Hard is Stupid, Hard is Fun, DependingWe all know that difficulty and challenge in video games started with Demon’s Souls in 2009, followed by Dark Souls in 2011. Dark Souls and the best games that it inspired gated progress behind walls: bosses, secrets and exploration and moment-to-moment combat. Dark Souls 2 and 3, Sekiro, Bloodborne and Elden Ring refined and expanded the vocabulary of the genre and its mechanics. All of these games are difficult, of course, and you can’t succeed without growing technical mastery and/or the smart use of the game’s tools. The game stripped away a lot of the tools players need for success, while unfairly giving enemies punishing abilities.