Self-imposed Challenges

[Værn]

I've been known to do this from time to time with D&D. Someone once invited me to join a random game just to screw around, so I made a commoner who was specced and geared to have something like a +40 bonus to Use Magic Device checks involving scrolls. (I don't remember exactly what level he was, but he certainly shouldn't have been casting 9th-level spells)
I hope to use him again in another not-so-serious game, as I rather enjoyed playing a fake wizard.

[TrollHunter]

Just googled what Nuzlocking Pokemon meant. It seems fun! I agree with Bolivar though, call me pedantic, but I always try to get my pokemon within 2-3 levels of each other, which does include relatively useless pokemon, like Bidoof. I just like having all my pokemon available, rather than have a core team of six and having the rest rot in the PC.

Once you go nuzlocke you never go back.
I recommend doing it with the hoenn region (preferably emerald), it's easy enough to give you a feel for it, but the gyms are so damn difficult that it makes it memorable and intense. It's the most balanced of the nuzlockes I've played.

[Laddy]

I've been known to do this from time to time with D&D. Someone once invited me to join a random game just to screw around, so I made a commoner who was specced and geared to have something like a +40 bonus to Use Magic Device checks involving scrolls. (I don't remember exactly what level he was, but he certainly shouldn't have been casting 9th-level spells)
I hope to use him again in another not-so-serious game, as I rather enjoyed playing a fake wizard.

Good god that is amazing.

[Loony BoB]

I like to see how high a level an enemy I can kill with my level 50 crafter jobs set in FFXIV, if that counts.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I've considered doing the 3 heart challenge on OoT. Not sure how much of a challenge it'd be, though, as I hardly ever die in that game.

Who does?

Also, that Uber Challenge just sounds ridiculous.

[Mirage]

I can't really make myself stick to self imposed challenges. Figuring out the most efficient way to win within a ruleset is just a thing that comes very natural to me . It's kind of a mental fight between me and the game designers. Can s/he create a set of rules that I can't easily break to pieces or not? If I can, I usually end up doing it.

In this regard, I usually do not count programming errors, but design errors. Such as giving me access to aqualung before the gold saucer, and making the enemy casting it weak enough for me to survive its attacks at that point with no grinding.

[Skyblade]

Ooh, I forgot my other challenge.

I bought my second copy of Golden Sun, The Lost Age used, and it still had a save file on it. The previous owner had apparently given up after being frustrated by the Star Magician to the point that he sold the game. Without grinding, just rearranging his Djinn and party, I took on the Star Magician and won. Just to prove I could. Heck of a battle, he wasn't as geared or leveled as I usually am, and he had missed some Djinn (probably not an import save), but I did it.

[Roogle]

I like to see how high a level an enemy I can kill with my level 50 crafter jobs set in FFXIV, if that counts.

The crafter jobs can fight? Can you explain that a bit more, then?

[Mirage]

You throw rocks at them for terrible damage.

[Heath]

I just read the rules for the uber challenge for OoT. That sounds like a very frustrating way to play the game. I don't think my controller would have remained in one piece had I attempted it!

I'm not really the sort of person to do self-imposed challenges per se. Sometimes I'll give myself tasks to do like sequence breaking in Metroid games though. The one challenge of sorts I do insist on is allowing no character deaths when I play a Fire Emblem game, irrespective of how useless a particular character may be!

[Laddy]

I played a solo game of Baldur's Gate II once, as a Kensai/Mage on harder difficulties. It's not really a challenge though if you abuse rerolls and know what you're doing. There's a lot of relatively easy quests in the beginning so you should get some really badass spells early on as you gain spell levels.

[TrollHunter]

I just read the rules for the uber challenge for OoT. That sounds like a very frustrating way to play the game. I don't think my controller would have remained in one piece had I attempted it!

I'm not really the sort of person to do self-imposed challenges per se. Sometimes I'll give myself tasks to do like sequence breaking in Metroid games though. The one challenge of sorts I do insist on is allowing no character deaths when I play a Fire Emblem game, irrespective of how useless a particular character may be!

Now, by this, do you restart whenever a character dies? Because if so... that's not really a challenge run, that's basically playing the game on easy mode.
Try playing it to where your characters actually CAN die, now that's exciting.

[Heath]

I'm not really the sort of person to do self-imposed challenges per se. Sometimes I'll give myself tasks to do like sequence breaking in Metroid games though. The one challenge of sorts I do insist on is allowing no character deaths when I play a Fire Emblem game, irrespective of how useless a particular character may be!

Now, by this, do you restart whenever a character dies? Because if so... that's not really a challenge run, that's basically playing the game on easy mode.
Try playing it to where your characters actually CAN die, now that's exciting.

It's something I do more for the sake of completeness than to make the game easier. I mentioned it as a bit of a challenge because it annoys me even if a character I never use dies (the exception being Lyndis' story in FE7 when I don't really mind) and will go to some lengths to keep characters alive. I tend to be a bit more liberal with their deaths on subsequent playthroughs though.

Having said that, I think you're probably right about it being easy mode. I was more thinking of it in terms of 'I keep the weakling characters I never bother with alive,' but the opposite ('I don't want to face a future without my best characters') probably also applies!

[TrollHunter]

I'm not really the sort of person to do self-imposed challenges per se. Sometimes I'll give myself tasks to do like sequence breaking in Metroid games though. The one challenge of sorts I do insist on is allowing no character deaths when I play a Fire Emblem game, irrespective of how useless a particular character may be!

Now, by this, do you restart whenever a character dies? Because if so... that's not really a challenge run, that's basically playing the game on easy mode.
Try playing it to where your characters actually CAN die, now that's exciting.

It's something I do more for the sake of completeness than to make the game easier. I mentioned it as a bit of a challenge because it annoys me even if a character I never use dies (the exception being Lyndis' story in FE7 when I don't really mind) and will go to some lengths to keep characters alive. I tend to be a bit more liberal with their deaths on subsequent playthroughs though.

Having said that, I think you're probably right about it being easy mode. I was more thinking of it in terms of 'I keep the weakling characters I never bother with alive,' but the opposite ('I don't want to face a future without my best characters') probably also applies!

I say it's easier because I used to play the exact same way in fire emblem. Even if a character I hated and was RNG screwed to the abyss died I'd still restart.
To be honest I've only allowed deaths on sacred stones, by far the EASIEST FE ever made, but it was so fun I'll probably do blazing sword next that way.
Comparing the two kindof ways I played the game I think letting characters die not only makes it more fun, it puts far more at stake (I think twice before moving characters now... and with the braindead AI of FE I used to never do that), and makes every battle memorable.
And, because you're letting guys die, you don't get frustrated with a level due to having to restart it over and over and over again if you keep screwing up.

Now, this is just my preference mind you. Though I am basically a walking encyclopedia of infinite wisdom, You may not enjoy playing FE this way. Especially if you like the characters, it can be easy to get attached to some of your favorite units and watch them die due to an unlucky crit or miss (true story, I was leveling up an underleveled Artur on some weaker enemies to see if he'd turn out decent, and a pegasus knight landed a critical with a 1% chance. I would've been mad, but it was so improbable I found it hilarious). For me, that chance makes it all the more exciting.

[Heath]

Now, this is just my preference mind you. Though I am basically a walking encyclopedia of infinite wisdom, You may not enjoy playing FE this way. Especially if you like the characters, it can be easy to get attached to some of your favorite units and watch them die due to an unlucky crit or miss (true story, I was leveling up an underleveled Artur on some weaker enemies to see if he'd turn out decent, and a pegasus knight landed a critical with a 1% chance. I would've been mad, but it was so improbable I found it hilarious). For me, that chance makes it all the more exciting.

Enemy criticals are a nightmare. The part I used to hate more was when you'd have blocked an enemy path with one of your characters. You've put them them more to slow the enemy than to cut them down. Your unit then proceeds to do a critical, allowing another enemy to attack that character, killing them. So, so frustrating.

I think the game is more fun when you don't become so protective of your characters. Like you said, you're no longer restarting every level when some random character like Renault dies. I originally felt keeping them alive was a self-imposed challenge probably because the real challenge was not giving up in frustration