Yeah that's the main problem with the thrusting and curved swords in the first game, it's cool that they've got a unique "kick" but it does hinder you in certain situations. If you wanted to do a fists playthrough, you could rush to the Path of the Dragon covenant and farm 30 dragon scales to get the Dragon Torso, that'll make fists viable, but it depends on if you're willing to farm the Drakes. SL1 playthroughs are fun if you haven't tried it, got mine to NG+5 but it's heavily reliant on pyromancy for fast boss killing. Other than that, pure sorcery/miracle playthroughs are interesting, or doing a playthrough with a weapon you've never used before.