cerb's gaming achievements
last updated 2 weeks, 1 day
curated list of challenge modes or hard things i've done in games. i of course do this partly for bragging rights, but it's also something i do because it's honestly just my favourite way to engage and i love to struggle (most of the time). runs that i completed before starting the blog won't have their own posts, but any that do have specific reviews will be linked. check #games for general thoughts and reviews, or #hard_mode for any other detailed accounts of challenges.
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✧ Kingdom Hearts III Critical Mode. i was gonna play the game for the first time on Proud, but my friend pressured me to switch to Critical and i nearly instantly regretted it. still pushed all the way through to the optional data fights though, and have been putting those off for 3 years now. i'll note them here as i do them:
- Data Young Xehanort: this was a long time ago now, but i think it was 3 days of grinding before i got him. felt pretty good to learn this fight, other than the time-stop mechanic and dodging that fucking whip.
- Data Dark Riku: this is where i've been stuck for over 2 years now! his music is grating to me and i can't for the life of me get a pawhold in this fight. i uhhh will get back to this eventually lol
✧ Elden Ring + DLC, no summons/magic during boss fights. yes, Promised Consort Radahn took me 12 entire hours across a few days of grinding, but it felt so awesome finally taking him out. Rellana was also pretty tough but more rewarding to learn, in comparison - Malenia is my favourite boss of the game, so take that as you will. amazingly when i went and got Elden Beast after the DLC (this was my 2nd playthrough to show the game off to my girlfriend), i first-timed it with no flasks left! my build by the end was Dex/Faith, alternating mostly between Bloodhound's Fang, Beast Claws, and Backhand Blades all with element-applying spells like Bloodflame Blade and Frozen Armament.
✧ Simon, Clair Obscur Expert Mode. yeah this was a cool fight. the double-time combos were already crazy, and then getting to the part where he "extinguishes the team from the canvas" and then gets triple time combos was hype as fuck. the aura is crazy! i eventually got the parries correct enough to beat him after maybe 20-30 times, in an attempt that ran for around an hour. you can see all the details on our builds (and the rest of my thoughts on the game) here!
✧ Bloodborne + DLC. no special conditions, just Bloodborne. i think it's good enough to list! i loved fighting Ludwig and Orphan of Kos. Laurence was my Absolute Nemesis by far, he took me probably over 50 attempts. that second phase is just killer; i genuinely was having out-of-body experiences because i was focusing so hard on dodging his fire-crawl move. my build was mostly Saw Cleaver, Blade of Mercy, Beast Claw, and the Beasthunter's Saif, along with the basic early-game gun.
✧ Persona 5 Royal, Merciless mode. this was my first playthrough and i was actually shocked at how difficult it was, a lot of the time. it made boss fights a huge ordeal where i was frequently reviving party members and using literally every single thing at my disposal, including random items just to get me through another turn. Niijima was easily the most difficult fight, taking me several hour-long attempts. she hit way too hard and was just brutal.
✧ Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, original SMB1 Master stages. if you know anything about monkey ball you will understand. Stamina Master is probably one of the hardest platforming levels created in a commonly commercially available video game and it took me 6 straight hours.
✧ Tears of the Kingdom, 3 Hearts run. honestly the fact that the game prevents 1HKOs from full health and that healing is so accessible makes this deceptively easy - i don't think this is too impressive. still fun though, and it did make traversing the depths and fighting Ganondorf more interesting.