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?)

Seems a bug ate this post, so I'm going to try to get it to regurgitate it.

Also, it's preferred if:
* You start with 3 lives, and if they run out, it's game over. (Some extra lives are scattered throughout the levels.)
* There are bottomless pits, and if you fall into one, it's instant death (and you lose a life).

Edit: Why the low rating on this post? (The bump was justified because of a bug,)

You're asking for an "RPG" that's not an RPG.

Super Mario Bros. on NES?

Or maybe Ghosts & Goblins or Super Ghouls & Ghosts?

Is it required to have a life bar where you can sustain multiple hits of damage?

Even games like Castlevania and Blaster Master on NES (which I've never heard anyone call RPGs) are disqualified for having more RPG elements than you mentioned.

You described things that shouldn't be in the game you are looking for, it might help if you listed some qualities the game might actually have. I'm looking for "do's" instead of "don'ts".

I think a Zelda game might qualify, but you would still have to relax some of your restrictions.

no permanent equipment or shops.

No Zelda then.

Correct. No.

(Interesting example: In the game Metal Saga (PS2) (not a SaGa game, but it is a non-linear JRPG), when you're in a vehicle with no armor tiles, getting hit will damage a random part of the vehicle, and the part will be destroyed after two hits. It just so happens that there's skills to repair vehicles in the field (and even during battle), provided you have money to spend, but no skill to create armor tiles (so you have to go back to town to replenish them). Furthermore, armor tiles slow the vehicle down, so the best strategy I found ends up ignoring them, and just uses sub weapons (which have infinite ammo) that are capable of hitting all enemies; if weight is kept low, I get enough turns that I don't have to do repairs that often.)

It's been a while since I played it, but Renegade Ops may fit the bill. Sort of.

You play a role, ish.

In PAC-Man you play the role of a political lobbyist hunting for contributions that foster your political agenda. You have to evade those ghostly journalists that try to catch doing shenanigans. Fortunately, now and then you can find a piece of intel that gives you leverage against those pesky guys.

On ET you play the role of Spielberg's ET. There are pits, but they are not bottomless (I talk about this game second-hand, never played it--fortunately).

In TIE fighter you play the role of a pilot. You can pilot different crafts, but they remain the same all the time. Most of the games happens in deep space, which is itself a bottomless pit, or as Vernor Vinge put it, "A deepness in the sky".

JOKING, obviously (not about Vernor Vinge).

So the OP is all about making things be what they are not. About whether boundaries and definitions and semantics can bend so as to find a game that is widely considered a RPG but that it does not meet the conventions that have defined the genre. Not very convincing, but if someone comes with a genuine example that truly is considered by everyone as a RPG, I will give it a thought, why not :P

"Hi, I'm looking for a good hamburger recipe that matches the following points : it must not have bread and it must not have meat. Any idea ?"

* No story (except for an excuse plot), cutscenes, or dialog. (They just get in the way).

are you sure you want an rpg ,cause there are 0 rpg-s without story pretty much

"Edit: What's the problem with this topic? (Why the low rating?)"
:)

ORCS

GOBLINS

DWARFS

Yes.

Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten what my idea was.

(Although, if anybody has any ideas for a breadless, meatless, hamburger, I'm all ears. Well not *all* ears (I still need eyes to actually read what's being said in this medium, but you get the idea.)

Some examples of RPGs where the story is just an excuse plot:
* Rogue
* Oubliette
* Alakabeth
* Wizardry 1

So, your claim that there are 0 is not correct.

(Also, this is the one criterion I listed that isn't as much of a joke as the other ones.)

As I was ticking down the list, it sounded like you wanted a Call of Duty game.

Severance: Blade of Darkness fits almost all those criteria. I think there's a small amount of character growth, but only in a few moves you learn, and the level scaling means you don't get any more tanky. It also takes about 10 hours to complete, rather than your target of 1.

Did I win?
No wait! It's Die By The Sword isn't it?