Yep - that's one's a bear until you realize that you don't have to have the block all the way against the wall to make the jump. You just have to get it in that room and then slightly to the right (looking down from the hall) and then jump up to the ledge with a double-jump. Stick with it though - you still have some game left and it's pretty amazing in conclusion - totally worth it
Oh dear god - you know that encounter wouldn't have been as bad (the Jacquio) without having to fight the father and the clown-nosed statue first...it's the three bosses in succession that racks your nerves.
I don't think NG gets nearly enough credit as the hardest game ever...but it should. Oh yeah, you have stupidly hard games like Demon's Soul - but nothing as just "PURE HARD" as ninja gaiden was back in the day!
Jack
I find game difficulty falls within 3 situations.
1st. Control Based - Meaning a series of button presses that have to be completed in a sequence to clear a particular level or area. Sometimes the controls where accurate enough and you just needed to learn better timing, other times the controls WHERE the difficulty because they where so poor it made progressing difficult. QTE's would be considered "Control Based" as well as combo's, aiming, dodging, jumping etc etc. If you soley rely on your ability to get your character to do what you want him to do to procede and that is a difficult task then it is control based.
Example:
Do you need to jump onto ledge A at half speed with a double jump and quickly jump off of the ledge and are greeted by an enemy that needs a 3 hit combo to defeat?
2nd. Puzzles - Sometimes a game presents a puzzle that you as a gamer have no way of knowing the required task. Many of these puzzles required trial and error and generally include obstacles such as enemies to slow your path to solving the puzzle. Timed events are also puzzles because they require you to complete something within a limitation outside of your ability to control your character (Combos, aiming, dodging, jumping etc etc). Knowing where to be, what to do and how to do it are all puzzles and prevelent in just about every game.
Example:
Do you have to throw a switch in room A so that the door in room G opens that allows you to turn crank C so that bridge H comes down allowing you to cross a chasm?
3rd. AI - I will stick with enemy difficulty on this one although lately I have seen many enviromental aspects with scripts that make you believe the computer is f98king with you. Certain games have enemies/bosses that have insane amounts of health, regenerate, drones, powerful attacts etc etc that make defeating them extremely difficult but don't necessarily have AI. With each generation of gaming AI is changing to replicate more human behavior. Fighting, shooting, driving, running plays and the like now require you to be better than an opponent who is designed to react differently depending on the situation.
Example:
Does Enemy A duck behind the crate after it is finished firing at you, if you throw a grenade does it run away from it while simultainiously firing in your direction limiting your ability to get a good shot off?
For me if a game has only 1 of the 3 difficulties above the developer was either lazy or cheap in the design of the game. Any balance of 2 of the above difficulties usually results in a challenging game that doesn't leave you feeling cheated when you fail at completing a task. However, if one element of the above is more prevelent than the others a gamer can get frustrated because it only requires us to master 1 aspect of the game instead of being a well rounded player.
Old school games heavilly relied on Controls/Timing; with a hint of Puzzle solving. To be good at a majority of games back in the day you really needed to have good reflexes and a precise short term memory. Today things are different; as technology has progressed simply knowing your enemy flashes a jewel on his turbon before he punches you no longer works. You have to know how to react to the computers reactions and his reactions generally are based on your previous action.
My recent favorites that encorporated all of the difficulties above: GOW, Uncharted 1&2, Killzone, DMC.
Some of these games are difficult in the aspect that even if your extremely skilled in 1 aspect of the game it still offers you a challenge within another. You're a good head shot?, great now get one on that enemy who is lobbing grenades from cover. You're quick at solving puzzles?, great now beat that boss who requires you to do a 15 hit juggling combo. You're good at defeating A.I.?, great now find a way to get that door to open up 5 levels back so you can proceed.