Ever beat a game w/o using a major gameplay mechanic?

[KalessinDB]

Years ago when I worked a mall job I could use a gameboy at in the down time, I tried to play the NES LoZ without getting any heart containers (except the first one that you literally must get to finish the first dungeon).

You can actually avoid getting it if you prepare beforehand; get him down to one hit, then when he paths away from his blocks you can sneak behind him and deliver the death blow.

That's... devilishly clever. I just might have to try that if I ever lose my mind and decide to go back to that brutal run.

[samsonlonghair]

When I first got a Gamecube, when I was younger, I didn't know you needed a memory card to save, I was really young and assumed it just saved to the game like a cart game.

I ended up playing through Windwaker in two sittings with it paused overnight, wondering why they made such a long game you couldn't save. I figured it out AFTER I beat it.

I have a similar story. I got a Playstation around 1998~ish. I really didn't understand anything about memory cards as this was my first disc-based system. I beat the game Nuclear Strike (still one of my favorite PS1 games) then simply turned the game off and didn't sweat it. It only bothered me when I had been playing a game of SimCity 2000 for three or four days on end. I considered that turning off my playstation would erase a whole city of people.

[SpaceBooger]

In most RPGs I don't use magic other than to heal.
I don't know why, maybe it's because I love to grind, but I only use heal magic. I have never gotten into raising attack and defense stats with spells.

I do use things like Limit Breakers in FFVII. I loved the LB, but I didn't know you could change them as the game went on. In fact I didn't figure this out until after finding the Apocalypse sword.

[Omerta]

In most RPGs I don't use magic other than to heal.
I don't know why, maybe it's because I love to grind, but I only use heal magic. I have never gotten into raising attack and defense stats with spells.

I do use things like Limit Breakers in FFVII. I loved the LB, but I didn't know you could change them as the game went on. In fact I didn't figure this out until after finding the Apocalypse sword.

I started gaming during the NES days and I've had my teeth kicked in many times simply because I didn't know how to read or I didn't know what some words meant. Because of this I have an extremely conservative RPG play style and it's possibly why I like Survival Horror so much. I rarely use finite items or attacks even if they're relatively plentiful or the game is much easier than I'm making it out to be.

Does anyone else remember not being able to understand what a game was telling you to do because you were too young to read or understand the words?

[Nemoide]

I know of two people (who don't even know each other) who both played through Shadow of the Colossus ignorant of the fact that you can use your sword to point the direction of the next colossus. Instead they would just wander around until happening upon it based on the cryptic clue or else just check GameFAQs.

AND I BET THERE ARE OTHERS WHO HAVE DONE THIS TOO.

[MyNameIsVince]

I wouldn't call it a major gameplay mechanic, but I'll list it anyway because why not...

The first 3-4 times I played Operation Logic Bomb on the SNES (including the first time I beat it), I didn't know I missed getting the homing missiles completely. I didn't have an instruction manual with my game, so I had no idea until I saw a let's play of it. Apparently, the homing missiles are found via WALKING THROUGH A WALL to a room that has it.

Classic cryptic hidden item through a hidden wall BS.

[winds]

Back in 1999 I played Suikoden II, which was my first time ever playing an RPG. I had no idea sleeping at INNs would restore your health and magic until about halfway through the game when my friend told me. So for the first half of the game, I would buy endless amounts of potions to heal, and I would sell all my magic runes once I used all the magic on them, then fight enemies for hours to get money to buy new runes and stock up on potions.

[EllertMichael]

Did you ever jump into a game and dump a bunch of hours into it only to find that you were missing a huge chunk of it due to an essential gameplay mechanic unbeknownst to you?

I beat Ninja Crusaders for the NES without using the animal weapon change mechanic at all because I wasn't aware of it

[Tanooki]

I remember not using the food system in Tales of Symphonia on the GC and before that back when the SNES came out, days later ActRaiser popped up, and I was so sucked in by the atmosphere of it all I forgot to ever use the magic and slugged it out using the sword alone.

[jvalentine98]

The first time I beat Resident Evil 2 I didn't know about the custom shotgun or custom magnum parts.