The 20 HARDEST First Levels in Video Games

These games began the punishment early with some of the hardest first levels of all time. For this list, we’ll be looking at games that immediately threw you in the deep end with a harsh opening difficulty curve. Our countdown includes A Lengthy Battle from “NieR: Automata” (2017), The Village of Cursed Blossoms from “Nioh 2” (2020), It’s A Jungle Out Here from “Contra” (1987), The Drawbridge from “Dragon’s Lair” (1990), and more! Which of these did you power through? Are there any we missed? Share your painful memories in the comments below.

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[mojoplays]

Which of these did you power through? Are there any we missed? Share your painful memories in the comments below.

[FireBomberBassist]

Ninja Gaiden is what we played before Dark Souls.

[thMandalorian]

Driver, it’s always Driver.

Some people never even were able to play the game

[BladeITguy]

i came here knowing it would be driver

[FtOfAnger]

The beginning of the the last three Tomb Raider games took me forever to get through

[lazydazey]

I played a demo of driver, loved it and bought the game. I spent a hour in rage trying to unlock the game. I finally passed the tutorial and invited my friends over to play it. My friends loved it too. The next day my friend calls me and is mad at me because of the horrible tutorial I failed to mention. I had to go to his house and beat it so he could play the game. So I had another raging hour with my friend legit mad because I couldn't beat it. I eventually did and had to repeat the experience with my other friend. Thanks Driver

[roadtocosplayer]

Forest Follies from Cuphead is even more difficult if you're doing a pacifist run. For those who haven't played it, that basically means that you have to get to the end of the stage without firing so much as a single shot. You are allowed to parry, and it's actually required near the end of the stage to get past a particularly tricky obstacle. If you REALLY want to make things interesting, try collecting all five coins WHILE attempting a pacifist run. It's super tough, but it can be done--I myself have done it a few times over.

[jkeztdh]

Resident evil 4 first level is easy. You don't have to fight any one it is a timed event just keep running until church bell rings.

[kenterminateddq]

The first level of the 2004 Ninja Gaiden reboot isn't I fought the first boss.
That was one of, if not, the first time where I broke my controller. :(

[prodigal_rebel_]

You missed The Great Wall of China from Tomb Raider 2, that first level is a nightmare with all the death traps but luckily there's Lara's tutorial manor for people to get used to the controls and her moves.

[EjaygamZ]

Superman had such horrible mechanics. I remember being furious when I realized I wasted 2 months worth of allowance on it

[tomgustafson]

#1 The Opening To Stellar Blade With One Hand

[zoelindwall]

The intro level of crash 4 should be mentioned.

[dkrattrap]

Fallout 4 with a damn death claw in the first hour

[piercehubbard]

I forgot how hard that Empire Strikes Back game was while first starting. Those Star Wars games were freaking awesome though!! I wish I could replay them. I remember at the very end of one you had to fly the Millennium Falcon out of the exploding Death Star. That part took me two whole days to finally beat! I’d play for a couple hours, keep dying when I was just barely too slow, then go outside and play baseball for an hour, and try again. Life as a kid in the 90’s were great.

[acestreamline]

The beginning of Armored Core 6 was freaking brutal being one of those situations where if you didn't beat the super hard boss at the start of the game, you would never be able to customize your mech and give it upgrades.

[gofez]

I like when a game opens with a level that nearly breaks you. Self-confidence is overrated ;)

[Swordslinger-hbns]

The temple of trials in Fallout 2 is a cakewalk for me. Then again, you can ramp up the difficulty in the options menu to your liking. So I won’t hold that against anyone.

[zachtwilightwindwaker]

I remember my first playthrough of RE4 being miserable. I was relying on my knife since I ran out of bullets. I think I got beheaded too. In the remake demo I was running for my life.
6:30 The AVGN never got far in this game.

[hzbkiiw]

No we missed any of these power through on the PS3 or on the PS4 or on the switch like Angry Villagers Resident Evil 4 and Forest Follies Cuphead and The Beginning Of The Hunt Bloodborne