Good PC Adventure Games for Inept Player
April 27, 2017 9:40 AM Subscribe
Hello, MeFites!
I've been playing World of Warcraft (solo) and a couple of Elder Scrolls (Morrowind is one of my all time favorites) and Dragon Age series for years on a low end computer.
Now I have a newer, zoomier one and am looking for a game with an engaging story and not super difficult gameplay.
It can be solo, online or off. Games that require teamwork might not be a real great idea because arthritis keeps me from having reasonable reaction time and can make teammates cranky.
I'm looking for pretty graphics and if online would prefer chat that isn't....unpleasant to read. (I'm looking at you, WoW)
And finally, it'd be wonderful if I can find another player who actually wants to play the story rather than zip through levels to max as quick as they can. Soloing a multiplayer game can get lonely sometimes.
Cost isn't really a factor and I don't mind using Steam.
This looks a bit rambly, but I hope it's clear enough.
It can be solo, online or off. Games that require teamwork might not be a real great idea because arthritis keeps me from having reasonable reaction time and can make teammates cranky.
I'm looking for pretty graphics and if online would prefer chat that isn't....unpleasant to read. (I'm looking at you, WoW)
And finally, it'd be wonderful if I can find another player who actually wants to play the story rather than zip through levels to max as quick as they can. Soloing a multiplayer game can get lonely sometimes.
Cost isn't really a factor and I don't mind using Steam.
This looks a bit rambly, but I hope it's clear enough.
What you want is Borderlands 2 with the 4 expansions (DLC) included, specifically the 4th expansion called Dragonkeep, which ties the entire story together. It is the ending to Borderlands 2 that is the true end to the game.
Borderlands 2 is a shoot and loot role playing game. The class you want to play is the Mechromancer. It is a pet class. More importantly, the class has two skills, which should be purchased ASAP. The first skill increases your base gun damage at the cost of accuracy. The second skill guarantees that some bullets hit your target even if you miss. The combination of those two skills, plus the pet, makes the Mechromancer the perfect character to play first.
Lastly, if you decide to play, send me a PM. I can give you a tip, which is slightly spoilerish, but worth knowing to avoid the frustration of one quest, which is - well - complete horseshit.
Oh, one more thing, yes BL1 is the true starting point, but BL1 is more difficult than BL2, so I recommend BL2 first.
PS, be careful. This is an older game, so message boards and you-tube videos are going to have major spoilers.
posted by Beholder at 10:23 AM on April 27, 2017
Borderlands 2 is a shoot and loot role playing game. The class you want to play is the Mechromancer. It is a pet class. More importantly, the class has two skills, which should be purchased ASAP. The first skill increases your base gun damage at the cost of accuracy. The second skill guarantees that some bullets hit your target even if you miss. The combination of those two skills, plus the pet, makes the Mechromancer the perfect character to play first.
Lastly, if you decide to play, send me a PM. I can give you a tip, which is slightly spoilerish, but worth knowing to avoid the frustration of one quest, which is - well - complete horseshit.
Oh, one more thing, yes BL1 is the true starting point, but BL1 is more difficult than BL2, so I recommend BL2 first.
PS, be careful. This is an older game, so message boards and you-tube videos are going to have major spoilers.
posted by Beholder at 10:23 AM on April 27, 2017
When I hear "adventure games," I think of point and click puzzlers from companies like LucasArts and Sierra Online. Maybe this is my taste showing. :)
I can definitely recommend Broken Age, and the first of the Monkey Island series, for light-hearted fun. I believe both are available on Steam. For something a bit more intense, might I suggest The Last Express? All of these games have minimal reaction times, and I'm given to understand that Broken Age at least has lovely graphics. I played them with a friend at the controls, so can attest to their suitability for that. :)
posted by Alensin at 10:40 AM on April 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
I can definitely recommend Broken Age, and the first of the Monkey Island series, for light-hearted fun. I believe both are available on Steam. For something a bit more intense, might I suggest The Last Express? All of these games have minimal reaction times, and I'm given to understand that Broken Age at least has lovely graphics. I played them with a friend at the controls, so can attest to their suitability for that. :)
posted by Alensin at 10:40 AM on April 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
If you like elder scrolls, you might like fallout 4, fallout 3, and or fallout New Vegas. Fallout 4 gets the most criticism but i liked it... There are definitely less dialogue options, but i enjoyed the story enough.
If you can do elder scrolls, you can do fallout (same company). It even has a targeting system that lessens the necessity for reaction time.
posted by czytm at 10:49 AM on April 27, 2017
If you can do elder scrolls, you can do fallout (same company). It even has a targeting system that lessens the necessity for reaction time.
posted by czytm at 10:49 AM on April 27, 2017
It is nothing like any of the games you mentioned, because there's no stats or experience points or combat or anything, but Night in the Woods is a beautiful game that is all about story and writing and characters, and not about gameplay challenges. It's dark, and has some horror elements, but there's no jump scares or even threats of jump scares.
posted by aubilenon at 11:05 AM on April 27, 2017
posted by aubilenon at 11:05 AM on April 27, 2017
It's not quite an adventure game, certainly not a 3D one, but Stardew Valley is easily the most engaging game I've run across in the past few years. It does have multiple stories, with a fair amount of replay value, and a little light combat, but it's mostly a resource management game. It's also extremely forgiving. Normally, I'm an RPG or a 4x guy, but I found this Harvest Moon homage huge fun.
posted by bonehead at 1:52 PM on April 27, 2017
posted by bonehead at 1:52 PM on April 27, 2017
It doesn't meet your nice graphics qualifier, but both Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games are story heavy RPGs with non-brutal mechanics and difficulty.
I have the same desires as you, and so far Dragon Age is the best I've found. Looking forward to other answers!
posted by sazerac at 2:53 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
I have the same desires as you, and so far Dragon Age is the best I've found. Looking forward to other answers!
posted by sazerac at 2:53 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
If you are looking for a MMORPG that rewards thoughtful tactical play over quick reflexes, and has a user community that's reasonably civil (rather than composed entirely of racist 13-year-olds who have an uncomfortably close relationship with your mum): try Guild Wars 2.
No monthly fee, no pay to win. Graphically pretty and visually distinct from the cartoony aesthetic of WoW.
posted by sourcequench at 3:00 PM on April 27, 2017
No monthly fee, no pay to win. Graphically pretty and visually distinct from the cartoony aesthetic of WoW.
posted by sourcequench at 3:00 PM on April 27, 2017
Witcher 3, on the easy setting. Beauteous. You can chase the story, or not, more or less as you see fit. There are only a couple of places in the entire game where things are ... forced to move along in a timely fashion. Most of the time it's entirely up to you.
Note: you can only play as a male, except for a few interludes that act as playable flashbacks.
posted by aramaic at 3:01 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
Note: you can only play as a male, except for a few interludes that act as playable flashbacks.
posted by aramaic at 3:01 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
Skyrim is the latest version of the Elder Scrolls series. Its generally heavily recommended. Though I imagine there is a community organized list of mods that fix the most broken aspects
posted by Jacen at 3:17 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Jacen at 3:17 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
Dragon Age Inquisition if you couldn't run it before. The beginning is unfortunately kind of lousy, once you're out of the hinterlands, it's fantastic. I honestly recommend getting a quickstart mod to boost you to level 7 or so, but otherwise recommend it.
Witcher 3, which I had more problems with in terms of sexism than my fiancee who was watching over my shoulder. I'm currently getting a kick out of Mass Effect Andromeda, although the original trilogy is far better. It has Narrative mode and I think Mass Effect 3 does as well, where the combat becomes quite easy and you can just focus on the story. I don't think ME2 does, but you can set it to easy, which might be enough.
Definitely a recommendation for Fallout New Vegas. The game worlds for the other Fallout games are more detailed (you get a lot by just wandering around), but the stories are complete crap compared to New Vegas. And the DLC for New Vegas are fantastic. If you find it too difficult (especially with aiming), the modding community for the Fallout games is fantastic.
posted by Hactar at 4:14 PM on April 27, 2017
Witcher 3, which I had more problems with in terms of sexism than my fiancee who was watching over my shoulder. I'm currently getting a kick out of Mass Effect Andromeda, although the original trilogy is far better. It has Narrative mode and I think Mass Effect 3 does as well, where the combat becomes quite easy and you can just focus on the story. I don't think ME2 does, but you can set it to easy, which might be enough.
Definitely a recommendation for Fallout New Vegas. The game worlds for the other Fallout games are more detailed (you get a lot by just wandering around), but the stories are complete crap compared to New Vegas. And the DLC for New Vegas are fantastic. If you find it too difficult (especially with aiming), the modding community for the Fallout games is fantastic.
posted by Hactar at 4:14 PM on April 27, 2017
If you are triggered by (arguably realistic, but can be depressing and upsetting) sexism and misogyny in fantasy worlds, Witcher is not the game series for you.
If you like loot fests with pretty graphics at all, the guys who made the original Diablo I & II games made a series called Torchlight I & II that has the WoW aesthetic, an anemic but entertaining story line, and is vastly superior in terms of actual gameplay to Diablo III. You get pets who travel to town to sell loot and buy potions for you, which is just awesome. It has multiplayer.
Skyrim is virtually unplayable (for me, at least) on the PC without some lightweight UI mods to make up for using KB/mouse instead of a controller. You can get those mods at the Nexus I believe.
TBH, having a nice new PC is awesome, but I find some of the best games do not depend on bloom and "realistic" texture tiles from CGTextures to be good. I can spend hours in games like Stardew Valley, Undertale, Terraria, Minecraft, etc.
posted by xyzzy at 5:36 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
If you like loot fests with pretty graphics at all, the guys who made the original Diablo I & II games made a series called Torchlight I & II that has the WoW aesthetic, an anemic but entertaining story line, and is vastly superior in terms of actual gameplay to Diablo III. You get pets who travel to town to sell loot and buy potions for you, which is just awesome. It has multiplayer.
Skyrim is virtually unplayable (for me, at least) on the PC without some lightweight UI mods to make up for using KB/mouse instead of a controller. You can get those mods at the Nexus I believe.
TBH, having a nice new PC is awesome, but I find some of the best games do not depend on bloom and "realistic" texture tiles from CGTextures to be good. I can spend hours in games like Stardew Valley, Undertale, Terraria, Minecraft, etc.
posted by xyzzy at 5:36 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by thewumpusisdead at 10:22 AM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]