Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a beautiful piece of gaming art, my personal Game of the Year 2025 (and it’s only June!), and a fascinating French homage to the jRPG genre. However, its high difficulty level can quickly discourage beginner players, causing them to get stuck on the first serious enemies instead of enjoying the story – making their emotional rollercoaster come not just from the gripping plot, but from frustration as well.
An unhealthily addictive gameplay allows you to overcome the rather high entry barrier, followed by sudden boredom after another marathon session, during which the narrator literally begs you to turn off the console and take a break. It’s a great game that’s really tough for noobs and casuals, but for completely different reasons.
My character in Diablo IV has died maybe three times. One of those times was because I went to get coffee, and some minor yet persistent demon seized the opportunity and, after a relentless 10-minute long assault, finally devoured my Level 50 Barbarian. If you take your time and don’t act recklessly, Diablo IV is actually pretty easy. That being said…
An older relative left you a property in the countryside, and you need to take care of it… Stardew Valley? No… Ha, ha, ha… No. No, no, no no… noooo. NOOOO AAAAhghgghhh!!!…
…Darkest Dungeon is a dungeon crawler and crawling you will… and, despite the very high level of difficulty, it will shackle you with dopamine and an addictive game loop.
Roguelike is often a nightmare for a casual player. They require dexterity, patience to the point of stubbornness, and worst of all: a lot of free time! Hades sweeps all these problems off the board and drains them of the Tartarus right to their afterlife.