What "hardcore" games have you beaten?

"Hardcore" for me are games like XCOM/CK2 where you put 20 hrs into a game on ironman and lose. Not games which are a bit difficult but let you respawn ad infinitum.

I've beaten key Legend of Zelda games, Metroid titles, some of the toughest Fire Emblem games, multiple Mario games, some Call of Duty, Kingdom Hearts, I've been around a while.

If we're talking difficult games its relative. Back in the days of the spectrum games were necessarily hard because you had a shitty joystick or shitty rubber keys to work with. Imagine trying to play Ghosts and Goblins on a crap keyboard. We did.

Nowadays, games can be hard, but you get infinite lives and respawns and saves. So even relatively difficult games like the souls series can be beaten by average players like me. I'm decent at strategy games but I can't testify to being patient enough to be a great video game player, I just play them for my own enjoyment.

I got a 1CC in Espgaluda 2 and it was probably one of the most challenging things I've done in a video game. Usually in these types of shmups I use a credit on the last stage or last boss. Not this time, baby!

Also I got all S ranks in Rockman Zero 4 many years ago. On some of the stages, I took absolutely no damage and still got an S rank for time. I should have recorded it.

There are many more, but I don't really want to list them. Plus I hate how any game with a decent challenge has to be called "hardcore."

"Hardcore"? lol

Anyways, game that are commonly considered "hard" (I think this can be subjective), that I beat:

Every Souls/Bloodborne (with the exception of DS2 and DS3 DLC's), all 3D Ninja Gaiden's (Only Sigma versions though cause I never had an Xbox. Beat Path of the Master i.e. hard mode though), Devil May Cry 3, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z (hard for the wrong reasons but still hard), Hotline Miami 1 and 2, Super Meat Boy, etc, etc.

I also have beaten some games on their respective hard modes like Vanquish, Bayonetta, Killzone 2 (its elite mode is insane), etc, etc, too many to count

Baldur's Gate

Icewind Dale

Ultima series. Never beat it because it cant be beat, but ive played Ultima Online since 1998.

Shining Force 1 and 2

Megaman series

I guess those are "hardcore" games. I know they were very difficult and time consuming.