Unconventional methods

[Craig]

Sometimes you have a game that you know back to front. You know where every enemy will pop out and you can conquer any boss in your sleep. But sometimes you want to play through a game again and you want it to be fresh. What are your favourite ways to self impose a challenge to your favourite games?

I`ve been thinking about restarting my Pokemon Y save for a while now as I`m not interested in Sun and Moon, but the hype has still managed to worm it`s way into my head in other ways. I`ve read about the Nuzlocke challenge which is essentially Pokemon with permadeath, but to be honest it sounds like it`d be too stressful for me and the only way to be comfortable is with excessive grinding.

What I may try, however, is a wondertrade run. For those that don`t know, wondertrade is like a Pokemon lucky dip. You send a Pokemon into the atmosphere and in return, you get a random pokemon someone else has submitted. You may end up with a level 80 Mewtwo. You may end up with a level 2 Pidgey. What I`m considering is getting 6 wonder trades and for the rest of the game, that is my team. I would lose out on the joy of catching new Pokemon, but I think it could be a lot of fun. I`ll let you know if it was a horrible, horrible idea.

So how have you changed it up?

[Suits]

I don't play the Pokemon games, although I think I may get Sun and dip my toes into that but I think I understand the idea behind your challenge.

I get what you're saying though and something that it isn't new to anyone but sometimes I just go for score attack, I tend to find that this gives me a whole new approach to playing games to get the best score. Most recent games I've done that on are Streets of Rage 2 and SMW.

I'm a bit of a Pro Evo addict too, and towards the end of the years release when all else is done, I start a Master League but restrict myself to only players from Britain. That tends to bring a fairly decent challenge.

[Jusifer]

i like pistols that are made well in fps games and if the game is good i like to try playing through the whole game only using one pistol. one of these games is the 2008 turok game. i liked the game mainly cause i didn't have anything else to play at the time and i absolutely fell in love with the pistol in it. the design was so good looking and shooting with it felt like the real deal. if i remember correctly i couldn't go through the whole game since it ran out of bullets pretty quickly but i did try to last as long as i could. I'm thinking of doing this with the titanfall 2 game if i have the time

[Craig]

Games can become a totally different beast when you`re going for score attack. I just finished Hotline Miami and listened to the podcast about it, and was surprised at how much they enjoyed it as a score attack game. As I had just finished it I was just focusing on getting through, I hadn`t even considered that aspect of the game but you have to play completely differently.

[KSubzero1000]

Sometimes you have a game that you know back to front. You know where every enemy will pop out and you can conquer any boss in your sleep. But sometimes you want to play through a game again and you want it to be fresh.

Interesting thread. One of my favorite gaming experiences was in fact a self-imposed challenge: Playing through RE4 using only the starter handgun. No other weapons, grenades, or even upgrades allowed. No OoB or any other glitches allowed. Knife and melee attacks allowed. I believe this fits your description rather well? In any case, what a ride! I really had to strategize in order to survive every encounter while spending the least amount of ammo and healing items possible. El Gigante, Mendez, Garrador? Knife-only. It really made me appreciate that game's incredibly tight combat mechanics and encounter design even more than before.

[DomsBeard]

I've just started the Skyrim Remastered edition with the full intention of not using a bow and arrow. I'd say I used it for 300 hours on the 360 version.

[gallo_pinto]

Cool thread! I've played through Ocarina of Time many, many times and I'm planning on doing the Three Heart Challenge soon. That's where you don't pick up any heart containers or heart pieces and finish the game with only three hearts.

[Alex79]

I remember years back going through the early Resident Evil games using only the knife or speed running and whatever to unlock weapons and characters.

[ThirdDrawing]

Something I have been meaning to do for years and have never done is play through Suikoden 2 and do Clive's Quest, which is a side mission that I *think* ends the game early, but I can't remember.

[Flabyo]

Ooh, I do love a good non-standard game over.

Disgaea makes great use of that idea... but it's not alone...

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I love coming to the forum to find a new thread with an interesting question!

The recent way of self-imposed challenge is more due to the hardware I'm using. I finished building a MVS cabinet with original hardware about a month ago, and that means all the pluses and minuses that comes with that!

The obvious limitation I tend to set is based on the amount of credits used. With fighting games and schmups that tends to work well and keeps it fresh, and forces me to learn the mechanics better in order to progress. With a game like Metal Slug... that may require a few credits. That series is just designed to take your money!

By embracing the spirit of Ye olden arcades, i.e. limited time, limited loose change... it's a nice contrast to modern gaming design, with saves, checkpoints and so forth.

Oh yeah, old arcade JAMMA PCB's don't have a pause button! So you either have to abandon your game and all your progress, or simply ignore the real world, which is not always an option! I have new respect for the pause function in gaming.

[eastmcduck]

Interesting thread. I remember when I was a kid and didn't have much money to buy new games, I would have to replay what I had or go outside and find something to do. I can't tell you how many times I've played the first Metal Gear Solid on Playstation. I still play through it ever year when I do my annual playthrough of the series. Granted, that game, along with the sequels, was setup specifically for multiple playthroughs, so you could get the bandanna, stealth camo, tuxedo, see alternate cutscenes, etc. They also had the scoring system after the credits rolled, which was just one other thing that made additional playthroughs worthwhile. Never have achieved the Big Boss rank. With the exception of not having beaten it on Extreme, I've probably seen every bit of content in the game, explored every nook and cranny, heard every bit of codec dialogue, seen every easter egg, etc. I would always look for different ways to beat bosses too. The second Vulcan Raven battle is really fun to experiment around with. I figured out, too, that you could hide from Sniper Wolf the second time and defeat hear with the Nikita launcher, without her ever firing a single shot.

[Jobobonobo]

Pokemon tends to be the series where I have certain quirks when playing it. One thing I have been doing over the years is to build a team of 6 pokemon for every generation. I have full teams for gens 1, 5 and 6 and will be going with a full team of new monsters for my eventual Sun and Moon playthrough. Hoping to try some of these teams out for the multiplayer as I am going to try playing competitively a lot more in the new gen and I like the added challenge of building a team around every generation that covers all the bases. The only other rules I have when building teams is that I have to have a fire type (because they are my favourite and are great against the formidable steel types) and no legendaries as I find overly powerful pokemon make the game too easy.

[Craig]

My wondertrade run was a bust. While the monsters I got were fine (including a Wobuffet named "kill me") I realised that
1) I'd end up having to grind a lot more.
2) I would miss out on the joy of getting new Pokémon.

But hey, now I've got into starting a new game so off I go with a regular team!