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Good Multiplayer Action Titles For Wives and Other Girlyfolk

ElJeffeElJeffe Registered User, ClubPA regular
edited July 2008 in Games and Technology
My wife isn't exactly a hardcore gamer, but she can be lured with the right game. One of her favorite genres are multiplayer hack-and-slash action RPGs in the vein of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. In general, she likes games that are fun, arcade-y, and allow for character advancement (though MUA and the previous X-Men games had a pretty annoying time-spent-upgrading:time-spent-playing ratio).

Anyway, I don't think any games that precisely fit that mold have come out in recent years, but is there anything on-shelves for any current console (I have all three) that comes kinda close? We also play a lot of Mario Party, Scene-It (shut up, it's fun), Rockband, and I'll probably pick up BoomBlox for the Wii, but I'd like something more actiony we can do together.

I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
ElJeffe on

Posts

  • Post BluePost Blue Redmond, WARegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Streets of Rage 2 is up on digital shelves for the Virtual Console, which can do nothing but good for a relationship. Sure, it doesn't offer any character cusomization options, but both of you, as people, will be leveling up in the worthwhile life experience category.

    Post Blue on
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  • durandal4532durandal4532 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Red Star might be a good choice. It's a good beat-em-up/shoot-em-up hybrid. And it has some character customization options that aren't very flashy but make a difference in playstyle.

    durandal4532 on
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  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    My girlfriend can really get into Final Fantasy, doesn't play alot of games in general, but adores Boom Blox.
    Good call on that one.

    Improvolone on
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  • ElJeffeElJeffe Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited July 2008
    Alas, I have neither a PS2 nor a BC-capable PS3. :(

    edit: Yeah, Boom Blox is really fabu. We have a good repertoire of single-play type games like that. Bomberman World (or whatever it's called) on Wii is another good one, though I prefer the XBLA Bomberman.

    ElJeffe on
    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • Blue mapBlue map Hello darkness, my old friend. Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    You can get streets of rage 2 on the XBLA although i dont know if was port is any good as i have not played it myself.

    Blue map on
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  • ElJeffeElJeffe Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited July 2008
    My wife wouldn't have the patience for a game where you have to start over every time you run out of lives. And if it someone avoids that feature, then the whole game is, like, an hour.

    ElJeffe on
    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • The Big LevinskyThe Big Levinsky Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    My girlfriend and I enjoyed the Dynasty/Samurai Warriors series. It doesn't get much more hack n' slash than that, and characters level up and find new weapons/equipment/horses. The controls are nice and easy too.

    Warriors Orochi was a bit too hard for her tastes though, but we played the heck out of Dynasty Warriors 5 and the most recent Samurai Warriors game (can't remember if it was 2 or 3).

    The Big Levinsky on
  • Xenogears of BoreXenogears of Bore Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Final Fantasy:Crystal Chronicles is the best game of the genre.

    The DS version is quite good too.

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  • ElJeffeElJeffe Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited July 2008
    Xenogears of Bore wrote: »
    Final Fantasy:Crystal Chronicles is the best game of the genre.

    The DS version is quite good too.

    Yup. We played the hell out of that one.

    ElJeffe on
    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • BTPBTP Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Maybe a Super Monkey Ball game, and hot potato the controller around for each time someone falls off the board? If that gets a bit one-sided, pass it around with each passed level.

    Also, obligatory mentioning of Contra III and Bubble Bobble through the Virtual Console.

    BTP on
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  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Maybe Lego Star Wars or Indiana Jones?

    That probably sounds patronising since you basically just wade on through without any fear of death or punishment, but the Indy demo is up on Live so you could give that a try at least.

    darleysam on
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  • randombattlerandombattle Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Too Human might work too since that's pretty much just a fancy hack and slash game.

    randombattle on
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  • seabassseabass Doctor MassachusettsRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Maybe the dynasty warriors series? Hours of mindless button mashing for two.

    seabass on
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  • greeblegreeble Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Pixel Junk Monsters.

    My wife loved that game. We played it and its expansion Encore till we got 100% (Rainbows, no monsters got through) on all levels.

    greeble on
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    I’ll tell you what happens in Demon’s Souls when you die. You come back as a ghost with your health capped at half. And when you keep on dying, the alignment of the world turns black and the enemies get harder. That’s right, when you fail in this game, it gets harder. Why? Because fuck you is why.
  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    The Spider-man: Friend or Foe was a fairly average beatemup, I thought. Controls like MUA, but less upgrading and stuff.

    Fencingsax on
  • AntihippyAntihippy Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Metal Slug?

    Antihippy on
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  • GyralGyral Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    darleysam wrote: »
    Maybe Lego Star Wars or Indiana Jones?

    That probably sounds patronising since you basically just wade on through without any fear of death or punishment, but the Indy demo is up on Live so you could give that a try at least.

    I second this. I have Lego Star Wars and it's pretty fun with little worry about Game Over. Light action, some platforming and puzzle solving. Nothing too strenuous but fun all the way around.

    Gyral on
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  • UtsanomikoUtsanomiko Bros before Does Rollin' in the thlayRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Lego Star Wars however has quite a nice system of collecting and unlocking new characters and stuff, so that could fill in for being otherwise light. I've had a blast with it.

    Metal Slug is a good beat-em-up, but I'd have to describe the difficulty as 'cock-punchingly hard'. Expect to use 20-40 continues on some of the tougher iterations.

    Utsanomiko on
    hmm.gif
  • greeblegreeble Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Utsanomiko wrote: »

    Metal Slug is a good beat-em-up, but I'd have to describe the difficulty as 'cock-punchingly hard'. Expect to use 20-40 continues on some of the tougher iterations.

    mg_more_ball_punching.jpg

    Sorry, I like the picture.

    greeble on
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    Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
    I’ll tell you what happens in Demon’s Souls when you die. You come back as a ghost with your health capped at half. And when you keep on dying, the alignment of the world turns black and the enemies get harder. That’s right, when you fail in this game, it gets harder. Why? Because fuck you is why.
  • AntihippyAntihippy Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    greeble wrote: »
    Utsanomiko wrote: »

    Metal Slug is a good beat-em-up, but I'd have to describe the difficulty as 'cock-punchingly hard'. Expect to use 20-40 continues on some of the tougher iterations.

    mg_more_ball_punching.jpg

    Sorry, I like the picture.

    [Pedantic]Metal Slug, silly person. Not metal gear.[/Pedantic]

    Antihippy on
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  • GanluanGanluan Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I third (or whatever) the Dynasty Warriors suggestion. Excellent co-op fun, and not very difficult if played on Easy.

    Ganluan on
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  • TrichomeTrichome Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

    my wife loves it and it's too much like baldur's gate: dark alliance and i don't see it mentioned yet.

    Trichome on
  • SmashismSmashism Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Gyral wrote: »
    darleysam wrote: »
    Maybe Lego Star Wars or Indiana Jones?

    That probably sounds patronising since you basically just wade on through without any fear of death or punishment, but the Indy demo is up on Live so you could give that a try at least.

    I second this. I have Lego Star Wars and it's pretty fun with little worry about Game Over. Light action, some platforming and puzzle solving. Nothing too strenuous but fun all the way around.

    I third this.
    My GF gets easily frustrated by hard games, and I get easily bored with simple ones. And although the lego games are definitely simple, something about them is just so damn fun. You have to keep playing.
    It helps if you have lots of Indiana Jones and Star Wars lines remembered, reciting random lines during gameplay makes co op so much more genius.

    Smashism on
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  • Warder45Warder45 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Not really action-y, but Mario Kart Wii seems to be popular at my house.

    Warder45 on
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