I play most games on hard difficulty. But i gave up finish Nier Replicant on hard, not because i got stuck, but the hp of the monster was way to high to have fun.

I just couldn't beat Guacamelee on Vita, just hit a boss I couldn't beat. I considered getting every Kurok on BOTW at one point but settled on every shrine or it'd have lost its fun.

@MangoKangaroo

Crypt of the Necrodancer

The characters are difficulty levels, some with additional rules.

It's a rythm rpg, lore character #1 can miss beats, collect stuff, etc.

Lore character #3 can't miss a beat or miss and can't upgrade health, so you always die in one hit.

When I beat the 4 chapters with that character I was done :D

2 very recent ones on PS5

• God of War Ragnarok: I did the story and as much f the side missions and challenges as possible. But there are a few Berserker Graves, and the final Valkyrie Gna that no matter how many times I tried it would just get absurd. I almost threw my controller through my TV a few times when trying to roll-dodge to the side for an attack after they've already jumped at you and, i shit you not, they change direction in mid-air.

• Spider-Man: I did 100% the main game, all the side-quests and collectibles just not all the skills. Did all but the last DLC, but finally ragequit when trying to do the base tokens. Interior with tight corners. and you have to take out a dozen enemies including the whip-enemies attacking you from all directions...while rockets are being fired at you in the middle of 5 enemies.

Like every arcade game as a kid: Defender, Xevious, Galaga, Berzerk, Battle Zone, Asteroids, the Dark Knight pinball machine. My 10 year old self had no idea these games were supposed to be infinite/unbeatable. Or rather, I always assumed they were. I had no clue they could crash if you were super expert at them. I think Xevious actually had an end tho.

As for arcade games a casual could finish but I gave up on? A decade later, Virtua Fighter.

I'm about to just toss Remnant 2 out. I thought maybe it would be better than the first one, but it's even more bullshit. Like, it's a shooter and the first boss hurts you while you look at it. The intended method to defeat it feels way more like cheesing an exploit. I've gotten through the first quest in the Labyrinth and I'm hating the bosses even more than the first game with how just annoyingly unfair they are if you're not playing with a group. They're simply not fun.

Returnal is very similar in gameplay, and is even a roguelike with super brutal gameplay; even that game isn't as frustrating as Remnant 2. The bosses are hard, but not unfairly so.

Puzzle games like Baba and high skill ceiling platformers like Celeste, Meat Boy.

Soulsborne games are just soothing now. Dodge dodge hit, roll, heal, item, run

I tried replaying the Kingdom Hearts games leading up to playing KH3. Got all the way to the final boss sequence in KH1, but I just couldn’t get past the second phase, and I didn’t have any good saves for going back and leveling up. Gave up. Already beat it as a kid when it first came out. No need to kill myself in my late-30s for it.

Diablo IV: Uber Lilith. I did just about everything else, got my character up to Level 100. Then the first season ended (which I didn't even do) and somehow my character got nerfed -- even basic enemies were suddenly much harder for no apparent reason. I was considering changing and upgrading my gear for this final challenge but I couldn't even fight my way around the map anymore. Screw that.