dtgreene: Hi. I am looking for an RPG that meets all of these criteria:
* No character creation or customization; either there's only one character choice or you pick from a limited roster of characters.
* No permanent character growth; however strong you are at the start of the game is how strong you are at the end. Also, no permanent equipment or shops.
* Combat is action combat. When you attack, whether the attack hits is determined purely by a collision check, not your character's stats. Also, you control only one character (it's allowed to have simultaneous local multiplayer where each player controls a different character, however).
* No story (except for an excuse plot), cutscenes, or dialog. (They just get in the way).
* No exploration; you play one level, and when you complete it, you go to the next. No backtracking, either.
* It's preferred if the game can casually be completed in under an hour, so that the game doesn't need a save system.
* Despite what's stated above, the game must still be an RPG.
Any suggestions?
(Yes, there is a secondary purpose of this topic, but you need to figure it out.)
Edit: What's the problem with this topic? (Why the low rating?)
Dont know why they low rated you, i never rate anything and anybody, i consider it a stupid system so i chose to simply ignore it.
As for your request, its a weird request that challenges quite a few definitions and pre-conceived ideas some players might have, and i would assume thats why some people felt the irrepressible need to down vote you.
Regardless, i think i know a game that fits your description quite well, its called Bloody Spell and its on Steam.
Of course it doesnt cover all your requested features, but it does cover most of them, and its a wonderful game, very well made by a team of three devs.
Also you might want to try Neverinth (also on Steam, sorry).
On GOG i dont know of any game that fulfills your quite exigent criteria.
The only "secondary purpose" of your post could only be challenging the definition of RPG, and thats nothing new, the term RPG lost any kind of meaning long long ago, dont know why you would want to challenge a dead horse to a fight, but to each his own.