The PlayStation 4 was released over seven years now, and the holiday season of this year will be the end of this console generation, and the next generation will start with the PlayStation 5. However, that does not mean the PS4 will be dead on its feet, as it’ll no doubt be supported for many years to come.
Over 876 Million games have been sold for the PlayStation 4, but of those among them, what are the most difficult games, you can buy for the console? They are over seven years of games to choose from, but this list is only going for focus on those released in 2019, so let’s narrow it down to the top 10.
10 Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2 has an adaptive difficulty, where the difficulty will chop and change as you play. This difficulty changes based on how you are doing, if you’re doing well pretty well, haven’t been bitten in a while, then the game will make it harder for you, by making zombies take a billion bullets in the head before they die again. It also works the other way, if you’re doing poorly, the game will give you a breather, and zombies won’t take half as much to kill.
It doesn’t change how hard the enemies hit, so playing it on Hardcore is still pretty challenging. Zombie bites and attacks will instantly put you into the danger state, and the horrible lickers will be more than happily one-shot you. Beware, this is even worse when trying to get that S rank, as time and steps are of the essence.
9 The Surge 2
Ever wanted to play a Soulslike game but with mechs? Then Surge 2 is for you. It’s very similar to other games of this genre, but this title is a bit easier than most, by having certain easy builds, will make healing be in abundance.
If you wanted to play something that isn’t dark and fantasy-based, then Surge 2 is definitely worth a playthrough. Even though it’s not as tricky as other Soulslike games, it still pretty challenging. For those interested in the genre, then this title is a great starting point.
8 Code Vein
This title is more or less called Anime Dark Souls, and it’s pretty accurate, to say the least. The main difference this title has that other games of the same genre doesn’t is that the main character always has a companion with them, to help out as you play through the game. However, if you wanted to make Code Vein significantly harder than there is the option to remove the companion and play solo.
But saying that, a lot of the bosses don’t seem balanced for solo play. However, like other Soulslike games, it’s possible to summon NPC summons to help you out in these difficult battles. Though this is a challenging game, it’s nothing compared to Sekiro.
7 Days Gone
The hardest difficulty in Days Gone is survival, and it suits the name well. Survival creates more immersion by removing the HUD completely, however, but the player can turn it back on, albeit temporarily by using survival vision.
What makes survival more difficult is that there is no map, so the player has to learn the lay of the land by recognizing landmarks and such. Zombie hordes are extremely dangerous in the game, but on other difficulties, it was possible to circumvent them using fast travel, well fast travel as been disabled, so good luck avoiding those pesky undead.
6 Control
As Control is classed as Metroidvania, it makes sense as to why it doesn’t have any difficulty settings, that it only has the one. This means if the player is struggling, then they have to be patient and grit their teeth and try their hardest to get through it. If not, the game over screen is going to be a close friend. In Control you can pretty much go anywhere, but some areas are blocked off by specific abilities that you’ll have to backtrack to later once you’ve acquired said ability.
The game isn’t really about hiding behind cover and waiting for when the opportunity arises. It’s more of don’t stop moving and throw anything at everything at enemies. Fans have suggested that if by abusing hypnosis that the game becomes so much easier to play.
5 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Oddly enough, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is also classed as a Metroidvania, but this one has difficulty settings, four to be exact, and Jedi Grandmaster is the hardest of the bunch. This title takes a leaf out of Sekiro’s book, with a heavy influence of parrying mechanic, and on Jedi Grandmaster, this parrying window is exceptionally tight.
Enemies turn a different color when an unblockable attack is coming; this is because the game is very parry/counter focused, so not telling the player would be awful game design. As like most Soulslike games, ranged enemies are the bane of players’ existence, and Jedi: Fallen Order is no different, as those blasters can really ruin your day fast if you’re too busy focusing on melee guys in front of you.
4 Remnant: From The Ashes
Soulslike games are becoming more and more common, and that in itself is not a bad thing. However, Remnant: From the Ashes changes up the meta a bit by turning one into a first-person shooter. It does have a single-player campaign, but the game is designed around playing it as a four-player experience, as bosses are designed around co-op in mind.
Even saying that it’s entirely possible to play the game and finish it solo, but it’s a lesson in masochism. If you don’t mind trying the same thing over and over again easily 100 times before you win, then this title is definitely worth a playthrough. If not, get three friends together and have a blast.
3 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Sekiro is another from FromSoftare and is another game that that changes the mechanics of the game, from the Dark Soul series. The first game that did this was Bloodborne with it’s more aggressive life steal gameplay, but with Sekiro, the focus has changed to blocking, parrying, and posture-breaking. Sekiro is all about timing and paying attention.
This means that fighting is so much more intense that it feels that battles of ninja and shinobi are happening, and one wrong move will end with your doom. You’re parrying blows after blows, getting your enemies posture down until it breaks then landing that mortal blow. It’s truly an amazing experience.
2 Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
The Monster Hunter series is a very niche market, as every game in the franchise is extremely unforgiving, and the latest game or expansion Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is no different. The entire premise is to killing weaker monsters, harvesting their parts and turn those into weapons to them fight even bigger, stronger monsters, rinse and repeat.
However, these monsters have a deep learning curve, and they can easily wipe the floor with you, as monsters higher up the food chain will happily one-shot you if you’re not prepared. This is not a game where mashing buttons will win, you have to be concise with your attacks, attack when there’s an opening but know when to retreat or evade. Preparation and patience are key to surviving this game.
1 Devil May Cry 5
Devil May Cry 5 has got multiple difficulties, but most of them have to be unlocked by playing the highest one available, then play that one to unlock the next one. The Hardest one of the lost is aptly named Hell and Hell. In this mode, it takes everything from the previous difficulty, which is all enemies have double health, checkpoints have been removed, etc.
But Hell and Hell adds one important thing, one hit, and Dante and his crew are dead. One single slip up and it’s game over. However, you can mess up a total of three times per level on this difficulty, before booting you back to the start of the mission. The reason why this is locked behind other difficulties is that Dante and crew will be more powered up through other playthroughs.
NEXT: Devil May Cry: The 5 Best Outfits Across All Games (& The 5 Worst)