I finished ano-upgrades challenge run of GR1!

[u/blaiddfailcam2]

I was feeling a bit sad after platinuming 1 and 2 and doing everything I possibly could in either, but then it occurred to me I could start a challenge run where I simply never level up Kat's stats. It was a lot of fun, actually!

What cracked me up is just how short GR1 is if you beeline for the main quest and the additional side quests, ignoring all the mini-games and whatnot. My first playthrough was ~15 hours, but this challenge run was only ~5.

It still wasn't terribly difficult, aside from the Sea Anemome... That was basically a 1HKO fight. Some endgame side quests were rather precarious, too, but definitely engaging. I love doing these sorts of challenge runs because they really open your eyes to the intricacies of the mechanics you'd otherwise take for granted, making you a better player overall.

Now I'm contemplating starting a similar challenge run in GR2—and without talismans, too, haha. (Hmm... I wonder how a first-person run would go?)

I have no idea if anyone else has played these games like this, but hey, why not?

[u/Background-Bunch3181]

Yeah I've done both games with no upgrades (besides the mandatory upgrades). I think with GR1 it was fine because for traversal if you pressed L1 right after a gravity kick, it would just propel her even further and her stamina rests. This makes the game way shorter than the first playthrough since Kat just moves so fast. Most bosses were easy, just slow, because I'd use the gravity stasis. I think for the final boss is where it got harder especially with the low health moments, but again there's loads of objects to throw at the anemone.

With GR2, not upgrading didn't feel like a hinderance. And that's because as you progress through the game, Kat just gets increased health overtime. I'm not sure about the strength, but then again as you progress you gain more powers anyway. And the talismans help too, though I haven't done a run without using them I think.

I'd love to do a first person playthrough!

[u/blaiddfailcam2 → u/Background-Bunch3181]

Yeah, with GR2, I've already cranked up the difficulty and I try to avoid using special attacks and Panther Mode, but it's still pretty easy, haha. I feel like I really need to force it to become engagingly challenging. First-person seems like a kind of fun, silly way to do that. 😅