"Why did I find this so difficult before?!" moments

[SwimmingRock]

Vanguard Bandits. Played it when it came out (about 12 years ago) and I remembered it being hard as balls. Then I replayed it about 3 years ago and realized it's actually a really easy game. I just didn't know a damn thing about tactics when I originally played it, because it was my first TRPG.

 

[Fujimora_Pantsu]

I have played a lot of Lylat Wars over the years, so previously hard bosses and sections have become a high-scoring blitz. I used to think that the highest level of Star Wolf was tough to beat, but now it's just ridiculously easy.

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time.

The Water Temple. had no issues with it when replaying it on the 3DS after about 8 years.

Why does everyone keep saying the water temple is impossible anyway? I never understood. It pretty straight foward keep moving and back track as little as possible. Now the desert temple that was a pain in the ass.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

"Freebird" on Guitar Hero 2 Expert difficulty. The soloing near the end kicked my butt consistently for a month or two, then one sleep deprived evening I just picked up the controller and got 4 stars.

 

[dimensional]

Sometimes things just click with me and I can blast through a game which I previously really struggled with. Guitaroo Man I really struggled to clear the first two stages then kept dying on the third stage I just could not do it.

Picked it up a few days later and proceeded to finish every level in the game with ease not dying a single time.

It happened in K-On hougako tea time for the PSP as well I was struggling through the songs on normal finished it switched over to hard got a perfect on the second song used the ultimate score item to switch it to very hard and blitzed the game getting an s rank on every song with every character, while on normal I was struggling to even get a c on some songs.

Same thing happened with Guitar Hero suppose it tends to happen most with me on music games then. Its a shame it never happens for me on fighters.

 

[Sir Broccoli]

Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time.

The Water Temple. had no issues with it when replaying it on the 3DS after about 8 years.

Why does everyone keep saying the water temple is impossible anyway? I never understood. It pretty straight foward keep moving and back track as little as possible. Now the desert temple that was a pain in the ass.

The water temple wasn't difficult as much as it was annoying to do. Having to pause the game, go to the equipment screen, equip the metal boots, unpause the game, take two steps, pause the game, equip the normal boots and unpause the game every goddamn time you need to go trough a flooded corridor just got annoying.
The 3DS version made it much less tedious by changing the way you equip stuff and by marking the doors in the main room so it was easier to figure out which door lead to what water-level-changing-thingie.

 

[Tallim]

Didn't have too much trouble with Sen's Fortress except the perspective on a couple of the swinging blade sections makes it tricky to see where you can stand safely at points.

There is a bonfire near the top so it's not actually a very long section either.

There... is a bonfire in Sen's Fortress?

Well shit.

I've never known there is a bonfire in Sen's Fortress. That'll make things a lot easier for my challenge run. I was not looking forward to fighting the Iron Golem, knowing that one mistake would send be all the way back to the entrance of the bloody place. Now I know there's a bonfire, there's nothing to worry about.

Yeah it's just past the first bomb flinging giant. It isn't obvious though, you have to drop off the side to get to it.

 

[Fijiman]

I had an experience kind of like that the first time I played Oblivion. Mostly I remember seeing my brother go though the arena fights with only a little trouble whereas I nearly died in most of the battles. It wasn't until later that my brother bothered to tell me that I could lower the difficulty setting which I didn't know existed. The game became so much easier after that.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

That happens with any game that I played as a child.

Pretty much this, with some notable exceptions. Most prominently Fantasy General. Every now and then I pick it back up, sure that my advancing years and increased savvy and experience will finally allow me to master it. And sure enough, everything goes swimmingly for the first while. And then the game crushes my balls in its vice like grip, and I remember what a punitive fucking nightmare it turns into, and I put it down for another 5 years, and the cycle resumes.

 

[Quaxar]

Recently reinstalled Republic Commando on my new PC. Somehow I sped through half the game like nothing when a few years before I could only ever finish the Kashyyyk part with cheats...

 

[WanderingFool]

Super Metroid for the SNES. I couldnt beat the Phantom boss for the life of me. Come 7 years later, I started playing it again while at my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving. Within two hours and 10 minutes, I was heading to confront Mother Brain.

Kinda wish Super Mario 3 was like that... I had that game (it was part of Super Mario Allstars) for almost twenty years, and I beat it once... after 18 years of playing it...

 

[repeating integers]

Yoshi's Island.

I think I had to quit that game several times, I found it so hard. That was back when I was young. Now I can breeze through it in a few hours no problem.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

The Library in Halo: CE

When I used to play it (admittedly very early on in my days as a gamer) it was one long pant-wettingly terrifying parade of "SHITFUCKRUNSHITFUCKGAAAARGH!!!!"

Now I can pretty much breeze through it even on Heroic (Legendary is still a ***** though).

 

[GamerAddict7796]

Tony Hawks 1&2 and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.

I couldn't complete these to save my life (when I was 8) bt when I pulled the dusty PS2 from the attic and bought new copies (should've seen the scratches) I blitzed through them. Hell yeah! I'm better at gaming than I was 8 yrs ago. Yay me!

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

EDIT: The bonfire is a lie.

Not really though. You just gotta drop from a ledge down on a balcony up where that one giant is throwing down fire bombs. There's a place where the wall's broken down.

OT: I guess i had that feeling a lot in Dark Souls. Most prominently against the Moonlight Butterfly because i think i encountered it too early for what the game intended, but once i found the proper way to dance around its attacks i beat it without losing any health at all. Just left me thinking "Really? It was that FUCKING easy?! :/"

Also the Hydra. Even if you're a mage you shouldn't fight it at long(er) range.

 

[scorptatious]

I was sort of confused on the whole "Chesty La Rue" thing. At first I thought, did Matt and Pat improve their character in Dark Souls and start invading other people?


Of course now I know what you're referring to. XD

OT: Probably Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. I remember never getting very far in that game, probably due to a lack of skill or knowledge on how to save.

I then downloaded the game off the PSN and I found myself getting through the entire game within a few hours. Never realized how short it was. :/

 

[RJ 17]

Horizon in Mass Effect 2, I dont exactly roll through it, but its no where near as hard as it used to be. Mainly because I know that I have to spec myself right instead of putting points into everything

That's a very good one to point out. My last playthrough of ME2 involved me being up at 1:30 in the morning, wanting to finish that mission before calling it a night. I got to the final stand while powering up the defense turrets but good god I just couldn't keep myself from being overrun. After about 4 tries I grumbled and decided to say "screw it, I'll do it in the morning." Go to bed, wake up on Saturday, give it another shot and breeze right through it.

I know that mission is one of the hardest in ME 2 and so I always try to think of what the best combination of squadmates are (considering my own class) to deal with everything. I've made some REALLY bad decisions in that regard on some of my playthroughs.

Other than that, another that game that comes to mind is Portal and/or Portal 2. Getting stuck on a puzzle and just feeling absolutely stumped...saying "God damn, this shit's impossible!" Only to come back after a few hours and/or a good night's sleep and try the puzzle again only to find the answer was right there in front of your face the entire time.

That happens with any game that I played as a child.

Pretty much this, with some notable exceptions. Most prominently Fantasy General. Every now and then I pick it back up, sure that my advancing years and increased savvy and experience will finally allow me to master it. And sure enough, everything goes swimmingly for the first while. And then the game crushes my balls in its vice like grip, and I remember what a punitive fucking nightmare it turns into, and I put it down for another 5 years, and the cycle resumes.

That's how it is for me and the old school Mega Man games. There were some levels (Air Man, MM2 for example) that I just could never beat as a kid. They're pretty easy for me now buuuuuuut the Dr. Wily stages still have a tendency to kick me right in the nutsack.

P.S. Thanks for another chuckle. :3

 

[Erttheking]

There are no bonfires. I invadeded your world and stole them all.


OT: Actully when I was playing Dark souls for the first time I had a lot of trouble with the Taruas demon(First boss, the bull thing).
He killed me a few times and I had no idea how to fight him untill I saw a video that showed me I could climb that tower.

Now though, I could easily kill him on my own with just a dagger. Although I can only hope that ease comes over to Andor Londo, I still haven't been able to get myself playing after being so annoyed with the Gargoyles and Archers.

Hope that you don't have a problem with Dark Knights, the place is filled with slightly downgraded versions of them called Silver Knights. Truth be told though while it is tough it's a hell of a lot easier once you get past the first two archers...oh yeah and then there's Dragonslayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough. Advice, summon two friendly phantoms before you even consider fighting them, these two make the Iron Golem look like a calkwalk. The bonfire inside the castle is a major hotspot for them.

 

[Erttheking]

EDIT: The bonfire is a lie.

Not really though. You just gotta drop from a ledge down on a balcony up where that one giant is throwing down fire bombs. There's a place where the wall's broken down.

OT: I guess i had that feeling a lot in Dark Souls. Most prominently against the Moonlight Butterfly because i think i encountered it too early for what the game intended, but once i found the proper way to dance around its attacks i beat it without losing any health at all. Just left me thinking "Really? It was that FUCKING easy?! :/"

Also the Hydra. Even if you're a mage you shouldn't fight it at long(er) range.

Oh yeah, I was crapping my pants when I saw the Hydra (slightly aquaphobic) but when I got close I said to myself "is this thing blind? All six of it's heads are missing me and I'm standing perfectly still!"