Self-imposed game handicaps

[Cerys]

I didn't realise this was A Thing until I found out that I'm far from the first person to play Skyrim with no kills.  I'm now quite interested in playing other games with a handicap - first on the list, I think, will be Final Fantasy VII using no magic or summons.  Items and Limit Breaks that have a magical effect are okay, though, otherwise I suspect I wouldn't last very long.

Any other suggestions?

[Benjaminos]

Nethack has twelve different conducts that you can try, and are recognized by the game itself. Quite why you would want to make Nethack more difficult is up for debate, but if you wanted to have the world's weediest Barbarian by making him a vegan pacifist, that option is open to you.

[FredNurke]

You can apparently make it all the way to Ganon in the original NES Zelda without picking up the sword. Of course, you then can't kill him...

[biggytitbo]

Tried playing Super Mario 3 wearing boxing gloves once but didn't get very far.

[Glebe]

I remember trying to complete Blood Omen 2 without killing any innocent bystanders.

[Ignatius_S]

On another forum, someone started a thread about playing an RPG (Pillars of Eternity?) without levelling up... not sure how that will pan out.

This person has been pretty impressive in playing with enforced handicaps: http://kotaku.com/incredible-bloodborne-player-beats-game-without-ever-le-1695418129 

[Bazooka]

Playing Final Fantasy 7/8/9/10/11 and not sighing at every summon.

[Cerys]

Harsh.

I remember trying to complete Blood Omen 2 without killing any innocent bystanders.

Ooh, that one's a possibility.

[Twed]

I've tried driving properly in GTA IV and V. Doesn't last long and isn't much fun - it would be a laugh if there was a mission where you had to obey real traffic laws though.

No, seriously. Just one oddball mission, with an instructor sat next to you shouting about how you can't even drive.

[Glebe]

Ooh, that one's a possibility.

[Nobody Soup]

I wish you could have played assassins creed without all the cluster fuck of weapons, I used to try and complete missions with just my bare hands or perhaps stealing a sword from someone.

and by missions what I actually mean is just taking out hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers.

I've spoken on here about the hypocrisy of my character, on a mission involving the boston riots my character got side tracked and killed somewhere between 500-600 soldiers, then complained to the master guy about "not doing anything wrong.".

[Bhazor]

Been replaying MGSV with not so much a handicap as a stipulation. No checkpoints, no reloads you must finish the mission no matter what. Its lead to some great moments of my stealthy no kill journey through a crowded base turning into a bloodbath at the final stretch. MGS has always lent itself towards self imposed handicaps sometimes even rewarding them or designing bonus modes around them. European extreme (game over if seen), no kill run, tranq every boss, hold up every guard, no silenced weaponry.

I've spoken on here about the hypocrisy of my character, on a mission involving the boston riots my character got side tracked and killed somewhere between 500-600 soldiers, then complained to the master guy about "not doing anything wrong.".

[Pit-Pat]

I've spoken on here about the hypocrisy of my character, on a mission involving the boston riots my character got side tracked and killed somewhere between 500-600 soldiers, then complained to the master guy about "not doing anything wrong.".

Slight derail here, but that's been my problem with every GTA since Vice City. It's impossible (for me) to feel sympathetic towards characters who are totally happy to mow down hundreds of policemen and civilians purely to make money.

Arguably Uncharted suffers from a similar problem, but there at least you can rationalise it as part of an Indiana Jones-esque adventure. GTA IV, in particular, with Niko wandering around feeling traumatised by an Eastern European war didn't fit well with the sheer amount of carnage you both could and had to dish out.

[Lemming]

As with the OP, I do pacifist playthroughs of games that really don't allow for it. Skyrim is actually surprisingly simple if you get a ridiculously high sneak skill and learn calm/fear spells.

You can do the first episode of the original DooM without killing anything directly, as long as you lure the pink demons up the elevator at the end with you to do the boss fight for you.

The coolest self-imposed handicap of all time remains Half-Life without a HEV suit, while simultaneously doing a speedrun on Hard mode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXLnNnmbwtY

There's also a no-damage run, the techniques of which remain a mystery.

Speaking of Half-Life, you can actually do it without killing any human enemies.

[captaincockring]

I found that playing Rhythm Tengoku with my eyes shut is actually quite a lot easier.

[captaincockring]

Pacifist Doom...can't do it on the new one.

[captaincockring]

I remember trying to complete Blood Omen 2 without killing any innocent bystanders.

What a disappointment that game was.

[Thursday]

Hello ladies, I'm a onebro, yep that's right I played through to the end of Dark Souls never levelling up, where are you going, why aren't you all offering me sex right now? I don't understand.

[captaincockring]

Hello ladies, I'm a onebro, yep that's right I played through to the end of Dark Souls never levelling up, where are you going, why aren't you all offering me sex right now? I don't understand.

Do you want sex?

[Cerys]

Get to the back of the queue, ccr.

My playthrough of no-materia FFVII has begun.  It has been easy so far - two bosses dispatched with no problem.  I suspect this will change.

[Shay Chaise]

One day I'll be a onebro but I gave my PS3 to my actual bro and he sold it to buy booze.

[Bhazor]

I've always had a mixture of respect and fear of people who roleplay a civilian in games. People who play GTA while rigidly obeying all the real world traffic laws, or that guy who made a blog about roleplaying a peasant in Oblivion.

[HappyTree]

I did this with a version of Defender on the PC called Last of the Free. I sellotaped the shift key down to give constant acceleration and then managed my speed only using the space bar swap direction control.

[Cerys]

Two more bosses twatted into eternity, and Sector 7 pancaked.  I'm still not dead.

that guy who made a blog about roleplaying a peasant in Oblivion.

I've not read the blog, but I'm aware of it.  I have a feeling that if I tried that myself I'd eventually get frustrated and start the murdering.

[MojoJojo]

That's not inconsistent with a peasant.

[Cerys]

Precisely!

[Hangthebuggers]

Crusader Kings 2 if you're not aware is a deep strategy game set between 867AD and 1453AD and you're basically playing as a count/Duke/King/ on a dynamic world map that's full of  characters of all cultures and religions who are all to willing to engage in backstabbery, conquests, raids, court intrigue, plots, factions, crusades, Jihad and assassinations etc.

So I've not long started as a Buddhist leader in charge of Cornwall with my own aim of never taking any land by force, never using any violent methods to pursue my goals and generally playing passively. I've not gotten very far in regards to spreading my territory, but thanks to my insistence of putting monks in pretty much every established council position my learning and diplomacy skill have gone through the roof. Thich causes nearby rival kings and otherwise hostile neighbours to at least grudgingly tolerate my presence (due to my immediate lack of threat and friendly influence), whilst I'm content in letting the pagans and christians battle each other, whilst I slowly attempt to convert the local provinces into becoming a Buddhist state. Also my in-game 'technology development' is growing faster than the nearby pagans and christians, again due to my high learning stats.

At some point I'm going to consider turning Cornwall into a trading republic, which will probably really fucking annoy the local monarchist and feudalistic types, but at the same will create a decent technology spread across the Island with my little republic at the helm of such a bold venture.

[Jakey Chesterton]

Could try playing Doom without using the strafe keys. I think this was how I played it as kid[nb]And judging by multiple youtube videos, how some people still do.[/nb], and never got too far.

[captaincockring]

Could try playing Doom without using the strafe keys. I think this was how I played it as kid[nb]And judging by multiple youtube videos, how some people still do.[/nb], and never got too far.

That's mental...how would you do that?

Vanilla comes mapped like that as default I know...do some people not change it straight away?

[Twed]

When Doom came out most people didn't even know about strafing.