Your Self-Imposed Gaming Challenges

[al4674]

I like to do no-death runs on the hardest difficulty possible in an effort to simulate reality and some form of tension - that if I die, I die. Game over. Time to start over.

Playing the Arkham games like that is very satisfying, because they are sufficiently long and come on... Batman isn't supposed to die.

Currently doing a no-death run on Deus Ex HR. After that I'lm planning on doing a no-death run on MGS3.

 

[Cry Wolf]

Do you ever change the way you play a game for the sake of making it more challenging? Maybe you use a weapon that isn't great, but you like the way it looks or sounds, or maybe you use a Pokemon with sub-par stats just because you like its design or name. Whatever the reasons, what are your self-imposed gaming challenges?

Most recently, I'm planning on starting a new character in Skyrim, which I'll be building as a one-handed spell-sword. This means I won't allow myself to use anything in my character's left hand, so I'll have to switch between my magic and my sword. This also means no archery, or other two-handed weapons, and no shields.

In Pokemon, after I've played through a new generation once or twice, I'll usually ditch my starter Pokemon as soon as possible, even though the Pokemon in the area will have considerably lower stats.

Yep.

I like to do pacifist and ghost runs of games like Dishonoured and Deus Ex. In these games I also prefer to play on harder difficulties. There's just something about a well built stealth game that makes harder modes fun - where as in many other games this is the opposite.

In racing games I tend to pick a car I like to drive and use it right through the game, regardless of how much better the cars I have access to get as I progress. In Need for Speed: Most Wanted I used the Mustang I one off one of the bosses for the entire game - despite it being woefully under powered.

In Eve Online I handicap myself in PvP all the time. While playing solo, my preferred targets are groups of players in more powerful ships and picking them apart. There is no greater joy then watching the tears from a blob as one man in a weaker ship rips them a new one.

That's all I have for now, I'll probably have some more later.

Captcha: Nut Case. Fuck you captcha.

 

[TreuloseTomate]

Since I love HL2 so much, I must have played it more than 10 times. It's no surprise then that even on 'Hard' it's not remotely challenging anymore. So I tried unbinding the reload button and removing the crosshair, but that didn't do much. I got bored and decided to try an ironman playthrough: No quicksaves, unless I want to take a break, and when I die it's over. I failed during the 'Follow Freeman' chapter. That's the last chapter before you enter the citadel (if you didn't play HL2: the citadel is cake). Snowmen in and around the nexus building, lots of striders and gunships... It's crazy!

 

[Joccaren]

Beyond stealth challenges when they're a part of the game [Deus Ex, Dishonoured], I don't do self imposed challenges. Mainly because it doesn't really do anything to help the game. If I've got to stop playing the game to enjoy it [I.E: Not using certain types of weapons in FPS, not using certain skill trees in RPGs - ect.], then the designers have done something wrong. Well, not necessarily, it could just be that the game isn't for me as well.
The closest I'd come is my innate need to hoard all the high-end ammo in games like Bioshock and not use it. I'll only ever use the pistol and machine gun for 70% of the game, shotgun for 20%. Things like Grenade Launchers, traps [In 2], special ammo types, that flamethrower thingy and even to a lesser extent plasmids are just left unused whilst I hoard all the ammo I can for them. This has the flipside of making the last levels in the games a piss-easy cakewalk. I have enough ammo in all of the guns to use purely them for the entire level/s, and they 1-3 shot everything so shits and giggles for me.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

Touhou: Double Spoiler played with a fan-patch that makes the game run at 1.5x the speed [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRXrzzmtqm4&list=PL2FCF00FFC2B5C5BD&index=3]

Which cuts your reaction time like a ************.

To those who aren't really well-versed in bullet hell games, I promise you it's harder than it looks.

 

[Chappy0]

The only real times I've purposely handicapped myself in games are in action games like Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, etc.

Main one is simply not using items, although this is partially for in game reasons as well (you lose score if you use them) so I try not to.

My biggest handicap run had to been in Ninja Gaiden 2 though. First playthrough, no items at all (that includes health increasing ones), no magic and if I start a level with a weapon auto-equipped I keep it until the end of the level. This was basically a crash course in the game, get better very fast or be very sad and frustrated for a long time.

There was also my second run through Dark Souls; keeping soul level low (Four Kings dead at Soul level 26 or so, final level at 32), Great Scythe and Pryomancy only, Dark Wraith. During invasions, only duel wield Dark Hands unless outnumbered or against someone with high level equipment.

I've probably done a few other handicap runs of some kind but I can't really remember them right now.

 

[Esotera]

I tried playing Halo with a friend as a pacifist, killing only the aliens that are essential to continue the plot. It's a really big challenge as the game obviously isn't designed for this, but can be quite fun.

On normal difficulty? That seems like it could be fun.

I think initially we tried it on heroic with a few skulls but just completely gave up as it was way too hard. Playing it on normal with a friend to hide behind cover if you die is probably about the right level of difficulty unless you're absolutely amazing at halo.

 

[redhatman]

My friend and i decided to play the whole reach campaign without using guns unless they were mounted on a vehicle. This really changes the gameplay to from "run and gun" to stealth and planning. I would highly recommend trying it with some friends.

 

[Tallim]

Also did an Ironman run of the original ps1 Tomb Raider because I was very bored one weekend.

SHEESH. Did you get far? I tried this once, but got my neck snapped on the first dang level.

OT: Pacifist runs all the way.

I've gotten down to a four-KO-zero-kill run on Mirror's Edge (minus plot-relevant fights).

I did it on the 3rd attempt despite making a horrible misjump on St Francis' Folly, ugh I hated that bit.

 

[lord Claincy Ffnord]

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.

I am currently dong similar with Disonored, having done a normal playthrough and a kill *everybody* playthrough I am now doing a clean hands, mostly flesh and steel, ghost playthrough. So never spotted, 0 kills (including bosses), and no power upgrades at all/bone charms. Oh and like all my playthrough's I have disabled the hud entirely including the reticule and turned off auto-aim and aim-assist (xbox360 version), on very-hard of course .

Previously I played through teh entirety of sword base in halo reach using only a ghost and a grand total of 2 bashes from the point when you can first aquire a ghost, getting the ghost through some places was difficult.

Must be plenty more but that's all that springs to midn right now.

 

[LetalisK]

Finishing Assassin's Creed 3 even though it makes me want to stab my eyes out. Seriously, this should have stayed in development a while longer. Great premises, shitty executions. But I'm normally like that. Even with horrible games, I stick with them until the bitter end.

 

[Eddy-16]

A friend of mine completed Halo 3 on legendary with all the skulls on. It took him a while though.

 

[Mordekaien]

I am currently ghosting the first Thief.

Deus Ex, ghost everytime.

Dishonored, same as above.

Binding of Isaac, play further only if I don't receive damage in the basement levels.

 

[00slash00]

God of war 1 . Beat the game with only the giant 2 hand sword ( i forget it's name ) on the hardest difficulty . Man is that weapon clunky .

i loved that weapon. my first playthrough i used only that weapon as soon as i got it, not as a challenge but because i thought it looked cooler.

---

first time i played mirrors edge i did it without firing a single shot at an enemy. got extremely frustrating toward the end. when i played it again i killed everyone i saw and it was soooo much easier (not to mention more fun)

 

[blink]

On modern shooters (Yes I know, Spunkgargleweewee) I usually don't aim down the sights on the weapon. It makes killing guys more fun than just point and shoot and it really makes the crouch and prone buttons actually useful for more than just hiding.
And pretending that getting hit is a big deal also makes the campaigns on these games actually playable. Valve don't have sights on their weapons and Valve so far haven't screwed up any games... any games that are out anyway.

 

[widdyy]

I did two Fallout: New Vegas runs as a challenge. In the first run I didn't kill a single human, it got hard during the battle for Hoover Dam, I had to restart the battle a few times because the random NCR guys kept dying and not killing the guys I needed them to. For some reason, by the end of the play through every major faction hated me.

My second play through I killed everyone and everything in my way. It was harder than being a pacifist, considering I couldn't get a companion and merchants wern't to fond of my wacky antics. Conversely, most of the factions didn't hate me.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Besides the obligatory Pyromancer SL1 run and a Sorceror SL5 run, I did a run in Dark Souls where I had to kill NPCs on the first encounter. I was allowed to talk or use their services once, but then I had to kill them where possible. Unfortunately, being the obsessive compulsive that I am, I tended to rack up souls so I wouldn't have to go without as much, so the only really annoying things were ascending weapons (thankfully, Black Knight Halberd) and bonfires. So in the future I have decided to do a run where I have to kill them without talking to them at all.

Other than that, the restrictions I play with tend to be just that I hate using healing items and often many other kinds of items.

 

[DarksideFlame]

The most recent one I did was a first-time playthrough of the Witcher 2 on Hard without playing the tutorial, that game had some pretty annoying parts

And also, the first time I played Mass Effect 1, Shep and her squadmates only used the starter armor and weapons, I didn't do that on purpose though I just kinda forgot about all the armor and weapons I picked up during the game. It actually made the playthrough a lot more fun than my later ones since I didn't have to change my equipment every 10 seconds

 

[Deadlock Radium]

My self-imposed gaming challenge is going through Skyrim using as much stealth as possible, and with a bow and a dagger as my only weapons. I'm trying to kill as few people as I can to see if it works out. Though I am still level 20 because I pickpocket people teaching me skills, so I level up extremely fast.

 

[TheLastFeeder]

I played "Pumpkinhead 2: Bloodwings"

Fixed that for you

You don't know half of it.

I was 9 years old the first time I played this game and at the time I did not speak English, It was the first PC game I ever played and required my to go though it "trial and error style".

After a few months I finally got to the end and beat the game... And then some guy in a latex Halloween costume gave me the finger and the game ended!

I was a little upset by the whole thing...