Well, we're at the end of the road with this series. We held ourselves to just four games and moments each (with no honorable mentions - I'm pretty sure Pierre-Yves is still side-eying me for that rule). It feels good to overcome a challenge, whether it's beating a boss or just wrapping up a series of articles. I think in general it was interesting for us as a team to sort of see what unique challenges stuck with us - and it was interesting to note the occasional games of overlap (Soulsborne and arcade fighting games anyone?) Here we cap the series with our final gaming thoughts about our most satisfying victories.
Nick
Bloodborne
I loved Demon’s Souls, I liked Dark Souls but wasn’t quite as good at those. Then Bloodborne came out, and everything about it just appealed to me in a way that the prior titles hadn’t. Maybe it was the aesthetic that was absolutely dripping in gorgeous gothic visuals and sound, or the fluid, fast-paced combat that felt both challenging but also fair compared to the booby-trap laden Dark Souls games. Either way, it was a grind and a challenging grind, but one that I was thrilled to see all of the way to the game’s conclusion.
Hamza
SkyRoads
Fun fact: One of SkyRoads’ creators went on to develop Skype. Guess he just really liked the word sky a lot.
SkyRoads is an into-the-screen platformer where you guide a spaceship to the finish line while dodging obstacles and managing fuel. The game’s got 10 celestial categories, each with three roads to complete. It’s not the hardest game out there, but Road 3 of Druidia—the final level—always felt impossible.
For over a decade, I couldn’t beat it. Then one random day in my mid-20s, I fired up the game again… and finally cleared it. When the screen faded to black and dumped me back at the main menu, I just sat there. No credits, no ending cutscene, but man—it felt like I had just beaten the final boss of the entire video game industry.
Richard
Mega Man Battle Network 3
Beating the beefed up last boss. Since the series has recently been re-released I'll avoid spoilers, but by completing certain hidden requirements, you earn stars next to your game file screen. Get so many stars and you can compress them to earn more. If I recall correctly, by earning all the stars allows you to challenge a harder version of the last boss. The fight is surprisingly rough, requiring a lot more reaction speed, planning, and some luck than young me thought I had. Beating that fight though felt really good, like I'd just wrapped up the game nicely after doing everything there was to offer.
While there may be other victories that have been more hard fought, or more difficult, these are the ones that still stick with me so long afterwards
Valerie
Puzzler World
Completing all achievements in a game on Steam. In 2007 I found out that was the year that Steam started the achievement system. The year after, PlayStation started their trophy system. The satisfaction of that popup when I received an achievement felt SO good in Puzzler World back in 2019. It's like an aphrodisiac to me. Tendrils of electrical charges of happiness coursing through me! Because of that I have completed all achievements in 8 games total on the Steam platform so far. It would be 9 but I didn't want to 'die in a fire' as my daughter says at times just to get that final achievement in that particular game.
Pierre-Yves
Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree - Radahn
I hate this man. So. So much. Out of all of the bosses? He had my number the hardest.
Optional "main" ish boss of the core Elden Ring experience, him as a final boss in Shadow of the Erdtree was only made worse by the fact that there was no trophy for bragging rights. Having fought him on v1.0 of the expansion? He was brutal and I yelled in victory when he was finally defeated.
Because I had no hit points or estus flasks left. It was truly him or me on round 20 something.
Susan N.
Victory 4 (Save the best for last) - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Saving the best victory for last is none other than Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. There’s several different endings you can get depending on all the things you did or did not do in your playthrough. In fact, most people know that there is a secret ending that many have used guides to complete. However, in Phantom Liberty, you can get an ending that is completely unexpected. The whole premise of the story where you pick up a job, it goes poorly, and you lose some people close to you. You now have an object worth a massive amount, but there’s a few problems with it. Over the course of the game, you realize that you will die at the end of the game. It becomes more and more apparent that that is the case, even if you go through Phantom Liberty.
What if I told you that there is an ending where V lives? It’s true. I ended up with it and I’m not even sure how I did it. Several people that I know who’ve played the game several times to the end have always ended up with awful endings, but somehow I found one that allowed me to live? I can’t even say it’s a good ending considering what ends up happening to you if you get it, but I was absolutely shocked that I didn’t die at the end of the game. Personally, I’m chalking that up to a victory!
