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[junguler]

i often think about this topic, is it really satisfying to play the game without killing anybody? doesn't it bother you that you are very limited in terms of equipment and weapons?

talking to a boss to convince him/her/it not to fight you or skipping a boss fight altogether, missing out on story sections and outcomes. is it really worth it?

if you are not a non-lethal player, what will entice you to do a non-lethal run? achievements/trophies, some kind of rare op item?

for me it's really rare that i do a non-lethal run, the game must make a pretty good case for it, in the recent memory i really enjoyed dishonored, deus ex human revolution and phantom pain. these are the kind of games that almost feels wrong to kill people.

 

[Ikutachi]

Pacifist Run - TV Tropes

In games that give you a choice between using lethal or non-lethal force in order to overcome enemies, the former method is usually the most convenient. Some gamers like to play through such games while avoiding any killings that are not …

tvtropes.org

 

[-Arcadia-]

It’s kind of lame to me.

I really hated that in MGSV, you’d get that permablood on you for killing too much. Like, I am a warrior on a battlefield, lol. I’m going to use whatever strategic option is available to me. It felt like being punished for playing the game.

I only really like that kind of play if there’s a unique kind of gameplay involved with it, and it changes things up and awards something special. Then yeah, it’s fun to come back for a second run or something.

 

[Rikoi]

I think I did this in MGS 4.
I usually don't enjoy it unless killing locks me out of something.
I will always prefer lethal runs, it's way more satisfying.

 

[Aion002]

That depends.

The Way of the Samurai 3 has such a cool way to deal with this, if you knockout an opponent, they could thank you for sparing their lives, others could run in shame and some would kill themselves.

In all cases the story could change depending on the enemy. The game has 22 endings, that goes from killing every npc in the game to a pacifist ending, so in this game your approach to lethality matters.

In other cases like MGS... I just kill everything... It's more fun.

 

[Digity]

Non lethal for sure if the game is designed for it. MGS, Deus Ex, Escape From Tarkov, Splinter Cell, etc.

 

[DetectiveBananas]

Thought about it a time or two but then I came to my senses....

 

[Goro Majima]

I really don’t have the patience for non lethal routes which often translates to “pad the game an extra dozen hours or more”.

Something like Dishonored was way more fun to just murder my way through.

 

[Danjin44]

Its fun if you actually have to work for it and making battle more difficult because you have avoid killing them instead of just another option.

 

[InterMusketeer]

I really hated that in MGSV, you’d get that permablood on you for killing too much. Like, I am a warrior on a battlefield, lol. I’m going to use whatever strategic option is available to me. It felt like being punished for playing the game.

I remember one of the MGS games talking about how the best soldier is one who completes their mission without anyone even knowing they were there. That made sense to me, so I played through the games using stealth and non-lethal weapons. Besides, in my view there's plenty of other shooting gallery games, the stealth is what sets these games apart in my eyes.

But I do agree with you on some level. MGSV had a bunch of interesting weapons and gear, like that mech with machine guns, which just didn't make a whole lot of sense to use in a pacifist playthrough.

 

[JOEVIAL]

Tried to in multiple games. MGS usually does it very well. Especially Peace Walker.

But I tried in Dishonored, and the non-lethal options in that game just arent fun or satisfying.

So yeah, if the game has good non-lethal options I may go for it.

 

[June]

Good stealth games like the original Splinter Cells are built around non-detection, avoiding sightlines, ghosting etc. So in those cases absolutely yes, and it's the best way to play. Dishonored 1 is another one (smh at some of these replies), That game was a blast to ghost through.

 

[PhoenixTank]

Yes with caveats. Metro Last Light has a section or two which are effectively impossible to pass without a little bit of murder and are subject to debate on whether they count or not. So I murdered. I didn't get the achievement at the end of the game and I don't remember killing anyone else. Bug? No idea. Probably my bad for attempting it on Ranger HC, but I still only killed when necessary.

 

[Jeeves]

I tend to begin most situations non-lethal until things go south or it becomes otherwise impractical. That way when I do kill, it's got some extra "oomph" to it!

 

[Tschumi]

HUGELY. I live for this option. I'd rather navigate a game through perception, anticipation, problem solving, etc, than run through guns blazing... If only because it allows me to really drink in the level design and attention to detail in games like Deus Ex: HR/MD... I looove this play style. I even play healers in MMOs because I cbf killing and just wanna solve problems~

 

[MrS]

In MGS only. Kojima games just hit different.

 

[Futaleufu]

At least in Hitman the ultimate objective is to ghost the level and make the murder of the objective look like an accident, "mechanic" style

 

[Tschumi]

At least in Hitman the ultimate objective is to ghost the level and make the murder of the objective look like an accident, "mechanic" style

One of these days I'll have the time to reinstall hitman 2 and really live out the "only live once" approach

 

[Lionel Richie]

I really hated that in MGSV, you’d get that permablood on you for killing too much. Like, I am a warrior on a battlefield, lol. I’m going to use whatever strategic option is available to me. It felt like being punished for playing the game.

You didn't shower?

 

[-Arcadia-]

You didn't shower?

Lol at that quote out of context.

There's a level beyond that, where you have blood that won't wash off, and a gigantic horn. Which sounds awesome, but it gets really old after a while.

 

[Esca]

I like to be non lethal as I can without missing anything. I also don't mind if I had to kill one dude to complete the level

 

[Lionel Richie]

Lol at that quote out of context.

There's a level beyond that, where you have blood that won't wash off, and a gigantic horn. Which sounds awesome, but it gets really old after a while.

Oh yeah there's the horn, but I always managed to wash out the blood in my playthrough unless I'm misremembering something. I always thought that the next visit to medical bay could lead Venom to show Quiet why he's BIG boss so I always moved around fresh.

 

[-Arcadia-]

Oh yeah there's the horn, but I always managed to wash out the blood in my playthrough unless I'm misremembering something. I always thought that the next visit to medical bay could lead Venom to show Quiet why he's BIG boss so I always moved around fresh.

Yeah. There's bigger levels even for the horn. The last level of... I don't know what it's called after five years, corruption? Is that.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Yeah. There's bigger levels even for the horn. The last level of... I don't know what it's called after five years, corruption? Is that.

I was always horny enough, tranq pistol is so overpowered I didn't kill a lot of people. That being said, MGS V was actually the first MGS game I didn't even consider doing a pacifist run, the shooting mechanics were much improved from the previous games so it made ramboing around a lot of fun.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I find the idea of playing through a game with a particular handicap more satisfying than having a guilty conscious. Killing an NPC in Dark Souls is bad enough. Things like Resident Evil runs with just the knife are more intriguing to me. In the sense that someone else is accomplishing it. I would much rather take the game as it was developed. Salvaging ammo or saving that last round of grenade launcher shells is more up my ally.

 

[888]

Look at my profile pic. You know my answer.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

When I finish a game, ending scene be like:

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

I choose the shadow sanik answer because I am the edge

 

[Bkdk]

I think it’s great the game makes this doable, however I definitely prefer head on combat and will never like playing games with even 1 segment of forced non-lethal mission success requirement, also hated those follow missions, they usually ruin the game for me and I use no detection trainer for every one of these non lethal required segments.

 

[BusierDonkey]

In Deus-Ex Human Revolution and in Mankind Divided, I actually had more fun trying to figure out how to play as a pacifist than just jamming my arm-sticks through everyone's guts.

 

[Xesty]

I attempted a non-lethal playthrough of Dishonored 2 but got really bored.

I'd rather have a lethal and bloody stealth run than a non-lethal stealth run.

 

[teezzy]

I play most RPGs as a good guy, but I'm not afraid to kill when necessary either. Being a pacifist is lame if everyone else is tryna kill ya.

 

[Notorious_Roy]

I knew Mirror's Edge had an achievement for not shooting a bullet the entire game. Since I don't like playing a game twice I went with a pacifist run. It was glorious.

Right until there were like a thousand enemies in a stairwell. There, I started shooting.

 

[Orta]

Shit no! Even if I stun enemies I usually shoot them when they are flat out on the ground.

Seems such a waste not to snap a neck or savagely lodge an ice pick in somebodies skull.

 

[Kamina]

In many stealth games this can be quite satisfying. Even completely avoiding violence.
If you use a tranquilizer gun you still have the satisfaction of shooting, but no corpse, and often no alarm.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Yeah sometimes it's fun. I don't feel any compulsion, though. If the game offers non-lethal runs and it's interesting (guessing this also includes solving a mission with puzzle or dialogue tree too?) then I'll give it a try.

 

[killatopak]

As the long as the run itself is interesting and not just gimping myself for some kind of challenge.

I think the only game I did it for was Undertale.

 

[Steve.1981]

Oh yeah, absolutely. In games like Deus Ex or Dishonoured, I love going for a "clean hands" play-through. I find it to be a very satisfying experience.

Usually in these games what I do is play once as a murder machine & while I'm doing that, take the time to carefully look around each level. To see where all the sneaky routes are & plan my approaches for the next play-through. Then once I finish the game, go back in again & start trying to perfectly Ghost each level. It's so much fun.

I loved the way the world reacted to the player's actions in Dishonoured. Everything got darker & more dangerous the more people you killed. Then when you played pure stealth, the opposite happened. Some areas actually opened up more & became a bit easier to get through quietly, as there were less obstacles. It was really well done & felt both like a fun challenge if you wanted to go kill everything & a reward for putting in the effort to not do that. It worked well both ways.

The only problem was that both Dishonoured 1 & 2 had glitches where you could perfectly stealth through an entire level & still somehow end up with a random kill against your name. That was irritating & I don't think they ever fixed it properly. I remember having to replay certain areas before it would properly register as "clean".

Still, on the whole I do enjoy non-lethal runs, yes.

 

[HE1NZ]

If enemies in the game wake up eventually to cause a stir, I'm not gonna bother. I'll just shoot everyone with a silencer. If they don't wake up like in Deus Ex HR, then it's cool to knock them down.

 

[eot]

They tend to be mechanically less satisfying, and a lot of times you just have to sit around waiting for the right guard pattern, some timer to reset etc. Depends on the game though. Dishonored for example intentionally gives you lots of non-lethal options, but even then they're not as creative or cool as the lethal ones.

 

[Fart Knight]

Depends on the situation. Usually I aint got the patience.

 

[nikolino840]

Is hard doing even a mission with non-lethal

 

[Yumi]

I really enjoyed it in Dishonored. Each mission had a non lethal option for your hit contract which ended up being a fate worse than death for that character. It was usually harder to achieve as well making it much more satisfying.

 

[Zannegan]

I like the idea. In practice, it becomes a frustrating exercise in trial and error for most games.

That said, I enjoyed learning to ghost my way through levels in the last Splinter Cell. The game had a reward system that accounted for how you completed each level: basic completion (murder everything), never detected (stealth kills okay), or complete ghost. Going for ghost the first time around would have been a chore, but playing multiple times with different aims was enjoyable and let me naturally learn the level layout before trying the hardest approach. That's the best system I've seen for making no-kill runs satisfying.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Yes. Full non-lethal, restart if things go wrong or I get detected. I played DXHR/MD, Dishonored 1/2 etc. on non-lethal full stealth.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

I don't remember anything outside Death Stranding that I didn't kill anyone, I don't count clearing BT's as killing though.

 

[FunkMiller]

I'm the opposite. I have to kill something while I'm gaming. If I put Tetris on, I have to go and kill one of my neighbours.

 

[turtlepowa]

I prefer arbitrariness. Sometimes i help people, sometimes i steal, sometimes kill people.

 

[Ivory Blood]

No, and I hate it with passion. That's why I hate Batman and other heroes with the "no kill" policy, it's just stupid to try and go non-lethal on people trying to kill the hero or someone else. Eye for an eye and all that.

 

[Birdo]

Yeah, it's fun to do in a game where you have weapons, but don't have to use them.

MGS 4 introduced me to the concept of a pacifist run.