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Jun 5, 2018
3,218
Generally I think this is usually done with games people are more familiar with in order to add a sense of difficulty or newness, I've recently taken up making Skyrim characters based on random rng and also deleting the save should I die, curious how many other people have tried this, personally I can't do this with say Pokemon as I find it tedious.
 

Zeroth

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
790
When I was super into Uncharted 2, I would try to see how far I could go in levels using only stealth to kill. Sadly there were moments where either the enemy was too far to do it or that forced you into a gunfight, so I don't remember being able to do a full chapter clear using just stealth kills.
 

Dark Knight

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,314
Kind of? Does "no summoning players to help with boss fights in Souls games" count?
 

TAJ

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
12,446
I played all the way through Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero 80s, Guitar Hero 2 and the guitar sections of Rock Band 1-3 at least once each on Expert, while only letting myself strum downward.
 
OP
OP
Multievolution
Jun 5, 2018
3,218
yes. I hate it. "make my own fun" isn't something I'm big on
I see, that's perfectly fair, for me it comes naturally tbh and it gets me to try playing in ways I'd probably never try normally with the random element, have to say though it only really works on a game you know so well that you could do it backwards (also helps when it's a game with a lot of choices)
 

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,380
Did a replay of BOTW where the only fast-travel that was allowed was from the main towers and never to any shrines. Even then, I did my best to avoid it when possible. Was definitely the right decision to make. That world is meant to be traversed like it's Middle Earth.
 

Kucan

Member
Nov 4, 2017
80
There's times when I've tried to not use fast travel in open world games, to make use of other travel means that are usually glossed over by fast travel.
 

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
In b4 the Nuzlockers.
Pokemon is my go-to example of why I hate it. the whole "make your difficulty" just exposes the flaws in the inherent game design for me.

of course, stuff like "no-kill runs" etc, don't fall into that, but that's just now how I play. if I can't "go through my motions", I'm not really having fun
 

ichigoww

Member
Apr 22, 2018
238
Not that I remember, I think the closest I've come to this is trying to beat a certain extra boss in KH2 with the starting keyblade.
I've thought about replaying Dark Souls 3 at some point without using a shield, I also want to do a caestus only build, but the backlog man...
 

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,242
I enforce a personal "git good" rule with all Souls games. No summons allowed for bosses (unless an AI summon is required for a quest chain). It's made for some big roadblocks over the years but it sure feels great when I finally win.

(I still think Souls games should have difficulty modifiers for accessibility to people that may not have the physical dexterity or the patience to do the same)
 

Lark

Member
Oct 27, 2017
532
Canada
I do this with any game or series where I'm comfortable with the mechanics and want a challenge. In Pokémon and Etrian Odyssey, for instance, I like to try juggling a roster of 20–50 Pokémon/guild members during the main campaign, using a random method like dice to determine party composition for each expedition. It ends up being a lot more difficult since not every random party composition is suited for a given task, and it offers the opportunity to try out much more of what each game offers than with just a roster of 5–6. Splitting the EXP up like that also means you're perpetually underleveled.

This is an absolutely terrible way to play these games if you're looking for straightforward fun, though. It usually ends up with needing a spreadsheet just to keep track of everything, and I had to write custom software at one point to handle party randomization.
 

Deleted member 49319

Account closed at user request
Banned
Nov 4, 2018
3,672
I did many BotW runs with restrictions, like no upgrade, no fast travel, no champions abilities, bow only...
The extremest I think was no climbing (unless there's a progression block...). Didn't finish but had lots of fun.
 

LegendofLex

Member
Nov 20, 2017
5,467
I did a BotW run with:

- no fast travel
- no Master Sword
- no Divine Beasts
- only 1 heart upgrade per statue
- only 1 stamina upgrade per "big" statue (springs, temples, etc.)
- only 2 upgrades (enough to get bonus effects) max per armor piece
- avoid using food during battle (potions okay)

It was fun! And kinda challenging tbh
 

Valentonis

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 8, 2020
1,032
I do BotW challenge runs all the time. My current project is going straight to Ganon with 3 hearts and master mode.

And right now in Cyberpunk I'm doing a full Rambo-style brute force run, meaning I'm purposefully avoiding stealth and quick-hacking whenever I can.
 

Dogui

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,813
Brazil
I like to do it in FFVII, where i impose different rules each replay. One replay was like each character could only use materia of a specific color (E.g. purple for Cloud, green fir Tifa and yellow for Red XIII), or only one damage dealer, only one healer and one tank (Cloud being the only that can use attack skills or purchase new weapons, Tifa only with healing and buff materias and Red XIII doing nothing more than having cover and lots of hp pluses). It's always fun af and i just can't play the vanilla experience anymore.

Also, don't have patience for nuzlockes but i like to do my lazy Pokémon run, where i will have only 6 Pokés the entire game (Plus hm slaves if needed, but won't use in battle). To make things fun, i'll catch the number of Pokémon equal to the number of creatures used in the last gym, so i catch the 6th one only in the victory road most of the time. I not only avoid having more pokés than the current gym leader, but i also manage to beat the game with the least grind possible, since i have like only 3 or 4 pokés halfway in the game.
 

touchfuzzy

Banned
Jul 27, 2019
1,706
Stardew Valley - done stuff like start a lumber yard (no planting or selling crops, just wood from trees), mono crop farms, processed goods only, etc.
 

joeblow

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,930
Laker Nation
Days Gone is one of the best games I played last gen (especially with gyro aiming), but my research into it before playing made it clear that it is a *VERY* easy game as you level up. With that in mind, I intentionally gimped my defense so that I would have to worry about dying as I played... it worked! Here's how I limited myself.
 

Hoa

Member
Jun 6, 2018
4,304
All the damn time. Friends would do it to when we played co op/multiplayer games like COD Zombies. We'd do first two weapons in mystery box only, or wall guns only, or any other limitations we could think of at the time. Even in the Battle Royale games we'd make rules.

My first playthrough of a new Megaman game is always Buster run only (unless you are forced to use a weapon, but you can only use the weapon when it was required).

Shmups I usually go for the 1 credit clear.

Etrian Odyssey I'd do a no traditional healer team.
 

Deleted member 7948

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,285
Ocarina of time with minimal items. Getting through the desert without the magic lens was the worst part of it.
 

DaToonie

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,136
With Pokemon... it's kind of always been my go-to to have more fun with the campaigns. But it gets harder with newer entries, lmfao.
 

Transistor

Hollowly Brittle
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
37,167
Washington, D.C.
I used to do this with FF7 a lot back in high school.

No certain types of materia
Starter weapons only
No limit breaks

Did a lot of weird combinations.
 

haotshy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,576
My last playthrough of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory I did I basically tried making my way through levels with the enemy have as little idea of there being an intruder as possible, so as much as I could I didn't shoot out/turn off/EMP lights and I left guards alone. There's a few enemies you have to knockout, and in a room in a level near the end of the game I had to EMP a fan that was blowing a some laundry and causing Sam to be visible to a stationary guard; I think there may have also been a light switch I had to turn off in the New York level, but for the most part I was able to keep to my rules and it was an extremely satisfying experience figuring out how to ghost my way through the levels.
 

Lokoline

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,008
Brazil
I used to do this with some old God of War games, things like no save and/or no health/mana chests. No weapon upgrade too.
 

Chaos2Frozen

Member
Nov 3, 2017
28,050
Why do you refuse to gain power?

ff390870b2b9cd855a271222f4afbdc6.jpg
 

Sober

Member
Oct 25, 2017
951
Playing as assassin in AC Odyssey but I don't use those supernatural abilities that slow time or teleport me or make me go invisible while standing still and all that.
 

KillstealWolf

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
16,097
Recent Pokemon games.

Various factors to try and make the games harder, like no turning EXP Share on, rotating team members, no Megas, no Pokemon Amie/Camp, No Dynamax, No Z-Moves, Set Battle, Etc. Etc.

...They haven't been working really well. The games are still really easy with these restrictions.
 

Hyun Sai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,562
Yep. I have very strict self imposed rules when playing F2P games. Never spend a cent on it.
 

DeadeyeNull

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Dec 26, 2018
1,689
I beat tlou2 on grounded without using listen mode once my first time though, it wasn't really hard. I also made a point of not looking for safe codes after I noticed there's a different sound on the correct number.
 

Heliex

Member
Nov 2, 2017
3,111
Yes, I did a Bloodborne 0 deaths run, was really exilerating. I skipped out in the Gehrman fight though lol, but I still beat it!
 

Sargerus

▲ Legend ▲
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
20,849
Soul Level 1 runs in the Souls games.
Knife only runs in RE games.
No sword in Zelda Ocarina of Time.
 

RatskyWatsky

Are we human or are we dancer?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,931
Yeah, with the Ratchet and Clank games on PS2 (mostly Going Commando) - play the whole game without ever getting Clank, use only the wrench and original R&C1 weapons, speedruns, etc. It was a fun way to extend a game's lifespan after getting 100%.