00:06Welcome to MojoPlays and today we're looking at achievements and rules created by the rule
00:11followers. From the dawn of gaming, players have developed self-inflicted parameters to
00:15increase the difficulty of games, often so infamously that they spread like wildfire,
00:20and suddenly we're all burning. These are 10 self-imposed challenges in games. Let's go.
00:25Before we continue, we publish content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
00:31to get notified of our latest videos. Arsene Only Persona 5
00:45One of the most brutal self-imposed runs in Persona 5 is sticking with Arsene for the entire game and
00:52refusing to swap him out. Obviously, you can try a challenge like this in any other Persona game,
00:57but it became infamous among fans with the fifth entry because Persona 5 makes it especially rough.
01:02The story is so long and your starter Persona falls off pretty fast if you use him normally.
01:08Arsene looks cool, but let's be honest, the game really does not want him to stay your main guy
01:12forever. But that's what makes the run so tough. If you commit to using only Arsene, you have to
01:17squeeze every bit of value out of the game's systems, and you have to be a proper fan to make
01:21this work.
01:29No upgrades or boss weapons, Mega Man X
01:38One of the most classic self-imposed challenges across the Mega Man games is the Buster Only run.
01:43The idea is simple. You ignore every weapon and upgrade the game gives you and stick with the
01:47basic shot you start with. This is one of those challenges that feels achievable early in the
01:51games. You actually get way overconfident. But it gets brutal pretty quickly, especially in games
01:56like Mega Man X, where upgrades are a huge part of how you're meant to play. Normally, beating bosses
02:01gives you new weapons that exploit enemy weaknesses, making later fights much easier. But with this
02:06challenge, you're throwing all of that out the window. No special weapons, no upgrades,
02:10it's just your standard buster the entire time. There is zero room for mistakes. And trust me,
02:16you'll make mistakes.
02:27100 Baby Challenge The Sims 2
02:34One of the most infamous fan-made challenges came from the humble but awesome Sims series.
02:40First starting in The Sims 2 and lasting right up until the current The Sims 4,
02:44the challenge is simple. Make 100 babies as quickly and simply as possible.
02:49The records come down to two factors, how few generations you managed to get to 100 and how
02:54quickly you did it overall. There's a bunch of other rules to make sure the games isn't being
02:58exploited. So make sure to look it up before you do the 100 Baby Challenge, or as we call it
03:02in
03:02Melbourne, Australia, the Frankston Challenge.
03:10Three Heart Challenge The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
03:18The Three Heart Challenge in Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time is one of the most well-known
03:21self-imposed runs, and it completely changes how the game feels. The rule is simple, don't pick up
03:27any extra heart containers or pieces of heart. That means Link stays at just three hearts for the
03:32entire adventure, which if you didn't know, is the lowest health you can possibly have.
03:37Because of this, even basic enemies become threats. Getting hit once or twice can be enough
03:41to end your run, and boss fights become way more intense since attacks that normally feel
03:46minor suddenly become deadly. This is well before we even talk about hazards and traps.
03:51With most players reaching 15 to 20 hearts casually, finishing the game with three is completely
03:56unheard of.
04:05The Chuck Norris Challenge The Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion
04:18One of the funniest self-imposed runs that you can try is in Oblivion, the classic fists-only
04:24challenge. The idea is simple, no weapons, no spells, just your bare hands for the entire game.
04:30Whether you're fighting bandits, monsters, assassins, it's all about throwing punches and
04:35hoping for the best. At first it sounds kind of easy, especially early on when enemies aren't
04:39too tough, but it quickly becomes clear how rough this can get. Without weapons, fights take way
04:45longer, and you're constantly putting yourself in danger just to deal damage. You can't punch from
04:49a distance after all. But this is where the challenge comes into play. The challenge leads
04:54to a lot of chaotic and genuinely funny moments, especially when you're squaring up against enemies
04:59that were designed not to be punched to death. Raise your dukes, dragon, I'm swinging regardless.
05:10No Fast Travel Fallout New Vegas
05:19Although this challenge could technically be completed in any modern Fallout game, it was
05:24popularized in Fallout New Vegas. A no fast travel run completely changes how the game feels, and
05:30honestly it's at the benefit of some serious immersion. Normally you can just teleport between
05:34locations you've already discovered, which saves a ton of time. But with this challenge that's gone,
05:39you have to walk everywhere across the Mojave. That means every quest turns into an actual journey,
05:44and you're constantly running into enemies, dangerous areas, and random encounters that you'd
05:49usually skip right past. Suddenly the world feels way bigger and a lot more threatening, but a lot more
05:54alive as well. This is the only challenge on this list I've completed, but I loved it.
06:05Four White Mages Final Fantasy
06:12Here is one of the oldest and most famous challenge runs in gaming history, and it comes
06:17from 1987's Final Fantasy, the Four White Mage Challenge. The idea is simple, build your entire party using
06:25only White Mages, and try to beat the whole game just like that. Typically you build a combination
06:29of fighters, monks, or Black Mages, Red Mages, Thieves, whatever combo you want, traditionally with
06:35a White Mage to support the party, so using four supporting White Mages is a recipe for disaster.
06:42It sounds like a terrible idea at first, no heavy damage dealers, no real offense, but it actually
06:47works better than you'd expect. The challenge ends up being more about patience than pure difficulty.
06:52Since your damage output is lower, fights take longer, and you'll spend a lot of time slowly chipping
06:58away at enemies while keeping your team alive with constant healing. It's not impossible,
07:01it's just a bit of a grind, but it's Final Fantasy.
07:11The No Pause Challenge The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
07:18Another Legend of Zelda entry, and it's a good one. In the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild,
07:23players can take part in the No Pausing run, and it's exactly what it sounds like. You're not allowed to
07:27pause. I know what you're thinking, sure, I can do that. Trust me, it's harder than you think. No
07:32pausing also means no opening menus, not for healing, not for cooking, not even to check your
07:38map. The only things you can use are quick swaps for weapons and items, and even changing armor
07:43becomes a whole process, usually needing the die shop instead of just doing it on the fly. It completely
07:47changes how the game plays. You can't rely on healing mid-fight, so every mistake actually matters,
07:52and you have to think ahead way more than you usually do. Cooking becomes basically useless,
07:57and navigating the world without checking your map adds another layer of difficulty.
08:02It's not for a first playthrough, but can be tackled by veterans.
08:25The no-hit run in Dark Souls, or any Souls game, is easily one of the most brutal challenges in
08:32gaming. The goal is simple, in theory, beat the entire game without getting hit a single time.
08:37In reality, it's absolutely insane. One mistake, just one, and the whole run is over, meaning you're
08:45starting from scratch. I make mistakes multiple times a minute in Dark Souls. To even have a chance,
08:51you need to know the game inside and out, and not inside out in a cute way. I mean every
08:56enemy pattern,
08:56every boss attack, every timing window, every pixel of the game, it all has to be perfect.
09:02Boss fights are where it gets really ridiculous. Taking on fights like Ornstein and Smaug without
09:07getting touched once is as stressful as it sounds, something that 99% of players can't achieve as an
09:13isolated challenge.
09:26Nuzlocke Pokémon Series
09:37This challenge is a classic of the Pokémon franchise, and is available for you to do in some form
09:42in every game from the main series. The rules change a bit from person to person, and you can
09:46choose whichever ones to follow to make it as hard or as easy as you'd like. Some of the most
09:51common
09:51rules are that you only have one chance to catch a single Pokémon per route. You must give them a
09:57nickname, and when they faint, you have to release them immediately. The run can be utterly crushing,
10:02but it adds a new layer of challenge to relatively easy games.
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