RPG Experts - Games for a 13 year old girl

Nefaro · January 03, 2016, 04:05:04 PM

Quote from: Gusington on January 03, 2016, 04:00:59 PM
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?

I still dig Fallout 2 but after playing it a couple months ago, the UI can be rather fiddly and sluggish at modern screen resolutions. Not an easy one to start with IMO.

JasonPratt · January 03, 2016, 04:10:28 PM

What about the Bioware classics? KotoR or the Baldur's Gate series (or Icewind Dale for that matter? All 13-year-old girls love Drizzt. :D )

jamus34 · January 03, 2016, 04:34:44 PM

KoTOR I think would be perfect.

The original mass effect maybe?

What about early Divine Divinity games?

Maybe Mount and Blade Warband? Not a traditional RPG, but if she's into minecraft it might be a not bad direction to go.

Grim.Reaper · January 03, 2016, 05:46:48 PM

Thanks everybody, I am leaning more towards and RPG where she can just easily play with mouse/keyboard, more like the style of Pillars, Wasteland, etc....kind of where you just click around and such. I don't think she would do well with any game that will test her reflexes in combat and such:) Skyrim, Fallout 4, Witcher, etc probably would be too big for her, but maybe not. Will have to take a look at some of the other suggestions since not familiar with them.

JasonPratt · January 04, 2016, 01:27:20 PM

If she loves killing zombies in Minecraft, I can't believe she'd have much trouble with Skyrim. (I imagine Fallout 4 and definitely the Witcher series would be too 'mature' for a 13-yo.)

Bioware's pausible action RPG tactical games, though, don't have to worry about reflexes at all, really (other than the pause reflex). Plus she can mock you/us for just how whack old D&D games used to be!

airboy · January 04, 2016, 02:12:05 PM

Baldurs Gate on www.gog.com Cheap, classic, looks good on a modern PC, has an interesting story line.

In terms of maturity, what bothers you? Sex? Drugs? Religion? Violence (well - that one leaves out all RPGs).

Fallout has drugs, sex, prostitution, weird religious cults, gambling, etc...... This goes all the way back to Fallout 1.
Wasteland - even worse.

As a start, Baldur's Gate. Interesting story line. Really interesting characters (Minsc is one of the classic characters of all time). It also looks good on modern PCs and is moderately complicated. Lots of good guides out there if she decides to become a power gamer.

jamus34 · January 04, 2016, 02:46:33 PM

Also, as far as story based rpgs go you can't go wrong with planescape torment although some of the themes there are decidedly mature.

Nefaro · January 04, 2016, 05:37:45 PM

I'm just gonna re-emphasize something that looks good and isn't too old for a first.

Less likely to turn their nose up if it doesn't look & interface like some rickety thing their grandfather played back in the day, after walking uphill both ways to school.

Kids these days! That's how it is with first digital impressions.

Grim.Reaper · January 04, 2016, 07:06:09 PM

Quote from: airboy on January 04, 2016, 02:12:05 PM
Baldurs Gate on www.gog.com Cheap, classic, looks good on a modern PC, has an interesting story line.

In terms of maturity, what bothers you? Sex? Drugs? Religion? Violence (well - that one leaves out all RPGs).

Fallout has drugs, sex, prostitution, weird religious cults, gambling, etc...... This goes all the way back to Fallout 1.
Wasteland - even worse.

As a start, Baldur's Gate. Interesting story line. Really interesting characters (Minsc is one of the classic characters of all time). It also looks good on modern PCs and is moderately complicated. Lots of good guides out there if she decides to become a power gamer.

Prefer to stay away from drugs and sex...not as worried about violence since she knows it is all fake......

jamus34 · January 04, 2016, 07:39:51 PM

Quote from: Nefaro on January 04, 2016, 05:37:45 PM
I'm just gonna re-emphasize something that looks good and isn't too old for a first.

Less likely to turn their nose up if it doesn't look & interface like some rickety thing their grandfather played back in the day, after walking uphill both ways to school.

Kids these days! That's how it is with first digital impressions.

However if they cut their teeth gaming with Minecraft then something old might be better before their primitive minds are corrupted by realistic graphics not realizing the shit game underneath ;)

Or take the reverse route - have her play Pong for 8 hours then show her one of the Bioware RPG's ;D

DennisS · January 04, 2016, 09:09:27 PM

Quote from: tgb on January 03, 2016, 03:30:07 PM
Quote from: DennisS on January 03, 2016, 02:54:21 PM
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.

It's never too soon for a young gamer to be introduced to the fundamental notion that gameplay > fluff and graphics.

Nefaro · January 04, 2016, 10:20:25 PM

An old slow & clunky UI can send them packing quick.

I'm not promoting the newest & shiniest 3D stuff on the block. Just something that isn't so old that it's a pain to learn & play. Game design has come a long way in the past decade regarding UI & usability. I've seen kids wrinkle their nose at old stuff, and not necessarily due to the graphics sophistication.

For a kid's first RPG, I'd suggest having:

1) A decent & intuitive UI
2) Passable but engaging Tutorial that eases them into the learning curve without ending up like reading a whole manual on-screen.
3) Doesn't look like it was created in 1991. While the "retro" graphics look is the fad these days, almost none of them actually look like the really low-res, low-color, low-memory stuff from back then; they're much more crisp & distinctive. Choose the new, they can see the difference too.

Sir Slash · January 04, 2016, 11:00:24 PM

One of the big surprises in Pillars of Eternity for me was the very explicit language at times. It doesn't offend me but I didn't expect to be hit with the F-word, the S-word and some others. Elminister would never talk like that.

Zonso · January 05, 2016, 12:52:13 PM

I will throw a curveball out there and recommend a unique gem that is regularly overlooked - Wizardry 8. It is an old school RPG, ie no hand holding, set in an open, massive world. It has one of the best character creation/development and combat systems, if not the best, for a RPG, imo. The story is complex and involved. It still holds up ok, the UI is good though the graphics are a little dated. More importantly, it is young person friendly, something Fallout/Wasteland definitely are not!

JasonPratt · January 05, 2016, 02:41:22 PM

As always, Skyrim is clearly the winner.

Looks good (even in unmodded vanilla)? Check.

Modern (console-friendly) UI? Check.

Actually an RPG? Check.

Can have a female protagonist (even designed to look like a young/mid-teen girl)? Check.

Not much blood in the violence? Check.

Not smutty? Check.

Language pretty safe? Check.

Plenty to do and see without being unmanageably huge? Check.

No more difficult than fighting zombies in Minecraft? Probably check.

Therefore, in conclusion, I would like to say: Skyrim. O0

However, it occurs to me while writing that list that I know another game:

Looks good (even in unmodded vanilla)? Check. (Admittedly not as good as Skyrim, but still good.)

Modern UI? Check. (Admittedly not console-ish, and maybe a little more immediately complicated.)

Actually an RPG? Check.

Can have a female protagonist (even designed to look like a young/mid-teen girl)? Check.

Not much blood in the violence? Check.

Not smutty? Check. (Even less so than Skyrim.)

Language pretty safe? Check. (Even moreso than Skyrim.)

Plenty to do and see without being unmanageably huge? Check. (Well, it's vastly much larger than Skyrim, which makes the quests often more generic.)

No more difficult than fighting zombies in Minecraft? Probably check.

COMPLETELY FREE TO PLAY (at least for a while, theoretically forever if you want to put the time in to do all the quests to unlock more quests, assuming you don't want to spend real money for artistic bling on your character)? Check, check, checkedy check.

Based on the book(s) voted Novel of the 20th Century and of the 2nd Millennium? Check!

You can team up with her from another computer? Check! And so can her friends and other family if anyone wants.

I am of course referring to: Lord of the Rings Online