Games for Gothic Girlfriend?

[AngryBritishAce]

Simply put, I have a girlfriend who has shown interests in "serious" gaming, but has not committed to playing anything in particular. She has no real gaming history, but still thinks she wants to try. I want to get her into it, but slowly so that she has a chance to get used to it.

Now I've seen countless topics like this over this website and many others. However, there are some factors about her that needed to be taken into account. Long story short, she is in a sub culture of goths called "Victorian Gothic" (imagine the general style and setting of the 'Woman in Black'), and I want to find games that she'd enjoy.

I myself love love RPGs, action and sci-fi games, but she's more into gothic horror. I love horror too, but I don't know any games that would be easy enough for her to get used to (she's also extremely timid, tapping her on the shoulder can make her jump out of her skin). So this rules out games like Amnesia or Call of Cthulhu.

I also do not know her laptop specs, so I'm trying to look for games that are easy to run.

As I said, she loves Gothic Horror, and she also loves Tim Burton. This made me think immediately to 'Don't Starve,' but that may be too hard. 'Limbo' was also one I looked at, but again, maybe too hard. Plot is also important (yeah, 'Don't Starve' doesn't have a plot, but I think she'd still like it just for it's art style). 'Scratches' was the last one I could think of that would be a Horror with a strong plot and easy for her to get used to, but I would also like her to get used to more involvement in games rather than just pointing and clicking (not saying Point and click adventures are bad, just that I think she'll need to get used to interacting with games more).

Any help would be appreciated

 

[mitchell271]

Dishonoured would be a good place to start. Steampunk and great action. Let's you slowly get used to the mechanics and then let's you do whatever the hell you want.

 

[Stasisesque]

American McGee's Alice, and Alice Madness Returns. They'll fit the "Victorian Gothic" and the Tim Burton-esque style. They're decent games, though the voice acting is dreadful.

She may also enjoys games like Bioshock, they're more Dieselpunk but contain a few elements reminiscent of Gothic horror.

 

[Able Seacat]

Um... how about Alice?

Spoiler

But I don't see why she wouldn't enjoy games that aren't gothic.

EDIT: Ninja'd!!!!

 

[Aris Khandr]

Try a game like Beat Hazard [http://store.steampowered.com/app/49600/] to start her off. The game basically plays like the old Atari game Asteroids, but set to music. Specifically, your music. Which means that she can get used to interacting with the game world while listening to music she enjoys.

With its Halloween theme and easy gameplay, Costume Quest [http://store.steampowered.com/app/115100/] is a great first RPG for her.

The Sims has always had a reputation as "girlfriend games". But the freedom to do whatever she likes certainly won't hurt for getting her used to controlling characters. The Supernatural expansion [http://store.origin.com/store/ea/en_US/DisplayProductDetailsPage/productID.256041200] should be right up her alley. It is also available on Steam, but not as a combo pack, thus the Origin link.

Hope those suggestions help.

 

[felbot]

try the gothic games, I am actually surprised no one mentioned that yet.

other than that i thought vampire the masquerade was pretty gothic, though i may be wrong on that one.

 

[GrimHeaper]

Simply put, I have a girlfriend who has shown interests in "serious" gaming, but has not committed to playing anything in particular. She has no real gaming history, but still thinks she wants to try. I want to get her into it, but slowly so that she has a chance to get used to it.

Now I've seen countless topics like this over this website and many others. However, there are some factors about her that needed to be taken into account. Long story short, she is in a sub culture of goths called "Victorian Gothic" (imagine the general style and setting of the 'Woman in Black'), and I want to find games that she'd enjoy.

I myself love love RPGs, action and sci-fi games, but she's more into gothic horror. I love horror too, but I don't know any games that would be easy enough for her to get used to (she's also extremely timid, tapping her on the shoulder can make her jump out of her skin). So this rules out games like Amnesia or Call of Cthulhu.

I also do not know her laptop specs, so I'm trying to look for games that are easy to run.

As I said, she loves Gothic Horror, and she also loves Tim Burton. This made me think immediately to 'Don't Starve,' but that may be too hard. 'Limbo' was also one I looked at, but again, maybe too hard. Plot is also important (yeah, 'Don't Starve' doesn't have a plot, but I think she'd still like it just for it's art style). 'Scratches' was the last one I could think of that would be a Horror with a strong plot and easy for her to get used to, but I would also like her to get used to more involvement in games rather than just pointing and clicking (not saying Point and click adventures are bad, just that I think she'll need to get used to interacting with games more).

Any help would be appreciated

Gothic games?
May I suggest the DMC HD collection?
Then again Dante might steal her from you.

 

[DementedSheep]

Well I was going to suggest the Alice games or Dishounerd but It seems everyone else is thinking the same thing.
Also she might like the PS2 game Primal? Combat is a bit clunky in that though.

Limbo isn't that hard. Since it's a puzzle game I would think it would be good for someone who doesn't play many games.

 

[Bad Jim]

Goth girls are usually creative types right? So why not get her . . .

Minecraft!

It can be kind of scary if you go exploring the nether and you get utterly lost and those frikkin' ghasts keep sniping at you but you can choose your level of comfort. You can place signs so you don't get lost, sleep at night, or even just play on peaceful or in creative mode.

 

[Jynthor]

Why is her being a Victorian Gothic something to take in account?
I'm a metalhead, doesn't mean I don't like games without metal soundtracks or whatever.
Just try all kinds of games, sure to be something out there she likes.


Still, Victorian Gothic settings would be awesome now that I think about it, we need more games that do it!

 

[AngryBritishAce]

Well Alice and Dishonored are games that I think she'd like, but I still think that may be a bit too hard for her to start with. I think she'll need something really simple to start with before she moves onto games like these.

Gothic games?
May I suggest the DMC HD collection?
Then again Dante might steal her from you.

Isn't that a console exclusive collection? Because I don't own a console XD

Limbo isn't that hard. Since it's a puzzle game I would think it would be good for someone who doesn't play many games.

It's still quite unforgiving, and I don't want her to be put off by constant dying :/

 

[DoPo]

other than that i thought vampire the masquerade was pretty gothic, though i may be wrong on that one.

Nope, you are correct - the entire setting is focused on gothic punk.

 

[AngryBritishAce]

Why is her being a Victorian Gothic something to take in account?
I'm a metalhead, doesn't mean I don't like games without metal soundtracks or whatever.
Just try all kinds of games, sure to be something out there she likes.


Still, Victorian Gothic settings would be awesome now that I think about it, we need more games that do it!

Because it's a very big part of her life, the only things she likes are victorian gothic and such, and she isn't fond of anything like fantasy or sci-ci. She also absolutely despises things which are... well, I wouldn't say "too happy," but (in her own words) offer unrealistic portrayals of happiness. For example, she hates Pixar films because it's "unrealistically happy." She's not depressive or anything, she just hates it.

So yeah, choosing gothic horror games is essential. If I thought I could just get her to start playing anything else, I would of turned to the other hundreds of posts asking for help getting their girlfriends into gaming.

 

[Voulan]

The Alice series fit that description, absolutely. I'd start her on Madness Returns though, as the original Alice is notoriously difficult, especially for first-time players. Madness Returns is far more fluid.

other than that i thought vampire the masquerade was pretty gothic, though i may be wrong on that one.

I thought about that too, and I suppose it's gothic enough, but not whatever on earth "Victorian Gothic" is, since it's set in modern day California. But it's a great game anyway, so he should try her out on that.

The only other game that came into my head was They Bleed Pixels, but I've heard it's very difficult.

Why does she only have to play Gothic games anyway? I'm sure she'll enjoy many games that aren't decidedly in her sub-culture.

 

[Erttheking]

Eh...from what you said to describe her, I think that she might (I said might) enjoy Dark Souls.

 

[AngryBritishAce]

Why does she only have to play Gothic games anyway? I'm sure she'll enjoy many games that aren't decidedly in her sub-culture.

As I said, she just loves it. If I can find some gothic games she can play, it may offer up other games for her to try (I want to ultimately introduce her to games like Dragon Age and other role playing games). Plus, she's not very fond of other genres. If you think I'm just being stereotypical and saying goths only like gothic things, then let me note how much she hates anything that's "overly/ unrealistically happy" and music which isn't metal, and how much she loves Horror, heavy metal and... well, anything dark or disturbing. I know it sounds like I'm stereotyping but she's honestly like this (however, she's not like moody or depressive, she's actually rather cheerful most of the time, which completely conflicts with her interests).

 

[Stasisesque]

whatever on earth "Victorian Gothic" is

Just to clear this up, Victorian Gothic is pretty self explanatory. It centres around the Gothic revival in England (began in the early 18th century but was most prevalent during Queen Victoria's reign hence its name). It mostly encompasses the clothing of the period and literature written around that time, or in many cases (such as Woman in Black, mentioned above) modern literature set during the mid 1700s until the early 1900s. Authors like Wilkie Collins are considered Victorian Gothic, but so are some foreign authors like Edgar Allen Poe.

 

[Voulan]

Why does she only have to play Gothic games anyway? I'm sure she'll enjoy many games that aren't decidedly in her sub-culture.

As I said, she just loves it. If I can find some gothic games she can play, it may offer up other games for her to try (I want to ultimately introduce her to games like Dragon Age and other role playing games). Plus, she's not very fond of other genres. If you think I'm just being stereotypical and saying goths only like gothic things, then let me note how much she hates anything that's "overly/ unrealistically happy" and music which isn't metal, and how much she loves Horror, heavy metal and... well, anything dark or disturbing. I know it sounds like I'm stereotyping but she's honestly like this (however, she's not like moody or depressive, she's actually rather cheerful most of the time, which completely conflicts with her interests).

I'm not saying that you're stereotyping, it's just that there aren't really many games out there that cater to her sort of taste, and if she's wanting to get into 'serious' gaming then there's not many good choices.

Actually, now I think about it, perhaps she'd like Silent Hill? Not any of the new ones, mind - the one's where the horror comes from its symbolism, and isn't designed to frighten, but rather disturb.

And perhaps the Thief series? They aren't gothic per se, but they are set in a steam-punk Victorian setting, and incorporate some horror elements.

Actually, she'd enjoy The Cave as well, I think. It's not gothic, again, but it does have a gothic character, and the humour is decidedly dark, and really funny.

 

[SquidVicious]

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is an absolute must for her, if anything you may also want to see if you can find an old revised edition of the rulebook and start playing the pen and paper RPG. There's even a Victorian Era version that helps you play in that time period, but you will want the core rulebook as that mostly deals with the setting, political influences, status of the clans, and how to rework some of the skills that are more contemporary (like drive and computers). The world is labeled as a "gothic punk" and the game really manages to fit that description, it will also make learning how to play the table-top version a lot easier as she'll have visual references and some of the backstory already explained.

Only other game I can think of would be Psychonauts, although that's a bit of a stretch.

 

[DementedSheep]

Eh...from what you said to describe her, I think that she might (I said might) enjoy Dark Souls.

I don't think Dark souls is a good game to introduce people to gaming unless she is the sort who doesn't get frustrated by death.