Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Self Imposed Challenge Playthrough Part 5: Study cleanup and escape
0-No Damage taken
-No swords or knives allowed to be used outside off-screen grinding for a Hammer drop
-Hard Mode exclusive weapons banned except in fully familiar area handling
-No Red Souls allowed to be used with 2 exceptions not necessary for the main game
-Blue and Yellow Souls other than Ghost Dancer and Gremlin (Luck boosts) only allowed for noted moments, aside from the STR boost Souls which only become free starting at given moments and Headhunter becoming free right away
-Luck Fix Hack will be used for convenience with obtaining enemy drops but obtained treasure has to be justified for usage to avoid abuse
I have to ban the Kaiser Knuckle because it's Hard Mode exclusive and it is uniquely useful. The same will go for a later Hard Mode exclusive weapon, but not for any of the other Hard Mode perks which do nothing unique to try to make up for the 20% ATK loss on Hard mode. It's worth noting, by the way, that unobtained Souls have higher drop rates on Hard, but obviously, I am not exploiting this where I don't have to. My plan, for reference, is to display how I can easily obtain any Souls I would want/need to such that I would display how to reasonably grab them on Normal. I will clarify, BTW, that Ghost Dancer is reliable about dropping his Sou-...oh right. Ghost Dancer is a couple. Freaking pronoun trouble. Also, Ghost Dancer has one soul despite being a couple. MAKES SENSE!
...right. So I lost attempts to Fleamen and their erratic behavior early on. There's some issues with handling them reliably, honestly. Also along the way back is an ascent comprised of dealing with Winged Skeletons, though thankfully there's only one on the screen at a time, what a mercy the game is providing there.
Also worth noting is a room with a claustrophobia inducing scenario with a Student Witch in front and a Giant Ghost not too far behind. React to the Student Witch's behavior if you want to get past this by choosing who to focus attacks on: the Giant Ghost if the Student Witch sends out the cat, or the Student Witch herself if she swings her broom at you. Of course, to be sure, this scenario is just guarding optional stuff anyway, involving the origin of a case of language at that.
Escaping the Study doesn't have you out of the woods quite yet. Moving back through the Chapel also involves dealing with a simultaneous Fleaman and Rock Armor in a cramped space, and believe me, that would be a lesser of two evils even if the other option wasn't currently locked out in this challenge behind having to use the Flying Armor. All I can say is handle your dodging with hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. The Quetzalcoatl is tame with his introduction in comparison, honestly. The Ghost Dancers aren't nice to you when you handle a descent, but otherwise they aren't too problematic beyond movement that can be intimidating if you're worn down.