From Zelda to BG3, gamers discuss most confusing moments that made them look up instructions in shame

Let’s face it: We’ve all had those moments when we’re playing a game and get stuck on something so frustrating that it makes us question our ability to play. And during those times, we may have had to look up a guide online.

While some gamers might not like to admit they needed help to finish a game, a recent Reddit thread allowed gamers to vent about those moments where they hated themselves for not be able to figure something out after looking something up. The Reddit user who originally started the thread used it to talk about their frustrations about getting to Rusty Bucket Bay in Banjo-Kazooie and the water temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The latter game sparked several different responses from multiple games in the Zelda franchise. While the series isn’t known for its difficulty, many of its puzzles and dungeons have tripped up even the most seasoned Zelda players. Whether it’s a very frustrating shrine in Breath of the Wild or a confusing puzzle in Phantom Hourglass that requires you to literally close your Nintendo DS to solve it, Nintendo is always surprising their player base with its brain-teasing puzzles.

There were a variety of other games that made the discussion for various reasons. Users brought up the Mausoleum puzzle in Baldur’s Gate 3, the environmental puzzles in the Resident Evil franchise, and even accidentally exploring so much of Elden Ring that you end up going to a completely different area and skipping multiple bosses.

Several classic games also made the list, with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 coming up frequently. The infamous barrel in Carnival Night Zone was a point of frustration for several gamers back in the day, with many not knowing the proper controls for dealing with this environmental obstacle. The blue hedgehog has had his fair share of challenging levels across the years, but this particular moment brought up a lot of bad memories for OG Sonic players.

Along with the discussion, users also reminisced about the frustration of obtaining the information needed to finish these levels. Now, you can easily just look up a guide or watch a playthrough to figure something out, but that wasn’t the case back when the internet either didn’t exist or was in its infancy. Some users even recalled times when they would either wait for their friends to beat a level and tell them, or even call gaming companies on the phone asking for help.

Modern day games can still be very difficult, but when it comes to problem solving, we definitely have it much easier.