Current Events > Self-imposed video game challenges.

(+) Yeah! (+)

(Shamelessly stolen from another board)

Any you enjoy doing? Any intense challenges you're proud of doing? Any weird challenges you've heard of, or come up with yourself, that you want to throw out there?

Currently doing a 3-heart, Broken Giants Knife only OOT run right now. I'll offer details if this topic gets some activity.
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Big Boss runned every MGS game.
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Final Fantasy Tactics has one where your whole party has to be the same job, and you can't take any subjobs. I like attempting them, but have never finished one.
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I do them in Elder Scrolls games depending on the build I made

For example:

barbarian (no enchanted items, no enchanting, period, only fur like armor)
crusader (no daedric weapons or armor)
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I farmed 99 platinum ingots in FF13 once... but that was mainly an excuse to kick it for four days and listen to the radio

*points at the FFX guide section* there's hundreds
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-No death (Unless there exists a move that suicides)
-Talking to every NPC
-Having at least one of each item in the inventory (meaning no using those 1 per game consumable items)

I got halfway through a NSGNSNOIEENBB challenge in FFX
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I like games that making creating your own challenges a built-in feature. Thinking of the bucket lists in FH3, or creating contracts in Hitman, or making challenges in Steep.
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Nah. I never got a thrill out of doing a swordless quest or anything of that nature. Once you've beaten a game, you've beaten it. But even if I find it silly, I can't fault others for finding something new to keep their interest up.

The closest thing to a self-imposed challenge for me is letting opponents get offense; whether it be because the fight is too easy or just to keep things interesting.

Skye Reynolds posted...

Once you've beaten a game, you've beaten it.

That's why I started doing challenges with OOT. I know the game so well it's practically encoded into my DNA - so now I want to see just how well I know the game.

Going back to what I said I'd do in the OP - a 3-heart OOT run really isn't that difficult, and I imagine only using the broken giants knife would be pretty easy too. Combining them has proven to be...well, most of it is easy still, but there are occasional moments where it becomes nightmarish.

Stalfos in general aren't too bad. The BGK's gimped range makes getting hits in pretty iffy because two regular swipes from a Stalfos kills you at 3 hearts, but you can use Deku Nuts to stun them. Of course, that still requires being in range to hit them with one, so you're gonna be doing some acrobatics to bait an attack, get out of the way, and hit them.

The Stalfos fight for the bow in the Forest Temple? That's fucked. Seriously fucking fucked. It almost seems like both parts of the fight were designed to make such a challenge horrible. The first part has you circling a thin track, which makes positioning yourself to get a hit in obnoxious. Then the second part pits you against two of them, and they need to be killed within a short timeframe or else the first one revives. I'm not too far past this, but this is the first point where it actually felt like a challenge.
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i never got the point of ODINS challenge tbh
i mean if you're good enough to beat the game, then an ODINS challenge is just a test to see if you can stay awake for 10-20 hours
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Not my thing. Usually becomes needlessly torturous/tedious to get through.
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I honestly don't get them. I mean, others might enjoy them, but If a game makes me make up my own rules for it as I go along just to make it fun, then I'm not sure it's really my sort of game.

i've done a bunch of dumb challenge runs through dark souls but that's the only game i ever got into enough to do it
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not really intense but I have always played Mega Man games with buster only
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Lowest% Link to the Past
Had to leave the water temple and come back with more hearts.
No you don't need extra magic to be Trinexx, just frame perfect attacks.
Hookshot gives invincibility frames against Ganon.

Looking back, if I were to recommend it to someone, I'd say get the Magic Powder and MP upgrade.

Pokemon Blue
Solo'd Squirtle/Wartortle/Blastoise
Got to the Elite 4 with the Char-s

Megaman X
No Backtracking+No Armor Upgrades*+Reverse Boss Order
There was a part near the end where most people say you need to dash-jump; you don't.

Saga Frontier
57+Minute Speedrun of Blue's quest.
...Its on YT with commentary but... it's kinda cringe, mute it.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Monk Solo Class Challenge
Ramza Solo Challenge w/o Math Skill

"Red Mage" SCC; got stuck at Velius
(Priest/Wizard with opposite secondary, Weapon Guard, Equip Sword, Move+1)
TBH I sorta abused the weapon evade of staffs.
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Dash_Harber posted...

I honestly don't get them. I mean, others might enjoy them, but If a game makes me make up my own rules for it as I go along just to make it fun, then I'm not sure it's really my sort of game.

It isn't about being bored with a game. It's about loving it enough that you want to explore how it plays beyond the conventional, intended means.

That's how I see it, at least. I know OOT so well I could play the intended route in my sleep. I'd still have fun playing it normally again, but now I want to see how far I can push my own abilities. It's the opposite of boredom - it's curiosity.
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New angle to this OOT challenge: No Goron/Zora Tunics.

Cause why the fuck not.
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LinksLiege posted...

Dash_Harber posted...

I honestly don't get them. I mean, others might enjoy them, but If a game makes me make up my own rules for it as I go along just to make it fun, then I'm not sure it's really my sort of game.

It isn't about being bored with a game. It's about loving it enough that you want to explore how it plays beyond the conventional, intended means.

That's how I see it, at least. I know OOT so well I could play the intended route in my sleep. I'd still have fun playing it normally again, but now I want to see how far I can push my own abilities. It's the opposite of boredom - it's curiosity.

See, that doesn't sound like what people describe as self-imposed challenges, though. I'm all for trying out different builds or making different choices or exploring places you never did before. I'm totally down for that.

Im currently doing a minimalist OoT run. Its great because I dont have to do fishing or Big Poe hunting or shit like that. It sucks because Iron Knuckles handed my ass to me a few times.
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Check out the Uber challenge in OoT, I've done that and it was a blast. Has all the stuff in the OP + things like no Longshot, no silver gauntlets, shadow temple first, etc.
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Dash_Harber posted...

I'm all for trying out different builds

That's basically what these challenges are; less optimized builds.
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A Link to the Past - No Master Sword, Minimalist Run

The glitches needed in order to pull this off are a little complicated but can all be done with a normal controller. The Dark World bosses are brutal though... almost everything OHKOs you, and you have to use the spin attack and hammer right up in their faces sometimes... and hit them 40+ times in some cases.
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Cpt_Calamity posted...

Check out the Uber challenge in OoT, I've done that and it was a blast. Has all the stuff in the OP + things like no Longshot, no silver gauntlets, shadow temple first, etc.

I've looked into the uber challenge.

Might be fun to watch someone else do it but I'm not really interested in breaking the game like that. Same reason I don't speedrun - I'll check out GDQ runs of games I like but I can't be bothered to do that.
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LinksLiege posted...

The Stalfos fight for the bow in the Forest Temple? That's fucked. Seriously fucking fucked. It almost seems like both parts of the fight were designed to make such a challenge horrible. The first part has you circling a thin track, which makes positioning yourself to get a hit in obnoxious. Then the second part pits you against two of them, and they need to be killed within a short timeframe or else the first one revives. I'm not too far past this, but this is the first point where it actually felt like a challenge.

just use deku nuts tbh, it cheese stalfos extremely hard

I've done a few assorted challenge runs of games in the past, usually zelda ones, but more recently I think the closest thing I've done to this are randomizers for various games. Which are not inherently challenge runs but often put you in challenge run sort of situations based on the items you get.

...

oh also I played through pokemon emerald and pokemon firered with a hack that removes exp gain. That was actually extremely hard but extremely fun as well, definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys pokemon but finds it too easy
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kirbymuncher posted...

just use deku nuts tbh, it cheese stalfos extremely hard

The first time I beat Ganon was with Deku Nuts, lol
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FF1, on NES with 4 white mages only
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Really minor compared to other people who do insane things like no death challenges and such but in GTA Online I'll intentionally make it a point in many cases not to use my armored car, explosives, special vehicles like tanks and jets during missions and just try to stick with a regular supercar and use basic weapons like handguns, smg, shotgun, ar, etc. Just so I'm not just I'm sitting in my armored car invincible from any ai killing me.
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kirbymuncher posted...

just use deku nuts tbh, it cheese stalfos extremely hard

I mention using them in the paragraph above the one you quoted. :V
They carry the same issue as the BGK in this run I'm doing, that being the range+timing issue - you need to bait an attack out of them and be close enough for the Deku Nut to hit, which is dangerous when two missteps will kill you.

So far that two-part fight has been the worst thing in the run.
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Rika_Furude posted...

i never got the point of ODINS challenge tbh
i mean if you're good enough to beat the game, then an ODINS challenge is just a test to see if you can stay awake for 10-20 hours

What is an ODINS challenge?
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Mistere Man posted...

Rika_Furude posted...

i never got the point of ODINS challenge tbh
i mean if you're good enough to beat the game, then an ODINS challenge is just a test to see if you can stay awake for 10-20 hours

What is an ODINS challenge?

One Day In No Saves
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Mega Man X minimalist run (not upgrades except the mandatory dash, and password the dash away after you grab it too).

MGS2, Harrier with guns only (no missiles)
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Dark Souls SL1 challenge was fun. Got to Gwyn, then played through the AotA DLC and got stuck at Manus. Now I just use the character to scare beginners as a Darkwraith, then give them presents.

Also loved doing the classic Mega Man series without continues.

ODINS (never heard this acronym before) sounds more of a challenge of willpower than actual game skill, unless it's a very long game or one that sends you back to most recent save on gameover
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Obey traffic laws in GTA games. Fail after 5 mins of trying.
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Rika_Furude posted...

Mistere Man posted...

Rika_Furude posted...

i never got the point of ODINS challenge tbh
i mean if you're good enough to beat the game, then an ODINS challenge is just a test to see if you can stay awake for 10-20 hours

What is an ODINS challenge?

One Day In No Saves

Thank you.
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Wimped out on the Goron Tunic.

Skipping the Zora Tunic is actually no problem at all, as it turns out. Iunno if it's the version of the game I'm playing (3DS remake) but your air timer resets every time you remove the Iron Boots. Not only that, it just disappears completely if you keep them off. And there aren't many points in OOT where you need to keep them on - certainly none where you couldn't just pop them off for a second then reset the timer.
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Perfect run of UN Squadron. No damage, all enemies destroyed, all power-ups collected. Only managed to do it on normal difficulty, eventually gave up on doing it on hard.
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So Dark Link kinda sucks when you have the BGK, even if he has 3 hearts like you do.

Unless you cheese the fight with Din's Fire.
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Beat FF1 with just one withe mage
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I remember doing some when I was younger. Like no special weapons on bosses in Megaman games. Or not getting the sword in the original zelda, though I did kind of cheese it by grabbing the magic wand ASAP and using that as a sword instead.
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Did a 1/1/4/13 level game in golden sun. Get gud equipment and all the djinn. Classes help too.. been a very long time so hard to remember details.

Speedrun in Castlevania Aria of Sorrow. Can skip floating gardens, inner quarters and another part iirc. Can skip getting slide ability and undine soul. Again been a long time with this one... don't get hit.

Tales of Symphonia llg. Not too difficult if you're good at the battle system. Just not a good game for low levels runs or to solo. Game revives party members at random story points and exp gets shuffled around weirdly with characters coming and going.
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Not doing a barrel roll in Star Fox 64.
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frozenshock posted...

Beat FF1 with just one withe mage

One of the updated versions? Or the original?

Asking because I could easily imagine the original having some major bug which makes white mages obscenely overpowered somehow.
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LinksLiege posted...

frozenshock posted...

Beat FF1 with just one withe mage

One of the updated versions? Or the original?

Asking because I could easily imagine the original having some major bug which makes white mages obscenely overpowered somehow.

I was thinking NES

I don't really know about any major bug, but the FOG2 and FADE spells are very powerful. FOG2 increases your defense and you can stack it
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