Help! My Girlfriend Is A Noob!!

[Cowabungaa]

Yeah, I'm gonna have to repeat the calls for Portal, though I would avoid Portal 2.

I beg to differ. For new videogame players, the first-person perspective are confusing enough as they are when they're not used to videogame controls. And Portal is definitely an advanced first-person game, way too disorienting for new players with the dimension-bending portals involved.

The easiest to get used to first-person controls, I think, is something like Skyrim right after the introduction. For safety sake, park the character in a village first. Then you're just sort of there, in a pleasantly looking environment with no time pressure or any real goal the player has to perform, giving them time to just screw around a bit and get their bearings and then get going once they feel ready.

 

[CrystalShadow]

If you're dealing with a complete and utter beginner, 2d platformers are amongst the most accessible things that don't get completely dumb and insulting in how simplified they are.

Not that it's practical to go back that far, but it is a much easier entry point than ANY 3d game, really...

Merely having to navigate anything in 3 dimensions complicates matters considerably.

Still, it's hard to know where to start without being certain what your girlfriend can manage already (if anything)

I know I can't hand my mum a modern game controller and get her to do pretty much anything with it.
But...
There are degrees of simplification you can get to, you just have to figure out what level she's on in practice.

Easiest thing to do, in fact, is just let her play mass effect, since that's what she says she wants.

In some ways it's just easier going with what a person shows an actual interest in, than worrying about what's accessible to a beginner.

I mean, think carefully. How did you learn how to handle a controller?
What did you actually start with?

I know I started with NES and SNES games, because, yes, I am that old, and took a detour into early PC's and atari home computer systems and the like...
(and playing lode runner on a mac... >_>)
But decades later it's hard to remember the period where I might have been less than skilled at basic things to do with controller use...

You can easily blind yourself to how complicated it actually is, if you're used to it...

 

[Savagezion]

Yeah, Portal seems pretty ideal. However, Portal will only provide the basics which may be all she needs. However, Mass Effect actually has more requirements than a shooter. You do have special powers and whatnot and you will have to use most of the controller.

I recommend a simpler game that will force the player to use all the buttons. Personally, I would recommend Uncharted(any), Tomb Raider(any), or The Last of Us. You could use Fallout or TES, but those are big games and kind of defeats the purpose of the game being a training exercise. The previous games I mentioned (plus Portal) are adventures that provide a confined experience that should be finished in about 30-40 hours if she doesn't quit before the end. Each has the difficulty start low and scale upwards as the game progresses and will require you to use all of the buttons throughout the game which will familiarize her with the controller. Learning that L1 aims and R1 shoots, is a bad way to train the mind IMO. It is better to train her think L1 is the top left trigger and R1 is the top right trigger. It is better to learn the buttons themselves and not just what they do in this game or that game. However, she will soon discover that often L1 aims and R1 shoots in most games. Sometimes it is L2 and R2.

I recommend using either Portal for basics (as it is more of a problem solving game that doesn't use much beyond jump, aim, and shoot) OR using a Action/Adventure game like Tomb Raider, Uncharted, or Last of Us, etc. just to familiarize her with the controller with a game that forces success upon the player and generally uses the whole controller for various purposes.

 

[LaoJim]

Got to agree here. I'm baffled by the Portal suggestions - for someone just getting used to a first person view, the puzzles are going to be headache inducing and often baffling.

If she's interested in a shooter, just go with one of the classics on easy mode: I'd say Halo or Gears of War but the whole PS4 controller thing makes me think these are not options. In which case CoD seems to be a sensible option. Left 4 Dead maybe?

 

[Zhukov]

I second the people saying Portal. Or the sequel.

It teaches 3D navigation in first person along with basic aiming and shooting, all in a low pressure environment. It also ramps up the difficulty at a slow and even pace, with like 75% of the game acting as a tutorial.

Plus it's funny, accessible and short.

 

[NPC009]

If she's feeling insecure with the controller, she may want to play some short games that use only a portion of the buttons first. Games like Thomas Was Alone and Rez could be good places to start.

If she's mostly interested in stories (rather than gameplay), it wouldn't hurt trying some turn-based RPGs. Persona 4 is excellent.

 

[farscythe]

snip!

eh.. if she wants to play mass effect.. just let her learn on that.
set the game to easy n make sure she saves all the time... ME is plently slow enough to get your bearings controller wise (my missus decided to learn on bf3 and after annoying me for a few weeks by looking at the floor n being a footslayer all the time.. she now kicks my ass at that game)

bur really point i was trying to make is you're just as likely to turn her off gaming again by forcing her to learn tru other games before getting to play what she wants as not.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

NEWB - someone completely new.
NOOB - someone who has still not acquired significant skill even after a while.

Aha, now I was not aware of this important distinction. I almost used Newb for the title, but I went with Noob, not knowing there was an actual difference.

In that case, my gf is a definite Newb, she has never even attempted to learn the skill of video gaming.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Borderlands? I weaned my girlfriend on Borderlands and Borderlands 2, on the PS3.

 

[Buckets]

Why not try Last of Us, great story - easy controls with a steady learning curve. Failing that, Borderlands 2 is a good choice if it must be FPS.

 

[Danbo Jambo]

You can always get her to play "Find the sausage" if none of the suggestions above work!

 

[Morti]

NEWB - someone completely new.
NOOB - someone who has still not acquired significant skill even after a while.

Without a doubt Portal/2. No "gross", "icky", "scary" and the like stuff that girls tend to not like. Extremely easy and forgiving. Helps develop relatively quick grasp of FPS control scheme.

I would contend that time is not the distinction between the two.

A newb is someone who is new to the game. They know that they don't know everything and by accepting that fact, they learn and progress until they ascend to pro-dom. Be it a week or years later.

A noob on the other hand, is a newb who won't accept that they are newb and pretend to know everything. This denies them the opportunity to learn and condemns them to lifetime whining about "hax", "imba" and telling others to "stfu".


On topic, furthering the calls to Portal, FPS controls without the fast action of a combat FPS. Also consider the fallouts, can practice FPS controlls in the easy encounters whilst have the backup of VATs for the tougher stuff.

 

[Shinkicker444]

I have this strong urge to quote Alucard from Hellsing Abridged regarding cannon use. It seems oddly appropriate with all this talk regarding FPS games for first time gamers.

 

[Bad Jim]

The first Portal game does have a few trick jumps that require at least a little bit of skill. Give her Portal 2 instead, which requires no dexterity whatsoever and also has a better story.

Also, Tomb Raider 2013. I found it to be extremely easy on 'normal' difficulty, so much so that I switched to 'hard' difficulty on my first playthrough, something I hardly ever do. However I got it on PC, and played with keyboard+mouse, so it might not be super easy on a console with a controller. Any console players care to comment?

 

[Fijiman]

Pretty much any LEGO game or the most recent Rayman games are pretty good to start out on.

 

[Raggedstar]

As someone who got into shooters recently (2012) after years of mostly playing platformers, I might as well share some experiences. I'm still not great at shooters, but meh.

-I'll chip another vote into the Portal crowd. 50%+ of the game is tutorial yet is still rewarding to progress. It does require some good timing and having to logic through, but the learning curve is very reasonable. Generally a good start for learning FPS controls and getting used to the first person perspective. Portal 2's co-op campaign is another option, but the puzzles are much harder and you need to wrap your mind around using the extra pair of portals.

-I almost always play shooters at the easiest difficulty setting available. No need to impress anyone.

-Something heavy in story might help break up the action and give motivation to progress. Tomb Raider 2013 can work (you don't even start with weapons. Shame about the QTE though), possibly Mass Effect too though my experience with that game is limited. The Last of Us can work, but it's fairly unforgiving and the controls are rather stiff. Perhaps not the best to break the ice.

-3D platformers I found the best to learn navigation in 3D space. They're not THAT difficult or combat driven typically. Not many of those these days, but if she's into it (not many "adult" 3D platformers), Ratchet and Clank are great games. Tight controls, mostly linear (with some exploration), enjoyable story, AND the gunplay has variety and is very forgiving. Again, it depends what she's into. Mirror's Edge CAN work, but it's controls aren't the greatest and progress heavily relies on being able to navigate in 3D space (I also get really bad motion sickness from it).

-I started my shooter with Black Mesa. Don't start with Black Mesa lol (well, you can, but she doesn't need a history lesson and it's easy mode isn't THAT easy).

 

[FPLOON]

Outside of echoing the Portal games...

I personally recommend anything that stars Rayman (no Rabbids needed, mind you...) and the LEGO games...
Also, Child of Eden...

Considering we're dealing with the PS3, you can find any of those games on said system with a very high recommendation of playing Child of Eden since it follows the equivalent of controlling the gun portion of a FPS on a console...

Other than that, if only I could recommend the Metroid Prime games in this situation...

 

[Bat Vader]

Sounds like a serious case of needing a new girlfriend. I suggest breaking up with her immediately followed up with taking two one night stands. If problems persist call me in the morning. No, I am not being serious.

In all seriousness though I would suggest the Mas Effect trilogy as a good series to help people become more familiar with video games. It has the right amount of challenge but at the same time is easy to play as well.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

How much of a noob is she? Does she get WTFPWN3D all the time? If so, I hate to say it but you may need to reconsider the future of your relationship. This video highlights the issue:

​

The father sums it up at 45s

 

[Dragonbums]

My personal opinion- if she hasn't really touched a controller outside of DDR I suggest not even starting out with shooters. I mean, we don't really have much background knowledge on her, but I'm assuming this will be the first time she's picking up any serious controller? The first thing I would do is start her off with a simple platformer or indie game so she can at least memorize the layout of the controller. Then ease her into more complex types of gameplay.

Then you can start off with Portal and Lego games, AND THEN ease her into the more intense stuff.

You'd be surprised how difficult even figuring out to move can be. My dad quit Portal one because he didn't understand the basic concept of analog/D-pad to move that wasn't pixel by tiny pixel. (Let's not even talk about camera angles.)