7 Extreme Difficulty Modes People Invented for Themselves

[@cianoakheart5132]

A somewhat less difficult but similarly fun challenge for someone interested in Vegan Skyrim is Green Pact Skyrim: play a Wood Elf, never consume plant products of any kind, never harm plants, and never use equipment primarily made of plant parts, like wood or cotton. Also, for extra lore points, get the ring of Namira and *always* eat *every* body you personally kill.

[@sheolcodemonkey4027]

One I did for Dishonored was what I called my "Without A Trace" playthrough. To start, don't pick up your weapon when you're escaping from prison. In missions, not only do you not get detected, you make it as if you were never there except for the core objective. You don't kill or knock out anyone, you don't even get seen by anyone, not even briefly, unless speaking to them is required to complete the core objective. If a door is open or closed when you find it you must leave it in the same state, if you open a door and a guard sees it open then the mission is considered failed, same for if you break a window obviously. You don't pick up any items, be they loot, potions, ammunition, anything. The core objective I'd always do in whatever way made it seem most low-interaction, so I'd kill the High Overseer by swapping the glasses, such that he could have just accidentally drank out of the wrong glass, whereas I'd hand Lady Boyle over to her stalker, such that it could have been a kidnapping I was nothing to do with One I did for Oblivion (but you could do this for pretty much any game) was my PNR playthrough (Permadeath, No Reloading). Pretty self explanatory, I'd only be allowed to load my save as I was turning the game on, so no save scumming, and if I died I had to delete my save. It's especially immersive on a thief playthrough, due to lower combat ability and frequent crimes which could result in jail time

[@ghostderazgriz]

Surprised you didn't include Pacifist runs. Completing games without killing anyone, or at the very least not being directly responsible for that NPC's death.

[@Ceece20]

Doom pacifist runs. Literally only 1 level left without a pacifist run.

[@casperreininga3253]

Aye, I was really surprised to not see Dark Souls Pacifist runs here...

[@assassinonprozac]

I do that in every Metal Gear game that allows it AKA all of them but MGS1 and MGSV (even the MSX games and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance can be beaten without killing anyone). Though it does make some moments like The Sorrow boss fight in MGS3 a little less impactful if you do it on your first play through like I did.

[@Altoryu]

@@Ceece20 Was hoping someone would suggest this, they even have world records for these types of runs.

[@timbo9644]

The GTA V pacificst run was a lot of fun to watch

[@sarttan]

Ymfah invented a new special challenge for himself: Complete a game without the ability to walk. Somehow that madman beat all of Skyrim without using the left stick on his controller.

[@weneedaladder8384]

Theres a youtuber called habie147 who set himself the challange of crossing the entire landscape of Fallout 4 VR by only using real world walking. So he walks from one end of the room to the other, turns around in real life and then again in the game, and starts walking again. He also said he does this is a small room.

[@Angrymuscles]

Every Andy playthrough of a Hitman level is his version of Extreme Difficulty. The stealth, the lore-crafting, the serial killer montages...

[@supershinigami1]

Why should it be difficult for him? Maybe for us proper stealth Hitman players it's really easy.

[@stevemeters3090]

@@supershinigami1 what?

[@ashlinhughes4257]

P

[@supershinigami1]

@@stevemeters3090 what's not to understand?

[@Brasc]

Don't forget the kill quips that have to be hand crafted to each target and the method being used to kill them.

[@PizzaAngel1]

You could literally do an entire episode of this on Breath of the Wild, from wooden weapons only to no armor, and so on

[@brickpuncher1429]

Or just speedrunning the game.

[@meapickle]

Or the guy who beat the game without taking a single step, after leaving the tutorial island

[@crossedpawsgacha8702]

Or the no weapons

[@weneedaladder8384]

I had a lot of fun playing Master mode with no fast travel. You get a lot more attached to your horses.

[@Sainare]

Another way people play dark souls is the no hit runs. As the name suggests, your run ends if you get hit. These people are beasts I tell you

[@Maxurai2222]

There's people (plural) who have done Dark Souls I, II, III, Bloodborne and Sekiro without getting hit, consecutively, in a single sitting. Get hit once and you lose seven hours of progress.

[@TubeEamo]

As far as I was aware only *one* person has beaten Demon Souls, the Dark souls trilogy and Bloodbourne in a single back-to-back playthough without getting hit (The God Run): Happy Hob. Sekiro wasn't part of that run though.

[@lucbrisson2]

Karl Jobst made a video about it. One guy did the no hit/level 1/all 5 games in a row challenge. Many did runs with only 1 or 2 of these requirements.

[@usbiv223]

Yeah and there was the lefty flip expert mode guitar hero crackheads, too. Somehow, I feel like I’m doing it wrong.

[@MsKeylas]

@@LuckyLucyHi yeah and then they went through all again and actually finished the challenge

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

Nuzlockes are a tough one. I know of a slow one called the "Mother tree challenge" for minecraft where the first tree you punch you HAVE to stand on the stump of, and you cannot stand on any blocks except the wood of descendants of that Mother Tree. It's slow, but an interesting take on the minecraft challenge.

[@ryanvandoren1519]

Would be fun if you had an unlimited bone meal item

[@stargazer1998]

@@ryanvandoren1519 because otherwise all your time is spent as if it was animal crossing

[@cb-9938]

I did a nuzlock when Sun and Moon came out. I still don't know if I wanna do another because it's insanely satisfying to win but it's such a struggle

[@stargazer1998]

You’re also able to stand on obsidian, right? Because if not, that would make the nether and end much more awkward to access

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

@@stargazer1998 only the obsidion of a nether portal, and the end portal blocks, but yes.

[@CyFiWasTaken]

Can't forget when RTGame put an entire level in a meat locker for the kill everyone thing

[@melskunk]

I was thinking of RT gamer for the lill everyone thing too

[@weneedaladder8384]

And then failed the challenge, because he didn't kill everyone at once. It was beautiful.

[@sgtraytango]

@@melskunk Honestly, any time I hear/read "kill everyone challenge" and "Hitman" in the same sentence, my mind always goes to BigMooney06

[@darkimpulse2829]

And then he teased doing the same in Mendoza with the wine press as the YTer mentioned in this video did, but when he went to stream part 2 his save file got corrupted. So instead he played Bugsnax

[@melskunk]

@@darkimpulse2829 oh god, and how wonderful was Bugsnax!!

[@nickblake1460]

There's also the HL2 Ep2 gnome run, where you keep a garden gnome around until the end of the game

[@meapickle]

That one was an actual achievement , so the developers planned and designed the game to be possible. Though if my friends never told me about putting it in the space ship I would've failed and carry it around during the climactic strider assault. The cool thing about these iscthat they weren't planned or intended and had the players out thinking the game

[@bigdognuniff]

I like the beating calamity ganon as soon as you leave the great plateau with just a stick and pot lid challenge. Couldn't be me but mad respect

[@MABfan11]

no armor, no weapons, no shields, beating Calamity Ganon. now that's a challenge

[@inter-partyconflict9540]

How do you do that? Won't they break almost immediately?

[@bigdognuniff]

@@inter-partyconflict9540 I guess that's the challenge? I dunno, I can't do it. Apparently shields Don't take damage if you do a perfect parry so you can do it with a pot lid

[@inter-partyconflict9540]

@@bigdognuniff My concern is more with dealing damage. How do you kill Ganon (all five versions) with sticks? Even if your entire inventory is full they're going to all break long before you deal enough damage to win. Does the final fight suspend weapon durability?

[@bigdognuniff]

@@inter-partyconflict9540 apparently its possible to beat him with bombs, a pot lid and a stick.

[@dendriche7227]

Ahhh, you've made me a bit nostalgic with this one :) I work in QA and I used to test Hitman 1 some years ago before it released. One of my testing "techniques" (when I had some time between tasks and was bored) was to kill every NPC on the map I was currently testing to see how much I can break the game by doing that. It would take various forms too, from just shooting everyone in the face on Sapienza to knocking everyone out and dragging them to Soders' operation room in Hokkaido and then obviously, planting explosives and killing everyone and everything in that room... I definitely killed performance on occasion too, but man was it fun :D Glad people are continuing the glorious mission ;)

[@junko4166]

Masochistic as they are, self-imposed challenges are a good way of keeping a game fun even after beating it for the 1000th time.

[@TheMasterMind144]

Or, conversely, they are a great way to make otherwise boring or unfun games enjoyable. For example, the only way I was able to beat Halo 4s Spartan Ops on Legendary difficulty solo for the infamous achievement tied to it was by restricting myself to only one life and restarting if I died, even though the mode has unlimited lives which unfortunately translates to nonexistent stakes and in general incredibly tedious gameplay.

[@the603]

honestly this. Nuzlocking made Pokemon Sword worth buying (for me)

[@Randallsilver]

Or, conversely, after beating a game once or twice, you go to a new game to enjoy a new adventure instead...

[@junko4166]

@@Randallsilver But new things are scary 😩

[@Randallsilver]

@@junko4166 there was a time when that particular game was new to you. And then it became one of your favourites. So why not try and maybe find a new favourite video game? - ancient Chinese wisdom

[@thelazarous]

My favorite self imposed rule was Grand Theft Not Auto. Way back when I played Vice City I realized that the game gives you a couple a couple cars to keep so why not try to play the whole game without ever stealing a car that you don't have to for story reasons. Also, cars that are required to be stolen for missions must be returned or abandoned afterward. Any missions(including side missions) that award the player with a constant respawning vehicle can be used and abandoned to their hearts content but once destroyed it is considered forfeit. This is a fun rule to play with in the 3d era but once taxis were introduced in IV it's not really been the same.

[@aurastrike]

You can also ban taxi usage, which would bring back the fun.

[@frodobaggins7710]

I'll never attempt it myself, but I do have some admiration for people who've completed swordless runs in the first Legend of Zelda game

[@Kyber1138]

Glad someone mentioned the "No Sword" LoZ runs since it's the only one of these challenges that I've managed to do! It's actually not as hard as it sounds, though! Just takes some planning ahead on what dungeons and items to get in what order. And you occasionally have to grind for bombs and rupees. The challenge becomes mostly redundant once you get the wand, though, since you can hit enemies with it like a sword! Not quite as hardcore as some of the challenges others have mentioned here but I had fun with it!

[@plushiesaurp2068]

I once accidentally hard moded the original Mass Effect. On my first playthrough I didn't realise you can change your weapons and armor... I passed the entire game on the level 1 gear with no upgrades [aside from non-lethal grenades on Feros] with zero deaths. Wasn't able to replicate that ever since XD

[@iusethisnameformygoogleacc1013]

So did a famous game reviewer (the same one who did that famously bad Doom 2016 video) who then gave it a terrible review for being so hard

[@ArkaneStephanie]

I did the same with Dragon Age 2. Still enjoyed it though

[@mgaadslazy188]

God?

[@lokinighton7299]

You may want to check out the Fallout YOLO (You Only Live Once) rule set popularised by Many a True Nerd Not only is it a permadeath run but it forbids healing of any type so any damage you take is a permanent mark against your characters total max health

[@quintusquail]

Was going to leave this same comment myself. I've never attempted a YOLO run -- or any permadeath run -- but they're a lot of fun to watch.

[@waynemathias1]

Love watching Jon's YOLO runs on Fallout, he is probably the most underrated content creator on KZbin.

[@faceless58]

permanent damage sounds insane, ive watched matn a bit but havent heard of that and will check that out

[@bulshock1221]

Not just permanent damage, but permanent rads as well. No rad healing allowed.

[@TheEndlessCycle]

Super mutant: *TIME TO DIE!*

[@antonyduhamel1166]

I was totally expecting to see "No Sphere Grid" runs from Final Fantasy X. They're absolutely insane.

[@emeraldaly7646]

I have to say, I have never heard the term "onebro" before, and I live and breathe Dark Souls. But you've left off an even better entry for Dark Souls -- the no-hit run. Like, what? People complete these games not just without dying, but without *ever even getting hit one time*. That's just amazing to me.

[@yemustbebornagain2049]

it's more oftenly just called "SL1"

[@Xyxthris]

"OneBro" was used on reddit a lot, often intermixed with "SL1", there is even a subreddit named for it.

[@emeraldaly7646]

@@yemustbebornagain2049 clearly as someone who lives and breathes Dark Souls, I needed to be told that 🙄

[@stevenn1940]

That's too far for me. Punching everything to death is the most challenging I'm willing to go

[@comradekatyusha]

He probably didn't mention the no-hit run because it's something you can try in most games and he wanted to say particular challenges

[@GrandDuchessTaco]

Another good Pokemon-related one is Monotype challenges! Some people combine this with the Nuzlockes from before, but seeing just how far you can push yourself using only one type of Pokemon is a good challenge for some!

[@marklehuray1091]

The kill everyone in a hitman level or as it's more commonly known " Mike Mode" ...the only game that jumps to mind for me was thief gold etc knocking out every guard and servant you came across wasn't harder as such mind , just longer.

[@luissera1296]

Or as I like to call it bigMooney mode.

[@Sogeking79]

Hey, Mike only did it that one time because the disease got out of hand.

[@foreverjetspacefella9980]

Beat me to it

[@stevenn1940]

Dishonored, but KOs only, and they must be in one big pile

[@kamikaze4172]

I usually make a habit of knocking out or killing every guard in some games to not have to worry about them again if I have to go back

[@gutigerpj]

Given the "Tofu" character appeared in Resident Evil 2 I think it is safe to say that they intended for some people to do knife only runs a long time ago.

[@azuredragoon2054]

There's also the fact that in Resident Evil 8, you're given a challenge to use "melee weapons only for the entire run". What this means more accurately is that you're not allowed to use anything other than melee weapons to damage enemies. That said, there are 2 boss sections where this is impossible and you're allowed to use them anyway.

[@wanderlustwarrior]

Okay, that Hitman wine press bit was hilariously evil.

[@Teallen96]

Quite devilish indeed, if I do say so myself!

[@tomread8748]

No need to whine about it.

[@wanderlustwarrior]

@@Teallen96 BODY HIDDEN +25 XP

[@jeanetten.s.8557]

Think that's funny? Try the guy who stuffed the entirety of Sapienza into one meat locker and then trying to explode them all at one with a duck.

[@Maleketh42]

One of the earliest challenge runs ever devised was the "four white mages" challenge for the original Final Fantasy. I'm shocked it wasn't mentioned here.

[@jaredcrabb]

Apparently its quite easy.

[@nathan.w4981]

Apparently someone defeated Mario odyssey without jumping which I think is far more impressive than minimum captures. Also a youtuber by the name of ymfah defeated dark souls 2 without talking to any npc's.

[@Nintendoggy]

Haha! Is it called The introvert run?

[@willferrous8677]

skyrim no walking!

[@varunchaturvedi2581]

Any of Ymfah's videos could fit here, honestly

[@oscarmccormack1611]

It's much, much, muuuuch easier to beat the game without jumping than it is to beat the game with 3 captures, and IMO, the resulting run of mincaps is much more impressive.

[@nathan.w4981]

@Crowtex Gaming Didn't he do no turning? I just checked the channel for the no jump and it was called game champ 300

[@Whoopsie.Daisy.]

Loved the reference to Jane getting max level fishing in WoW. Made me laugh

[@HeinerGunnar]

Having done it many times, Kill Everyone Challenges aren't hard, just tedious. Restricting yourself, with no guns for example, is necessary to actually make a KEC hard

[@marhawkman303]

For hitman... one challenge that would be super tedious.. but also super hard? Pacify everyone.... Silent Assassin.

[@HeinerGunnar]

@@marhawkman303 yeah that's a good example for making a KEC hard

[@Darkprosper]

Same with the WoW one I guess, I mean after a point you just one shot everything in the area. The only difficult thing would be to stay awake.

[@stevenn1940]

@@HeinerGunnar environment/accidental kills only

[@marhawkman303]

@@Darkprosper hmmm I think some games actually have a cap on xp you can get. IE, you don't get xp if you're too many levels above enemies you kill. Which might be why that Panda example used picking flowers as a source of Xp. It's not tied to your level maybe?

[@blanket444]

One of my favourite game series on YT is DarkViper's One Hit Knock Out (OHKO) challenge. He mods the game to where he has 1 HP, so any damage is insta-death, and he has yet to finish the whole game with 0 deaths.

[@juances]

Not sure if I'd classify them in the same category, but the "twitch plays ___" series. Imagine trying to beat a game, while you share the control with another hundred people, some helping, some trying to sabotage the whole thing.

[@cearnicus]

A colleague of mine has participated in Twitch Plays Super Metroid. Yes, _that_ Super Metroid. Every jump has to be carefully coordinated. It took several hundred hours.

[@ddjsoyenby]

yes.

[@andybrown4284]

The gameplay equivalent of monkeys giving up on writing shakespeare and opting instead for disco trek

[@mnArqal93]

I imagine it comes under the same thing. Same thing for when streamers/youtubers leave choices for the fans to make. Much like how some people take turns with another playing single players. One makes bad choices and the other good choices.

[@Ramsey276one]

How does that even WORK???

[@HeWhoComments]

In the context of Skyrim, I’d consider dragons to be “above” animals because of their sentience. Therefore, killing dragons is no different to killing Khajit or Argonians.

[@arvidblomberg9248]

I would agree. But I also thought of something, doesn't all armor in skyrim require lether strips to craft? If so, a vegan run (as mentioned in the video) would mean playing without any armor. Entirely possible, but it really favours stealth and mage builds...

[@keyboundDragon]

@@arvidblomberg9248 Your loincloth/bikini is made of leather... Time to bust out the mods

[@CaitlinRC]

You haven't truly suffered in a Mario Odyssey run until you spend ten hours trying to do the nut jump in Bowsers Kingdom. someone help, I've lost all sanity and control of my thumbs

[@haydenmarshall2010]

@CaitlinRC Call an Amboolance

[@n1thecaptain965]

I have absolutely no context for what the "nut jump" is, so this is extra funny to me

[@Giga-lemesh]

I’ve been watching a lot of SmallAnt’s videos, and oh boy those nut jumps are intense

[@dancarter5775]

@@n1thecaptain965 the nut jump is an exploit/glitch in Mario Odyssey that allows players to essentially jump infinite times, provided you can find a nut in a level, and do the timing properly, which consists of grabbing the nut continually while in midair. It's very hard to pull off, as the window to regrab the nut is very limited.

[@CaitlinRC]

@@n1thecaptain965 it gets even funnier when you hear about it being called the wet nut jump. Or when speedrunners go "I nutted!"

[@kitsunesden8085]

Nemesis: (groans) Jill: A KNIFE! Nemesis: NOOOOO!!

[@supersparerib]

Saw dead Pika and knew: Nuzlocke!

[@sarahchristofferson7635]

Haha same

[@moosecampbell]

Yup

[@OK-yy6qz]

I've made one of those myself. It's called "too bored to grind on an RPG" and it involves exactly what it implies always going in the main missions or side quests underleveled because grinding on random opponents or low level repetitive quests to level up is boring. Last game i did it on is Odyssey.

[@throwachair4574]

One time I played through Majora's Mask without collecting any heart pieces. 3 Hearts only, got all the masks too

[@leothereaper2769]

Thats amazing

[@ILikeCHEEZ9]

@@leothereaper2769 yea thats a common way to run through all zelda games. keeps you on your toes

[@leothereaper2769]

@@ILikeCHEEZ9 never heard of it if i find my switch i might try it in legend of zelda botw

[@rumotu]

I remember playing botw master mode no heart pickups. Finished 120 shrines got 3 wheels stamina. Killed Ganon. Haven't got the master sword. My run ended when I tried ballad of champions dlc. As I honestly just couldn't beat the divine beasts.

[@Gondorf5]

I've done the same thing with Cave Story. Then later releases made a Hard Mode with that as a feature. It basically becomes a no-hit run by the halfway point.

[@Darkman9000]

Don't forget the 3-heart runs that were popular in the Zelda series, wherein the player must avoid upgrading Link's health whenever possible. There's also the level-1 challenges some people perform in runs of the Kingdom Hearts series. In fact, Square even made a skill for Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix called EXP Zero that would ensure players had a guaranteed means of avoiding leveling up if they wanted to perform such a difficult challenge.

[@shadowcat1606]

The highest self-imposed difficulty in WoW at the moment afaik is to convince yourself to continue playing it despite... everything.

[@goodbytegames]

I've done a few maximum bodycount Hitman levels. Usually when there's that one NPC wearing some unique outfit that I just can't find. Followed by wandering around trying on everyone's clothes...perhaps this isn't something to share on the internet.

[@rainfitchett2985]

I'm gonna take this opportunity to suggest the KZbinr Many A True Nerd's Fallout 3, NV, and 4 challenge: You Only Live Once. A permadeath run with no healing of any kind, including limb damage, radiation, or addiction.

[@Meraxes1997]

I was going to shoutout the same thing. The New Vegas series is an incredible achievement

[@Maxurai2222]

You can pause and heal in those games, right?

[@tekguru8]

I was going to be disappointed if nobody mentioned MATN and Fallout YOLO...

[@thisistherevolt]

Fallout's You Only Live Once runs, where you can never heal or reduce your rads, is pretty hardcore. Popularized by Jon at Many A True Nerd.

[@thesmoggieone6433]

I did an Ultra Sun Nuzlocke last year, there was always that fear and despair at losing a 'mon, but the challenge and limited options made it strangely addictive. My lowest point was losing my starter Dartrix to Olivia's trial before making it to the third island, because while I remembered grass is strong to rock, rock can easily defeat flying...

[@shadowsilvertailsfan]

Oh thats rough! I feel bad for you!

[@dagothurik1815]

I tried to nuzlocke yellow. I lost my pidgeotto and charmeleon to the nugget bridge rival fight.

[@oriolgonzalez9328]

I like the concept of the "low%" speedrun. It's basically "what is the absolute MINIMUM number of items/weapons/missions/etc. needed to reach the ending of the game?" and then trying to beat the game as quickly as possible while limiting yourself to that bare minimum.

[@ericb3157]

reminds me of a time i tried to do that with Super Metroid. i finished with only 30%.

[@WitchOfTheSword]

I've always been a big fan of solo runs in otherwise party-based rpgs. My personal favorite one is definitely Octopath Traveler, wherein each of the eight choices offers a variety of challenges and difficulties due to your choice of character greatly affecting what you can do both in and out of battle.

[@AhsimNreiziev]

Honestly, Minimum Captures runs of _Super Mario Odyssey_ are some of the most impressive things in all of gaming. If anyone somehow still sees this comment and is interested, I highly recommend SmallAnt's 3-capture runs, especially the first one where he explains the skips.

[@ggEmolicious]

I remember seeing an article a while back similar to the WoW one where people were now leveling up in normal ways, but they just don’t select a specialization for their class so instead they just have base skills available to all specs for that class.

[@RandomGuy-vg5vz]

The thing that comes to mind for me is the True Solo Cataclysm runs in Vermintide 2. The game is insanely hard on Cataclysm with a group, but alone you need perfect dodge and block timings or else you die in seconds. Mad respect for the guys who do them.

[@amgedmahdi2805]

Here's a suggestion: Games where the player has a second phase, not the boss

[@maggiem6209]

This needs more likes!!

[@darkfent]

Wow it's like megaman starforce % in black ace/red joker

[@amgedmahdi2805]

@@maggiem6209 thank you for your support :D

[@artturisiikanen3843]

i would love to have rean from trails of coldsteel in their videos it would fit that list with the VALIMAR

[@Eric-bq8nd]

Like a more powerful, limited, mode like Devil Trigger; or a mode that your character permanently changes into, like Fire Emblem class changes?

[@Jessie_Helms]

Most difficult, but deeply rewarding, experience I’ve had in a video game was doing a Ghost, Clean Hands, Mostly Flesh and Steel run of Dishonored. Each one is hard, and requires meeting requirements for the entire game: Ghost: never seen Clean hands: never kill anyone, at all Mostly flesh and steel: never use any magical powers or upgrades (you can use bone charms and Blink level 1 but nothing else, not even the passive powers). Put ‘em all together and you have an incredibly test of skill, timing, and understanding of mechanics.

[@taotriad]

I did that one too. Loved the challenge. But once you perfect your blinking skills the rest comes naturally. The only thing I had problems with was the Clean hands challenge; the training mission where you're supposed to sneak up on some creature in a sewer stumped me. I could do a non-lethal, but it still counted as a kill. Turned out I'd left it in water, so eventually I guess it drowned...

[@kyleparker7904]

Tried a White 2 nuzlocke, lost whole team to rollouting Dunsparce.

[@thatoneswordguy]

That’s rough, buddy

[@kyleparker7904]

@@thatoneswordguy Rest in Peace Sir Bacon the Tepig.

[@kyleparker7904]

I found White 2 difficult to Nuzlocke be cause there are only 4 routes before gym 1 and the are so many Pokémon on them it is difficult to follow nuzlocke rules

[@jaredcrabb]

Did Whitney change her Miltank?

[@letsmakeit110]

I beat all the main series games without centers or marts and I beat the tcg without using trainer cards. White is hard just because the infinite tms ruin your PP management, but IMO Fire Red/Leaf Green are the hardest games in the series.

[@fubsysukina5279]

I love the effort you all put in. When I think you've covered everything in the gaming world you all always seem to think of something new and interesting. It helps me get through lockdown! Thank you!

[@superskh]

No kill/pacifist runs in games that don't really want you to do them. Its one thing in Dishonored or Undertale, but try getting technical no kill runs in fallout.

[@SevCaswell]

I remember Bugthesda making a point of saying you can talk your way through the whole of Fallout 3, and I assume that Obsidian made it possible in NV but not sure about 4. Skyrim and the other Elder Scrolls titles might be a more difficult proposition for a no kill run.

[@TristenSarelvun]

@@SevCaswell You have to kill Kellog in F4 (unless a companion does it for you, but I don't remember if companion kills count as your kills in its Pip-Boy), and in F3 the one and only kill I remember being required is the radroach (an insect, not person) at the beginning. I know it can be done in FNV without cheats, but it's probably hard as frick, and talking the final boss out of a fight (the only way not to kill him) literally completely goes against his character. I honestly don't think it's possible in most Elder Scrolls games without cheating though. _Maybe_ Morrowind? Theoretically Daggerfall, to my memory?

[@robertpetrovich1923]

@@TristenSarelvun I've done no-kill games in Oblivion but never did the main questline. Skyrim I had to kill, at least indirectly (in Oblivion I pumped my speed to the point nothing could catch me)

[@calebdaily1049]

Saw a video where someone did a no kill run in Fallout 4

[@cosmicdan5907]

Watching Kevin’s mad unplanned dash to “kill everyone on the map” always cracked me up

[@calebroberson7264]

I’m surprised that you didn’t mention RT Games in the Hitman segment. He stuffed so many NPCs in a meat locker.

[@jeanetten.s.8557]

The butcher of Sapienza makes his debut that day

[@LIFE_Films]

I still don't know if that time he got everyone with a fish is worse.

[@HavocHounds1988]

In Cabela's Dangerous Hunts my friends and I would come up with crazy challenges like kill a Rhino with only a bow, or kill a Cape Buffalo with a knife. Those were fun, and often tricky at times.

[@Tickerbee]

I once tried beating Ocarina of Time without using any of the primary swords, I got up to the Forest Temple where I kept running out of bombs against the Stalfos that had shields.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

"Destroy All Enemies" in X-Wing, "Use Only Default Loadouts Whilst Being A Completionist" in TIE Fighter. Those are gnarly challenges in my opinion.

[@cataorshane]

My personal problem with killing everyone in Hitman games is immersion. I can't bring myself to get Agent 47 to kill innocents x'D

[@SolaScientia]

That's my issue as well. That and being noticed and everything else, lol. I've been tempted though.

[@fraserking4747]

Having beaten a few nuzlockes and winning a SL1 challenge in Dark Souls 1, I can tell you they’re some of the most fun challenges I’ve done and add an extra layer of replay ability. I’ve even beaten DS3 using only a shield, and that was a ton of fun. Self imposed challenges are great!

[@bobfredricson4796]

The hitman one isn’t a challenge that’s just a Mike play through

[@s76trombone]

ManyATrueNerd and his YOLO runs of the Fallout games have to be my favourite

[@Simte]

The vegan challenges are really fun and they can be done in various rpgs a great example is Breath of the Wild. Back when I was younger, my biggest achievement was the SL1 DS trilogy no hit run.

[@moonkingdomify]

I'd honestly say that the dragons in Skyrim count as another sapient species, so killing them and then making armor out of their bones is even more disturbing when you think about it.

[@JohnDoe-nf7up]

Technically you do absorb their soul so theoretically you'd be making weapons of your own body

[@malorethsweapon1475]

Andy should bring back Morgan Mondays and challenge himself to never buy outfits

[@Jedi_Spartan]

He should bring back Morgan Mondays full stop!

[@outsidexbox]

D:

[@VonBlade]

@@Jedi_Spartan I agree regarding Morgan Mondays (now nearly a year on from the last episode, Arthur still is alive and Dutch is still annoying).

[@JulickRed]

The Fire Emblem community has a bunch of those, the most popular being 0% Growths (technically a mod) where you never gain stats on level ups, and Ironman, where you can't reset when anyone dies and a Game Over means you have to start it all over from the beginning again.

[@obsessedwithguitars3157]

And then there's the guy who figured out how to beat Sonic and Knuckles without pressing right on the D-pad. Absolute legend.

[@DinendalLeralonde]

Does most of it involve holding down on the d-pad and mashing C?

[@obsessedwithguitars3157]

@@DinendalLeralonde He used Knuckles. Lots of gliding by hitting jump twice. Unreal dedication.

[@RoboSparkle]

@@obsessedwithguitars3157 There's a TAS of Sonic & Knuckles called the "broken d-pad" challenge. Jump buttons only - the enemy manipulation and glides are so precise that it's not possible for humans but it's an amazing watch!

[@SaintStasis]

Gamechamp3000 for anyone wondering.

[@ericb3157]

reminds me of one i saw recently where he was trying to beat it "without moving Sonic", by unplugging controller 1 and having Tails carry sonic all the time. VERY tricky, especially since you can't let Sonic grab onto objects.

[@sgtraytango]

I love how BigMooney06 is so popular/famous for his Hitman kill everyone challenges that the developers have put several references to him in the games, plus gave him his own escalation in Hitman 2.

[@ghostderazgriz]

Perma-death runs? Usually no death, sometimes even no hit runs.

[@hystericalpeanut2844]

Take a look at most Zelda Games where Permadeath runs follow that one rule in Zelda I: You die, You start from the beginning!

[@AdrianColley]

These are called Hardcore mode and they're often official difficulty levels.

[@hystericalpeanut2844]

@@AdrianColley But if played on the hardest difficulty, This causes the True Hardcore Mode

[@Xzercist]

No hit/damage runs in Ghost of Tsushima...

[@rushpan93]

Do people try no hit runs in modern Doom games? On Ultra Nightmare?

[@lurkerrekrul]

Thief/Thief II - Some expert players try to "ghost" the levels by not alerting any NPCs, not picking up any items that aren't absolutely required to complete the level, returning any items that they disturb, closing all doors, etc.

[@burgermike92]

To add onto doing Nuzlockes, doing them randomized makes them even harder. Pokemon Sun and Moon is extremely brutal.

[@JoshTigerheart]

If you want real silliness, add in randomized rules! Come up with a long list of extra restrictions, rules, and so on and roll on the list every time you enter a new area. Whatever you land on gets toggled on/off.

[@lacytaylor1501]

There's so many insane nuzlockes, if I'm not mistaken there's versions that rely on trading and eggs isn't there? I only know about them from a KZbinr I used to watch who's main thing is Nuzlockes. The name escapes me but it was Gameboy something or something like that.

[@burgermike92]

@@lacytaylor1501 Yea that's one of them. Another one I know of is a sleeplocke.

[@marhawkman303]

@@lacytaylor1501 heh, or the true old school one.... yeah 20 years ago I heard this one.... the first 5 pokeballs you get in the game? The Pokemon you catch in those are the ONLY Pokemon you can use in trainer battles! Save scumming may be allowed, but the REAL challenge... is that you have to wait to get a team of Pokemon. If you have decided you want to use a Magmar?... you have to leave that team slot empty until you get to Cinnabar Island....etc. A more extreme version... which someone once actually did due to sucking at the game.... is to just never use anything but your starter Pokemon. Yeah this person I once talked to was catching things... but only her starter got used in battles. She eventually got to a gym where she got owned because of a type disadvantage. I think it was Blaine? Yeah, the solo-run in Pokemon is mitigated in difficulty by the fact that your one pokemon gets ALL the XP. But..... Some fights you have to be massively overleveled to win at all.

[@leSang27]

There is a lot of runs that you didn't include that are just outright hilarious. 1) Starcraft 2 runs: Zero Death runs (no your units can die), Marine/Zergling/Zealot only runs (you can only use and build the most common tier 1 unit) 2) Skyrim No Walking. That was the video that literally broke me when I saw it 3) Pokemon runs with "use only that move you have when all other moves are exausted"

[@uncannymeerkat]

I once inadvertently did a Kill Everyone challenge on the Fixer Elusive Target. I didn't pay attention during the cutscene and ended up not being able to find the unidentified target. Resorted to rampaging through the level with an assault rifle. At one point I was cornered in an alleyway and I was dropping so many bodies at the entrance that the framerate started dropping.

[@skynet0912]

I think the hardest challenge i have ever undertaken is the "Extreme, minumum options, Faith Only" challenge in Fire Emblem Three Houses... This run took me nearly 300 attempts and more hours than i can count, but DAMN was it fun! The rules are as follows: - You must play on a fresh save, and you can't use any items from DLC, only the DLC characters. - You can only damage enemies with Faith magic, unless it's literally impossible to avoid. - Green units you don't directly control can damage enemies for you. - You must play on Maddening Classic difficulty. - Divine Pulses and reloading saves is banned. You live and die with your mistakes... - Equipping batallions is allowed, but you can't use them offensivly. - Byleth dying means you have to restart the challenge from the beginning. - You must choose a pattern of all 4 routes, and for each reset from a failed challenge, you must do the next route in the pattern. - Overleveling isn't allowed, to discourage picking one or two characters to carry the run. You can only use characters a maximum of 2 levels above the mission intended level. - A full squadwipe, even without Byleth in the squad is a run reset. This is hard even on normal when you ARE allowed to retry, and it's next to impossible on Maddening, and the game ends up less of a strategy game, and more like a 2 million piece puzzle, where putting one piece in the wrong place means you have to redo it from the start, and all the pieces are now different!

[@nickdejager8873]

WoW max leveling in the starting area? Bah. Try that in the original Guild Wars. After a certain point, your level was too high, so you stopping getting XP. The solution was to let enemies kill you, until they leveled up to a point where you got XP from them again. Very, very tedious, but people did it.

[@velvetvioletta]

I was going to say this... the devs did add a title for doing it though and also a daily quest so you could continue get a small amount of xp that way.

[@Maxurai2222]

Reminded of the South Park kids killing boars for a month

[@kyuubinaruto17]

As I just wrote on another thread there's a difference between adding challenge and just adding tedium. It's like maxing your pokemon starter to level 100 in the first area by fighting level 2 Pidgey's. Yeah, it's certainly possible, but what are you GETTING out of it? Speedrunners and people who do some of the challenges in this video at least have increased difficulty and skill requirements going for them. This just seems like wasting your time for ANTI-difficulty.

[@nickdejager8873]

@@kyuubinaruto17 Well, a level 100 starter may steamroll a good portion of the game. But Guild Wars had a low level cap, and was more about the skills you could acquire and gear. So grinding to 20 (instead of usually 8 to 10) got you a lot less. Mainly the title Velvet mentioned, and a about one chapter (out of like 15) of slightly easier gameplay.

[@channelofmojos2779]

You could fill this list exclusively with Dark Souls. Beat it with a guitar, beat it without taking damage, beat it blindfolded etc.

[@Michael_Lindell]

The most difficult mode of them all: complete 'Ride to Hell: Retribution'.

[@ceceliaacaba2739]

Scott the Woz has completed that difficulty

[@Michael_Lindell]

@@ceceliaacaba2739 Poor Scott!

[@michaelandreipalon359]

That's it, replaying Days Gone while finding another copy of that dratted "game" so to burn on a campfire.

[@TheDimensionDweller]

When I was doing my Dishonored 2 New Game+ run, I decided to go back to the tried and true Clean Hands and Ghost. And then I decided that wasn't hard enough and that I wasn't going to knock anyone out except Nest Keepers and Targets, so as to make the absolute minimum possible splash. It was a lot of fun.

[@senorbalck]

The No Kill runs by Manyatruenerd in Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 3. As well as the You Only Live once runs of both those, and the current series in Fallout 4 as well

[@Teallen96]

Yooooo! I've always loved you guys, particularly the Hitman and list vids. Cannot believe I've actually made it into one! Keep up the great work guys! (and you know you could have used the actual footage if you'd asked, I wouldn't have minded lol!)

[@apocrypha5363]

Gamefreak should genuinely offer a 'nuzlocke mode' option in their games, that automatically stops you catching extra pokemon or using fainted ones... maybe make it possible to switch it off when needs be though...

[@PLAYER_42069]

Pokemon Perma Death mode

[@rocketrooster2410]

Nah, they just keep on making the game easier. they probably rather add an auto fight mode

[@bern9642]

@@rocketrooster2410 even the nuzlocke rule is extremely easy. It's very hard for your pokemon to faint in SWSH. you will almost always be overpowered and you'd always have more pokemon than your opponents.

[@DavidJoh]

After Civilization players came up with the one-city challenge, they came out with a new edition in which there was one civilization that wasn't allowed to found new cities because historically it was a city state. Venice I think. That is, incidentally one game I don't expect to see on any of these lists because it isn't action oriented enough.

[@bern9642]

​@@rocketrooster2410 my fav rule is using just 1 pokemon (preferably scorbunny as he can change types) to beat the entire game and release any pokemon I catch back into the wild immediately using it to only fill my pokedex.

[@firefliesowlcity12]

Generic challenges tied to no specific game include never dying, never taking damage, and never being hit. Also, most of the challenges on this list can just be applied in general, the first ones that come to me are staying at level 1 forever and reaching max level in a starting area.

[@pockylovingranger]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL at Jill stabbing Nemesis in the ass with the knife over and over again xD

[@randallporter1404]

Slowly... smh

[@rumbleroar2]

Borderlands 2 has tons of self-imposed challenges you can try. Alliance run: You pick a manufacturer and play using only weapons from that manufacturer. Some are easier than others. If the manufacturer doesn't make items for a certain item type, you leave it empty. One life: This is the classic hardcore run where if you die, you delete your save. No skills: In this one you cannot level up any part of your skill tree, not even the action skill. White only: Only white (common) rarity items are allowed. No uncommon, rare, epic or legendary. Melee only/no items: You can either play a no guns run but you can use grenades and class mods etc. or you can go crazier and use no items at all. As far as I'm aware this is possible with Krieg but I'm not sure of any other class.

[@DrBrangar]

I am calling, a priori, that SL1 run in any souls game makes an appearance.

[@TyphinHoofbun]

In Salt and Sanctuary, I did this myself. Salt Level 1, start as one of the two "commoner" classes that begin at level 1, use only Black Pearls found in the world to unlock skills in order to be able to wield weapons. Made it about half-way through New Game+ where everything is more dangerous but you get way more Salt (souls) from enemies. Not that it matters a lot when you can't really use it, once you've maxed out the equipment you can actually wear. If doing this yourself, remember that Gray Pearls can refund *any* bought skill, and you can buy any skill next to an unlocked skill (or only the starting "extra potion" node if you have nothing), allowing you to "walk" to something if you have a couple Blacks. There's only around 5 or so to pick up per run, after all.

[@benstylus]

My favorite is the no sword run in the original Legend of Zelda. It's dangerous to go alone? But I live for danger! Of course you can't actually win, since Ganon can only be damaged by a sword. But at least Link died in vain.

[@fulviopontarollo2952]

I can imagine Andy’s frustration when he was presented with the Hitman section

[@HighFiveTheHorizon]

Mike, however, giggled with glee

[@jpfoland01]

Super Mario 64's "Green Demon" challenge, getting stars while triggering and then avoiding the rare life shrooms that can home in to Mario's location.

[@TheBananaBox]

I’m amazed that LASO mode from Halo isn’t here. It was so popular (and agonizingly hard) that it was made into an official playlist in the Master Chief Collection.

[@tambaloneusderpaloneus6626]

I remember the very first ever 'we make our own rules thank you' style game my bro's & I would play was an old DOS F1 racing game in the 90's where the rule we imposed was "Nobody else is allowed to finish the race" and the idea was you have to destroy every single other racer and still be able to finish it yourself, surprisingly challenging and requiring of a lot of luck but infinitely gratifying when you managed to pull it off, even if you just barely squeaked across the line.

[@last_dutch_hero258]

Did we forgot the, imo, most important one in gaming culture ever? The “luigi wins by doing absolutly nothing” ? God Luigi is God…

[@linamishima]

A couple of people have posted on the Factorio reddit about completing the complete opposite of the idea of the game - a handcrafting only run. Factorio is a game about automation, building a massive factory to make everything, and you need to do this as the number of materials you require to do, well, anything, is so extreme. So naturally some players decide to hand craft as much as possible. There's also some Satisfactory players who have done similar challenges

[@Firawesome]

You need to revisit this list and add Hollow Knight’s “the floor is lava” challenge for completing the White Palace. It may not be a challenge for the entire game, but it’s darn impressive and deserves an honorable mention at least.

[@PlebNC]

Fallout New Vegas. Game was basically built for challenge runs, going so far as to include challenge run style challenges in the Gun Runners Arsenal DLC, and many KZbin channels are dedicated to such. On the tame end of the scale you have Go North Runs (reach New Vegas by going North from the start through Deathclaw and Cazadore territory) and various weapon restriction runs like melee only, throwables only and Big Iron Hipfiring Only. On the more extreme end, you have Steal Only runs (can only use items you've stolen), No Stimpaks/Chems runs (so you can't spam heals/buffs and must eat/craft food), Coin Flip runs (every action/decision is determined by the luck of a coin flip), Randomiser runs (completing the game with the Randomiser mod installed) and Companion Kills Only (only companions can attack people). Plus the usual Kill Everyone and Pacifist runs.

[@revo1verrock]

Playing games with only voice commands seems like a hellish purgatory ... fun to watch though

[@gruggerduggerhoose]

*scared scottish noises

[@Ramsey276one]

AKA Playing as A Brain

[@ceapaverde1288]

Another way to beat raceing games is by doing a "realism" challange. The rules are ; 1: Set the difficulti to max 2: No Hud 3: Frist person view only 4: No electronic assistance (Ex. ABS, ESP systems ) if the car in question didn't have them in the frist place.

[@copperhamster]

Fallout 'yolo' runs. Play through the game without ever healing/curing rads. There's even a mod for it in Fallout 4, disables all healing items in case you get tempted. Or if you are playing survival mode so you can still eat and drink.

[@scottybryant]

Long time listener, first time caller here: I can't believe 3 Heart Challenge for any Zelda game didn't make the cut! I even remember with Ocarina of Time there were the added rules of not being able to replace equipment stolen from like likes, avoiding fairy fountains and any side quest equipment like the big Goron sword or additional bottles. My teenage self wasn't able to do it haha

[@erynnelken4699]

Have you thought about the hitman kill everyone run for the channel? I’d love to see how Mike and Andy go about the whole thing 😂

[@jaredcrabb]

That sounds more like Ellen than Mike:D "If you have a license...its a waste to not use it."

[@mac_forever1438]

Another cool challenge for this list would be Blindfolded Runs. Definitely worthy of the term Extreme Difficulty.

[@Spiracle]

I did a Platinum Nuzlocke and it's by far the most fun I've ever had playing Pokémon. Granted that's probably mostly thanks to the people that watched it... Plus the benefit of being able to fast forward gameplay.

[@Lonii04]

Did a Platinum Nuzlocke a week ago, only my starter made it to the champion room alive 🤣

[@Spiracle]

@@Lonii04 Oof that's rough! My starter was a Machoke called Snuggles and he absolutely carried me through the game. I didn't lose too many pokemon mostly due to luck, but I did spend the entire run trying (unsuccessfully) to find a Shiny Stone to evolve Togetic...

[@Lonii04]

@@Spiracle a Machoke 🤔 do you play with a randomizer?

[@Lonii04]

@@Spiracle I actually had two shiny Stones xD don't remember where I git the first one, but the second one I found on Iron Island in the deepest level of the Ruins so basically the end... And I think it was an invisible item but Im not sure about that

[@Spiracle]

@@Lonii04 Oh my bad, I thought I mentioned that in my main comment but I thought wrong. Yeah my starter choices were Machoke, Chatot and Snubbull. I started it as a 100 subscriber special and let the viewers decide, so it's safe to say I am *incredibly grateful* that they opted to not screw me over. The one downside of the randomiser was finding a Shiny Stone because I found out the hard way that it's only found in a few places (AKA. nowhere because randomised items) and it's the only stone not found in the underground. But Togepi was my first capture and I kept her in the team all the way through, even if I could never get her to Togekiss...

[@MWDFrancis]

Seriously, one of my favorite ways to play Hitman is the self-imposed “All NPC Subdued Suit Only”. No joke - it absolutely tickles me.