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RPG For My Younger Sister

Antigoon

Augur
Joined
Dec 18, 2013
Messages
366
giphy.gif

Legend of Mana. My gf loves this game, so clearly it has an appeal to women. Plus, you can play together with her as the game allows two players.

As I'm an old techno-spaz, could you tell me what's the easiest/best way of playing this nowadays please?

Ta.
Or wait until Feb. and get it on steam
 

YES!

Hi, I'm Roqua
Dumbfuck
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
2,088
I'm going to be spending some time at my mom's house and I wanted to introduce my sister to gaming. She hasn't been playing games so nothing requiring copious amounts of hand eye coordination. I was thinking something turn-based, but it also has to be simple because she's an impatient little kid. I was thinking something from Final Fantasy on emulator, Wizardry(possibly on a NES emulator), a Civilization game, or an early (IV) Ultima. Any suggestions?

The only kid of mine I can get to try anything rpg-ish is my oldest daughter - she had a good time playing neverwinter online, which is very easy to learn. She really only likes rpgs if she can create a character she likes the look of, and that looks like a kid and not an adult. Skyrim is another good one almost all kids seem to like and be able to pick up and understand quickly and easily.

DCUO is another good one if you plan on playing with her. I did play Tera for a bit with my kid but it the community was way to pedophiley so I stopped it. There is also a "How to Train a Dragon" mmo. Toontown was great for kids if its still around, very safe if you want something that kids fucking love (Disney shit) and no way for the pedos to communicate with them.

Minecraft is like crack for kids, but I wouldn't let her as it could lead her down the retarded watching other people play video games on youtube nonsense that all kids love to do nowadays. Stay clear of that weird shit.

Lastly, D:OS. She may need help with chargen but the game is simple even for kids after that if you want a non-mmorpg you want to play with her.

Roblox - like mincecrat but with different games. Less but very high risk of the youtube phenomenon like with minecraft.

Heroine's Quest - its free on steam and easy to pick up, understand, and play in the vein of Quest for Glory but with a voiced protagonist. If she is like my girls she is really only interested in games besides Mario, Yoshi, donkey kong, Zelda, if she can play a female character.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
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Messages
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Shadowrun Returns is practically baby's first RPG. I don't believe there's anything too content inappropriate for 8 year olds.
 

Galdred

Studio Draconis
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Developer
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
My 6 year old daughter has played Pokemon, Pokemon Conquest, and a bot of zelda.
Divinity: OS in coop could work too I suppose.
But I would also advise you to play Tabletop first. It is easier to get into because of the socail aspect, and is a good gateway to CRPG.

Not with a tabletop RPG, but with a dungeon crawler, either coop or not:

Heroquest if you somehow have it.
36a3a2af5f0f4ef6bc1a254350181d4105ea.jpeg


Probably not worth purchasing it, though as the mechanisms are not great.

Or its more recent successors:
Descent and Imperial Assault (aka Star Wars Descent).
These are probably too complex, but the gameplay is great.

Or one of the following coop games
D&D Castle Ravenloft
DnD coop dungeon crawler. But it lacks cool persistent mechanisms

Mice & Mystics

Same as above but with mice vs Rats and bugs. Worked wonders with my daughter. The game is a bit fiddly, though.
Mice_and_Mystics_in-play1.jpg


Of course, if you cannot borrow any, it might not be worth the entry cost (but Imperial Assault is cool anyway; and you can play it with grown ups).
 

Viata

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Parabalus

Arcane
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Mar 23, 2015
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17,432
Baldur's gate2 or HoMM3 seem alright for that age.

Banner Saga might also be a good choice, pretty simple with cartoony graphics and setting.

Kotor1 if she tolerates Star Wars.
 

Mark Richard

Arcane
Joined
Mar 14, 2016
Messages
1,192
Shadowrun Returns is practically baby's first RPG. I don't believe there's anything too content inappropriate for 8 year olds.
Tracking down a serial killer & organ thief in a dystopian world run by mega-corporations and removing your character's eyes to replace them with cybernetic implants? Oh yeah, it's a regular day at the ball pit.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
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Messages
35,653
Shadowrun Returns is practically baby's first RPG. I don't believe there's anything too content inappropriate for 8 year olds.
Tracking down a serial killer & organ thief in a dystopian world run by mega-corporations and removing your character's eyes to replace them with cybernetic implants? Oh yeah, it's a regular day at the ball pit.

Sure, but it's not a graphic gore-and-swear-fest. During the summer between 2nd and 3rd grade I read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings (received an award at school for reading just those four books). :M
 

Spectacle

Arcane
Patron
Joined
May 25, 2006
Messages
8,363
We're going to need to see some pictures of this sister to figure out what kind of games she might like.
Preferably full-figure pics, those reveal a lot more about a person's character.
 

flabbyjack

Arcane
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Jul 15, 2004
Messages
2,592
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the area around my keyboard
There's some good suggestions in this thread, and some awful ones.

Baby's first RPG should be 'Final Fantasy Mystic Quest' which was made with this exact situation in mind. Enjoy.



I'm not sure if its available for download from Nintendo's store... prolly not.
 

Wysardry

Augur
Patron
Joined
Feb 26, 2004
Messages
283
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Steve Jackson's Sorcery! is available on Steam for the PC, or you could get it for an Android tablet (including Kindle Fire).

Shining Force I and II for the Sega Megadrive/Genesis are fairly simple games with cute characters, but you'd need an emulator to run them on a PC (Steam includes one if you buy them from there).

Might and Magic VI or VII might also be suitable, depending on your sister's tastes.
 

gestalt11

Arbiter
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
629
I have no idea, I played and beat Might and Magic 1 when I was 10 years old. I doubt my point of reference works well.
 

Glaucon

Prophet
Joined
Sep 11, 2016
Messages
1,000
Do none of you idiots remember what being a child was like/have no direct experience with children? Tbh most western crpgs can't really be enjoyed until your early teenage years.
 

Glaucon

Prophet
Joined
Sep 11, 2016
Messages
1,000
Shadowrun Returns is practically baby's first RPG. I don't believe there's anything too content inappropriate for 8 year olds.
Tracking down a serial killer & organ thief in a dystopian world run by mega-corporations and removing your character's eyes to replace them with cybernetic implants? Oh yeah, it's a regular day at the ball pit.

Sure, but it's not a graphic gore-and-swear-fest. During the summer between 2nd and 3rd grade I read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings (received an award at school for reading just those four books). :M
They're children's books.
 
Self-Ejected

buru5

Very Grumpy Dragon
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Apr 9, 2017
Messages
2,048
JRPGs are probably your best bet. I'd recommend Chrono Trigger, easy and the art style appeals to younger kids, but even that might be tedious for an 8 year old.

Shining Soul for GBA or Terranigma for SNES are easy to emulate and are both action-rpgs which would probably hold her attention longer than anything turn/menu based.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
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They're children's books.
The Hobbit
  • Grades / Interest Level 7 - 12
  • Reading Level 8 (Flesch-Kincaid)
On second thought that may not have been the best example. However, In the 2nd grade, just about every kid and I loved the Scary Stories trilogy with all those gruesome pictures by Stephen Gammell (image search to check 'em out). Shadowrun Returns is certainly less gruesome than those are.

Incidentally, I checked out the google app rating for SR and Dragonfall and of course they're rated Teen (for some reason HBS never bothered with the ESRB). If the 8 year old is allowed to watch PG-13 movies, she can play it just fine.
 

Glaucon

Prophet
Joined
Sep 11, 2016
Messages
1,000
They're children's books.
The Hobbit
  • Grades / Interest Level 7 - 12
  • Reading Level 8 (Flesch-Kincaid)
On second thought that may not have been the best example. However, In the 2nd grade, just about every kid and I loved the Scary Stories trilogy with all those gruesome pictures by Stephen Gammell (image search to check 'em out). Shadowrun Returns is certainly less gruesome than those are.

Incidentally, I checked out the google app rating for SR and Dragonfall and of course they're rated Teen (for some reason HBS never bothered with the ESRB). If the 8 year old is allowed to watch PG-13 movies, she can play it just fine.
It's not just a matter of content. It's also about what a child can even understand and engage with. The whole mood of cynicism and rebellion, the sense of progress and technology having come to rot, the strange mixture of the punk and noir aesthetic that you find in cyberpunk--this isn't in my mind really appreciable by children (nevermind if it's appropriate). Sure they can watch movies with these kinds of settings, but mostly because they're pretty to look at and the action is exciting. But reading a book or playing an rpg in this sort of setting? Cmon. Also horror is a complete non-sequitor. Those sorts of primal fears I think are universally communicable (again, nevermind if it's appropriate).

Maybe something like Baldur's gate could work for a child, but even then you'd have to handhold and turn down the difficulty to the point where they may as well not be playing it.
 

Mark Richard

Arcane
Joined
Mar 14, 2016
Messages
1,192
Shadowrun Returns is practically baby's first RPG. I don't believe there's anything too content inappropriate for 8 year olds.
Tracking down a serial killer & organ thief in a dystopian world run by mega-corporations and removing your character's eyes to replace them with cybernetic implants? Oh yeah, it's a regular day at the ball pit.

Sure, but it's not a graphic gore-and-swear-fest. During the summer between 2nd and 3rd grade I read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings (received an award at school for reading just those four books). :M
True, the disturbing stuff is implied rather than shown. I do think when selecting appropriate content for kids it pays to be on the lookout for more than just splatterhouse gore though. Within reason of course. Every kid grows up at their own unique pace. Sometimes you just can't predict your cousin won't go near a flower for a whole six months after watching The Day of the Triffids.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,653
It's not just a matter of content. It's also about what a child can even understand and engage with. The whole mood of cynicism and rebellion, the sense of progress and technology having come to rot, the strange mixture of the punk and noir aesthetic that you find in cyberpunk--this isn't in my mind really appreciable by children (nevermind if it's appropriate). Sure they can watch movies with these kinds of settings, but mostly because they're pretty to look at and the action is exciting. But reading a book or playing an rpg in this sort of setting? Cmon. Also horror is a complete non-sequitor. Those sorts of primal fears I think are universally communicable (again, nevermind if it's appropriate).

When I was around 10, I thought Final Fantasy 6's story was amazing and that's a steampunk setting where the world goes through an apocalypse with a playable post-apocalypse.

Maybe something like Baldur's gate could work for a child, but even then you'd have to handhold and turn down the difficulty to the point where they may as well not be playing it.

You're underestimating a kid's resilience. It's busy, tired adults who need things dumbed down.
 

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