What is the most difficult, but enjoyable game you've ever played?

[Inkidu]

If you're willing to go a little farther back, and possibly willing to go to Steam (which I don't know if they carry the original). If you're willing to use DOSbox I highly, highly, highly recommend X-Com: UFO Defense/UFO: Enemy Unknown (? If you're from across the pond).

It's a strategy game that offers nearly limitless replayability and if you're willing to deal with no tutorial and a lot of fast and hard learning then it's challenging. I play it on beginner and often lose.

A brief synopsis: You're the nameless, faceless commander of a clandestine, super-national, paramilitary organization tasked with saving the world from hostile alien takeover in the far-flung future of 1999 (okay it's a 94 game...).

You send your men out to capture landed or crashed UFOs for alien tech, which the eggheads with slide rulers back at base can break down into things like power armor or a new weapon. Destructible environs, soldiers who panic or go berserk, diverse alien types, and brutal combat make it a game worth looking into. (Personally, if I lose three out of ten people on a terror mission that's a good mission, I usually lose half)

 

[Vanilla_Druid]

People are simply too lazy to bother to read the comments of others and procede to give their two cents.

 

[A Satanic Panda]

STALKER SoC or Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (1998) Playing as a low lever car that's being chased by police in Lambos and Corvets is intense. Especially when the cops are inches from your tail trying to Pit you on a narrow mountain road.

 

[darksakul]

Earth Bound for the Super Nintendo.
When the game came out, it was bundled with the strategy guide at every retailer.
Although this is a console game, there always emulators.

If you like PC RPGs look for the Original Balders Gate
Try going though the game with out using any of the cheat Codes

If you don't mind old school, and I do mean old school
Try Nethack and Rouge

Last I checked no one I know of Legitimately beat the game.

 

[Axyun]

Baldur's Gate 1 gets my vote.

Specifially starting out as a Mage. At level 1, you can cast 1-2 spells per 8 hour rest period (depending on whether you choose to specialize) and you die if someone sneezes at you. Coordinating your offense and defense, using terrain to your advantage, etc. are a must if you want to make it in the early levels. Can be picked up at GOG or Impulse for cheap along with the excellent expansion.

 

[The Hero Killer]

Ninja Gaiden 2, Devil May Cry 3, and veteran mode on any Call of Duty. Only PC game I have that I find hard is the Witcher 2, but I dont enjoy that game.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Zelda 2: Link's Adventure. I wasn't able to play it until I got my 3DS but beating it was hard as hell. It was really rewarding though, in the end. Granted I kind of copped out at the end since I used the corner-technique to beat Dark Link. To be fair though I was on my last life with half a Heart Point left...it was my way of getting back at an insanely difficult game by being as cheap to it as it's been to me.

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

Shin Megami Tensei *

 

[major_chaos]

S.W.A.T 4 will kill you over, and over, and over again and then if you were not super careful you will finish the mission only to find that your score is not high enough and you need to start over again, but despite all that it is just so much fun because in never feels cheap, the expansion and the other hand......

 

[DioWallachia]

Now I just remembered Battletoads for the NES. Oh, the pain. "Alas, poor yorrick, he played battletoads, and was reduced to but a skull." is what a parody of hamlet (made my gamers) should include.

Battletoads is all but fun. I assume that completing the game could give you some sense of achievement, but at what cost?

If this guy really wants a challenge and fun i could recommend 2 games:

----Alien Soldier---- Sega Genesis
Made by Treasure (the same company that made Ikaruga and Mischief Makers) Its and arcade-eske game about boss fights (i think that there are 32 in total) one after another. The game allows you to chose 4 of 6 weapons and teach you all the skill you need at the very start of the game; Its the developers way to tell you that this is the way its meant to play the game. All you need its right here and if you fuck up at least you had the chance because its all about the skill, even with 3 lives in total at the hardest difficulty you will find that all you need its you reflexes

---Chakan The Forever Man--- Sega Genesis adaptation of the comic book
Unlike Alien Soldier, Chakan has unlimited lives due to a curse that makes him inmortal until all the Elemental demons are dead and granted his eternal rest. However, that does not make the game any easy because by dying you have to restart that particular lvl again (its sort of a select stage + Metroidvania kinda game.) Chakan has a bunch of alchemic potions that can grant him invicibility, flaming swords, higher jump and so on but those are found around the stages and are very limited but are supremely powerfull if used in the right moment (unlike Alien Soldier whose weapons can recharge slowly) making the game a true Battletoad style of pain but with the benefit of having unlimited lives and normal attacks that can go in 8 directions

 

[Isalan]

If you like a grim, dark RPG Witcher and Witcher 2 will kick your ass all day long. Witcher 2 was absolutely brutal til they patched it a few weeks in, and they recently bought out Dark mode which is super difficult, but unlike a lot of games actually features new items only available on that difficulty.

Plus, the developers are a great bunch.

 

[octafish]

If you're willing to go a little farther back, and possibly willing to go to Steam (which I don't know if they carry the original). If you're willing to use DOSbox I highly, highly, highly recommend X-Com: UFO Defense/UFO: Enemy Unknown (? If you're from across the pond).

It's a strategy game that offers nearly limitless replayability and if you're willing to deal with no tutorial and a lot of fast and hard learning then it's challenging. I play it on beginner and often lose.

A brief synopsis: You're the nameless, faceless commander of a clandestine, super-national, paramilitary organization tasked with saving the world from hostile alien takeover in the far-flung future of 1999 (okay it's a 94 game...).

You send your men out to capture landed or crashed UFOs for alien tech, which the eggheads with slide rulers back at base can break down into things like power armor or a new weapon. Destructible environs, soldiers who panic or go berserk, diverse alien types, and brutal combat make it a game worth looking into. (Personally, if I lose three out of ten people on a terror mission that's a good mission, I usually lose half)

This one right here. It gets harder if you use xcomutil to fix the difficulty bug that resets the difficulty to beginner. Plus it is the greatest video game of all time.

I'd say Raven Shield as well but it probably isn't your thing as it is a quite realistic shooter. ARMA 2 is even more realistic but misses out on the planning stage.

 

[00slash00]

dark/demon's souls arent even in my top 10 of hardest games, but definitely the most fun hard series ive played

 

[Boggelz]

Not exactly a PC game but Fire Emblem is one of my favorite games ever and i still can't beat the damned game.

Ironically Fire Emblem thread just popped up too

 

[BreakfastMan]

I see demon's/dark souls is out in full swing. Good to see, 'cause demon's souls is great.

Anyway, the hardest game I have ever enjoyed? Proly Nethack. So many ways to die, but still funny. Of course, Baldur's Gate 2 and Icewind Dale are also right up there.

 

[sheogoraththemad]

games like amnesia and penumbra, it's had because it's so damn scary. but damn it's enjoyable.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Smt: nocturne , even on normal mode it isn't that easy. A lot harder than the persona games . If you willing to play a ds game , i also sugest smt: strange journey and devil survivor . Yeah i like SMT games

you have impeccable taste in JRPGs, in fact, i second Nocturne as a hard, but enjoyable game

along with Demon's Souls and Super Meat Boy

 

[Varitel]

If you want a PC game with an absolutely maddening difficulty curve that manages to still be thouroughly enjoyable (and if you haven't played it already), pick up Psychonauts on Steam. It's not expensive, and is a definite classic. It's one of those games that you can't possibly hate no matter how damned frustrating it can be sometimes.

 

[Rheinmetall]

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls! I think you would enjoy it beyond belief if you ever tried it. Console games aren't really so hard to keep you away. But to your question, a difficult PC game: I would say The Void is quite difficult and almost unplayable for that, but it's a wonderful experience.