same consolidated structure, building a new game to all intents and purposes respecting the classic form in all respects: as also reported in our review of Ghosts' n Goblins Resurrection, the Capcom game fits perfectly into this. case, resulting as a sort of 8-bit era game out of time, but with a new graphics.

Not for nothing, the director is Tokuro Fujiwara himself who conceived the series and decided to re-propose it simply as it was at the time, that is an action platform in which every move must be performed perfectly, with a tiny margin of error and a notable sense of constant threat that keeps us in a precarious balance between pleasure and frustration. At the time of writing, the game is on eShop for € 29.99.

Enter the Gungeon

Enter the Gungeon is at the crossroads of roguelike, dungeon crawler and shooter The first representative of the new roguelikes that comes to mind is Enter the Gungeon, one of the purest interpretations of the genre in question applied to the action-style dungeon crawler, with a particular emphasis, however, on firearms that make it akin to the shooter.

In short, there is a bit of everything in this Dodge Roll title, but all the features converge towards a decidedly challenging level of difficulty, even if calibrated to be fair anyway. The simple but charismatic characterization and the perfectly studied gameplay makes the "gungeon" always pleasant to explore, despite the procedural generation of the levels, which is fundamental to push to continue even after yet another defeat, attempt after attempt, as also emerges from the Enter the Gungeon review published on these pages a few years ago now. Enter the Gungeon is priced at € 14.99.

Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon also remains impressed for its particular graphic character Darkest Dungeon manages to stand out from the mass of roguelike RPGs too for its particular graphic characterization, before taking into consideration the peculiarities of the gameplay. Available for purchase on eShop at a price of € 21.99, the game from Redhook Studios has a strange gothic and dark style, comic and almost grotesque, with its 2D drawn stroke able to further accentuate the dark and cynical tones of its world.

The particularity of "adventure stress" is what distinguishes the gameplay, in which the fighters not only have to endure inhuman challenges against creepy enemies, but also withstand various afflictions that result from the constant stress situation to heroes are subjected to, as well as their fears and psychological imbalances. Survival becomes a complex affair with all the variables involved, as dark mysteries are discovered and increasingly fearsome monsters face each other with a particular turn-based combat system with strategic elements.

Celeste

Celeste combines extremely challenging gameplay with a substantial narrative substrate One of the biggest revelations in the indie field of these years has been Celeste, and this not only for its hardcore platforming gameplay but also for the story behind the action. platforms and its deep meanings. Although this selection mainly favors the game, this is a particular case, as the simple action is not enough to describe what Celeste has brought to the videogame landscape, although the narration and its important themes can still be considered secondary elements of the experience of game.

Basically it is a platform where it is necessary to study and measure every single move to the millimeter and with the perfect timing in order to be able to advance in the numerous levels that make up the metaphorical mountain to climb, and that would be enough this makes Celeste special. However, there is also a very interesting story behind it and also important in several respects, which makes this game a very special experience and recommended to everyone, despite the high level of challenge. Celeste is currently on eShop for € 19.99.

Ikaruga

The bullet hell shooter takes on a new depth in Ikaruga Directly from the Japanese shooter tradition, Ikaruga is the heir to one of the most ancient traditions in the context. Developed by Treasure, which in the golden age of Sega gave birth to some milestones in this genre and in action in general, this shooter has endured to this day in various versions and adaptations, while maintaining its original structure.

It is a vertical scrolling shooter that derives directly from the arcade arcade machine produced by Sega, which takes some classic elements of bullet hell, but folds them according to its particular logic, focused on the possibility of alternating between two opposite polarities. Online for € 14.99, Ikaruga is a continuous dance between dodges and moments of invincibility, with the possibility of changing the situation at any time and the need to count on this aspect to be able to cross unscathed situations that otherwise become impossible. All of this introduces an additional tactical element to the simple skill on the controller, which makes the gameplay even more challenging.

Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy's sadistic level design terrifies but attracts the at the same time Considerable one of the forefathers of the relaunch of the "hardcore" platformer, so to speak, Super Meat Boy was a real revelation, starting a line of games based on reflexes and extreme precision in the movements between the platforms. Created by Edmund McMillen, who later established himself further with The Binding of Isaac, the first chapter can still be considered emblematic of this particular movement, perhaps more so than the recent follow-up Super Meat Boy Forever, which has obviously lost some of the innovative drive of the original but which can still be well appreciated by those who have already finished the first chapter. For everyone else, the advice is to start from this title (it is found at € 12.99) and re-educate senses and coordination in order to be able to complete the levels, because this is also a challenge of the past. , able to keep you busy for a long time.

La-Mulana 1 and 2

Between traps, enemies, puzzles and secret passages, La-Mulana is one of the most challenging games ever. we talk about extreme difficulty and high level of challenge we cannot avoid mentioning La-Mulana 1 and 2, a series that has remained somewhat far from the spotlight but which has generated a real cult. The two chapters are digitally distributed separately, but we would like to consider them together, also because in this way we find them distributed in a retail version. These are platformers with action and puzzle elements that, in some way, could fall into the category of so-called "metroidvania", even if their style is unique and is far more labyrinthine and complex than the standard average of this type of games.

Don't be fooled by its simple and cute appearance, La-Mulana is built to be a sort of irresistible nightmare that captures you in its meanders and makes you lose yourself in the thousands of rooms of the labyrinthine dungeon, grappling with enemies tricky and twisted puzzles, as we tried to explain a bit in our review of the Nintendo Switch versions. The first episode is for € 14.99, while the second for € 24.99.

The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth +

Following the huge global success, The Binding of Isaac : Afterbirth + represents the summa of the experience About Edmund McMillen, we cannot avoid talking about the other famous creature of the American developer, which is also part of a selection of this genre, namely The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth +. Having become a sort of real global phenomenon, the game in question is a roguelike with action and shooter elements that leads us to explore a huge dungeon consisting of several rooms, complete with a characterization between the humorous and the grotesque in real references. sarcastic at the biblical story of Isaac's sacrifice.

Beyond the complicated topics that are touched by the story, The Binding of Isaac is practically all action, set up in such a way as to stimulate the player to continue in the game, one game after another, trying to get further and further into the labyrinthine dungeon under the cellar of Isaac's house. On eShop for € 39.99, the Afterbirth + version is a cornucopia of content including additional levels, bosses, items, multiple endings and much more.

Volgarr the Viking

Volgarr the Viking takes us back to the good old days of Rastan Among the hidden gems of the eShop there is also Volgarr the Viking, which precisely falls into the category of games that we are framing in this article. It is an action with 2D platform elements that closely resembles the old Rastan, a series that actually represents the explicit source of inspiration for the Crazy Viking Studio game. Again, it's about controlling a mighty Nordic fighter struggling with levels packed with enemies, using a sword and spears that can also be used as support points to reach the highest platforms.

Gameplay and atmospheres seem to be taken directly from the old Taito series, but above all the difficulty level seems to be calibrated precisely on the model of 8-bit games, when even a few levels had to last a long time and were therefore filled with hallucinating challenges . As a result, even in Volgarr the Viking we have to practically memorize every single movement to get to the last boss, in a short but very intense experience. On eShop for € 9.99.

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