Other Good Family Games Like Hogwarts Legacy?

GodisanAtheist · Sep 19, 2024

Hey all. As you know, I have a Steambox hooked up to our spare TV that acts like a console. When Hogwarts Legacy came out, I picked it up because my wife and two kids (8M & 12F) are all big HP fans (I usually patient game but made an exception in this case cause my wife who normally doesn't game was super hyped for it).

Might have been one of the best purchases I've ever made. We have 400 hours in HWL with all four of us beating the game, once each, and then as a family sometimes using our evening "couch cozy" time to watch my wife goof around in the game capturing animals or exploring the beautiful world.

I figure we'd otherwise be watching some mind-numbing TV, its more interactive and more like bonding time to pile together and share a gaming experience even if it isn't co-op.

Naturally the interest in HWL has begin to wane and I'm curious to know if there are other similar easy going games that might fill this niche where one person plays as the lead and the rest of us hang out and pitch in suggestions/requests/share in the narrative?

Some criteria:

No Ultraviolence. Think something PG-13 at most like HWL.
No Raunchy Sex Scenes. Romance/kissing etc are fine.
Needs to have a narrative. Can't be just repetitive open world survival.
Multiple Character Profiles preferred, but not required.
Character Creation preferred, but not required.

Games I'm Considering:

Jedi Survivor (Played Fallen Order and kids got a kick out of watching, so I figure Survivor will be the same)
Star Wars Outlaws
Spider Man / Miles Morales / 2
Horizon Zero Dawn / Forbidden West

Any other recommendations would be welcome.

Oyeve · Sep 26, 2024

IMO, the Horizon games fit that bill. Star Wars Outlaws is a bit slow moving. The spiderman games, IMO, are repetitive. The God of War games are good but are rated M. Neir games are good as well. But are M.

GodisanAtheist · Sep 26, 2024

Oyeve said:
IMO, the Horizon games fit that bill. Star Wars Outlaws is a bit slow moving. The spiderman games, IMO, are repetitive. The God of War games are good but are rated M. Neir games are good as well. But are M.

-Thanks. My son & daughter LOVE dinosaurs and LOVE battlebots so the Horizon games seem like they're right up their alley (Alloy hur hur hur).

Outlaws might suck for jaded old timers like us, but I have to remind myself that my kids aren't jaded old timers and a slower paced, easier, repetitive open world Ubisoft game is still likely fresh and fun for them. However, it looks like Outlaws isn't on Steam yet, so I'll be waiting for this one.

Same with Spoderman, might be repetitive and boring from older gamers who have seen the same thing a 1000 times, but likely exciting and fun for the kids to play as Spiderman, so long as the game isn't TOO violent.

Thanks for the insight, if boring is all these games have against them then my kids will absolutely be entertained

balloonshark · Sep 26, 2024

$10 for Horizon Zero Dawn Complete: https://www.cdkeys.com/horizon-zero-dawn-complete-edition-pc-steam

There is currently a free mouse game on epic games. Next weeks game has a bear. Both are single player though.

GodisanAtheist · Sep 27, 2024

balloonshark said:
$10 for Horizon Zero Dawn Complete: https://www.cdkeys.com/horizon-zero-dawn-complete-edition-pc-steam

There is currently a free mouse game on epic games. Next weeks game has a bear. Both are single player though.

-Well HZD has been purchased. Will download tomorrow while the kiddos are in school...

GodisanAtheist · Sep 29, 2024

Did some pregaming to check out Zero Dawn, didn't see anything terribly offensive (some audio logs to skip around the kids I guess).

Played it with the Fam last night. They are into it. I feel it's especially important to my son to see a female protag, some of the ignorant sexist **** that comes out of this 8 year old's mouth...

I'm like MF where is this coming from cause it's not me.

Shmee · Sep 30, 2024

SWTOR, SWEAW, also Ark Survival Evolved, given the love of dinos.

igor_kavinski · Sep 30, 2024

GodisanAtheist said:
Any other recommendations would be welcome.

All the Uncharted games?

Metal Gear 1 VR missions <<< This could be a great bonding experience as everyone gives you hints on how to complete the objective in the lowest possible time. The graphics are like Tron so kinda timeless.

Portal 2 (never played Portal 1)

Oni (it's kinda fun to watch when you are battling multiple enemies on screen thanks to the various combos)

Devil May Cry 4 HD

Burnout Paradise

https://www.gog.com/en/game/project_eden (underrated classic)

hardhat · Sep 30, 2024

It takes two. Absolutely amazing game for a couple with kids, though you do need two players.

DAPUNISHER · Oct 5, 2024

Probably already burned out on them being age appropriate. But if they somehow have not played them to distraction already; The Lego games are great fun. I have so many that were given away free by Epic and Amazon. My son loved Lego Star Wars on 360 when he was a little kid. We spent many hours playing co-op too. I remember being incredibly impressed with the sense of humor the games have.

GodisanAtheist · Oct 5, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
Probably already burned out on them being age appropriate. But if they somehow have not played them to distraction already; The Lego games are great fun. I have so many that were given away free by Epic and Amazon. My son loved Lego Star Wars on 360 when he was a little kid. We spent many hours playing co-op too. I remember being incredibly impressed with the sense of humor the games have.

- I have the Lego Star Wars collection and the kids never really gelled with it.

They're new age kids where the Ubisoft open world is their baseline of gameplay, not 3d platforming. They've played and had fun with it but quickly lost interest without the flash, glam, and story of more modern games.

GodisanAtheist · Oct 5, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
All the Uncharted games?

Metal Gear 1 VR missions <<< This could be a great bonding experience as everyone gives you hints on how to complete the objective in the lowest possible time. The graphics are like Tron so kinda timeless.

Portal 2 (never played Portal 1)

Oni (it's kinda fun to watch when you are battling multiple enemies on screen thanks to the various combos)

Devil May Cry 4 HD

Burnout Paradise

https://www.gog.com/en/game/project_eden (underrated classic)

-It sounds like a list of good games, but some like Uncharted or Devil May Cry IMO might be getting away from the "child appropriate" directive in the first post from a violence perspective, but I could be wrong.

Otherwise we've beaten Portal 2 as a family and it was a ton of fun. Not many other games in the "wildly entertaining puzzle game" category. Would love for Valve to count to three with this series.

I have burnout paradise and my son is a little car guy at heart so I'll see if that works out somehow.

igor_kavinski · Oct 5, 2024

GodisanAtheist said:
They're new age kids where the Ubisoft open world is their baseline of gameplay, not 3d platforming.

How about Crash Bandicoot trilogy?

igor_kavinski · Oct 5, 2024

GodisanAtheist said:
-It sounds like a list of good games, but some like Uncharted or Devil May Cry IMO might be getting away from the "child appropriate" directive in the first post from a violence perspective, but I could be wrong.

Parent reviews for Devil May Cry 4

Read Devil May Cry 4 reviews from parents on Common Sense Media. Become a member to write your own review.

www.commonsensemedia.org

DMC4 described as 14+.

Parent reviews for Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

Read Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection reviews from parents on Common Sense Media. Become a member to write your own review.

www.commonsensemedia.org

Seems totally safe.

igor_kavinski · Oct 5, 2024

How about these?

2006 Tomb Raider: Legend
2007 Tomb Raider: Anniversary
2008 Tomb Raider: Underworld

All rated as 13+.

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

METAL GEAR SOLID

You are Snake, a government agent on a mission to regain control of a secret nuclear weap

www.gog.com

On sale right now.

The graphics are bad by today's standards but you still gotta admire how much they accomplished with the PS1 hardware back in the day. Highlights worthy of consideration: gameplay (you can almost finish the entire game without killing a single soldier, other than bosses), the story is bonkers but relevant to the real world regarding nuclear proliferation and gives you something to think about possibly even weeks after you've finished it, cutscenes are almost like something out of a Hollywood production and the music/sound effects/voice overs are pretty great. This is something to be enjoyed with a good sound system.

Avoid turning on captions as noted in a user review, to avoid slowness.

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
How about these?

2006 Tomb Raider: Legend
2007 Tomb Raider: Anniversary
2008 Tomb Raider: Underworld

All rated as 13+.

On sale for the next day or so for a little over a dollar each on GoG.com!

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

Found a crazy game: https://www.gog.com/en/game/journey_to_the_savage_planet

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

Offtopic but I think you will enjoy this game in the privacy of your bedroom

Die besten Videospiele, ohne DRM | GOG.COM

Lade die besten Klassiker und neuesten Spiele für Windows, Mac & Linux runter. Eine große Auswahl an Spielen, ohne DRM, aber mit kostenlosen Extras und einer 30-Tage-Geld-zurück-Garantie.

www.gog.com

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

Night Lights

The world is different at night. Take on the role of a tiny robot and embark on an advent

www.gog.com

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

Beyond a Steel Sky

From Charles Cecil, creator of the Broken Sword series, with art direction by Dave Gibb

www.gog.com

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

The really nice looking Broken Sword games are also on sale on GoG.

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

Trine: Ultimate Collection

Experience the complete Trine series with Trine: Ultimate Collection. This collection inc

www.gog.com

igor_kavinski · Oct 6, 2024

Bridge Constructor Portal

Enter the Aperture Science Enrichment Center and experience Bridge Constructor Portal –

www.gog.com

GodisanAtheist · Oct 6, 2024

@igor_kavinski seems to have decided this is his personal neffing thread

Other Good Family Games Like Hogwarts Legacy?

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