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What's the hardest indie title? Hollow Knight, Cuphead or Celeste
- Thread starter krg
- Start date
Hollow Knight has a bunch of optional content that's tuned so that only the really hardcore people would practice enough to be able to do them. Namely, the hardest parts of the Godmaster content and the harder difficulties of some of the optional boss fights.
Sorry to bump this thread,but I beat Cuphead last week and having beated Hollow Knight on PS4 and Switch,I think just the main story Cuphead is way harder,but if we count side content and expansions,no boss in Cuphead was harder than Nightmare King Grimm,and I am not skilled enough,neither I want to loose my sanity and try to beat Godmaster.So, without trying 100%, just the main story, Cuphead is my choice, now I have Celeste on the Switch waiting for me, but I don't think I want to start another tough game so soon.
I think OP needs a definition of what kind of difficulty is meant. Otherwise I can't explain why Cuphead is in the lead.
If you talk about the highest difficulty moments or areas the answer is easily Holllow Knight with no doubt about it. Just because of Godmaster content. No Celeste B side is that cruel and certainly no Cuphead boss either.
Cuphead probably has the highest difficulty in terms of non-optional content from start to endboss. But it has barely anything that goes beyond that except for trying to S rank them. Celeste and Hollow Knight both have optional content which go far beyond than what Cuphead asks of you.
I'd also argue that Cuphead's difficulty feels more random or artificial than the other two because of some RNG bosses.
If you talk about the highest difficulty moments or areas the answer is easily Holllow Knight with no doubt about it. Just because of Godmaster content. No Celeste B side is that cruel and certainly no Cuphead boss either.
Cuphead probably has the highest difficulty in terms of non-optional content from start to endboss. But it has barely anything that goes beyond that except for trying to S rank them. Celeste and Hollow Knight both have optional content which go far beyond than what Cuphead asks of you.
I'd also argue that Cuphead's difficulty feels more random or artificial than the other two because of some RNG bosses.
Celeste was the easiest of the three for me. Because the platforming mechanics are consistent, there is less reactive play. You practice that muscle memory and you can make it through anything.
Hollow Knight was doable outside some optional bosses. I completed most battles just fine. The second Hornet fight gave me a bit of trouble. But then you reach the optional content and damn. I am still dumbfounded every time I play the second form of Grimm. I don't think I'll ever beat him.
I wish I could weigh in more on Cuphead. I am waiting for the Switch cart before I complete it. I enjoyed what I played but am still missing a majority of content.
Hollow Knight was doable outside some optional bosses. I completed most battles just fine. The second Hornet fight gave me a bit of trouble. But then you reach the optional content and damn. I am still dumbfounded every time I play the second form of Grimm. I don't think I'll ever beat him.
I wish I could weigh in more on Cuphead. I am waiting for the Switch cart before I complete it. I enjoyed what I played but am still missing a majority of content.
Hollow Knight for the sheer determination required to beat it all, and for all that time spent getting lost!
Cuphead became a lot easier with the right weapon. For all its brilliance, weapon balance wasn't one of its strengths.
The challenge of Celeste was diminished if you'd clocked the likes of Slime San and Meat Boy before.
All three fantastic games in their own right though.
Cuphead became a lot easier with the right weapon. For all its brilliance, weapon balance wasn't one of its strengths.
The challenge of Celeste was diminished if you'd clocked the likes of Slime San and Meat Boy before.
All three fantastic games in their own right though.
that sounds about right. i would probably have cuphead at 6 though and move hollow knight to 5.
Hm I'd say Cuphead is definitely the easiest. Celeste doesn't get difficult until the B and C sides, and especially chapter 9 is absolutely brutal. Hollow Knight is definitely the hardest to "just beat", though I haven't played anything past the story mode (no dlc/challenges). So personally Celeste, but I've heard how crazy Hollow Knight gets in its later challenges/gauntlets, so that.
If you wanna go golden strawberries on Celeste, there's probably only a handful of people in the world who can get it on chapter 9. 100 levels, many of which will take a normal person 100+ attempts each, and all in a row without dying (my first attempt at the level took 13 hours)? Impossible.
Celeste's A sides really aren't that difficult though, like you won't be retrying anything for >1hr which you'll likely be doing many times in both Cuphead and hollow Knight. I'd say Celeste is 6th on this list by a long way, with Hollow Knight 4th and Cuphead 5th. Top 3 are solid though.
If you wanna go golden strawberries on Celeste, there's probably only a handful of people in the world who can get it on chapter 9. 100 levels, many of which will take a normal person 100+ attempts each, and all in a row without dying (my first attempt at the level took 13 hours)? Impossible.
Celeste's A sides really aren't that difficult though, like you won't be retrying anything for >1hr which you'll likely be doing many times in both Cuphead and hollow Knight. I'd say Celeste is 6th on this list by a long way, with Hollow Knight 4th and Cuphead 5th. Top 3 are solid though.
There are two others "level" for Celeste :
- All normal Straw Berries
- All Straw Berries included golden ones
Golden staw berries? Ha ha ha ha... nope.
The die & retry in Celeste is very compatible with how I play while dying in Hollow Knight was too punishing for my taste.
Doesn't Hollow Knight have a game mode that wipes your save if you die once, including inside the God Master sections.
Definitely Cuphead. Hollow Knight was no slouch and required some strategic planning, but didn't require as much raw skill, imo. Celeste wasn't challenging enough or engaging enough for me in the least.
Cuphead, Hollow Knight, Celeste, for a straight playthrough. I don't know about the various extras.
And I don't know why Celeste is considered so hard. I breezed through it in a few hours. Yeah, I died a lot, but that's just the nature of the game. You fall, you instantly respawn and try again.
And I don't know why Celeste is considered so hard. I breezed through it in a few hours. Yeah, I died a lot, but that's just the nature of the game. You fall, you instantly respawn and try again.
Yeah, it's a bummer.
Therefore I was very thankful for Celests accessability options.
I haven't played Cuphead and probably never will.
Try 100%ing Celeste. There's a Golden Strawberry at the start of every level and it requires you to beat the entire level without dying once. If you die, you go back to the start to try again. It also includes the B-sides, C-sides, and Farewell.
I believe the steel soul mode doesn't count dying in dream bosses and the entire godmaster content is considered a dream. I may be misremembering though.
but yes, that godmaster dlc is no joke. 52 bosses in a row. Count it.
If 100%ing is fair then Hollowknight def is the hardest easily, Godmaster + Radience is hard af
This is absolutely false.
202 strawberries (175 normal + 26 golden + 1 moon) is near impossible for mortals.
I have 193, and it took me literally months of training. The 4-B golden strawberry alone took me five weeks.
C-Sides alone are not as hard as Hollow Knight's God mode, but golden strawberries far exceed it.
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Yeah. From what I've seen, to %100 this game and the boss rush mode is maniacal. Although Celeste gets stupidly hard to %100 too.
I never played HK or Celeste, but adored Cuphead for it's boss rush nature. It seems really accessible by comparison. I heard HK had you replaying long sections on your way to bosses which I really hate - with Cuphead I just instantly tried again if I failed, and that's what I liked about it - it feels like it respects your time. I guess a tough Metroidvania isn't really my thing.
idk about Celeste though; I don't really dig the artstyle so I never seriously considered playing.
idk about Celeste though; I don't really dig the artstyle so I never seriously considered playing.
Celeste's Farewell chapter (added for free last year, check it out if you didn't play it yet) is way harder than anything I did in Hollow Knight (got good ending) or Cuphead (beat on normal mode). Hollow Knight's Godmaster stuff looks like an incredible grind, but golden strawberries in Celeste are probably comparable if not harder.
... I need to look up if anyone's done the Farewell golden strawberry. That just seems impossible to me.
... I need to look up if anyone's done the Farewell golden strawberry. That just seems impossible to me.
Going for full Radiant Bindings in Hollow Knight's Pantheon which disables all upgrades probably makes it the hardest too.
Don't forget
0. Celeste Ch. 9
Is the endgame of Hollow Knight really that crazy? I've never done it, I didn't feel like earning the best ending after beating the game, but nothing I've seen in videos, like the Path of Pain or final DLC boss, has seemed like it even compared to the later C-sides.
Clearer rules should have been established, because it's clear people are only considering Celeste's main levels. If you consider fully completing each game the other two don't come close to approaching Celeste.
I don't agree with this anyway, but FTL being so RNG-dependent makes it unfair to compare to these three games.
Hollow Knight is not really a difficult game.
Base game Celeste isn't too bad, but the B and C sides are absolutely brutal.
Base game Cuphead is pretty challenging but nothing too crazy.
Overall I'd say Celeste.
Base game Celeste isn't too bad, but the B and C sides are absolutely brutal.
Base game Cuphead is pretty challenging but nothing too crazy.
Overall I'd say Celeste.
Well, technically the optional levels are compulsory if you want to play chapter 9 of Celeste.
I'm guessing a lot, likely even most, of the people who played Celeste don't even know Ch. 9 exists.
But yeah, Celeste is the clear answer here.
I agree, Hollow Knight seems like kind of a weird inclusion. It's not that bad, especially compared to the other two, outside of a small set of areas in the post-game. Celeste and Cuphead are both much more consistently difficult.
honestly i'm baffled at all the cuphead mentions, that game is really not that hard. i'm not that good of a gamer but rarely had to play a boss more than 5 times to get it and once you do you can S rank most of them. it's all predictable patterns. i had way more trouble with celeste.
FTL š
Furi also got the best of me.
And Darkest Dungeon... but I believe they made things a bit more forgiving after early access.
Furi also got the best of me.
And Darkest Dungeon... but I believe they made things a bit more forgiving after early access.
Depends if you mean beating the game or 100%.
Because Hollow Knights godmaster stuff is just dumb and a damper on an otherwise perfect game.
Because Hollow Knights godmaster stuff is just dumb and a damper on an otherwise perfect game.
