30 Days of Video Games

[Winston]

Day 11 - Hardest Area / Level / Stage in a Video Game.

IT BURNS LIKE A THOUSAND BABY BIRDS!

First Nina Cortex Level or Whatever It's Called (Crash Twinsanity)

Well this brings back painful memories, the stage I couldn't beat because of the final part of the stage, it was SO hard, I just couldn't beat it when I was...however old I was, I forget, but I got it the first day so...I don't know. But literally, I hate this stage so much, the rest of the game was simply fantastic, yet this part was...ugh. This is probably my favorite Crash Bandicoot game...but this stage...doesn't really add to that...

[Mandyrobin]

I find it hard to believe that all the people choosing any Sonic level that isn't Eggmanland have ever played any other game in their entire lives.

To be fair, I have barely started playing Sonic Unleashed, so I'm not anywhere close to experiencing how hard Eggmanland really is. All I know is what I heard from everyone else here.

That, and Eggmanland has already been mentioned at least 11 times. Gotta have some variety here, you know?

Edited January 27, 2012 by Maxanda

[Tori Himemiya]

Day 11 - Hardest Area / Level / Stage in a Video Game.

IT BURNS LIKE A THOUSAND BABY BIRDS!

First Nina Cortex Level or Whatever It's Called (Crash Twinsanity)

Well this brings back painful memories, the stage I couldn't beat because of the final part of the stage, it was SO hard, I just couldn't beat it when I was...however old I was, I forget, but I got it the first day so...I don't know. But literally, I hate this stage so much, the rest of the game was simply fantastic, yet this part was...ugh. This is probably my favorite Crash Bandicoot game...but this stage...doesn't really add to that...

That's also the only Nina Cortex level.

But that level was a bit of pain for me as well but only around the start when you have to jump down from a "plank." It was in my instinct to jump down but no matter how hard I try I always fall to Nina's doom. Turns out you have to run down. o.0 While it was hard at other parts but that part in particular was hard for me. D:

[Octarine]

I'm kind of a crappy gamer, so as a general rule I try to avoid notoriously difficult games whenever I can. I've made exceptions (struggling through Ninja Gaiden Black was one of the less pleasant experiences of my gaming career), but for the most part I tend to steer clear. Of the hard stages that I have experienced, many of them have already been listed, and I'm not fond of redundancy unless I feel very strongly about something (and there's no Sonic stage that I consider that difficult, even Eggmanland). Instead, I think I'll talk about a stage that's more weird than challenging, though it definitely can be both:

That section on Malachor V where you play as the goddamn remote droid, from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II.

KotOR II is a pretty easy game for the most part. There are tricky bits, especially early on, but once you've got a lightsaber and you've hit a decent level you can pretty much solo the entire game with no problems. Even the final level, the hellish zombie planet Malachor V, is pretty much a cakewalk. That is, until you reach a certain point, where the game abruptly snatches the main character away from you and forces you to play as...

Er, not Luke. The little round dude on the left.

Yes, one of your party members in this game is constantly followed around by a droid identical to the one Luke used for lightsaber practice in Episode IV, and yes, it's about as powerful as you'd imagine. It is literally impossible to defeat any of the enemies in this section unless you've been stockpiling grenades for the entire game and you're prepared to spend ten minutes on each one, fighting Scooby-Doo-style. Basically, the game forces you to play a stealth section in the final dungeon of the game as a character you've never controlled before. Now, this isn't impossible, mainly because you're traveling through the same area you just cut your way through as a Jedi and the enemies don't respawn, so if you were thorough the first time it's a (boring) walk in the park. If you blitzed through the level in a rush to get to the end and fight the final boss, though... well, better hope you saved.

The worst part of all of this is that the entire reason this section exists is to conclude a subplot that was almost entirely excised from the final version of the game due to time constraints. The cutscene that plays when you've finally gotten the remote to where it needs to be is nearly incoherent in the version of the game that was actually released. Man, I love you, KotOR II, but goddamn.

[Kuzu]

DAY 11: HARDEST LEVEL/AREA/ IN A VIDEO GAME

ALL OF MY HATE.

No seriously, fuck this world and everything it stands for I've lost more lives in this world than in probably any other platformer to date. Its cheap, frustrating, and I was seriously teetering on the edge of insanity while playing it. You can only imagine my joy when I finally beat the fucker.....then my sadness when I found out I had to back for the K-O-N-G letters.

[Carbo]

Day 12 - Video Game You've Spent The Most Time Playing

[Diz]

Day 11 - Hardest Area / Level / Stage in a Video Game.

The Great Maze

The Elite Four part of any Pokémon game was ah, scratch that. I'll go with this one instead!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl was the one game that made me purchase a Nintendo Wii, and that was after I had borrowed my friend's console and played the living trophies out of it for one week straight. There was just something about it which I really loved. I also loved its story mode. I might just as well copy and paste this post into this () topic!

Once I neared the ending and the whole maze era started, I was confused about what had happened. I shortly realized that a lot of the previous stages had been torn from the world and linked together inside one huge spaghetti maze. You end up having to play through all of these, battle bosses and characters that were previously unlocked, yet currently made unavailable.

A big problem I had was never knowing where to go or even what to do. It took some time to figure out that I had to defeat all bosses and unlockable characters, and it took me even more time to realize that flashing spots indicated the ones you had left and where to find them. Pretty dense, ain't I? Nonetheless, I spent a long time in there, and it frustrated me a lot.

One other relevant thing is the end boss, residing in the middle of this maze and unlocked once everyone else have been defeated. The extremely huge space door looks really amazing when you enter it, but you should soon wish you never did enter. You may choose six, I think, characters to fight the boss with, yet he has like one or two attacks which instantly deals a KO, and one of those attacks hits you no matter where you hide, which is quite lame.

That being said, I did also enjoy The Great Maze. Since I enjoyed the solo and story mode so much, I had nothing against playing through some of the levels a few more times, and the game features amazing music while strolling across the levels, wondering where to go next in order to kill the big bad bully, but it can become quite frustrating after a while if you keep having to roam around the same spots.

Edit: Whaa-- again?!

Edit #2: <3

[Carbo]

Since you posted the exact same minute I'll let it slide.

[PSI Wind]

Oh man, it's either Pokemon Diamond and Monster Hunter Tri. Most likely it's Monster Hunter Tri. I have spent over 300 hours on that badboy and still love it to this day. Hunting online is just so damn fun! And making new weapons just adds more hours and more hunting! Now, if CAPCOM could bring 3G to the US with online..........

[Jeffhog]

Day 12 - Video Game You've Spent The Most Time Playing

These two, from what I can remember.

Home Console - Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

Current time racked in at around 250 hours. Screwing around, multiplayer, Chao raising, and A ranks are the major contributors.

Portable - Pokémon Sapphire Edition

Current time clocked in at around 430 hours. I loved me some Pokeymans.

I'm planning on restarting this one though for old time's sake [since I practically beat the whole thing], but as of now I'm currently emptying Colosseum and XD, and transferring everything over to my White copy.

I think I might have also spent a lot of time on The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Super Smash Bros. Melee as well.

Edited January 27, 2012 by VizardJeffhog

[Victory Defender]

Day 12 - Game I've spent the most time on

Pokemon Pearl

I have 300 hours clocked into this bad boy. I do have a liking for pokemon, but this one hooked me on for some reason. I've never achieved 300 hours for any pokemon game, or any other game for that matter. Pearl was the most revolutionary pokemon game in my eyes; more revolutionary that B/W or S/R/E. The starters were good, and the story was probably the best out of any pokemon game. It also introduced some Pokemon mythology, which extended the story and such. It kept me intrigued.

[Diz]

Day 12 - Video Game You've Spent The Most Time Playing

I do not even have to verify. It has to be World of Warcraft, no doubt.

World of Warcraft was a game that I initally was not interested in, not even after my friends forced the MMORPG onto my paws. I loved the idea about logging out, logging back in, and the same items you collected would still be in your bags. I also loved how the game almost never loaded anything, yet you had so much to explore. The world was excessively huge. However, you had to kill creatures and do quests for computer-controlled characters, not just one, but two. No, wait, three. No, lots more, and you had to kill fifty million thousands of creatures before you leveled up, that's what it felt like, so it kinda did not feel worth it, especially since you had to do even more to level up further.

All until my two friends who had leveled much, much further than me, offered to take me over somewhere else. Little did I know that I was to become a naked gnome bait for monsters ... I was taken over to sinister and dark woods, which was enemy territory where the so-called Horde reside. Horde, what is that, I asked? Well, World of Warcraft consists of two playable factions at some sort of war. The more human-like faction, the Alliance, and the monsters, the Horde. For the first time, I felt I really enjoyed the game and found it both exciting and intense. Skull-leveled players (10+ levels above me) would appear and chase me, kill me with a single blow and spit on me. Then my gnome friends would pop-out of the bushes and one-shot the hordie back. Fun times. I decided to level up in order to compete against some fun Player versus Player, Alliance versus Horde action, and in order to protect the weaker and lower level players from being killed all day long. This is what I loved to do.

World of Warcraft is really well made and features not only amazing mood-setting music, but also stunningly good-looking areas. Each zone or area represents a miniature continent which dramatically changes once you enter the next zone. For instance, one of the starting zones and homelands are always full of snow, yet once you enter another zone, you see grass and trees, and the whole setting dramatically changes.

Nagrand day-time music (same area as picture above)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2ZhOorew1Q

Recent addition to the Battleground music collection

[Tori Himemiya]

So day 12, the game I've spent the most time playing. This is going to be on several others but it goes to...

...Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.

I checked a couple of seconds ago and it turns out I have 597 hours clocked in it. This however is probably nothing compared to others since the game has been out for more than a decade.

What can I say. I love this game and I probably will still enjoy even if it grow on me. I had a lot of fun moments, I enjoyed the storyline and the gameplay regardless of the gameplay change. I still remember getting this game so many years ago I knew it would be worth it. But gosh now I wanna play it again since I'm reminising about it. And everyone knows what I'm talking about so I'll call this post to a close.

Runner Ups:

Pokemon Soul Silver - 448 hours it says here. I really liked what they did with this game.

Disgaea 2 - I don't know how many hours I put into this game but it must be around 200 hours.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Dream of the Endless

[null]

Day 12 - Video Game You've Spent the Most Time Playing

Pokémon Sapphire Version - Nintendo Game Boy Advance - 2003

Current time clocked in at around 430 hours. I loved me some Pokeymans.

Small-time. Try 650 hours. You clearly didn't love your Pokeymans hard enough.[/e-pen0r]

My first ever main-series PKMN game happened to be my childhood-defining game as well. After years of being made fun of for owning a Game Gear, I finally had a chance to shine. April of 2003, conveniently around my 10th birthday would mark the start of the timeless journeys of ASH and his Treecko, who would eventually develop the astounding moveset of Leaf Blade, False Swipe, Return, and Cut. After mistakenly believing Kyogre was technically owned by Team Aqua, therefore not attempting to catch it, ASH was face-to-face with Steven and lost every match before getting a little help from something called "Action Replay". ASH would spend the last few days of his career trying to catch 'em all with Action Replay, obtaining a good 90% of the National Dex before he passed on his Sceptile and the rest of his collection to trainer Magick of the Sinnoh region and retired his save file.

Look, we all sucked at our first playthrough of our very first game. Don't even try to argue that crap with me, we'll all know you're lying.

While I technically have a higher play time logged on White version, (Capped at 999:99) a majority of that time was spent in C-Gear mode in my pocket for 8 hours a day. Sapphire was, and for a long period, my favorite video game of all time because it was unlike anything I've ever played prior to that.

Runner-Ups: Super Smash Bros. Melee and Pokémon Platinum Version

Edited January 27, 2012 by Ricky

[Bria]

Day 12 - Video Game You've Spent The Most Time Playing

That would probably have to go to these suckers.

Poke'mon Red and Blue, being my first games of the series that I played (and well...the first anyways), I was hooked on these at all times during and after school. I had Red first, in which I would collect as many Poke'mon as I could and go on these odd training sprees just because. Blue I got much later, but still spent plenty of time on it. Between the whole Missingno. thing with the 99 items, getting level 250 Poke'mon, and trying to get Mew, I loved these two. Cheats aside for getting Mew, I managed to get all 151 Poke'mon. Yay stupid certificate for congratulating me of time wasting.

When Gold and Silver came out I immediately fell in love with Silver. Gold was awesome as well, but I think I just preferred Lugia a bit more then Ho-oh. Gen II is possibly my favorite out of any other and it introduced my favorite Poke'mon; Tyranitar. I love that thing, looks so friggin' cool. Again, I would spend hours with training, trying to catch all the Poke'mon, and playing Stadium 2 with a friend using the Poke'mon from our games.

After beating Diamond and learning about EV/IV additions, I pretty much spent forever hatching eggs with appropriate natures and characteristics forever, not to mention all of the grinding after that. If it wasn't training then it was contests and trying to get all of the different ribbons, hanging out in the GTS, or mining with my friends in the underground. I really enjoyed this version, there was just always something to do it seemed.

Honestly, I'd have to say ANY Poke'mon game could fall into these categories. I spend forever on them anyways, but those first few I probably spent the most time on.

Next up:

Sonic Adventure 2

Why this game? I may always go back to Sonic 2 and 3&Knuckles, but damn did I have a soft spot for those Chao ever since they were introduced in the first Adventure. I really love taking care of creatures in games. Had Tamagotchi's, Gigapets, and all those virtual creatures as a kid and whenever a game had something similar to this I was usually all over it. I would spend quite some time trying to S rank all of the attributes, getting all the different types of Chao per Hero/Neutral/Dark category, breeding/trading them to get various two-toned Chao. I pretty much went Poke'mon on it. Chao aside, I also sat through and got all 180 Emblems. I got 174 on the Dreamcast version, so I spent some time between both that and the Gamecube one.

Runner Ups:

Harvest Moon 64: I played this game like crazy between crop harvesting, trying to get a Greenhouse, animal raising, and doing all of those little activities such as the festivals and mining.

Final Fantasy IX: Chocobo Hot and Cold. That is all.

Star Ocean Till the End of Time: Grinding forever for those stupid sidequests/dungeons.

[Chibinuva]

Day 12 - Video Game You've Spent The Most Time Playing

Hmm, that's a tough one. I spend so much time playing I'm not sure which one I've played the most. However, if I had to pick one, it would probably be.

I've played the hell out of this game ever since I bought it. As I enjoyed the chao gardens, I played those a lot, as well as replaying particular levels over and over for chaos drives and animals. Besides that, certain levels are really addicting, I still haven't completed the final story (stuck on the Biolizard boss,) and I played a ton of multiplayer with my brother til one of our controllers broke. I still play it a fair amount, though that may change somewhat once I beat Finalhazzard.

I generally love Spider-Man games, but this one is exceptionally awesome. While it's one of my more recent purchases, I played it a lot, and have been playing it a lot recently. There's been plenty to do, be it completing challenges, unlocking and purchasing new moves, getting gold on levels, or just replaying them for the fun of it. And there's enough variety between the Spider-men to keep the gameplay fresh just by switching between them. Hell, it's fun enough for me to have replayed the tutorial.

Honorable mention would have to be Sonic Generations, which I love and play a lot, especially during the tournament held here. The main reasons it wasn't higher are besides being a fairly new game, it's also short.

[Lady Soniko]

Day 12 - Video Game you've spent the most time playing.

most Zelda Games, most notably Wind Waker, Twilight Princess & Skyward Sword.

i cannot begin to express the sheer amount of time i've loaded into each of these titles over the years... each time a new Zelda is released, it is bigger, longer and more gruelling than its former prequel, no matter how good i am at them i still can't clock any 100% in a day.

the sheer amount of things to do in Zelda is staggering, the main quest alone if you don't bother with side missions is lengthy in its own right, but for example lets talks about Wind Waker... if you take the main quest into account, then add every piece of heart, every upgrade, every sea chart then add on the merchant quest, enemy rooms, submarines and reefs, oh and great fairies, and throw in a sizeable GREAT SEA to traverse that takes about.. 15 minutes to actually sail from Outset to Forsaken Fortress then you have a fucking huge game... this is just Wind Waker!

Twilight Princess, goes back to its Ocarina Roots with the land of Hyrule being your playground, more pieces of hearts, more upgrades plus even a SKY TEMPLE outside of the level, and massive dungeons... oh and Poe's make a return, collecting golden insects for a bug fanatic and traversing the Twilight Side of Hyrule then we have another massive game that takes hours to complete... oh i just remembered the Snowy wasteland too with the mansion, and don't forget the fishing that was so in-depth it was considered a game within itself.

Skyward Sword... i'm just going to say i logged 58 hours into this, and i didn't complete it 100% either, i played this RELIGIOUSLY 24/7 and i clocked it in 58 hours in-game time, just the main quest and a few side missions, i didn't get all my equipment upgraded, i never found all the Skyward Goddess Cubes... nor all the pieces of heart, those 58 hours where spent plowing through the main quest alone...

words can't describe the amount of effort Nintendo put into each Zelda title, the amount of sheer detail is breathtaking sometimes...

Honourable Mentions

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - so... you've collected all the power stars, YES game over right!? WRONG, here Freckles... have another well hidden green Star to find in every stage all over again!... ok *2 days later* ALL GREEN STARS! YES! GAME OVER!? lolno silly Freckles... now you must traverse GRAND MASTER GALAXY! oh..ok.. I DID IT Y- not so fast... HAVE A COMET CHALLENGE RUN!

FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

The Elders Scroll V Skyrim: i'm clocking 98 hours in-game and i haven't even gotten half way through the game yet.... so much shit to DO.

Metroid Prime/2/Corruption: Metroid Prime is also a lengthy adversary... if you want all your pirate & chozo lore, and 100% Log book you better scan fucking everything!

Edited January 27, 2012 by Samus Aran

[JezMM]

(Put in a quote to avoid that huge gap before image glitch):

Yeeeeah. I've kind of already said what I love about this game on the multiplayer day. Granted, some of this time includes my recording of demo footage for youtube videos, but the vast majority is legit.

To do the maths - I have spent just under 2 months of my life playing Left 4 Dead. No regrets.

Honourable mentions (through sheer percieved number of plays, no accurate data): Super Mario 64, Sonic Adventure 2, Zelda: Majora's Mask, Sonic 2 8-bit.

Edited January 27, 2012 by JezMM

[Emmett L. Brown]

Can't believe I forgot about Welcome To The Machine from Ecco...

Twelth: Game Played Most Accumulated Time Liek Ever

Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura

From the developers of Fallout 1 & 2 (and Fallout New Vegas - woot!) comes a stereotypical Tolkien-style fantasy world set during the Industrial Revolution. It has one of the most versatile character creation-development systems in any roleplaying game I've ever played, so to give you an idea of how much time can be sunk into this game, here's some of my favourite character builds:

Sauron the Hobbit

A halfling mage specialised in Dark Necromancy, Summoning, and Mind magic. This little squirt is the ultimate vessel of evil. He doesn't talk to quest-NPCs, he murders them outright then summons their spirit to torture for information (yes, you can do that in-game). When magic fails him, he summons orcs, ogres and demons to butcher his enemies. And for some perverse reason he refuses to give up the mysterious ring given to him by the dying gnome a tthe start of the game.

Conan the Barbarian

He's a half-naked brute who kills things with swords. Next.

MacGyver

This technological genius can create formidable weapons, tools and equipment from any amount of junk and scrap. The junk stores feel cheated when he walks away with his pockets filled with garbage and returns with expensive machines to sell. He never uses guns, but since he can craft explosives, Batman-like machined gauntlets, and eventually automata to battle his enemies, he needs no stinking guns.

Impossible Thief

There are two capital cities with their own thieves guild questlines to complete for gold and minor experience points. Good training grounds for the rogue who can drop fade into invisibility before his enemies' eyes, swipe the weapons and armour off their bodies, and then finish them off with a stab in the back. Every house is empty of loot - the owners never saw the thief coming, and never saw him leave.

Forrest Gumpier

Don't let his hilarious dialogue and minimal Intelligence stat fool you. This guy solves problems and saves the day wherever he goes, writing equally hilarious entries in his journal with each new adventure. (Seriously, playing a retard turns Arcanum into a top-notch comedy.)

Mother Nature

Galadriel's twin sister is friend to all living things, stopping bloodthirsty animals in their tracks and summoning them to fend off evil-doers. She heals all ills, tends to the needing, and brings hope and prosperity wherever she goes... But don't piss her off, because if you do she will summon the dreaded Vorpal Bunny. Remember the Killer Rabbit from Monty Python? She can summon that thing, and IT WILL FUCK YOU UP.

Nicolai Tesla

Say 'ello to my little TESLA COIL! BZZZZZT!!

And many, many more...

While not available in stores anymore, you can find Arcanum at www.gog.com

[SuperStingray]

I've spent my entire life playing The Game, as I never thought about it before now- CRAP

Srsly tho, I've spent ~500 hours on Team Fortress 2. Pokemon Ruby's the only game I know that comes close, at around 250 hours, but then I sadly lost the cart as well as my original GBA.

Honorable mentions go to Super Mario 64, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Vanquish, Okami and Demon's Souls.

Edited January 27, 2012 by SuperStingray

[Arcade Racer CC14]

This one's a toughie, so I'll pick two that I think fit the bill the best.

Home Console - Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

This is one of the games that me and my sister spent more time playing than any other back in the day. Even after I had already cleared the single player mode, we spent so much time just raising random Chao in the Garden and playing multiplayer match after multiplayer match without even getting close to being bored. Plus, with Battle's expanded multiplayer mode, it gave us even more options to play around with that not even the original SA2 could offer. (One of the new options we were most excited about was being able to play City Escape in multiplayer.) SA2B just offered an overall fantastic multiplayer experience that enriched quite a few hours of my life.

Handheld - Dissidia: Final Fantasy

This game is freaking ADDICTIVE! I've never spent so much time on a Final Fantasy game or a HANDHELD game in my life. Not only does the Story Mode get you familiar with each character's play style and the very fun battle system, but the PP catalog's insane trove of unlockables persuade you to keep on grinding up the PP in Arcade Mode. I've played this game for two weeks straight and still didn't get bored of it. That's how addictive it is.

[Semi-colon e]

Probably either Pokemon Silver or one of the old Sonic games. They're the games I played the most when younger, so it probably adds up more than stuff like Metroid Prime and whatnot that I didn't play until much more recently.

I don't know how I can expand on that any further, just great games in general. I tend to restart my Pokemon games a lot (except for Platinum, Soul Silver, and White) so I wouldn't have an overall hours list.

If you're talking series, then Sonic by far, followed by Pokemon naturally.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Easy one this

Sonic Battle

Yes. Sonic Battle. I played this game for 5 or so weeks straight and built up hours like no mans business. Why? I was so fixated on getting all the moves. I played it with my friends at the end of every week, so we all trained and trained, hoping to get new moves to outdo the others. Yes, Sonic Battle was the game I have clocked the most time on.

[Solly]

The game I've spent the most time playing.

Super Smash Bros. Melee.

I've spent hours upon hours playing this game with my brother, and while I haven't touched it in quite a long time I can't recall having ever grown tired of it. I may have actually gotten the "You've fought 100,000 VS. mode matches! Go outside!" message, but I can't remember. It's a great game, and it kinda marks a point in Nintendo's history when they were just discovering 128-bit hardware and how each character would be represented wasn't written in stone.

While I feel like Brawl is the better game on content alone, I can't say I've played nearly as much of it, and Melee will always have things that make it special.

[Covskin]

If we're going for just hours it is probably a Final Fantasy. I imagine a minimum of 100 hours for 7, 8, 9 and 10. Then again, Championship Manager 2 would also have clocked up a similar amount of time.

If, though, we're talking about how many years I've been playing a game off-and-on, then its probably going to be The Secret of Monkey Island. It was a couple of years before I even learnt to save, so I would play Part 1 so many, many times. Then of course, I would get stuck quite often, adding to my playtime.

And finally...its just a bloody brilliant game, full of quality writing and hidden jokes. Two possible endings, insult-sword fighting and wonderfully rich characters. As a kid I would play it every couple of weeks, and I still give it a run-through every couple of years. Same goes for its sequel.