Why Cuphead's Difficulty Makes The Game So Great 

Question: Cuphead is extremely hard

Meanwhile IGN's reviewer lowered the score due the difficulty lmao

I love the 80s and 90s It was a time when not every game was being compared to Dark Souls

I love this game, it’s almost like Megaman for a new generation. Sure you die a lot, but you keep learning and have fun along the way.

"Beating a phase in cuphead is like a really good sneeze, uhh satisfying release, but you're also left with a mess you have to clean up afterwards." Sure, will go with sneeze..

as someone who used to struggle with multitasking i can say this game legitimately helped me a lot

When I first played Dr. Kahl I used to think the last phase was nearly unfair, even after I beat it. Play it again years later, I kind of see the pattern of what you do where it's not that bad.

It's only $20 and is gorgeous, all gamers should give it a try.

0:40 that dodge tho

Just started last week. Love it. Started my expert run through. It'll definitely be a game I come back to pick up and play every now and then

Cuphead is the Bloodborne of Demon's Souls tbh

I've gotta admit, I've never had so much fun dying in a game before. I wasn't even mad when I died. Super Meat Boy drove me up the wall, and Megaman would burst some arteries, but Cuphead? I feel it's tough but fair.

I can't wait for the city sim that sells itself by being "the Dark Souls of city sim games - there's like a tornado every three minutes!"

Can people just stop calling any game that is hard Dark Souls PLEASE!!!! 1st it was Crash Bandicoot 1 remaster (even tho the original was Already hard as fuck) now this..... just stop.

Haven't played it (yet), but judging from some of the community forum posts on Steam, it is definitely the combination of several individual attacks that gives the game its difficulty. There are reports of rare occasions where individual elements in a fight combine in a way that is, frankly, impossible to survive. For example, the randomized placement of cloud platforms during the Dragon boss fight, combined the wrong way with its various attacks, can occasionally leave the player having to choose between taking a hit and falling off the stage.

Just finished it. Amazing game and, although it was difficult, it was really satisfying to beat some of these bosses. Felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest when I had 1 HP left fighting king dice and was hoping I hit him enough times for a knockout before the next barrage of cards came out.

Cup Head is best described as a game that harnesses the purposeful difficulty back in the arcades. Meant to go after your quarters.

finished it yesterday! probably my favorite game of the year.

No more difficult than the average SNES/Genesis game. It's only in the last decade or so that companies figured out they can attract a much wider audience by removing all difficulty. So now we're at a point where we have to call things "The dark souls of" just to describe a game with a reasonable amount of challenge.

I have just completed it on PS4. When I first bought it I thought I’d never beat it 🙏🏼 Feels good, beautiful art style and a great challenging and fun game ❤️

Nobody is calling it dark souls of platformers.....

for the last time... THIS GAME IS NOT LIKE DARK SOULS JUST BECAUSE ITS DIFFICULT

this game is an MasterPiece great video. keep the good work,Gamespot-Team. XD...

Dark Souls is the Dark Souls of Dark Souls.

Cuphead is like the game that literally says: Hahahahahahaha git gud

The cool thing is that it plays like a puzzle. You try to figure out the pieces of one part. After finally managing to understand it you get to the next one. The first one is still hard enough to challenge you and try to get into phase 2 with enough health as possible

someone has already completed it without taking any damage ;)

Agreed. This wouldnt be one of my favorite 2D games without the challenge. I play much more difficult games so I find this game pretty moderate. Some bosses have taken me an hour to beat, but thats on the lower end for some of the challenges I complete. Still its way harder than the typical modern platformer. There wouldnt be any satisfaction if there was no deaths.

Comparing a game to dark souls because of it's difficulty is stupid simply because Dark Souls is not nearly as hard as alot of people claim. Yes they are challenging games, but once you understand how the combat works it becomes significantly easier. A game doesn't have to super hard anyway to be considered good in my opinion. Edit: Alot of the difficulty of dark souls is mainly based on the game not telling the player about anything.

I didn't realize how bad at video games I was until today, I can't yet beat the root gang. Granted, I've only played for an hour, but still.

I felt like the reward (no reward) never outweighed the tedious task of dying 30 times to a boss. Although the music and art style was incredible, death and difficulty are two different subjects.

It's like, instant satisfaction every-time you do something successful in this game lmfao

Just because a game is hard does not automatically mean it is like Dark Souls

I get the feeling this video was created as a sort of therapy video for people who have been utterly broken by Cuphead.

Truly one of the best games ever. The difficulty is why there is replay value & from an artistic perspective it is just a joy to play with a great soundtrack. Hope they do another one…. The studio said no but they are doing “something.” What ever game they are working on it should be good, Cuphead shows what they are capable of.

Did you just say its the DARK SOULS of video gaymes? ITS JUST LIKE DARK SOULS

Friend of mine said it’s too kiddy lol okay sir ..

Cuphead: Difficult but Fair. Dr Kahl's Robot: Difficult but... no, just difficult.

I’m glad to say I’ve completed the game but trying to go back through some bosses on expert is almost impossible 😅 only done a few so far

I love the look of this game but difficult games make me rage and I don't want to spend the extra money replacing my controller.

I watched RadBrad gameplay .. I told ya ... Its fucking Hard ... He gets upset everytime .. But when he win over boss fight .. He felt satisfied and reliefs ..

I can honestly say that the gameplay is hella addicting once you get into it. No joke, I've completed the game up to 200% and I almost have every achievement in the game, and I'm not even a completionist!

I loved the classic cartoon style of this game but Everyone kept reviewing about how difficult it was so I shied away from adding to the collection. Then my 12 y/o grandson wanted to try it. I thought why not, a game we can play together would be a plus in my book but I didn’t think he would stick to it due to that difficulty. He gives up on a lot of frustrating things pretty easily. Well, glad to say I was wrong, on two accounts. Like the review points out, it’s not difficult, it’s just challenging, and there is a difference. They kid wants to play more than I do. And he loves trying again and again until we beat the bosses. Actually, you can see how many times you died and he counts that as a badge of honor. We’re only at around 1200 deaths so far but I’m sure we’ll see that number rise 10x that buy the time we’re done. Give it a shot if you want to lose track of time.

People said that Ninja Gaiden sigma was difficult. But, I it to be fair too. That demand respect and ine truly has to earn everything one gets. And it turned out to be one of my favorite games.

3:38 The little birds are putting salt the big one.

Maybe cuphead isn't the problem. Maybe our 2D platforming skills have deteriorated in a 3D open world era.

I love this game! Allthough theres 1 scenario where for the first time felt like things were unfair. Thats the rollercoaster boss level. I felt like you had to he lucky with the timing the roller coaster because sometimes in the third phase, a roller coaster would come and the boss would shoot the horseshoe's. In that scenario if I'd jump I'd get hit by the horseshoe if I would not jump I'd get hit by the people IN the roller coaster. So unless you have that dodge dash its IMPOSSIBLE to dodge that attack. But when you'd try again you could have a much better go because the coaster timing is random! I did end up beating tho but during the road to victory I felt like there were moments where it was purely based on wether I had a good timing with the rollercoaster or had bad luck with it and end uo having undodgable moments

The fact that they say "git gud" but not everybody can get good is kinda depressing

Finished the game earlier. Easily one of the best games I've played in years. Difficulty was just right, hard, but never insurmountable, and rarely frustrating. Don't think I'll ever get around to Expert mode though. I know my limits, lol.

I'm about to platinum Wet on PS3. As soon as I get the trophy, next game will be Cuphead.

... Until the very end of this video, I never knew you could parry the laser beam on the ship boss fight. 200% and all. The More You Know™

It’s such a hard game but when you get an A+ rating on a boss you’ve had trouble on, it’s THE best feeling.

You literally showed almost every boss with most of them being from the last part of the game, why spoil a lot of the bosses when the most fun part of the game is seeing a boss for the first time? Just show the beginner bosses like most videos on youtube about Cuphead

So I finally finished the game a few days ago and I absolutely love it! I didn't watch many old cartoons and haven't been a big fan of the style but that changed since this game. Right now I'm trying different things in Cuphead, like fighting on expert (I got the devil but not Kind Dice how tf :D) Also I kind of learned to not get angry at my deaths anymore (except vs the bee...screw her) I just...accept it by now, which is a great help in order to accomplish things here. My favourite Boss is King Dice, I know, yes: This unfair piece of cube. But I really like the challenge of fighting various bosses before the real one (at least in cuphead) and for some reason he is the one I never get angry at, that's cuz my first goal while getting into this game was "Get to King Dice". I never thought I would even finish the game because I was stuck at the second island but I just kept trying and didn't give up to reach my goal.~ I really love this game and it's perfect for everyone who likes a challenge but also for those, who want to experience smth new! ^-^

Ok I might be crazy but it doesn’t even look that hard, I just bought it and I’m gonna try it out

He says “Difficult, but fair.” Me: The stupid robot says no.

Can't jump GIT GUD Can't walk GIT GUD can't die GIT GUD

My kids got 100% in all the Hello neighbour games but refuse this game because of its difficulty a wasted opportunity

Cuphead made me realize there are two kinds of video games: video games and cinematic cake walks. I think video games can be cinematic (Monster Hunter), but cake walks that constantly display points on the map where you'll find the next cutscene until it's over don't make me want to call it a game. It's not a distinction between good or bad, just what button pressing adventure you prefer to spend your time on.

“But time is just a human construct put in place to keep people like us from playing more cuphead” I feel right at home with this channel

Favorite bosses are Ribby and Croaks, Cagney Carnation, and Sally Stageplay Least favorite bosses are Grim Matchstick and Dr. Kahl's Robot. Those are the only two boss fights where I can legitimately call BS

The reason Cuphead is hard is because since the gameplay is based of Run&Gun games of the 80's and 90's like Gradius Mega Man Contra Gunstar Heroes Metal Slug and Sunset Riders which were difficult to beat, the brothers Chad and Jared wanted to give a new generation of players the satisfaction of beating hard bosses as those were the types of games they grew up playing. Cuphead is "fun and simple to play, hard to master but satisfying to win!"

Quit sad to die from a boss and have to start from the begining

The dark souls of platformers is Hollow Knight

So would you say it's... Worth dying for??

"dark souls of platformers" This isn't even a platformer...

i just finshed the game on ps4. I died 870 times. Im happy i didnt quit

2:52 Jared Moldenhauer: We just wanted to make it more difficult Source: Every Interview with Jared Moldenhauer

Another reason for the difficulty is so that it would take less time to make the game. There are only 19 bosses that need to be animated but 7 weeks worth of content. Easier difficulty would result in less time that you get from each boss, causing for there to need to be more bosses in order to make the same amount of content. This would add an extra one or two years to the process of animating the game, and we might not even have it yet.

After A+ ranking every boss in the game.... and P ranking the R&G’s.. I am very sleep deprived

It took me 859 death’s to finally kick the devils a** but for me the most annoying bosses were the dragon as well as King Dice.

the most bs thing in the game is definitely the balloon clown in the second island i cant ever get past the part with the charlie horse

Nice vid. I will love to see one explaining why this game should not be pirated. All hard work behind, the beautiful art, the small indie team and how them remortgaged their houses for the project, etc.

A lot of people say this game is like Dark Souls. I say that this game is like the 1930s Looney Tunes inspired version of God of War minus the blood and gore.

One unfair level is the Bee level when , sometime, the platform RNG between two phase can leave you without any escape

"Time is just a Human construct put in place to keep People like us From playing more Cuphead" True

Pain: Do you hate me?

is cuphead your favorite of the year you said?... man, this shit is my favorite ever already and I don't even have it yet, this shit is going to bring me back, I stopped playing games more than 15 years ago, I used to be a decent player (beating ninja gaiden & battletoads my major successes)... I lost interest and passion a long time ago, but this shit is so beautiful I can't wait to play the fuck outta it

In my opinion, this is a clear example that most videogames are just for people who have time and doesnt care to lose it. Hence, they are just made for kids and teenagers. Yes, the game is good as a whole, but just for the difficulty is like an empty reason, for an adult at least.

The dopamine I got after getting the pacifist quest for the run and gun levels was mad I absolutely love cuphead!

This game is the bill and ted of Star Trek.

Ahhhhh yes the clietay Darkseid comparison

Cuphead: never give up

Here are some classic 16-bit games that influenced Cupheads gameplay. Alien Soldier Gunstar Heroes Adventures of Batman and Robin (Genesis) Contra Hard Corps & 3 R-Type (series) Thunder Force IV Enjoy arcade gaming friends!

King Dice is my favorite boss from far i took quite a time to beat it, but when i did, i couldn't even believe it also the soundtrack of inkwell hell is AMAZING BEYOND THE LIMIT OF BEING AMAZING That F***** robot in inkwell isle 3 is my least favorite, i even raged a little bit

The low framerate makes it more difficult to dodge the projectiles

Its like playing portal 2 without a guide.

i have one issue with the game. there's no way to get HP back during a fight. this encourages restarting the moment you get hit, even though the parry would be a great health restoration mechanic. Hell, it'd be even better if that was a charm: jellybean - no super gained from parries, but reastores health instead.

Cuphead is an old school shoot em up; they were always pretty difficult

I beat cup head and the most bs is when u hit the one fighting the die head and have to start over

This looks like an awesome game!

I hate it how hard has become synonymous with dark souls. It's just a fucking challenging game. Dark Souls didn't invent difficulty, it just made it popular again.

Dark Souls is the Cuphead of Dark Souls games

I had to watch a 30 second un skippable ad Where’s my reward?

Not saying it's piss easy but people nowadays probably only find it difficult because no one really plays too many side scroller games, play some older games and you probably will find a similar mechanic, it's learn as you fight or as you die, the megaman or metroid games are good examples, you jump, shoot, avoid, duck, shoot, jump, people are calling this game difficult when it's your average side scroller

Dark souls of platformers HA! Did people forgotten about Hollow Knight?!

Top hardest bosses for me (Isle 2) 5.Baroness von bon bon 4.Beppi the clown 3.Grim b*tchstick 2.wallywarbles 1.the giene ...

Dieing makes the game fun makes you want to beat the hell out of it lmao 😭😭😭 who’s with me ?

The only game I have forgiven after making me rage quit so many times, it's so enjoyable and fun and gorgeous. I love it so so much. EASY 10/10

Cuphead promotes Dark Souls