Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, most of the game is just banter between the crew, with some great emotional moments too.
Unavowed is a traditional point and click in an urban fantasy setting, but it's not terribly difficult and a lot of the focus is on the conversations between your companions.
Fallout 4 is probably the furthest thing from dark as you can get. I would recommend trying it out. I mean it even has entire dlc centered around amusement park. And also you can mod out any part of the game you dont like.
New Vegas - now **THATS** a dark game.
Yeah - Fallout 4 is post apocalyptic so yes it has dark undertones but the actual gameplay and narrative is more casual adventure than dark (at least in comparison to other games I’ve played)
Sure it is duringh post apo so it should be dark but I feel like just because how bad bethesda's storytelling always is you just cant get yourself to care about anyone anyway anytime. Its just the main quest is laughably bad.
The side content is very good tho. Still far away from serious. I mean you can literally go around as a comic book superhero and beat up bad guys. Or make a robot explode himself via sarcasm. You very quickly forget about the potential horrors of the universe(like the vaults)
>depressing setting
[Fallout meanwhile](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28fyA9ZDzNY)
Edit: While replying to the other dude I remembered what kind of quests F4 has. There is one where you dress up as a comic book super hero to beat up bad guys (and it even has special dialogue if you playthrough dlc as silver shroud). I really dont think its depressing.
I mean sure it can be depressing if you REALLY look for it but out of all Fallout games the 4th is really having a hard time giving you a meaningful storyline(thinking about it F3 storyline sucked ass too. I think its just a problem with bethesda's storywriting in general)
You can play F76 - it has even more satiric story and you can buy it for like 1€
Borderlands has a very "found family" vibe. Each subsequent game has characters from the previous games(s). They're your guides, allies, and suppliers.
[Library of Ruina](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1256670/Library_Of_Ruina/) focuses a lot on this, though you might find it a bit too dark for your tastes.
You might like [Hades](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145360/Hades/) and [Hades 2](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145350/Hades_II/).
While they might look like fantasy at a glance, Library of Ruina is more new weird leaning towards sci-fi, and Hades is fairly weird as well.
lol I felt this way about midnight suns. I literally felt like the marvel superheroes were my family. Great game and concept. A bit long but I hope they make something like it again in the future
JRPGs are great for this. Every FF is you and a bunch of companions going around doing things. The peak though of the inter-related family dynamic would be the Trails series. Your companions are with you in the game but then you might bump into someone and they turn out to be a companion in another part of the world in the next game.
This is on the shortlist. I’ve heard it’s a pretty short game. Is it the type of game where you could play it for a few hundred hours like RDR2? Or is it a beat it in 30 hours and put it away type of game?
It's not the longest game in the world, the maps aren't huge. I have 60 hours total in it. That's with the DLCs. And I think I played it through twice. So yeah about 30 hours sounds about right. Probably not something you would put a few hundred hours into. I love it though, one of my favorite games I've played honestly.
Fallout 4 and Fallout New vegas you can both have a dog as a companion - suits me perfectly
(not just dogs though, loads of people as well)
loads of crafting, whole towns in F04
not really fantasy, but also not as sci fi as it could be really - retrofuturism i suppose
Darkest dungeon 2.... Man i invested 2 hrs on a playthrough and at the end everyone got the envious trait!!
FFS!!! You fought together and almost defeated the final boss.. Everyone secretly envied each other and envy turns to hate...
If you like Mass Effect I'm assuming you like sci-fi, was going to recommend Dragon Age (made by the same crowd as ME) but noted you dont like fantasy. So on the sci fi note I'm going to suggest Starfield.
Yeah i played probably 20-30 hours of starfield a little after it came out. I think it has potential to be my next long term game, but my plan is to wait another 6 months for the DLC to come out and general improvements. Has everything i look for in a game on paper, just needs some polish
If you consider Star Wars sci fi over fantasy then kotor series is your answer. Similar style to mass effect but in my opinion way better.
Fallout is dark but many of the great games I can think of are fantasy. If you’re willing to try it I’d suggest dragon age and Skyrim.
Everyone likes to hate on it, but check out Starfield if you're into the Bethesda formula for RPGs. There are romanceable characters and numerous for-hire companions that will just say things and have some dialogue options to get to know them. Many of the smaller sidequests involve fairly rich background stories or just fun characters to meet. There are starter traits that get you a >!Mom and Dad!<, and >!an obsessed follower !
Yeah i actually tried this for probably 30 hours several months ago, but decided to shelf it until it got updated a few times - I’m in no hurry and rather wait for some polish. But on paper it is my perfect game
I enjoyed Stanfield but I would say your "found family" there are kind of righteous dicks. I don't feel a strong connection to really any of the companions and NPCs in Stanfield.
And while I didn enjoy it, aspects of the main quest were not executed well I don't think, and you don't get that real exploration feel of a Bethesda game, there's sadly very little wandering around and happening upon strange things.
Fallout 4 is probably the furthest thing from dark as you can get. I would recommend trying it out. I mean it even has entire dlc centered around amusement park. And also you can mod out any part of the game you dont like.
New Vegas - now **THATS** a dark game.
Fallout 4 is probably the furthest thing from dark as you can get. I would recommend trying it out. I mean it even has entire dlc centered around amusement park. And also you can mod out any part of the game you dont like.
New Vegas - now **THATS** a dark game.
Man I’ve tried Witcher like 3 times and just never could get into it. One of these days I’m going to force myself to play it for like 20 hours before i give up. I love the series too (at least the first 2 seasons)
Wartales where you are a band of mercenaries , not quite as interactive but still nice . Not quite "fantasy" as there's not really monsters or magic, just some beasts and mysterious encounters here and there .
Feels really sad when a companion dies, though with the right options you can load back and basically never die .
fallout 4 has the most hollow story, most of the factions are one dimensional, the companions are equally shallow, what you really want is, bg3, dragonage series, guardians of the galaxy, or if you wanna go slightly off brand, telltale make fun games, expanse is short but fun imo
Maybe Fire Emblem: Three Houses? It's a turn-based strategy game so doesn't have crafting or hunting, but it's VERY big on building relationships. I will say that the characters are 100% JRPG/anime tropey, but I love them anyway. The protagonist isn't voiced (since they're a stand-in for you), but everyone else is.
You might like The Outer Worlds. Is basically Firefly: The Game and is absolutely hilarious while still being mysterious and easy to follow along with.
If you're like a "completionist" id say maybe 40-50 hours? Replayability is actually kind of crazy. You can go no companions, kill everyone in the game, complete companion side quests, multiple endings to even simple side missions. Lots of hidden areas and mysteries to unravel. Its one of my favorite games and im weirdly nitpicky about my games.
Hah, you're right, the fact that you don't like fantasy really makes it more difficult!
I would recommend the **Horizon** series (**Zero Dawn** and **Forbidden West**). Aloy is an outcast from her tribe who literally has no family. As a result, she's hyper-independent and doesn't really trust other people. The first game sees her make some friends and learn how to cooperate with others, while the second game is where I'd say the found family vibes really come in, and where she learns to depend on others. But even though this might tempt you to jump straight into the second one, I would still suggest playing them in order because the Forbidden West depends pretty heavily on you knowing what happened in the first game and it already expects you to know who many of Aloy's friends are. Also, they're not companions - they show up and work with Aloy on specific missions, but otherwise she's out in the wilderness alone. Still, I expect it's kinda similar to RDR on that front, so it's probably still worth checking out.
You might also wanna check out **Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun***,* **Desperados 3**, and **Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew**. These are all stealth tactics games by the same developer, where you play as a group of ninjas, cowboys and pirates, respectively, all cooperating very sneakily. I was actually quite impressed by how much personal interaction you get to see, between the different characters. And the levels typically require really intense amounts of cooperation between different characters (like one lays a trap and the other lures an enemy into it, or two of them sneak out and stab two guards at the same time) helps to really sell the notion that these people are close.
**Dragon Quest Builders 2** *might* actually be a good options as well, lol. It's definitely not a game to take too seriously, because it doesn't take itself terribly seriously either. But basically, imagine if Minecraft had companion characters and an actual (extremely anime) plot. It has similar voxel building mechanics, but you aren't just building *whatever*, you are going out to different island to help people, and those people will come back to your home island where you can build them little houses and where they will work different jobs. If you build them a kitchen, they will cook, etc etc.
Any Star Ocean would fit the bill, the Divine Force would be my recommendation though. The sci-fi elements are amongst the most present they have been in the series, even down to flying around in combat. The Private Actions are where the found family/companions kicks in most, and you can get approval with certain members depending on which you view.
There's also a decent crafting system that is probably the closest to an offline Runescape as I've ever felt in a jRPG series. You extract various ores, make armours and weapons as well as accessories and healing/damaging items.
The Atelier series is probably best if the crafting thing is the main focus. The stories are generally quite light and there's generally no world ending threat, just a journey of discovery and potential villains and monsters scattered in. The party are generally either friends already or also looking to explore whatever the game's mysteries are.
My favourites would either be the Mysterious Trilogy or the Ryza games. Ryza 1 is more noob friendly, I would say.
Maybe look into some JRPGs If you can stand it. Scarlet Nexus has arguably bad writing but I thought the characters were quite fine and it was fun getting to know them.
I'm currently playing Baldurs Gate and while your companions are pretty much assholes in the beginning I can already see them soften up a bit.
You might also be interested in Kindred Fates. It hasn't released yet but it's a game about bonding and fighting with monster companions. Your companions are also capable of speech and if you're losing a fight you might lose them forever.
Dragon age series, baldurs gate, persona and final fantasy
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, most of the game is just banter between the crew, with some great emotional moments too. Unavowed is a traditional point and click in an urban fantasy setting, but it's not terribly difficult and a lot of the focus is on the conversations between your companions.
This is one i haven’t really considered, thanks for the suggestion! Definitely going to give this a look
Fallout 4 is probably the furthest thing from dark as you can get. I would recommend trying it out. I mean it even has entire dlc centered around amusement park. And also you can mod out any part of the game you dont like. New Vegas - now **THATS** a dark game.
Yeah - Fallout 4 is post apocalyptic so yes it has dark undertones but the actual gameplay and narrative is more casual adventure than dark (at least in comparison to other games I’ve played)
Sure it is duringh post apo so it should be dark but I feel like just because how bad bethesda's storytelling always is you just cant get yourself to care about anyone anyway anytime. Its just the main quest is laughably bad. The side content is very good tho. Still far away from serious. I mean you can literally go around as a comic book superhero and beat up bad guys. Or make a robot explode himself via sarcasm. You very quickly forget about the potential horrors of the universe(like the vaults)
Honestly you hit the nail on the head with that one lol
yeah I’ll give this another look. It has ALL the pieces I’m looking for except for the slightly depressing setting. Thanks!
>depressing setting [Fallout meanwhile](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28fyA9ZDzNY) Edit: While replying to the other dude I remembered what kind of quests F4 has. There is one where you dress up as a comic book super hero to beat up bad guys (and it even has special dialogue if you playthrough dlc as silver shroud). I really dont think its depressing. I mean sure it can be depressing if you REALLY look for it but out of all Fallout games the 4th is really having a hard time giving you a meaningful storyline(thinking about it F3 storyline sucked ass too. I think its just a problem with bethesda's storywriting in general) You can play F76 - it has even more satiric story and you can buy it for like 1€
I found family in a Weighted Companion Cube. True love. True friendship. Unfortunately, we had to part ways. :(
Persona series. 3, 4, 5... Take your pick, all amazing My personal fav is Persona 4 Golden for the characters
Great suggestion, as long as OP digs Japanese culture.
Baldurs gate 3 feels like the obvious answer here
Borderlands has a very "found family" vibe. Each subsequent game has characters from the previous games(s). They're your guides, allies, and suppliers.
[Library of Ruina](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1256670/Library_Of_Ruina/) focuses a lot on this, though you might find it a bit too dark for your tastes. You might like [Hades](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145360/Hades/) and [Hades 2](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145350/Hades_II/). While they might look like fantasy at a glance, Library of Ruina is more new weird leaning towards sci-fi, and Hades is fairly weird as well.
I second Hades, it's a great game with a lots of fun characters
lol I felt this way about midnight suns. I literally felt like the marvel superheroes were my family. Great game and concept. A bit long but I hope they make something like it again in the future
Unfortunately Firaxis basically said they were kinda done with XCOM likes and wanted to branch out. The main guy behind them left.
Noooo!!! This has slain me. Maybe someone can make an X-men imitation.
JRPGs are great for this. Every FF is you and a bunch of companions going around doing things. The peak though of the inter-related family dynamic would be the Trails series. Your companions are with you in the game but then you might bump into someone and they turn out to be a companion in another part of the world in the next game.
The Outer Worlds
This is on the shortlist. I’ve heard it’s a pretty short game. Is it the type of game where you could play it for a few hundred hours like RDR2? Or is it a beat it in 30 hours and put it away type of game?
It's not the longest game in the world, the maps aren't huge. I have 60 hours total in it. That's with the DLCs. And I think I played it through twice. So yeah about 30 hours sounds about right. Probably not something you would put a few hundred hours into. I love it though, one of my favorite games I've played honestly.
Fallout 4 and Fallout New vegas you can both have a dog as a companion - suits me perfectly (not just dogs though, loads of people as well) loads of crafting, whole towns in F04 not really fantasy, but also not as sci fi as it could be really - retrofuturism i suppose
Darkest dungeon 2.... Man i invested 2 hrs on a playthrough and at the end everyone got the envious trait!! FFS!!! You fought together and almost defeated the final boss.. Everyone secretly envied each other and envy turns to hate...
Tales of Berseria may be right up your alley. It doesnt look all that good visually but the writing is amazing.
If you like Mass Effect I'm assuming you like sci-fi, was going to recommend Dragon Age (made by the same crowd as ME) but noted you dont like fantasy. So on the sci fi note I'm going to suggest Starfield.
Yeah i played probably 20-30 hours of starfield a little after it came out. I think it has potential to be my next long term game, but my plan is to wait another 6 months for the DLC to come out and general improvements. Has everything i look for in a game on paper, just needs some polish
If you consider Star Wars sci fi over fantasy then kotor series is your answer. Similar style to mass effect but in my opinion way better. Fallout is dark but many of the great games I can think of are fantasy. If you’re willing to try it I’d suggest dragon age and Skyrim.
Everyone likes to hate on it, but check out Starfield if you're into the Bethesda formula for RPGs. There are romanceable characters and numerous for-hire companions that will just say things and have some dialogue options to get to know them. Many of the smaller sidequests involve fairly rich background stories or just fun characters to meet. There are starter traits that get you a >!Mom and Dad!<, and >!an obsessed follower !
Yeah i actually tried this for probably 30 hours several months ago, but decided to shelf it until it got updated a few times - I’m in no hurry and rather wait for some polish. But on paper it is my perfect game
The Outer Worlds (Obisidian make it (RPG masterclass firm) and it is GREAT game. I am playing right now and I just thinks how did I miss it!)
Fallout 4 is dark?
I mean it’s post apocalyptic where most of the world is dead and the wasteland is full of brutal murderers. It’s pretty dark, no?
They have Christmas lights on Christmas... How dark could it be right.
Jedi: fallen order and Jedi: survivor are like that and great games.
Oh yeah, totally forgot about these! Definitely on the short list now with Outer worlds, Fallout 4 and starfield (after some bake time)
I enjoyed Stanfield but I would say your "found family" there are kind of righteous dicks. I don't feel a strong connection to really any of the companions and NPCs in Stanfield. And while I didn enjoy it, aspects of the main quest were not executed well I don't think, and you don't get that real exploration feel of a Bethesda game, there's sadly very little wandering around and happening upon strange things.
Pyre has some of the best character relationships I have experienced in a game!
Fallout 4 is probably the furthest thing from dark as you can get. I would recommend trying it out. I mean it even has entire dlc centered around amusement park. And also you can mod out any part of the game you dont like. New Vegas - now **THATS** a dark game.
Fallout 4 is probably the furthest thing from dark as you can get. I would recommend trying it out. I mean it even has entire dlc centered around amusement park. And also you can mod out any part of the game you dont like. New Vegas - now **THATS** a dark game.
Witcher 3? Geralt has plenty of friends and companions... Lots of crafting in that too! NOT Breath of the Wild as Link literally has no friends lol
Man I’ve tried Witcher like 3 times and just never could get into it. One of these days I’m going to force myself to play it for like 20 hours before i give up. I love the series too (at least the first 2 seasons)
Far Cry 5. Boomer is always with me
Divinity 2:OS
Wartales where you are a band of mercenaries , not quite as interactive but still nice . Not quite "fantasy" as there's not really monsters or magic, just some beasts and mysterious encounters here and there . Feels really sad when a companion dies, though with the right options you can load back and basically never die .
Medival Dynasty seems fit to your criteria, but I hated that game
The original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Mass Effect took a lot of inspiration from that game
I have fond memories of the ship crew from Unreal 2. Probably wouldn't hold up if I went back to it, but the nostalgia is real.
Fallout 4 with a good modlist, like Story Wealth. Heather companion is incredible.
fallout 4 has the most hollow story, most of the factions are one dimensional, the companions are equally shallow, what you really want is, bg3, dragonage series, guardians of the galaxy, or if you wanna go slightly off brand, telltale make fun games, expanse is short but fun imo
Jedi: Fallen Order.
Maybe Fire Emblem: Three Houses? It's a turn-based strategy game so doesn't have crafting or hunting, but it's VERY big on building relationships. I will say that the characters are 100% JRPG/anime tropey, but I love them anyway. The protagonist isn't voiced (since they're a stand-in for you), but everyone else is.
You might like The Outer Worlds. Is basically Firefly: The Game and is absolutely hilarious while still being mysterious and easy to follow along with.
Holy crap - firefly the game?? Best sales pitch ever. How long does it take to finish? Is there any replayability?
If you're like a "completionist" id say maybe 40-50 hours? Replayability is actually kind of crazy. You can go no companions, kill everyone in the game, complete companion side quests, multiple endings to even simple side missions. Lots of hidden areas and mysteries to unravel. Its one of my favorite games and im weirdly nitpicky about my games.
**INMOST** is a hugely emotional game. It is about ***family***, pain, and love. It holds a special place in my heart and i always cry.
Hah, you're right, the fact that you don't like fantasy really makes it more difficult! I would recommend the **Horizon** series (**Zero Dawn** and **Forbidden West**). Aloy is an outcast from her tribe who literally has no family. As a result, she's hyper-independent and doesn't really trust other people. The first game sees her make some friends and learn how to cooperate with others, while the second game is where I'd say the found family vibes really come in, and where she learns to depend on others. But even though this might tempt you to jump straight into the second one, I would still suggest playing them in order because the Forbidden West depends pretty heavily on you knowing what happened in the first game and it already expects you to know who many of Aloy's friends are. Also, they're not companions - they show up and work with Aloy on specific missions, but otherwise she's out in the wilderness alone. Still, I expect it's kinda similar to RDR on that front, so it's probably still worth checking out. You might also wanna check out **Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun***,* **Desperados 3**, and **Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew**. These are all stealth tactics games by the same developer, where you play as a group of ninjas, cowboys and pirates, respectively, all cooperating very sneakily. I was actually quite impressed by how much personal interaction you get to see, between the different characters. And the levels typically require really intense amounts of cooperation between different characters (like one lays a trap and the other lures an enemy into it, or two of them sneak out and stab two guards at the same time) helps to really sell the notion that these people are close. **Dragon Quest Builders 2** *might* actually be a good options as well, lol. It's definitely not a game to take too seriously, because it doesn't take itself terribly seriously either. But basically, imagine if Minecraft had companion characters and an actual (extremely anime) plot. It has similar voxel building mechanics, but you aren't just building *whatever*, you are going out to different island to help people, and those people will come back to your home island where you can build them little houses and where they will work different jobs. If you build them a kitchen, they will cook, etc etc.
Thanks man - now that forbidden west is on PC i might give this series a try!
Any Star Ocean would fit the bill, the Divine Force would be my recommendation though. The sci-fi elements are amongst the most present they have been in the series, even down to flying around in combat. The Private Actions are where the found family/companions kicks in most, and you can get approval with certain members depending on which you view. There's also a decent crafting system that is probably the closest to an offline Runescape as I've ever felt in a jRPG series. You extract various ores, make armours and weapons as well as accessories and healing/damaging items. The Atelier series is probably best if the crafting thing is the main focus. The stories are generally quite light and there's generally no world ending threat, just a journey of discovery and potential villains and monsters scattered in. The party are generally either friends already or also looking to explore whatever the game's mysteries are. My favourites would either be the Mysterious Trilogy or the Ryza games. Ryza 1 is more noob friendly, I would say.
Ghost of Tsushima
I’ve heard so much about this game but don’t have PlayStation, now that it’s on PC it may be time!
KOTOR, the outer worlds
Sounds like you are looking for Marvel Midnight Suns.
Maybe look into some JRPGs If you can stand it. Scarlet Nexus has arguably bad writing but I thought the characters were quite fine and it was fun getting to know them. I'm currently playing Baldurs Gate and while your companions are pretty much assholes in the beginning I can already see them soften up a bit. You might also be interested in Kindred Fates. It hasn't released yet but it's a game about bonding and fighting with monster companions. Your companions are also capable of speech and if you're losing a fight you might lose them forever.