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Maybe—but only in a thought experiment. Harvey Randall’s October 1, 2026, PC Gamer article asks whether giving a protagonist a modern .45 handgun would speed up long games that do not normally feature guns. The answer varies: a pistol could simplify some fights, but it cannot automatically skip a political crisis, defeat every boss, or make a game’s story stop. These are imagined outcomes, not tested playthroughs or verified speedrun results.
Randall frames the question around games with endings where a pistol could plausibly change events. The examples below turn on different assumptions about combat, progression, and story—not on a shared measurement of completion time. In his words, the overall verdict is: “On average: Yes, having a gun in games that do not have guns will save you time—and, depending on the game, irrevocably corrupt you.” That is a comedic editorial conclusion, not a statistical finding.
What would determine whether a gun saves time?
- Combat: Does the game make you close distance, and could a handgun reliably stop the enemies you face?
- Boss design: A weapon that helps against human-sized foes may matter little against enormous or heavily armored opponents.
- Progression: Does the game let you bypass encounters, or does it require specific abilities, quests, or milestones?
- Story: Would an early kill resolve the central conflict, or would the plot simply find another way to continue?
How the six games might change
| Game | Where the pistol might help | What could limit the time saved |
|---|---|---|
| Baldur’s Gate 3 | It could make some early combat faster. | Later social and story consequences could complicate events enough to offset that advantage. |
| Dark Souls 3 | A handgun might help against human-sized enemies. | Huge or heavily armored bosses may be poor targets for it. |
| Crusader Kings 2 | If a modern weapon could be reverse-engineered and spread through medieval armies, its effects could be dramatic. | The outcome depends on whether that technological leap is possible in the first place. |
| Elden Ring | A ranged attack could make ordinary foes easier to handle and might open access to stronger areas sooner. | It is uncertain how well a pistol would work against large enemies or how much it would alter progression. |
| Metaphor: ReFantazio | The weapon could matter if introduced before the game’s gunner class becomes available. | Removing a major character would not necessarily end the larger political contest. |
| Slay the Spire 2 | A gun could serve as a hypothetical replacement for weak starting cards. | It might become less useful as a run progresses and stronger options emerge. |
Why the premise is not a speedrun result
The examples rely on different imagined outcomes: a gun might change a fight, but the game’s rules and story would still matter. Randall’s article does not report controlled comparisons between modified and unmodified games, nor does it provide a dataset showing that a pistol reduces completion times. Any timing claims should therefore be understood as speculation or personal playtime context, not measured evidence.
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Read the full PC Gamer article by Harvey Randall for the original game-by-game thought experiment.
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