Self Imposed Challenges

[Yukari]

So, have you ever attempted a self imposed challenge? What are your thoughts on self imposed challenges?

Discuss!

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Mostly Platinuming games in a set time.
Usually week/day.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[TY]

RTS: finishing a mission with at least ### APM (actions per minute)
Borderlands: finish playthrough 1&2 with only one manufacturer for everything (even shields and grenade mods)

Borderlands one is easy, RTS less so cause I set my standards way too high

 

[Sonata]

Yes. Whenever I play Pokemon I force myself to go through the game severely underleveled or else it won't be a challenge. At all. I've also challenged myself before with trying to beat GTA games with only a pistol and melee at all times where it's possible to only use those things. I've also done the no promotion challenge for Fire Emblem, many other pokemon challenges including my own which I made up, and I tried doing the no sphere grid FFX once.

 

[Megan]

Back when I never bothered with learning how to play the games I was playing, I always got into trouble, caused by me not knowing about most crucial gameplay mechanics. Like when I played Crisis Core, I got about half way through and it was already getting ridiculously difficult. But then I realized that you could boost your stats by using materia, which made the rest of the game a complete cakewalk. {XD}

I'm not neccessarily a fan of self imposed challenges, although I always run into that problem, when playing a FE game, that I want to recruit every unit that's available in the game. I've restarted so many chapters, because of that...

 

[CliCliW]

I'm not the best at games as it is, and therefore I've never really set challenges like that. Even for Nuzlockes, I never get to finish them because I just fall out. Usually the most I challenge myself to in a game is the collect everything one. Or the "I'm finished the story, so time to go and get every trophy now".


For Catherine, I like to replay and try and get Gold trophies on all the levels, but I fail miserably in that :(

 

[Kenchiin]

I used to do this a lot with Pokemon games, but I kinda lost the interest (plus I don't really have time).

I'm very fond of Tower Defense games, so I usually go for a big challenge there.... But it isn't really 'self-imposed', the difficulty is already predetermined.

 

[machomuu]

I often like to restrict myself in some way to allow for more creative or strategic play.

Most recently, I did this in Wind Waker by doing a No-Sword Nuzlocke. Specifically, permadeath is active and I can't use my sword at all except for where it is absolutely, positively, 100% and without a doubt required. So far, of the several hours and various bosses I've played through, only around 4 such instances have occurred (namely, the fight right after you get your sword back, a room with two enemies and no other way to kill them in Forest Haven, a midboss in Forest Haven, and a back and forth between *spoiler*, with one more later that I haven't played but am absolutely sure will be required). It's on Hero Mode, too, so caution and resourcefulness is key.

Apart from that, I'll do things like one-handed sword and no shield, aesthetics over efficiency, Hand-to-Hand, harder difficulties- whatever I can do to make for a more creative (and difficult) experience.

 

[JJ Styles]

Action RPGS: Hardcore mode on whatever game that has a point in playing HC on. Path of Exile is a great example of a game that's really great to play in Hardcore because players can figure out a build that would be what I would like to call "Hardcore+Endgame" Viable. These are builds that are characterized by efficient leveling processes, easy gear requirements, extremely strong and balanced damage output, and enough measures for survival such as skills to aid in mobility and defensive skills that complement offensive prowess. Playing Hardcore on an ARPG gives that same feeling as that of playing a Nuzlocke. We create a character, name it to develop a bond, kill, farm, and battle, and avoid the pain of death.

Pokemon games: SET. That's basically it. I've mentioned this way too much in previous threads. Set is really the way to go in playing the games if people really want a noticeably different experience especially when fighting against the final challenges of the games (Elite Four + Champion, or in BW's cases, E4 and the main antagonists) all while making sure that the levels on my party do not vastly outlevel the bosses. Oh how I wish that the next pokemon games would have a level scaling mechanic on the gym leaders and E4 to Champion/Main boss/Ghetsis successor.

League of Legends: Playing off-meta picks that make sense or in a bigger sense, looking for as many viable junglers as possible. As of the current season, I play Jungle Jax very often and people often tell me to not play him as a Jungler or if I'm playing Jax better go to top lane instead. Screw that. I have enough game knowledge to let people know that Jungle Jax works really well especially for Yoloque. I even played Jungle Lulu at one time and I thought to myself, oh wow, this shit works with a good leash. Supportive utility? Magic Damage with good lockdown? Jungle Lulu mates. Also playing mostly solo que to climb the ladder. Duo ques are fine but i find Solo que the most fun.

Contra and Metal Slug: No death runs. I've done a no death run on the very first Contra, and I've done also a NDR on the first Metal Slug game. Granted, they were played on emulators but I did my best to make sure that I don't abuse savestates and all that. If I died on a stage, I restart from scratch.

Time Crisis: No hit runs. Did it in TC2, arguably the easiest of the TC series.

Tekken: TOP PERCENTAGE MOKUJIN

Diablo 3: Start a new adventure on Torment 6. Lvl1 to 70. Hardcore

 

[Hi!]

dark souls 2 ladle only, no buffs no estus no bonfire permadeath no armour no items challenge runs

 

[Sydian]

Well, I modded the Challenges forum on PC for about four years, if that's any indication about how I feel about self-imposed challenges. :P I really like the Pokemon challenge community, especially here at PC. I only do Pokemon challenges, I should say, but I feel like it's one of the most versatile series for that kind of playthrough. It really does help make games one might find stale a bit more interesting. For example, I didn't care for XY very much initially, but I'm doing a Wonderlocke on Y and loving it to bits. I should also say I'm not normally a Locke player, so playing this was a risk for me! I'm more into randoms, monotypes/colors, and themed challenges.

Anyway, I can't really comment on any challenges for other series because I haven't tried any, but I can say Pokemon challenges are pretty fun and unique and that's where most of my attention lies. And you should all come check out the Challenges forum. :)

 

[Yukari]

Well, I modded the Challenges forum on PC for about four years, if that's any indication about how I feel about self-imposed challenges.

Yeah.

You obviously hate them with a passion.

 

[Zeffy]

I've started playing Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. I mean, that itself is already a self-imposed challenge, especially for me who hardly plays such games :(

 

[Circuit]

I usually take a run through of a game to learn it, then I'll challenge myself. Whether it's just to beat the record I hold or to achieve some task with certain criteria it's the same, I'll always try and improve some aspect on how I previously played the game.

 

[pkmin3033]

I'm not very good at setting restrictions on myself in games in general; I get bored of playing a certain way and inevitable just play it normally. The challenges I often set myself are completion based. Just getting the platinum trophy for the game I'm currently playing, which can be either something very easy or very difficult, depending on what else I'm doing and how good the game is at keeping my attention...and how hard the game is. Platting Tales of Symphonia, for example, was one hell of a challenge for me, because I had to play through it three times, and I had to keep meticulous track of what I was doing, even though the game itself wasn't very difficult. Forcing myself to do more than just complete the story counts. xD

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

For Catherine, I like to replay and try and get Gold trophies on all the levels, but I fail miserably in that :(

Um... Babel anyone? =D
THAT is a challenge =D

 

[Austin]

I only really do self-imposed challenges in Pokemon games. Most of the time in other games, I would rather just do things the way I want to so that I enjoy the game the most. Maybe after I'm bored with everything else I'll challenge myself to do something in the game, but that's not very often.

 

[Lumina]

I tried to do an SL1 run in Dark Souls once. Made it as far as Anor Londo before I gave up.

In Dark Souls 2 I'll occasionally do a "get this many kills with this shitty weapon" challenge.

 

[Juno]

In Skyrim, I made one character for every faction/class and only stuck to the skill trees relevant to what they were (ie. my assassin would only level in Sneak, One-handed, light armor, etc.), if that counts. So I had no jack-of-all-trades characters.

I think the most challenging character I played was my unarmed build, where I didn't use any weapons and only punched my way to victory. It was difficult (but interesting) to say the least, and the killcams were great. :D Dragons were really hard, but mainly because they fly around a lot, so I had to keep a follower with ranged attacks to help out. I stole and disenchanted some gloves that boosted unarmed attacks from a hobo in the sewers, which helped out a lot too.

 

[machomuu]

In Skyrim, I made one character for every faction/class and only stuck to the skill trees relevant to what they were (ie. my assassin would only level in Sneak, One-handed, light armor, etc.), if that counts. So I had no jack-of-all-trades characters.

You. I like you.