Plot driven games for a noob

[Arbiter]

I have been thinking about getting my wife into gaming. I do not expect my better half to dominate Quake deathmatches or grind for loot in Diablo (at least not yet), I have rather been thinking about story driven games with little to no combat. Combat, if any, has to be slow and very easy (either through selection of the easiest difficulty level or with cheats/trainers/mods).

Can you recommend something? So far I have considered classic adventure games like Broken Sword or Gabriel Knight. PST could be a good fit if only the combat could be made easier with some mod or cheats. I would rather not go the Sims route, I hate that game.

We might eventually get to HoMM, but for now I believe that TBS games would be too complex and too thin in terms of writing.

 

[ELEXmakesMeHard]

Little Miss Fortune melts wife hearts.

 

[schru]

The Longest Journey

 

[GloomFrost]

Disco Elysium (no combat), all EE of infinity engine games (including Torment) have a story mode. Mass Effect Legendary edition on easy mode. Quantic Dreams games (heavy rain, become human). Classic Lucasarts point and click adventures (full throttle, monkey island).

 

[bionicman]

Aren't Gabriel Knight games notorious for having awful puzzles?

Some suggestions: Minecraft, Machinarium, Portal, and Skyrim.

Also, maybe you hate Sims, but your wife would probably like it, and that's definitely a way to get a person into gaming.

EDIT: I just realized you were looking for 'plot-driven' games, and some of my suggestions aren't plot-driven. I was thinking more in line of good for those completely new to PC gaming.

 

[new fucking guy]

start with animal crossing to ease her into the concept of doing the same menial task 30 times every day for pixel money
in few months when she's done decorating continue the indoctrination with skyrim (skyrim is basically sims) or mass effect (it has romances so she'll be good)

 

[Louis_Cypher]

Getting a non-gamer into gaming I've found two-player couch co-op games like Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance work quite well. Stardew Valley is ideal too; often very addictive for noobs. Taking turns on an emulator playing survival horror works too, as save states take the pressure off. Just set everything to easy for them.

 

[†††]

I have been thinking about getting my wife into gaming

if you truly love her, don't do it.

 

[alighieri]

Knights and Bikes

It's a coop action-adventure

 

[madbringer]

Plot-driven games for a newbie, huh? Broken Sword 1 / 2 would be a safe bet, I know from experience women like adventure and puzzle games.

If you're feeling edgy try Myst or Zork: Nemesis / Grand Inquisitor. Perhaps some Syberia.

 

[Curratum]

Stuff I've played through with my wife:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/40350/Lost_Horizon/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/40330/Secret_Files_Tunguska/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/205650/The_Testament_of_Sherlock_Holmes/

Bonus items:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1455840/Dorfromantik/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/234270/Ken_Folletts_The_Pillars_of_the_Earth/

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Adventure games are a good choice. I'd suggest Cyro's adventure games starting with Dragon Lore. Some of them are better than others, I think the "historical" titles they did are easier to get running today. The first Legend of Kyrandia is also good.
Though I'd suggest something I usually don't, JRPGs, specifically from the SNES period. Most of the ones you're likely to play have cheats and most are story-heavy. Final Fantasy should be good, Chrono Trigger too, but if say, you think Shin Megami Tensei is a good choice, I implore you to consider abusing cheats.

 

[Falksi]

The first 3 Monkey Island games are a must play. If she can't get on with the oldness of the first 2 make sure she plays Curse of Monkey Island. That's like Broken Sword but with actual fun.

Also, the trouble is with PC games is they were developed for folk with more brains then your wife, and so combat is always gonna be testing. So why not try her on some of the 16-bit console games like Chrono Trigger or Super Mario RPG? Yeah there's combat in them, but it's so easy that the game's virtually play themselves.

 

[Lagi]

Limbo

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

It’s not exactly plot heavy, but my wife loved Stardew Valley when I first introduced her to gaming, although she did have some difficulty with the combat at first.
GK games are great, but a terrible entry point to the genre, IMO. If she doesn’t mind a somewhat bleaker aesthetic Primordia might be a good choice. It’s very story-heavy, and its puzzles fall on the easier side of the genre without being brain dead.
Unavowed is another option from WEG, but its puzzles are so easy that some people refuse to even call it an adventure game. I also personally thought the plot completely fell apart about 2/3 of the way through. Still, the aesthetics are good, and if she likes urban fantasy there’s not a whole lot else out there.
I personally remain of the opinion that Day of the Tentacle is the greatest adventure of made, and its puzzles are not particularly difficult, but my experience is that a lot of women take one look at it and decide it’s a game made for and by teenage boys. Still, if she shows any interest there it’s a great introduction.

For an out of the box suggestion: What about Thief? Very little combat, great story, and a properly complex set of systems. I would probably skip Gold though, since Thieve’s Guild and Mage Towers are probably too confusing/difficult for a neophyte.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Women like the sims. But I've heard of women enjoying co-op games playing together with their partner as well.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

Uhm, how about Fallout? The combat is super easy after all, and the graphics aged superbly as long as the resolution is up to date.

It also has a great plot and writing, with the added bonus of not requiring the player to memorize the dank lore, twelve subspecies of elves etc.

Previously mentioned Portal is a great suggestion too. I’d skip Skyrim, because while it has probably the most profound and genial fantasy setting, well, ever, it’s also very dank and obscure to piece together.

It all really depends on the genre, and the “climate” that your wife would enjoy, I.e. Fallout 1 can be pretty grim and depressing.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

For an out of the box suggestion: What about Thief? Very little combat, great story, and a properly complex set of systems. I would probably skip Gold though, since Thieve’s Guild and Mage Towers are probably too confusing/difficult for a neophyte.

It sounds great in theory, but I wouldn’t recommend Thief for any beginner in general. Keep in mind that women have it somewhat worse with “spatial orientation” too. I agree that The Dark Project is far superior to Gold, but it’s a bitch to find. Also a lot of people hate stealth games for some reason. But, speaking of which, a great game in that “genre” to begin with would be MGS3.

 

[d1r]

Phantasmagoria
A beautiful love story about a couple in an old mansion.

 

[Young_Hollow]

Any PC 3D platformer should be good to get into games. My recommendation:

Has a thread of a story but also gameplay that most people seem to like. Not as idle as an adventure game but not as punishing as something with more complex combat. If she likes Pokemon or TBSs, you could try Nexomon or Monster Crown or Disc Creatures, which are Pokemon-likes available on PC and they'll have the added bonus of being fairly simple games with turn-based combat. There is also Sunless Skies which is quite difficulty-adjustable IIRC and while not plot focused, is focused on a well written world and your experiences within it. As a wildcard suggestion, an arcade racing game like Flatout 2 might be fun for her; because they're generally fun for anyone. And if all else fails, there is always

Spoiler

Gone Home, which has neither plot nor gameplay.

 

[thesheeep]

I don't think that story is a very good motivator when it comes to getting into gaming.
Unless someone really likes to read a lot (Disco Elysium would be the best recommendation, then).

One of the biggest hurdles of getting into gaming is the fear of totally sucking at it due to lack of experience.
And at least in my experience, the typical adventure games are ripe with frustration due to unfortunate moon logic sometimes.

Therefore, what I can recommend is games that are easy to get into/play AND can be played together.
The togetherness of good co-op is something that IMO beats any kind of good solo gameplay when it comes to motivation of playing.

In the very-cute-but-fun department:

Putty Pals (may be a bit more advanced, though)
Phogs! (the sheer creativity on display in this one is quite amazing)
Human Fall Flat (wobbly creatures do physics, always works)
Stardew Valley (shouldn't require an explanation)

Now, bear in mind, these do not have much of a story (or any), but they are definitely very easy to play, easy to get into, very relaxing & fun co-op.
And they do require you to actually play together in one form or another.
While not really having any kind of "fail state" so they are safe to play without risking much in terms of frustration.

My GF and me also play more "proper" games like Valheim, Borderlands, BG1+2, D:OS2, etc. and will certainly go for BG3 as well.
But these relaxing co-op experiences are certainly something I'd recommend to anyone.

 

[Astor Lefflinker]

Detroit Become Human definitely

 

[Arbiter]

Phantasmagoria
A beautiful love story about a couple in an old mansion.

Good thing the FMV era is way behind us.

 

[ChaDargo]

Why do you want your wife involved in your hobby? Isn't that sort of a big point of having a hobby? To get away from the wife?

 

[Arbiter]

After a long discussion we have decided to give BG1 a try in co-op mode. Which version would you recommend for that: vanilla, EE, BGT or EasyTutu?