Want advice on a good multiplayer game for...

[rialled]

Good morning,

I am not a regular poster but I have been frequently reading the escapist for several months and would like suggestions for a game for me and my girlfriend to play together. She doesn't have very much game experience and truthfully only started getting into gaming when she met me. Unfortunately, since I've semi-grown up playing games, it means that sometimes I misjudge what she can and can't play.

Here are some of the issues that she faces:

-She doesn't like violent games
-She gets sick when moving cameras too quickly

And here are some games which she has really enjoyed in the past:

-Legend of Zelda: Minish cap & Windwaker
-Layton series
-Pokemon
-Harvest moon
-Civ 4 + expansions

So if you could please make some suggestions, I'd be grateful.

PS. If possible RPG-ish

EDIT: The systems we own are PC and PS3

 

[Beautiful End]

Minecraft for sure. You guys can build whatever you want together.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Little Big Planet 2 is an amazing platformer, with an adorable aesthetic and terrific co-op.
Plus, with all the community-made levels, there's plenty of content.

Minecraft for sure. You guys can build whatever you want together.

This works too, just bare in mind that it's a performance hog, so weaker PCs might not be able to handle it optimally.

If you're up for puzzle games, Portal 2 is the quintessential example of co-op puzzler.

That's my two cents, do with it as you will.

 

[Darren Carrigan]

Judging by Civ 4 on that list, a lot of RTS could be opened up.
Heores of Might and Magic Collection would be a good bet.
Minecraft, as mentioned above seems ideal also

 

[Darren Carrigan]

and welcome!

 

[Tdoodle]

Minecraft and Little Big Planet 2 are great shouts, can't go wrong with either of those and they'd probably be the first two on my list.

Might be worth checking out Toyko Jungle, I know she doesn't like violence but maybe silly animal-on-animal violence won't be too bad. It's a pretty simple game and could get quite repetitive in long sessions but it's perfect for 30 minute bursts.

 

[Cavan]

At the mention of things being RPGish I thought of Torchlight 2. I'm not sure that's exactly what you meant but it is on sale atm and is a good lengthy game.

Off the top of my head cheap high quality cooperative games that can run on laptops/low end PCs:

Magicka (will not run on an integrated graphics card on a laptop, just a reminder)
Trine(and 2)
Orcs Must Die(and 2)
Dungeon defenders
Terraria, the almighty terraria.

edit: some of those may count as violent in her eyes, although they are all very bright and colourful and cartoonish in the way they present it.

I would agree with the other people mentioning portal 2, the co-op is great.

 

[Legion]

Minecraft is pretty much a perfect couples game if you like building stuff. Although ideally you'd need at least two computers/laptops.

Journey is a pretty good one for the PS3. It's also a good "beginners" game as it is quite simple to play. Two PS3's means you could play the game together (although I am not sure how or if you can choose to be paired up, or if it randomly puts people in games.)

Portal 2 is a great game for co-op, and it's also a good game to get used to first person mechanics seeing as it's not particularly hectic (it's always interesting to see how people who haven't grown up around gaming struggle with FPS mechanics).

 

[Joccaren]

Minecraft. If she doesn't like having to kill blocky spiders, zombies and exploding green penis bushes, then turn it onto Peaceful and build things. Otherwise, you can make it a decent adventure preparing to go to the End and defeating the Dragon there. Experienced players can do it in a few hours real time, but it takes far longer if you've never done it before.

Portal 2. Portal 1 is awesome, but I'm not sure it has Co-op, or how good it is. Never been able to check. Portal 2's though is solid and very enjoyable. Not really violent, and sometimes funny and entertaining.

Galactic Civilizations 2 - though don't do the Campaign with her at first. Even on low difficulties the difficulty ramps up VERY quickly once the dread lords appear. It doesn't help that they can 1 hit all your ships and planets and you take a whole fleet to kill even one of their ships, but yeah. Just doing the general vs AI is very fun and a great 4X game to play. It is considered one of the great 4X games, alongside the Civilization series.

Now, when you get to RPGs - you're not going to be able to avoid violence. CRPGs involve monsters and killing them as a core and unavoidable part of their mechanics. If she is fine with killing people and creatures in third person and indirectly by ordering her character to do it rather than by aiming and attacking herself, then go ahead and play RPGs. Otherwise...
Also, co-op in RPGs - hard to find. Most are built as single player experiences or MMOs, and the later always involves violence of some sort. If you decide to go ahead with it, I'd recommend Star Trek Online. Its easy, and even without much thought towards building your character you can get through it. Co-oping the missions is possible by forming a team and then starting an active mission together [Not sure entirely how this works having not done it myself, but I've seen it explained numerous times online]. The majority of the violence in the game is between spaceships, though there are some ground missions as well, and its F2P with no content beyond high level ships locked for money, so you're able to do pretty much everything you want without paying a cent.

 

[skywolfblue]

Portal 2 has already been mentioned, but i'll chime in for it as well. Excellent game, the Co-op is kinda short, but extremely fun.

PS. If possible RPG-ish

What about World of Warcraft?
- There is violence, but it's cartoony and no blood/gore (the game is rated T).
- She could play a healer and never have to "kill" anything so long as she has someone else to do the killing while she heals them.