Super Castlevania IV [Hard Mode] Stage 1 (NO DAMAGE / NO WHIP UPGRADE / NO SUB-WEAPONS) 

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Action starts at 00:40
Boss: Rowdain - 04:36
Buster Only, No Armor Upgrades... wait, wrong game.
Going with the bare minimum in a Castlevania game, what could go wrong?
I gave this challenge a handful of attempts and finishing the game normally was a doozy, let's see what happens when you throw a "No Damage" on top of it (a glass of water for a ghost pepper soup).
The shorter whip is the biggest issue when going for a run like this. You can't kill certain enemies before triggering their attacks and you have to take more risks when fighting bosses, not to mention the lowered damage that forces you to hit enemies another extra time (i.e: Bone Pillars take 5 hits now). And that's before entering Dracula's Castle proper.
The first stage already shows some problems with the shorter whip and I have to avoid a few enemies instead of killing them and play more safe around the skeletons too. I've never seen some of these dudes walk that far back or forward from their spawn points too.
During the boss fight I stay near the platform to avoid risks since Rowdain's mount can spit the projectile at different heights. Rowdain himself gets the chance to throw his attacks for a change and he almost stabbed me because I nearly forgot about that lunge attack too.