History YMMV / Strife

** Narrowly averted with the Sigil. Having to use a weapon that [[CastFromHitPoints drains your life force]] against the bosses is not well-received, but the Sigil is the most effective weapon in the game and would be a GameBreaker if not for this massive limitation.

* ScrappyWeapon: The crossbow, at least with the electrical bolts. It's damage is so low it takes 2 or 3 shots to kill the basic Order guards, and suffers the same problem the mini-missile launcher has of being unable to aim higher than a certain altitude. The poisonous bolts are a bit better, as they don't set off the alarms and can kill most human enemies in one shot, but are pretty much useless against robots (who obviously can't be poisoned.)

** Dear gods, the Training Facility. You ''need'' to complete it in order to get full stamina and accuracy (and, in the Steamed re-release version, to get the "Top of the class" and "Fully Amphed" achievements), but doing so is virtually impossible; you have to defeat a Crusader at ridiculously close range, and if you survive that you have to (several times) clear death pits in the floor which can ''just'' be leapt over with a running jump, and then only with perfect timing.

** The "Hardcore Warm-up" is even worse. Basically, you have to do the same as previous, but for the "Trust No One" demo. Except [[ThisIsGonnaSuck replace the best ending route requirement]] with a [[{{Speedrun}} 6 minute time limit]].

* AnnoyingVideogameHelper: Averted with Blackbird. While a lot of her advice is pretty useless she is likeable enough not to count as annoying.

* AntiClimaxBoss: The [[DiscOneFinalBoss Programmer]], especially after how [[TheDreaded scary he is implied to be (by both Macil and various slaves of the Order.]] He only has 400 hp (the same as a crusader robot) and while his attack is pretty powerful, it's also rather inaccurate. You can also StunLock him pretty easily with the assault rifle.
* BestLevelEver: The assault on the castle. You have a bunch of [[MenOfSherwood Resistance members]] helping you fight against mainly crusaders and other robots, but also some regular guards, and even given that the Resistance fighters are pretty weak, it's still nice to have someone fighting beside you instead of going alone for once.

* GoddamnedBats: The stalker and sentinel robots, as the former like to cling to the ceiling while the latter like to hover and shoot at you. Made particularly annoying by how the game for some reason wont allow you to aim the mini missile launcher higher than a certain amount (even with mouselook).

** The "Unstoppable" achievement requires you to finish the game on [[HarderThanHard Bloodbath]] difficulty. Not only do enemies spawn in their hard mode placements, but they're at their most aggressive, and mechanical enemies even respawn. Oh, and it also asks you to finish the game with the best ending, which is twice as long as the route for the mediocre ending. Have "fun".

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: In the Training Facility, when you get to the last part and have to trip three switches to open the triple exit door, the first switch is reached by going up a lift into a small room, then through an archway to another small room... and the archway closes behind you, and cannot be re-opened from either side, so you had better make sure to flip the switch before exiting through another archway beside it, as once you exit that switch is no longer accessible. Worse, if you subsequently ride the lift again you will be trapped forever, as the lift cannot be lowered from the top landing. Fortunately, there is no earthly reason why you should do this.

* UnwinnableByInsanity: In the Training Facility, when you get to the last part and have to trip three switches to open the triple exit door, the first switch is reached by going up a lift into a small room, then through an archway to another small room... and the archway closes behind you, and cannot be re-opened from either side, so you had better make sure to flip the switch before exiting through another archway beside it, as once you exit that switch is no longer accessible. Worse, if you subsequently ride the lift again you will be trapped forever, as the lift cannot be lowered from the top landing. Fortunately, there is no earthly reason why you should do this.

* CompleteMonster: [[EldritchAbomination The Entity]] is a being who infects planets with a virus that turns people into its slaves, and then devour the life from the planet when it's done. The game starts with a [[CometOfDoom comet]], the Entity's spaceship, crashing into the game's unnamed planet, and also releasing a deadly virus, killing millions, with the survivors suffering a FateWorseThanDeath. Said infected people founded their own evil theocracy known as The Order, who enslave and terrorize the rest of the planet. Fairly early on, once "[[PlayerCharacter Strifeguy]]" beats The Programmer, Strifeguy finds a piece of the Sigil, which Macil explains is a superweapon that is regarded as holy by the Order and that you five other pieces must be found. The game has MultipleEndings; if Strifeguy makes the wrong choice, Blackbird was killed at some point and the Entity has been impersonating her ever since. And even if Strifeguy kills the Entity, it will still take decades to cure the plague, if humanity survives at all.

* BestLevelEver: The assault on the castle. You have a bunch of [[{{Redshirts}} Resistance members]] helping you fight against mainly crusaders and other robots, but also some regular guards, and even given that the Resistance fighters are pretty weak, it's still nice to have someone fighting beside you instead of going alone for once.

** [[EliteMook Templars]], found for most of the second half of the game, can be very deadly with their shotgun-esque maulers. And they are quick on the draw, as well as very tough to dodge. They're especially bad in pairs at the minimum and/or paired with other enemies. Again it might not be a bad idea to trick them into trying to melee you at close range, which while fairly-hard hitting if it connect, still does less damage than their Mauler does generally.

** Though, use of the Environmental Suit allows you to be immune to fire damage, including their flamethrowers, so if you activate one and can get up close, you're effective able to punch them to destruction with no more dangerous, though their death animation can deal radius damage as well at certain frames.

** [[EliteMook Templars]], found for most of the second half of the game, can be very deadly with their shotgun-esque maulers. And they are quick on the draw, as well as very tough to dodge. They're especially bad in pairs at the minimum and/or paired with other enemies.

* UnwinnableByInsanity: In the Training Facility, when you get to the last part and have to trip three switches to open the triple exit door, the first switch is reached by going up a lift into a samll small room, then through an archway to another small room... and the archway closes behind you, and cannot be re-opened from either side, so you had better make sure to flip the switch before exiting through another archway beside it, as once you exit that switch is no longer accessible. Worse, if you subsequently ride the lift again you will be trapped forever, as the lift cannot be lowered from the top landing. Fortunately, there is no earthly reason why you should do this.

** The Proving Grounds runs a close second for being so confusing. Try to get through it without consulting a walkthrough, or examining it with a level editor.

* ThatOneLevel: Dear gods, the Training Facility. You ''need'' to complete it in order to get full stamina and accuracy (and, in the Steamed re-release version, to get the "Top of the class" and "Fully Amphed" achievements), but doing so is virtually impossible; you have to defeat a Crusader at ridiculously close range, and if you survive that you have to (several times) clear death pits in the floor which can ''just'' be leapt over with a running jump, and then only with perfect timing.

* DisappointingLastLevel : The first [=5/6ths=] of the game are a good balance between combat, exploration, and character interaction[=/=]story advancement. Despite being a ''Doom'' engine game, it's all very RPG-like. Once you reach the Loremaster's factory, however, the game pretty much turns into a couple hours of straight ''Doom''-style combat through several levels of identical corridors, leading up to the final battle. You ''can'' skip the Loremaster's factory based on the choice you make at the decisive point in the game, but you end up with the less good ending as a result.