Challenging Yourself, Making it harder for fun! ^_^ Options

[Little Lynn]

I've been recently getting into really challenging myself in video games lately. The kind of challenge where you as the player give yourself some kind of handicap to make the game significantly more challenging for yourself; and not just playing it on "Hard Mode" or something. For instance, earlier this year, I completed Dragon Quest 3 (the SNES version) completely solo, without recruiting anyone (except for that one Merchant I was obligated to use for like five minutes). It took a lot longer and it certainly was tricky, but man, did I have fun with it! I had to experiment with a lot of different tactics I wouldn't have otherwise done and it made a game I've already beaten like a dozen times into something a little newer. (If I were really daring though, I'd do it in the original NES version!)

But I enjoyed it so much, I've been trying to look at other games to see what I can do. The one that's really caught my eye is the Pokemon "Nuzlocke Challenge". It sounds vicious, but like it'd be a fun and very involving way to play the game. To give the short explanation, the idea is that in this challenge, if a Pokemon faints, you must treat it as though it's died and release it! Furthermore, you can only catch ONE from each area (and no repeats/Legendaries/etc.). There are further optional rules restricting evolutions, items, switching and/or Pokemon Centers, but I don't know if I'll go quite that far. Anyway, it can be done with any main series Pokemon game, but I think I may try this one using Emerald (my personal favorite).

Also, debating trying another DQ solo quest, this time using Dragon Quest 9, which I think might actually be a little trickier than DQ3's version due to the Vocation setup.

I can't think of - or am not aware of - any other really nifty ones though. So how about you folks? Have you ever done anything outside the normal scope of the game to challenge yourself? What'd you try to do and did you pull it off?

[Spirit_Master_X]

I tried going to Call of Duty: Black Ops on veteran using only a pistol...till I got too frustrated and purposely broke the disc.

[Nicsp]

I've tried a few challenges i came up with. At the moment the only ones i can remember are:

Finished RE4 only using the starting pistol and the knife, no upgrades.

Currently trying to finish Dragon Quest X using only my main character, awfully frustrating but WORTH IT.

And last but not least Fallout 3, difficulty: very hard, enemy: Behemoth, weapon of choice: ...Bare fists. It was an epic day.

[Milton Monday]

I'm currently trying to play through Ys Seven with Adol solo (as often as possible, at any rate) and no healing items during boss fights. You know, the way Ys is supposed to be played. Currently playing this way on Normal, and working my way up to Hard and Nightmare.

It's a bit rough in the first half of the game when Adol only has access to slashing weapons, but I've found I can make do by stunning enemies then giving them a thorough smackdown while they're defenseless. It takes a bit longer to chew through mobs, but it's doable. Thankfully, none of the bosses are invulnerable to any specific weapon type. And toppling those huge, crazy, bullet hell flinging bosses as Adol alone on a single life bar? That still feels so very good.

This post has been edited by Milton Monday: May 17 2011, 06:38 PM

[Ember]

That pokemon challenge sounds like the most cruel and heart breaking idea ever. What if you got really attached to a pokemon and then it died?

TEARS.

[Little Lynn]

That pokemon challenge sounds like the most cruel and heart breaking idea ever. What if you got really attached to a pokemon and then it died?

That reminds me, the rules also say you're supposed to name them all so that you DO get more emotionally involved.

It takes a masochistic person to try this challenge (as a gamer and an emotion-having human being), but I really love the idea. I guess that makes me a masochist...

[darkyoshi]

My brother and I liked doing this back in the day, mostly me though.

The ones I did were:
Playing through any Zelda game with as little as possible. 3 hearts, only 1 bottle (1 bottle is almost always forced, and you are allowed to use it) This is actually a lot easier than you might think. The only game that it was hard for was Majora's Mask. I was able to beat Twilight Princess like this with 0 deaths. Then again, that game was so easy, that I'm sure I could've beat it with my eyes closed and without using my hands.

Metroid Prime with no energy tanks and 5 missiles. I was able to pull this off on the first one, and almost on Hard mode. (The Omega Pirate is a bitch.) I attempted this with the second Prime and have managed to get to the second major boss fight. (The big fly.)

That pokemon challenge sounds like the most cruel and heart breaking idea ever. What if you got really attached to a pokemon and then it died?

TEARS.

I wouldn't be able to do it for the sheer fact that it promotes grinding, specifically when a Pokemon is knocked out.

[amaro57]

My brother and I liked doing this back in the day, mostly me though.

The ones I did were:
Playing through any Zelda game with as little as possible. 3 hearts, only 1 bottle (1 bottle is almost always forced, and you are allowed to use it) This is actually a lot easier than you might think. The only game that it was hard for was Majora's Mask. I was able to beat Twilight Princess like this with 0 deaths. Then again, that game was so easy, that I'm sure I could've beat it with my eyes closed and without using my hands.

Metroid Prime with no energy tanks and 5 missiles. I was able to pull this off on the first one, and almost on Hard mode. (The Omega Pirate is a bitch.) I attempted this with the second Prime and have managed to get to the second major boss fight. (The big fly.)

That pokemon challenge sounds like the most cruel and heart breaking idea ever. What if you got really attached to a pokemon and then it died?

TEARS.

I wouldn't be able to do it for the sheer fact that it promotes grinding, specifically when a Pokemon is knocked out.

I was gonna say the Zelda 3 hearts thing.

You beat the Twilight Princess Cave of Trials with only 3 hearts?! I salute you DarkYoshi. o-o I beat the whole game, but I just can't beat that part, especially the 3 armor enemies (name eludes me) in the last trial. I consider the magic armor cheating. -3-

[Kread-EX]

GoldenEye on the N64. Frigate mission. 100% enemy damage, 100% enemy accuracy with only the Golden Gun.

You can replace Frigate by pretty much any mission. It's hard because all enemies one-hit kill you and they never miss. And since the Golden Gun only has one shot before reloading, if you miss you die. While of course enemies have automatic weapons such as the D5K Deutsch or ZMG. If that's too hard you can use the Gold PP7 instead.

[Garlyle]

Nuzlocking Pokemon games can be rage-inducing fun times.

Aside from the usual speedruns, I recently "completed' Mega Man Star Force 3 without upgrading anything. So throughout the whole game you have the exact same stats and abilities as you did at the very start. Thanks to the existance of Galactic Advances in SF3, I was actually able to complete about 98% of the main game. Unfortunately, the two bosses right before the final boss are literally impossible without making some sort of change - you simply do not have the power or the health to defeat Jack Corvus v2 no matter how perfectly you play due to the Queen Virgo summon he uses. Not to mention the final boss would've been literally impossible under those conditions.

It was lots of fun, if rage inducing, though.

I'm also working at beating Mega Man X Command Mission without using Hyper Modes. It really changes up a lot of the strategy necessary - the Hyper Modes were your main way of powering up to pump out damage in relatively quick times, and without them you have to pay a lot more attention to the mechanics of the boss fights (Some of them suddenly get really hard when Axl can't make your party invincible for a couple rounds via his hyper + bait)

[Puck]

I never really have had much difficulty with mega man 2's difficult mode.
I'm currently playing Cave Story for Wii on hard mode.
And as far as challenges for RPGs goI've heard some people have done what is called a
"Naked Run" of Dragon Quest 1 meaning with no armor and possibly weapons.
Sounds interesting, I may try it if I get the time. Also Nuzlocke does it count if your opponent does a 1-Hit KO move like Guillotine?
That's normally not a legal move for people who are really anal about playing pokemon.

[Garlyle]

Also Nuzlocke does it count if your opponent does a 1-Hit KO move like Guillotine?

Absolutely.

The core rules of Nuzlocke are simple:

1. You can only catch one Pokemon per 'area' of the game (as denoted by a name change, such as going from route 4 to Mt. Moon), and it must be the first Pokemon you encounter in that area. Generally, the 'first pokemon in an area' will also include legendaries, event pokemon, or giveaways, so you might want to prepare in advance - if you want a chance at a Munna in the Dreamyard you can't accept the monkey giveaway.
2. If a Pokemon is ever KO'd by any means - even poison damage while walking in earlier generations - that's it, they're dead. If you really cannot bring yourself to release them they can remain in the box, but are never allowed back out.
3. You must nickname every Pokemon you catch.

Some games are harder to Nuzlocke than others (Black and White, for instance, has noticably fewer 'different areas' for the purposes of capture, for instance), and there's a lot of optional rules ("Shinies are an exception to the capture rule", "You must fight and attempt to catch all legendaries but cannot use them", "No using healing items and/or pokemon centers, etc.", etc.), but those three are the major ones.

[Essenceblade]

I usually do this in most Final Fantasy games, every one i've played so far i've had some sort of challenge, for example FF10 - No sphere grid challenge, or FF12's low level challenge. or 13's No Crystruim challenge, also a game i'm playing on Xbox 360 now, called Infinite Undiscovery, I'm doing a low level challenge on that, so far got about 10% of the game, and only at level 2 (Getting level 1 is a neccicity)
But yeah, most games i like to challenge myself, who knows, maybe even on a project i'm working on i MAY add a certian challenge !
I love making the game insanely harder than it's supposed to be though, i have the tendency to do that with all my RPG style games i play.

[Brent Murray]

I like to play it safe, my friends. I don't -- do -- challenges. Just finishing the game is good enough for me.

Playing through any Zelda game with as little as possible. 3 hearts, only 1 bottle (1 bottle is almost always forced, and you are allowed to use it) This is actually a lot easier than you might think.

However, I did do this challenge in Ocarina Of Time, probably because I really enjoyed playing that game again to even do a challenge.

[Darkblade]

I've rarely done this type of thing. The two times that come to mind of when i did were pretty lame.

I tried Kingdom Hearts 2 without changing weapon (Kingdom Key throughout the game, same goes for Donald and Goofy) it really wasnt hard at all, I played this on Proud mode by the way, which isn't hard anyway.
I guess i shouldn't have equipped armour either, but I don't think I could be bothered to grind levels for AP to eqiup skills.

I tried challenging myself at pokemon pearl to catch as few pokemon as possible, although I don't think I really went through with it and i got bored with the game anyway.

[Garlyle]

I tried Kingdom Hearts 2 without changing weapon (Kingdom Key throughout the game, same goes for Donald and Goofy) it really wasnt hard at all, I played this on Proud mode by the way, which isn't hard anyway.
I guess i shouldn't have equipped armour either, but I don't think I could be bothered to grind levels for AP to eqiup skills.

Low level, no changing equipment, no forms, no summons, proud mode (Abilities, items, and magic still allowed)

I... didn't get nearly as far. The difficulty started ramping up fast.

[Kread-EX]

Try Vanilla FFT with only the following setup:

- Ramza (Knight)
- Squire
- Squire
- Squire
- Chemist

You can only use the skills of the corresponding job. Even Vanilla, which is so easy, can become a bit challenging like that. All Gafgarion fights were horrible with that setup (you need to Power Break/Speed Break him as soon as possible). And don't get me started on Balk...

[LiberalElephant]

I play Rock Band on expert. Lulz.

But honestly, I mostly just play the game normally because I just like to beat the game, I challenge myself on other things.

[Zakerot]

I like to do this a lot. Mostly shooters challenges come to mind like:

- Beating Uncharted 2 with only a pistol on hard (crushing? no effing way)
- The Big Boss Challenge in Metal Gear Solid 4
- Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood without upgrading anything. Not much of a challenge really.
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and 4 without losing the first car and using it in all missions. (unless I was forced to change the car)
- Also beat GTAIV with just a pistol.
- Same in Red Dead using the same horse until I was forced to change it to the Hungarian halfbred. And keep using the Hungarian halfbred until the end.

I tried going to Call of Duty: Black Ops on veteran using only a pistol...till I got too frustrated and purposely broke the disc.

Did the same on MW2 but I managed to beat it before breaking the disc xD

I did plenty more in the SNES/PSX/PS2 era but I don't remember much of them right now.

I think I tried to beat Long Gui in FFXIII without using saboteurs and synergists. I couldn't beat it if IRC.

This post has been edited by Zakerot: May 22 2011, 03:13 PM

[Stern]

I rarely play single-player games but a few stages in one game in particular comes to mind when reading this;

Dark World of Super Meat Boy. I'm up to 10,000 deaths and I still can't finish it . It's not so much of me challenging myself more than it is a game with a ludicrous standard difficulty.

Some interesting things in this thread that I've never heard of before btw