Alphons
Cipher
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2019
- Messages
- 2,579
It always annoyed me (especially in RPGs) when the game expects you to mercilessly slaughter dozens upon dozens of humans without giving you any other option but to run away from them (looking at you Fallout 3 intro).
I've created this thread to find an answer to the question:
What games can be completed without killing?
Post your own propositions (preferably with some information).
Some restrictions regarding the topic:
Fallout
Fallout New Vegas
Fallout Resurrection
Thief trilogy
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Can be beat without killing.
Mirror's Edge games Lemming42
Can be done with no kills and no firearms used (though the protagonist kills someone in a cutscene towards the end of the first game). The no-kills method requires a lot of nonlethal unarmed combat though, so if you want combat-avoidant pacifism then it doesn't apply. It also starts to get pretty hilarious when you're on rooftops and have to fly-kick enemies away from ledges to prevent them from falling.
Postal 2 agentorange
Also expansion Paradise Lost. While Apocalypse Weekend forces you to kill a couple times, it still applies to my definition as you only need to kill animals and zombies.
Ijii Damned Registrations
Game is built around it, with a whole different playthrough available if you never start killing anyone, leading to one of the aliens befriending you and other events instead of the default 'Oh god the DEMON is tearing through our ranks.'
Uncharted Waters Damned Registrations
Lets you play as a merchant or cartographer or some other options that don't require any fighting. Although dueling and ship combat certainly do make things a lot easier.
Golden Treasure Damned Registrations
Lets you avoid killing anything besides the animals you need to eat to survive. You can even avoid most combat period by challenging other dragons to riddle contests and such, and eventually can even avoid needing to kill for food. Which is kind of amusing, given that it's apparently the highest law of dragonkind that they must hunt other creatures. Being a pacifist in this sort of game is more meaningful as well, since you're explicitly rewarded in many ways for killing and fighting, unlike the previous two examples where it's just another means of accomplishing some objective.
Metal Gear games grimace
Far Cry 4 Norfleet
I found out when my kid beat it by doing what it was told during the intro.
Clandestine Avonaeon
Is able to be completed as a pacifist, or even a ghost.
Invisible Inc. TripJack
Pacifism is mostly the way to go but killing can 1) save your bacon sometimes 2) become a legitimate and powerful strategy later on with the right agents/equipment and 3) be a potentially gamebreaking strategy at the beginning of the game if you take a certain starting agent
Realms of Arkania HD ERYFKRAD
Splinter Cell Child of Malkav
Watch Dogs 2 Lily "Miss July" Ferrari
The Outer Worlds Lily "Miss July" Ferrari
Arcanum Lily "Miss July" Ferrari
It's possible, but there're some tricky parts like the halfling after the bridge in Shrouded Hills. Most enemies can be avoided with gold or persuasion (aside from kites). While Tech has some interesting gadgets like flashbangs and tranqulizer rifle, I'd propably go with mage as Mind/ Phantasm spells seem more useful.
The Dark Mod Lily "Miss July" Ferrari
Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
Honorable mentions (AKA games that can be almost entirely completed without killing or require an exploit to do it completely):
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
At the end of the game you need to kill Runt.
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
During the main quest you need to kill several humans.
Underrail
To progress the MQ you need to kill 3 Arena fighters.
Fallout 2
To finish the game you need to blow up the Oil Rig without giving the Enclave any chance to evacuate.
Fallout Nevada
You can't avoid killing the first boss, his goons and 3 bandits.
Deus Ex
To escape UNATCO you need to kill Anna Navarre or use an exploit to open the exit (what's rather interesting Gunther has special dialogue if you didn't kill her)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
You need to kill 4 bosses to be able to progress.
Metro 2033 Redux
You have to kill several Nazis during the Trolley Combat.
Grand Theft Auto 4
Majority of enemies and targets can be left alive by shooting them in the legs and arms, but you still need to kill several people.
Assasin's Creed games
Enemies and majority of targets can be knocked out with fists.
Mark of the Ninja
To complete the game you have to kill 2 people.
SWAT 3
Theoretically game can be completed without killing any suspects, but you would have to leave your teammates behind as they alway shoot to kill (and are pretty good doing it). I gave up going Lone Wolf during the bank mission.
Payday 2
Almost every stealth mission can be ghosted/ guards and cops can be dominated. You could also cheese through loud heists by using hostage taker build (up to Overkill difficulty).
Crysis AW8
It works pretty well since you're equipped with a cloaking field and can carry two assault rifles fitted with sleep darts, even though the results can be quite goofy.
I gave up a few levels in though, when the game required me to clear an area of a lot of enemies to proceed. I may have been able to skip it by going to the level end early though, not sure if it was activated yet.
Daggerfall Lemming42
Has language and social skills which roll whenever sentient enemies approach to see if you can talk them down. I think it'd be virtually impossible to play as a linguistics expert and avoid combat for the whole game but it could theoretically be done.
Alpha Protocol Lemming42
Alpha Protocol allows for sneaking by enemies, using tranquilizer darts, or performing non-lethal takedowns. You don't have to kill anyone in the whole game as far as I know (bar one guy towards the end and whoever's aboard a helicopter that you have to shoot down), but the game doesn't really acknowledge it the majority of the time.
Apparently you can by bypass the helicopter by reloading a checkpoint, I don't remember if there's option to avoid that guy
Ultima Underworld: Stygian Abyss Unkillable Cat
You're only forced to kill Sir Roderick and Tyball to beat the game. Everyone/everything else can be spared, persuaded or circumvented. (You don't even have to free the princess!)
Fallout 3 Zombra
Only sentient humanoids you need to kill are Supermutants in Project Purity.
Eschalon: Book II Xeon
Has a challenge to do things as pacifist as possible, killing less than 20 people or something.
Gothic and Gothic 2 Lily "Miss July" Ferrari
You can avoid killing majority of humans. At the end of Gothic you'd have to kill Cor Kalom and his goons or cheese them to jump into lava.
I've created this thread to find an answer to the question:
What games can be completed without killing?
Post your own propositions (preferably with some information).
Some restrictions regarding the topic:
- Game must also give you the option to kill (so all VNs, puzzle games, etc. don't count)
- Pacifist approach is only required when facing sentient humanoids (animals and undead can be killed, but it's nice if the game allows you option to avoid it)
- It must be possible to finish the main part of the game (reach the ending) with pacifist approach, side quests and side objectives are not required
Fallout
- you can finish the game without killing by convincing Master to abandon his plan and blowing up Mariposa base with the loud countdown allowing Supermutants and Children of the Cathedral to evacuate
- you can avoid enemies with Sneak
- you can avoid fights with Speech and random encounters with Outdoorsman
Fallout New Vegas
- you can finish the game without killing by convincing either Lanius or Oliver to not fight you
- you can avoid enemies with Sneak
- you can avoid fights via dialogue
Fallout Resurrection
- you can beat the game without killing by triggering an evacuation and freeing prisoners before blowing up Rebirth base
- you can avoid enemies with Sneak
- you can avoid fights with Speech checks and random encounters with Outdoorsman
Thief trilogy
- on higher difficulties game forbids you from killing civilians and/ or guards
- you can knock out humans, burricks, craymen and Trickster's monsters with blackjack, gas arrows or mines
- you can sneak by enemies
- can be completed without killing if you side with Dentons
- you can knock out enemies with a baton, riot prod or tranquilizer bolts
- you can sneak by enemies
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
- can be completed without killing by knocking out final boss
- you can knock out enemies
- you can sneak by enemies
- medium calm spells combined with intimidation can be used to permamently turn any hostile humanoid (including Sleepers) into a friendly NPC
- calm humanoid and calm creature spells can be used to temporarily turn the remaining types of House Dagoth members, Corprus victims, animals and Daedra non- hostile
- you can sneak by enemies
- you can talk your way out of any fight against humans during the Main Quest
- you can talk your way out of any random encounter with humans or sneak away
- you can sneak away from any random encounter with animals
- you can reach the end of the game without any fights with some of the backgrounds (Merchant, Praetor and Thief)
- fights can be avoided with dialogue checks
- non- lethal weapons can be used to force suspects to surrender
- lethal weapons can also be used to incacipate them
- humans can be knocked out with fists
- you can avoid some enemies using stealth
- games offer a special non-lethal, but more cruel approach to eliminating targets
- enemies can be knocked out or avoided with stealth
- Game allows you to switch between non-lethal and lethal combat. Ending depends on number of your kills.
- Game can be completed without kills by defeating mayor in elections, knocking him out or getting his hat
- Some characters have non-lethal takedowns- Doctor can use chloroform, Cop arrest and Slavemaster enslave. Other characters can use tranqulizer gun.
- Sneak is a viable option.
- Targets that need to be neutralized can be also threatened or asked to leave city.
- Quest items can be stolen or their owners can be threatened/ bribed.
- Stealth is a viable option.
- Guards can be knocked out with fists, doors, power outlets or pushed from small heights.
- Guards can be threatened with a gun.
- Final boss can be knocked out.
- Stealth is a viable option.
- Enemies can be knocked out with non-lethal weapons.
- Some jobs forbid you from killing.
Can be beat without killing.
Mirror's Edge games Lemming42
Can be done with no kills and no firearms used (though the protagonist kills someone in a cutscene towards the end of the first game). The no-kills method requires a lot of nonlethal unarmed combat though, so if you want combat-avoidant pacifism then it doesn't apply. It also starts to get pretty hilarious when you're on rooftops and have to fly-kick enemies away from ledges to prevent them from falling.
Postal 2 agentorange
Also expansion Paradise Lost. While Apocalypse Weekend forces you to kill a couple times, it still applies to my definition as you only need to kill animals and zombies.
Ijii Damned Registrations
Game is built around it, with a whole different playthrough available if you never start killing anyone, leading to one of the aliens befriending you and other events instead of the default 'Oh god the DEMON is tearing through our ranks.'
Uncharted Waters Damned Registrations
Lets you play as a merchant or cartographer or some other options that don't require any fighting. Although dueling and ship combat certainly do make things a lot easier.
Golden Treasure Damned Registrations
Lets you avoid killing anything besides the animals you need to eat to survive. You can even avoid most combat period by challenging other dragons to riddle contests and such, and eventually can even avoid needing to kill for food. Which is kind of amusing, given that it's apparently the highest law of dragonkind that they must hunt other creatures. Being a pacifist in this sort of game is more meaningful as well, since you're explicitly rewarded in many ways for killing and fighting, unlike the previous two examples where it's just another means of accomplishing some objective.
Metal Gear games grimace
Far Cry 4 Norfleet
I found out when my kid beat it by doing what it was told during the intro.
Clandestine Avonaeon
Is able to be completed as a pacifist, or even a ghost.
Invisible Inc. TripJack
Pacifism is mostly the way to go but killing can 1) save your bacon sometimes 2) become a legitimate and powerful strategy later on with the right agents/equipment and 3) be a potentially gamebreaking strategy at the beginning of the game if you take a certain starting agent
Realms of Arkania HD ERYFKRAD
Splinter Cell Child of Malkav
Watch Dogs 2 Lily "Miss July" Ferrari
The Outer Worlds Lily "Miss July" Ferrari
Arcanum Lily "Miss July" Ferrari
It's possible, but there're some tricky parts like the halfling after the bridge in Shrouded Hills. Most enemies can be avoided with gold or persuasion (aside from kites). While Tech has some interesting gadgets like flashbangs and tranqulizer rifle, I'd propably go with mage as Mind/ Phantasm spells seem more useful.
The Dark Mod Lily "Miss July" Ferrari
Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
- Stealth is a viable option
- Fights can be avoided with dialogue
- Fights can be won without killing by using progressive escape
- You can avoid killing Mobsters at distillery by using dilluted poison
Honorable mentions (AKA games that can be almost entirely completed without killing or require an exploit to do it completely):
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
At the end of the game you need to kill Runt.
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
During the main quest you need to kill several humans.
Underrail
To progress the MQ you need to kill 3 Arena fighters.
Fallout 2
To finish the game you need to blow up the Oil Rig without giving the Enclave any chance to evacuate.
Fallout Nevada
You can't avoid killing the first boss, his goons and 3 bandits.
Deus Ex
To escape UNATCO you need to kill Anna Navarre or use an exploit to open the exit (what's rather interesting Gunther has special dialogue if you didn't kill her)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
You need to kill 4 bosses to be able to progress.
Metro 2033 Redux
You have to kill several Nazis during the Trolley Combat.
Grand Theft Auto 4
Majority of enemies and targets can be left alive by shooting them in the legs and arms, but you still need to kill several people.
Assasin's Creed games
Enemies and majority of targets can be knocked out with fists.
Mark of the Ninja
To complete the game you have to kill 2 people.
SWAT 3
Theoretically game can be completed without killing any suspects, but you would have to leave your teammates behind as they alway shoot to kill (and are pretty good doing it). I gave up going Lone Wolf during the bank mission.
Payday 2
Almost every stealth mission can be ghosted/ guards and cops can be dominated. You could also cheese through loud heists by using hostage taker build (up to Overkill difficulty).
Crysis AW8
It works pretty well since you're equipped with a cloaking field and can carry two assault rifles fitted with sleep darts, even though the results can be quite goofy.
I gave up a few levels in though, when the game required me to clear an area of a lot of enemies to proceed. I may have been able to skip it by going to the level end early though, not sure if it was activated yet.
Daggerfall Lemming42
Has language and social skills which roll whenever sentient enemies approach to see if you can talk them down. I think it'd be virtually impossible to play as a linguistics expert and avoid combat for the whole game but it could theoretically be done.
Alpha Protocol Lemming42
Alpha Protocol allows for sneaking by enemies, using tranquilizer darts, or performing non-lethal takedowns. You don't have to kill anyone in the whole game as far as I know (bar one guy towards the end and whoever's aboard a helicopter that you have to shoot down), but the game doesn't really acknowledge it the majority of the time.
Apparently you can by bypass the helicopter by reloading a checkpoint, I don't remember if there's option to avoid that guy
Ultima Underworld: Stygian Abyss Unkillable Cat
You're only forced to kill Sir Roderick and Tyball to beat the game. Everyone/everything else can be spared, persuaded or circumvented. (You don't even have to free the princess!)
Fallout 3 Zombra
Only sentient humanoids you need to kill are Supermutants in Project Purity.
Eschalon: Book II Xeon
Has a challenge to do things as pacifist as possible, killing less than 20 people or something.
Gothic and Gothic 2 Lily "Miss July" Ferrari
You can avoid killing majority of humans. At the end of Gothic you'd have to kill Cor Kalom and his goons or cheese them to jump into lava.
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