Action games you would still play without combat

What are some games/franchises that would be fun to play even if the combat was removed?  Why? I'm not talking about genres that usually don't include it like puzzle and racing games.
 
The games I think that work best are ones that are heavy on exploration and provide a lot of puzzles and minigames. Stealth games can sometimes be played to completion without fighting, but those are fairly rare these days.
 
I think you could probably get by in most of the GTA games and I think the Zeldas would mostly hold up without it. I really liked Zack & Wiki, but even in that, you could duel pirates to get them out of your way, but it wasn't usually essential to beating the level.
  
Any RPGs? I can't imagine DQ and FF without battle systems. Anything where XP levelling is important fails pretty quickly.
The Fallout games have a lot going on in story, but VATS seems fairly essential there too.  I might play a Mass Effect game without combat, but they might have to add some other activities beyond conversations.
 
Most first-person games usually don't provide enough other systems to hold up. I did recently play Penumbra: Black Plague though and I thought it worked pretty well with no combat. Granted, it is more of a horror/adventure game than a shooter. 
 
Speaking of horror, I tend to avoid combat whenever possible in the old Silent Hill games and even though I had some complaints about the chase sequences in the new one, I played and enjoyed the whole game without any combat. I also liked Fatal Frame a lot in the parts before you can use the camera as a weapon and would probably play a full game like that.  
 
Of course, I don't think there's a single fighting franchise that would hold up to this experiment. DOA is the only one that has actually tried it.
 
Killing and fighting seems to be the easiest way to engage players and a really simple way to make a game fun. I'm interested in other mechanics that make a game work even when the easy stuff is taken out.

deadly premonition, without a doubt.

None. If games didn't have that component I would just watch a movie or call a prostitute.

Mirror's Edge

Mirror's Edge. They shouldn't have put combat in that game in the first place.

ICO would have been even better without the combat. As for first-person games? I'd be interested in a version of Bioshock without combat. 

" ICO would have been even better without the combat. As for first-person games? I'd be interested in a version of Bioshock without combat.  "

" Mirror's Edge "

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm going to echo Mirror's Edge. My favorite playthrough was the one where I minimized combat as much as I could. 
 
I'd also add Mass Effect, since the roleplay elements are awesome. I'd totally be down with a Heavy Rain-style adventure game in the Mass Effect universe.

This game called Mirror's Edge. I doubt you've heard about it, though.

deus ex had awesome combat but the story was amazing and so was the world it was set in. just going from place to place was a blast because of all the new people you'd meet and all the new sources of information there would be.

I could see myself just being i a full time taxi driver in GTA IV ... meh, maybe not.

Isn't removing the combat for the average action game basically removing the key component? Mirror's Edge I guess, as others stated.

What others have said and Uncharted...2, I've never played the first. With more stealth and puzzles I think it would be a good combat-less game.
 
Ed. I think Mario games, mostly the 3D ones, would be pretty good without combat. But what would replace the bosses?

Mirrors Edge seems to be everyone's main choice. I would say something that is heavy on platforming like Prince of Persia.

I get what everyone is saying about Mirror's edge, but think about it this way: 
 
Imagine every government in the world got together and decided to completely outlaw violence in all media. Which current game franchises do you think could survive? Why?

Silent Hill could survive.

This is just a hunch, but I bet RapeLay could do it.

Mirrors Edge should have even had combat. The people who played through that game and used combat and guns played it wrong imo.

" This is just a hunch, but I bet RapeLay could do it. "

" @Brodehouse: the wii silent hill had no combat from what i can remember.  "

So puzzle/exploration/story-heavy games like Silent Hill and Zelda and platforming-heavy games seem to be it.  
 
Are there any other game mechanics that would make up for lack of combat? 
What if an RPG battle system was abstracted into a different kind of conflict, say, negotiation or debate?

" Mirrors Edge should have even had combat. The people who played through that game and used combat and guns played it wrong imo. "

" deadly premonition, without a doubt. "

" What others have said and Uncharted...2, I've never played the first. With more stealth and puzzles I think it would be a good combat-less game. "

Tomb Raider... first that came to mind. I'm sure there's others...

Super Street Fighter IV. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
=D

Mirror's Edge, Uncharted, Half-Life 2, Crackdown, and Splinter Cell Conviction, to name a few.

Yeah, the obvious one ... Mirror's Edge.
 
Silent Hill 2. I always had that idea how cool it was if Pyramid Head really followed you through the town ... only very slowly, but steadily.

" @CL60 said:

" Mirrors Edge should have even had combat. The people who played through that game and used combat and guns played it wrong imo. "

Wow.  "

Horror games, especially Fatal Frame and Silent Hill.  

Um, what? I hate it when people think they're clever for just responding to you with "wow". "