

In both cases, the game retains much of what made it challenging in its heyday. Diablo II originally launched in 2000, with its remaster Diablo II: Resurrected hitting the market in 2021.

At the end of the day, what nudges the series' second entry slightly further down this list is the simple fact that the game is much, much older. There are arguments to be made for both Diablo II and Diablo IV in this spot. While Diablo Immortal may be difficult for free-to-play players, it's hard to call it a truly difficult game when those same players can breeze through it just by pulling out their credit cards.

Add to that the roadblocks it throws up every step of the way, forcing players to grind for unnecessarily rare upgrade materials or the near-impossibility of reaching the game's level cap of 60 without buying the necessary upgrade materials to do so. While yes, players can complete almost all of the game without spending a dime it will be a grind to do so, particularly when the game shoves its monetization features in their faces at every opportunity. That's because, for the most part, any challenge players face can be overcome through the simple act of spending money. RELATED: Video Games Series That Have Blood Magic However, the absurd levels of monetization that are included in the game make any degree of difficulty that players face feel disingenuous on the part of the developers. It supports four difficulty levels (the hardest of which players can only unlock after hours of play) and several significant difficulty spikes that can go beyond the realm of challenging into outright frustration. Blizzard's ill-advised mobile release Diablo Immortal could make the case for being much higher on this list.
