I’ve recently played Carrion and although you’re controlling the monster there it felt very much like Abuse to me. Apart from mouse and keyboard controls, it has very similar art style and art direction with very nice “old school” pixel art. Very mich recommended.
I bought the collection a few years ago and played nearly all the titles.
There’s something about these games that makes them feel “off” for me and I can’t quite put my finger on it.
I mean, there’s guns and aliens to shoot, huge buildings and large terrains to cross with cool vehicles. Yet, it never clicked with me. It feels like the games have no soul.
It’s a weird feeling that I could never explain properly.
Honestly the coop play on Lego PC games is pretty good if you can get over them being cartooney. You have lots to pick from too, so maybe your partner has movies they’re a fan of that are represented in Lego games.
Yup, seconding this. The gameplay is simple enough for a first time gamer and they’re funny. Lego Skywalker Saga and Lego Harry Potter were a blast, and we picked up Lego Voyagers but haven’t played it yet.
Semi-casual games that run well on older PCs and linux? Plus no launchers? Let’s see.
I got a few but there may be splitscreen ones in this list too. (If that’s ok)
Battleblock Theater
Biped (maybe?)
Cassette Beasts
Castle Crashers
Children of Morta
Don’t Starve Together
Dinkum (If Australian Animal Crossing sounds interesting)
Factorio
A hat in time
Guacamelee
Human Fall Flat
Hyper Light Drifter
ibb & obb
KeyWe
Kingdom Two Crowns
Knights and Bikes
Like, all of the lego games (They’re all similar mechanically, so pick one of the newer ones that look good)
Lovers in a dangerous spacetime
Magicka (I like the first one but the second one isn’t bad)
Monaco
Moon Hunters
Necesse
Peak
Resident Evil 5/6 (Yes, really, its a great time in co-op)
Satisfactory
Secrets of Grindea
Split Fiction (This one may be graphically harder to run?)
Stardew Valley
Spiritfarer
Terraria
Trine games
Valheim (At least until mistlands)
I’m kind of going off of semi-casual meaning not high intensity shooters or things that require crazy skills. Most of these are pretty easy to pick up and are generally forgiving. They shouldn’t have launchers but if they added one in a later update, then dang.
That is quite the list! I know a handful of these but most are new to me. I haven’t gone through it them yet but I wanted to be sure to say thanks for the effort you put in to your reply.
I will toss in, don’t starve together is very much NOT beginner friendly. Playing with someone less experienced with video games can turn into effectively playing with one hand behind your back as you try to cover the needs for both of you, the world is threatening, and the penalty for death is high. Might not be well suited to what you’re looking for
Playing Factorio co-op was one of the games that got my wife into gaming. She couldn’t do quick reaction time shooters, but Factorio at its most basic is essentially a ‘puzzle’ game.
… But yeah we lost a few weekends or weeks or months to it. The factory must grow.
I’ve been playing DEADBOLT since the demo came out on GameJolt in 2015. Probably my favorite game with a control scheme like that, and it’s made by the original devs of Risk of Rain.
Oh, also: Rochard - if you can get it anywhere, it is pretty dope. It’s a bit of a mix of action & puzzle platformer but with Abuse-like controls. It was pulled from steam years ago, dunno if it’s available on consoles still.
Portal 2 was my first thought as well. It can also work as a good litmus test for how they will respond to FPS controls. You can try kb/m or controller and see what feels natural. My partner (we found playing left4dead after portal) is an inverted controller person. Which was wild to me considering they worked in a heavy clerical field and really took to building keyboard with me. Yet, no kb/m for gaming. After that switch , they were able to enjoy co-op 1st person stuff a lot easier.
After portal we played borderlands 2 together. It’s low pressure most of the time and can be a background activity while you talk and hang out. The story is kinda cheesy but it’s fun to share the inside jokes with someone and bonded us in an unexpected way.
Hopefully those work for you!
Edit: it takes two and split fiction are really fantastic coop experiences as well. But, it take two should probably have a small warning for emotional content. Split fiction is a ton of fun but does get kinda difficult for less seasoned players. I found it endearing helping through those sections, but it could be harder for others. There are some moments that we both audibly wowed at though! That made the difficulty worth it.
“and Hello Games never actually apologized for lying.” Good. I don’t want a corporate apology. Apologies from companies literally mean nothing. What matters is your actions. They have updated the game, for free, and still have no microtransactions. No third party launcher or account needed. Can be played offline. You buy the game, you get the game. That is RARE these days.
Should they have released the game in the first place? No. If you don’t support that, then don’t buy it. I don’t really like that, so I bought it on sale for like $30 instead of its full price of $60, which in my opinion was worth it.
There are plenty of problems in the gaming industry right now, I think NMS’s “redemption” arc is the least of your worries.
“They have updated the game, for free, and still have no microtransactions”
These are the good practices in a sea of bad actors, but that’s how the fans use Hello Games to attack the AAA industry by constantly misplacing and comparing it with AAA games, not to mention mythologising them, even though they have never asked for it. Once you recalibrate your perspective, you will see that long-term developments and updates are normal in indies; maybe that’s where Hello Games belongs?
What makes you so upset over people “attacking” the AAA industry? Most of the big AAA players release literal garbage, games filled with anti-consumer practices. Not only do they tend to release “unfinished” like No Mans Sky did, but they also have DRM, microtransactions, third party launchers + accounts that take your data. Who cares if they get attacked? I honestly wish people would do more.
I don’t really understand what it is you have a problem with.
I get that you are upset with AAA games. Honestly, I’ve managed to avoid them for a long time. But I think Hello games is not an ideal studio either; Murray did lie about the feature at release, the updates have only met minimum of professional standards, and 10 years later it is still a bland tofu of a space game, wrapped in years of technical debt, while NMS being a test bench for LNF as a fanbase look to the other way…they are doing ok…
I just find it funny that in a sea of garbage (not as a puddle), people will grab anything shiny and call it a diamond, while ignoring the gem cave by the shore and then ask, “What is wrong? Why are you laughing?”
The good devs never needed a redemption arc; never needed a cultural reframe to be good.
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Aktywne