Your Self-Imposed Gaming Challenges

Mar 30, 2010
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Currently running through Farcry 3, found it a bit too easy so decided that I shouldn't use ranged weapons - melee takedowns only. Strangely enough the game isn't so easy anymore. Or rather it just requires much more patience.
 

Tomaius

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Jan 25, 2012
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AC2, Brotherhood, Revelations and AC3. No shops/crafting.

I thought that this would actually make the game difficult and nesscessitate stealth or some kind of tailored strategy to assassinations. It doesn't, Hidden Blade is broken in combat and its always one of the first if not the starting weapon. Lack of a crossbow hurts but the gun's noise isn't too much of a problem alot of the time.

Dark Souls SL1 playthrough.

Without sounding cocky this one isn't actually too bad (Not too much of a difficulty hike), so long as you keep your elemental weapons and Pyromancy upgraded, though some unorthodox tactics are required for some tricky sections.

Deus Ex Human Rev: "I didn't ask for this". No Praxis kit upgrades, no kills.

Again surprisingly easy considering how useful your knockout move is, though hacking can get annoying without the required ability. Whack a few upgrades on an assault rifle and grab the Laser Rifle and your golden for the bosses.

FF13: No L'Cie abilities. Don't use the Crystarium.

I got to the Odin boss fight before I came to Uni and stopped playing this challenge. Was fairly tricky and only served to highlight what little control you have over combat. Might come back to it later.

Fable 2/3: No Health upgrades or potions.

Game is still a cakewalk.
 

xptn40S

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Jan 11, 2011
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Alcamonic said:
Going through Dead Space 1 and 2 using only the plasma cutter, did upgrade it though.
Not sure if that is really any feat, considering that thing is incredibly powerful at cutting. But it added a bit of tension during hordes of enemies.

Should add it was only on normal difficulty.
It was very much possible to get through the Dead Space-games using only the plasma cutter without almost any particular difficulty.
Hell, it may even have been easier in some aspects, since you only had to focus your upgrades on one single weapon instead of spreading them out among multiple ones, making a single good, possibly maxed out (and maybe even overpowered) weapon, which would also leave more nodes for upgrading your rig instead.

Now, doing this on the hardest difficulty on the other hand could leave one with no ammunition whatsoever and with the nearest and only source for more ammo being in a store located in the same room as several infectors and black slasher-necromorphs, and seeing how the game doesn't pause when you're in the store, a lot of dying over and over again is what happened next, until I finally managed to rush to the store for ammo, get to an elevator and fight off the enemies one by one in a somewhat tight corridor instead.

Now, did I mention that I played through Dead Space 1 on the hardest difficulty using only the Plasma Cutter? Well...I did.

Also, got through Mass effect 2 on Insane as an Adept, but that wasn't really a "self-imposed challenge" as much as it was a desire to play a different class in my playthrough.
 

thejackyl

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Apr 16, 2008
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About the only one I have every tried was in Resident Evil 4

New Game - Professional
Can not use the merchant

Bonus challenges
Can not pick up enemy drops
No grenades

It makes the game a LOT more interesting, since you don't have your rifle or ANY upgrades, and you have VERY limited ammo.
 

Uratoh

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Jun 10, 2011
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A sort of 'Heaven or Hell' mode in Castlevania: Order of Ecclsia. My rediculously maxed out char, but on Hard mode, and I must have a Death ring equiped for the entire game...it 'enables one hit kills'. IE, you die in one hit. Almost none of the bosses are any threat at all, but a lot of the actual game is downright diabolically hard with that thing on.
 

Xdeser2

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Aug 11, 2012
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Right now in Skyrim, Im playing an Orc who can use no Healing magics (or any magic for that matter) what-so-ever He can only heal through potions or food, Who's Illiterate (That means I read no Books unless their required for a quest, notes are OK) Only uses heavy armor, and who only uses War axes and shields. Ive Also restricted him to only 4 Perk Trees: One handed (only war axes can be upgraded), Block, Smithing, and Speech.

Because He's a Warrior, Im not going to let him go down the Mages College or Thieves Guild Questlines, and he's restricted from Becoming a Werewolf or Siding with the Vampires in Dawnguard. Also, Because the Empire, you know, tried to cut off his head, He's siding with the Stormcloaks.

Also, locked on master difficulty, and The first thing I have to do is get far enough in the main Questline to allow Dragons to show up (or else Im kind of missing a 4th of the game) and then abandon it. (No Unrelenting Force or Dragon Rend :( )

So, Basicly, he's the opposite of my first Skyrim playthrough. (Does any quests, no alignment, Heavy armor, no shields, any perk trees, Spell sword) Its alot more of an RP now, and its a hell of alot of Fun so far.

Its also fucking hard as shit. The first 15 Levels were pretty much hell.
 

BrotherRool

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Oct 31, 2008
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Pacifist run of Assassins Creed 2! Although that was less for challenge and more for the morality and the funniness of playing a game called Assassins Creed and only killing three guys (and none of them bosses or anything, one quictime event mook and a couple of tutorial mooks). It's not even that hard really the combat in AC2 is so easy and broken, the worst bosses are the ones that run away because you've got to try and land three punches where the game is designed for one hidden dagger leap.

It's worth it to hear a long death speech and Ezio closing his eyes and everything and then cutting back and seeing the guy wriggling on the floor and groaning to himself. It makes the game a lot more fun to be honest, I always fell into the trap of just killing the guards on a normal playthrough which is easy but boring and this brought a needed bit of skill into that (still not that much)



Other than that, I try to never use expendable items but thats just a quirk of my brain rather than a challenge. And then when I do stuff it will normally be for morality or quirkyness than challenge. Pacifist runs, not stealing items from NPCs houses etc. I've always wanted to do a one pokemon run, but get bored before I get very far
 

DSK-

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May 13, 2010
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I do in a multiplayer gametype called Team Arena Master or TAM in UT2004. It's basically like Quake 3/Lives' Clan Arena.

Because it gives you all weapons and ammo, I like to force myself into using one weapon only or to move in a certain way. If I don't I find it really boring :(
 

Darth Jerak

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Nov 19, 2009
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when I have some time and nothing new to play sometimes I take an older game that I haven't played in a while (half life 2, portal 2, bioshock, Jedi outcast etc) and see how far I can play through without dying. No warm ups, no guides and I quit after the first death. I like to imagine that the story ends at that point too: And then Freeman died and evil won forever. Random Guard #34 won a medal for his lucky cheep shot. etc

I am seriously considering trying to beat Rage using only wingsticks and RC cars. I ran at least 2 of the dungeons with this method and it was hilarious. Some of the later bandits might need additional strategy though...might need to pick a single weapon?

Pretty sure self-imposed challenge is the point of minecraft... I build everything in survivor and almost never played creative or peaceful. Finally got tired of that time sink.

I really like the idea of a speed run of AC2. Loved that game. Thanks for the inspiration!
 

KrimsonNekros

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Jan 21, 2013
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The only one I've ever done is playing thorugh skyrim using no magic. Not horrifically difficult to accomplish, but it made an interesting shift in gameplay for me. Couldn't just go in "guns blazing" and expect to survive. I was very reliant on my bow and sneaking for the majority of the game.

Other than that, I'm planning on running a no energy weapon use run of Fallout: New Vegas and collecting every unique piece of equipment on max difficulty Iron Man style to see how far i can get.
 

Animyr

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Jan 11, 2011
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In most shooters I avoid doing an active reload unless it's with a shotgun or something. My clip runs out when my clip runs out and I just have to roll with it when it does.
 

IBlackKiteI

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Mar 12, 2010
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Finishing Max Payne 2 with only a 9mm pistol and no slow-mo, finishing levels in shooters without losing squad members, in tactical shooters leaving AI squadmates behind to solo a level (or conversely, having them do everything while you sit back), playing Amnesia without using the lantern (didn't get far : D) and playing Stalker on the highest difficulty, no HUD, with shotguns, grenades and pistols (which again, didn't last long).
 

Aabglov

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Jul 28, 2009
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I made kind of a mini-game out of a cheat code you can use in Saints Row 2. If you activate the "Evil Cars" Cheat then everyone in a vehicle will drive straight for you as fast as they can with no regard for their own safety. The challenge I like to impose is: get from one side of the map to the airport without dying. I swear its harder to do than then entire campaign, but a lot of fun.
 

EHKOS

Madness to my Methods
Feb 28, 2010
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maninahat said:
I impose all kinds of crazy rules. Like with Fallout: New Vegas, I had a rule that said I wasn't allowed to loot bodies or loot containers, unless I needed vital quest items. Really increases the challenge until you start making real money through the quests. Then I had a "retard run", in which I made the stupidest character possible, and contrived to always produce the worst possible outcome to any quest. It's interesting seeing the hilarious stuff you can do; especially as it's the kind of thing you never get to see on a sensible play through. Finally, I did play throughs in which I designed my characters to resemble team fortress 2 classes, restricting them to the same clothes, weapons and behaviour.
Fallout is one of the best for this. I played a psycho one time, where all I carried were a straight razor, or things similar. I had to hide bodies unless they were near my house, in which I arranged them decoratively. Then there was that guy who was a pedophile (the fourchan post), but putting different personalities on Fallout characters is fun.

I always say "I'm going to collect all the x." or "I'm going to beat this on x difficulty." But I never do ;_;
 

ohnoitsabear

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Feb 15, 2011
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In Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the first time I played it I did a non-confrontational playthrough on the highest difficulty. This means no guns, no takedowns, no nonlethal weapons of any sort, just sneaking through a level. A very difficult, but entirely doable playstyle.

Also, when I play Morrowind, I have a strict no training policy. Doesn't make the game super difficult, but it does prevent it from getting super easy.
 

Dethenger

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Jul 27, 2011
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Behold this monstrosity. [https://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Calamity+Ring]

Also, I generally do self-imposed stealth challenges where possible. If I can sneak past, I will; if I can't, I will find that out the hard way.