RPG Experts - Games for a 13 year old girl

[Grim.Reaper]

Looking for some advice....although I purchase and try to play a number of RPG games, I am no expert and often not the best at them.  But my daughter is a gamer as well and thinking she might enjoy them, but not sure.  Her main games that she plays are things like Minecraft, Sims, Escapist, etc...so thinking maybe she might enjoy an RPG type of game that gives her more of a challenge and has some tougher goals to complete.  I think she would like creating characters and exploring, while also getting the chance to kill things along the way:)

So my questions.....

1)  Do you think 13 year old is too young for these RPG games?

2)  What games would you recommend?  I would prefer more modern games to old school and certainly something that is not extremely hard....but at the same time, I don't want something that is too easy that won't challenge her.  Not sure if games like Wasteland, Pillars, Grim Dawn, etc. would be possibilities or not...I actually own those, so I guess I could allow her to try them first, but would prefer to give her own copy of something so "she can learn to play it on her own".

Thoughts?

[jamus34]

1) I don't think she's too young for more challenging RPG games if you feel she would be ready for them...

2) that said, the RPG's you mentioned I don't really think are content suitable for a 13 yr old. Not really what modern RPG's there are that would be more suitable but if you go back to the Ultima / Wizardry / Might and Magic era of games I'm sure there would be enough challenge while cutting down on the blood and other more adult themes.

In all honesty getting some of the ported SNES and PS2 era RPG's might be your best bet (FFVI, Grandia 2 come to mind that were both recently released).

[Grim.Reaper]

Good points on content although she loves killing zombies:)

[MetalDog]

I just started Kingdom Of Amalur: Reckoning on the PS 3.  It's very representative of what I see my daughter playing on Skyrim.  You wander around, collecting plants for potions, killing random monsters and gaining experience, complete quests, side quests, faction quests, et al and there always seems like something to be doing.  I haven't met anything overtly sexual or graphically bloody.  And I really think it gives a good view of what a pen & paper RPG can be.  And my daughter is now 22, but she's been playing those types of games since Morrowind with her brother when she was around 13 or so.

[Philippe]

A girl of thirteen is probably smarter than most adults, and has the extra advantage of not having lost millions of brain cells to years of alcohol abuse.  The only real difference is that she won't make the same distinctions an adult will because of her lack of experience, and her perceptions and judgement will be a bit off for the next ten years or so for physiological reasons (change in brain size and hormonal bombardment).  Throw children's age-appropriate material at her and she'll dumb down and/or get bored and under-perform.  Throw adult material at her and she just may surprise you.  She's also probably a quicker learner than you are because she's used to everything being new to her.  The key factor is going to be whether something interests her or not, and that's a question of personal taste.  I'm often surprised by what interests my significant other (that's probably why we're still together), and the inner functioning of a woman's mind is probably something that a man will never understand. Extrapolating back from an adult woman's mind to a young adolescent's is a pretty mind-boggling exercise. I'm still scratching my head over my sister's interest in horse books.

Having said that, while the Steam sale is still on you can pick up Chains of Satinav and Memoria for next to nothing.  If you don't know them, these are adventure games set in the Dark Eye universe and are really the first and second parts of an extended fairy tale about a bird-catcher.  The story is quite good and the ending left me in tears.  It will also give you an opening for a very interesting discussion about life, values, and the meaning of love because when he has completed the quest the main character gets to choose the ending (a bit like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight).

If she like Chains of Satinav and Memoria she can continue to explore the world of the Dark Eye with the Drakensang games, the Realms of Arkania games, and the Blackguards games (the main character in Blackguards 2 is a very interesting woman, but you really shouldn't play it first or you'll miss what's going really going on).  All of these games are on Steam.

If you aren't familiar with it, the Dark Eye universe has been around and evolving for about thirty years, and is essentially Germany's answer to Dungeons and Dragons.  The three sets of computer games that I mentioned all use different variations of the pen and paper rules.  What makes the Dark Eye universe stand out is the incredibly deep backstory, and if you ever happen to play one of the Drakensang games you'll realize that the people who designed it really know what a medieval/early renaissance city is supposed to look like (probably because if you drive around in southern Germany you can occasionally find some that still resemble their older selves).

[amandachen]

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

[KyzBP]

This is not necessarily a game but it let's your daughter build one: http://store.steampowered.com/app/220700/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1

I got this for my 14 year old daughter last year and she loves it.  It allows her to unleash the creativity that all early teens are filled with.

[Grim.Reaper]

This is not necessarily a game but it let's your daughter build one: http://store.steampowered.com/app/220700/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1

I got this for my 14 year old daughter last year and she loves it.  It allows her to unleash the creativity that all early teens are filled with.

Interesting idea...

[amandachen]

Tier 2 or 3 of this bundle is a good way to get RPG Maker VX Ace and some of the DLC: https://www.bundlestars.com/en/bundle/ultimate-game-makers-bundle

[JasonPratt]

Good points on content although she loves killing zombies:)

If she loves killing zombie(ish things) in Minecraft, she ought to take to 7 Days to Die like cake. But it isn't really an RPG.

[JasonPratt]

Skyrim, meanwhile, has practically no objectionable content (no cursing really, no sex or nudity, blood is kind of minimal). And is definitely an RPG. The vanilla version is super-deep and going cheap during the final days of the winter sale; add the DLC for almost nothing (but especially the homebuilding DLC).

Edited to add: the vanilla game does allow you to marry any species or gender (and same genders will occasionally make passes at you), but if that's a problem you could consider it training with how to deal with that in real life. No storyline seems to require it. Even with marriage nothing actually happens other than some companion bonuses.

Also come to think of it, several of the Daedra sidemissions can get ethically pretty dark. But you don't have to do them, even if you inadvertently start one.

[DennisS]

I strongly recommend Darklands!, by Microprose. It's an old game, but one that my own daughter played to completion twice at that age.

Very little blood and gore, and with a religion-based magic system. No real downsides to the game, and it is now on GoG, and comes pre-loaded into DosBox. Runs great.

[tgb]

I strongly recommend Darklands!, by Microprose. It's an old game, but one that my own daughter played to completion twice at that age.

Very little blood and gore, and with a religion-based magic system. No real downsides to the game, and it is now on GoG, and comes pre-loaded into DosBox. Runs great.

Darklands is a classic but I doubt a modern teenager is going to adapt to the graphics and interface.  Maybe someday someone will do a proper remake.

[Nefaro]

Will likely depend on preference of setting more than anything.

In my experience, boys in their early teens get into 1st or 3rd-person RPGs more than old school isometric style RPGs.  To start, anyway.

Obviously the Bethesda range, such as Skyrim and the newer Fallouts, fit this description.  For something more action oriented, the Borderlands series has been popular.  However, being a girl could mean that she would pay attention to storylines more than teenage boys, who tend to just click through such things, so the more action-focused stuff may not be highest on the list.   So, yeah, Skyrim is probably a good middle ground.

After getting acquainted with the genre, titles with more cohesive stories, such as the original Dragon Age or Pillars Of Eternity, could slide into the burgeoning RPG library.  Also some of the inventory-heavy survival titles which are everywhere these days.

As a starter alternative with little in the way of learning curve, there are also simple rogue-ish RPGs such as Cardinal Quest 2.  No real story but it has the RPG basics and the inventory management & character customization is heavily pared down for faster play and less inventory management.

[Gusington]

Agree with the above posters on Skyrim and Fallout games. The original Fallout 1 & 2 may be good for a 13 year old as well.

I think it boils down to what her tastes are...does she like exploration, crafting or combat more?