Summary
Every game has its own way for the player to progress. In some cases, your skills will improve as your character levels up. In other circumstances, likeElden Ring, you learn the different enemy patterns that make playing the game so much easier. One of the most satisfying methods of progression is trial and error.
Games that use trial and error will guarantee that you end up failing a level or a mission multiple times before you finally get it right. When you finally do manage to push through, it is one of the most satisfying feelings in the world. Here are the best games where you succeed through trial and error.
Souls games are known for their ramped-up difficulties. It is guaranteed that you will die at some point in the game, to the point where dying usually earns you some kind of achievement. Elden Ring is no different. Those bosses are going to kill you over and over again.
Luckily, this repeated cycle of death and respawning is your chance to try again and learn their attacks and weaknesses. Some of the hardest bosses even have second phases where they gain new attack patterns. However, now that you’re expecting a second phase, fighting the bosses becomes easier.
Mirror’s Edge is one of the greatest parkour games of all time. That feeling of making a jump or grabbing an enemy’s weapon is very satisfying when you get the timing right. However, it also requires you to have quick fingers as you hurdle over obstacles and time a jump right.
There are times when you will fail or find yourself falling onto the streets below simply because you messed up the timing. Luckily, you can try again and again till you’re an expert at traversing the city without thinking about it too much.
Celeste gives you all thatpixelated goodness and retro sound effects. Yet Celeste is a modern indie masterpiece. The goal is to make it up Mount Celeste while meeting eccentric characters along the way. The game has simple controls that require plenty of timing and flexibility to truly master.
Cling to walls, stand on moving platforms, and avoid falling into the chasm as you make Madeline move across each screen. The further you get into the game, the more often you will die and need to start over. Once again, timing is the key to victory.
Cuphead is the king of trial and error.The game is magnificently animated, and each boss has some of the most creative uses for their designs. However, a wide variety of bosses also means that no two bosses can be taken care of in the exact same way.
Not only do you need to memorize their distinct moves, but since each boss has multiple phases, making progress also means having to learn a whole new move set all of a sudden. Trial and error with weapons is also important, since some weapons are more convenient for certain bosses.
Resident Evil 2 may not seem like a game that focuses on trial and error, but survival usually means conserving your bullets and herbs for when you really need them. Getting this information almost always involves learning what lies ahead the hard way.
Strategic save points can help you scout ahead with the knowledge that you will die at the end. However, doing so lets you know how many enemies are in the next area, how many inventory slots to free up before heading in again, and if any of the paths are one-way only.
If you’re looking for a game that has expendable heroes, then Darkest Dungeon 2 is the ultimate trial-and-error experience. Every dungeon in this game is as deadly as can be, and not every hero will make it out alive each time. What’s worse is that deaths are permanent.
This is when you send expendable heroes into the dungeon to learn the ropes. This could mean learning that the area is more likely to make your characters sick or learning how to tackle the deadly bosses that will leave your entire party dead unless you have one specific move.
Don’t expect to start winning at Hades 2 right off the bat. It will take plenty of trial and error before you finally get it right, and even then, you will need to adapt if you want to keep up. This can range from learning how to strategically tackle enemies and swapping weapons frequently to give you a much-needed edge in battle.
However, you won’t learn these things unless you push through and die repeatedly. There are so many elements that you end up ignoring that you’ll need to push yourself into using if you want the best chances at victory.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain isa stealth gamewith some of the most satisfying trial-and-error gameplay mechanics. Missions will require you to be well-equipped if you want to stealthily infiltrate an outpost and complete the objective.
Luckily, you get a chance to tag enemies and form a plan to get you through each outpost. This will get you far, but there is always a chance that you fail to calculate a distance or there is an enemy that you didn’t know about beforehand. Suddenly, your plans change, and you find yourself in a firefight.
With a game like Dead Cells, you might be tempted to explore every single corner of the stage before moving on to the next. However, while this might let you loot your choice of weapon, the game rewards you if you get through the stage quickly.
Of course, rushing recklessly also means you will most certainly die over and over again. However, you will learn what each weapon is good at and what enemies you will encounter in each area.
