Mom-friendly 'pretty' rpg

[Glaive_21842]

I'll add my two cents to the Oblivion suggestions everybody is giving.
it basically meets all the criteria you're after.

- The graphics are a bit dated since the game is basically 4-5 years old, but it still manages to look pretty damn good.
- She may not like the class choice right out of the gate, but he difficulty slider can be turned down to make the game a complete cakewalk if desired.
- Character is highly customizable both aesthetically and mechanically. The possibility of modding on the PC takes this even higher!

On the downside, faces look like crap and the main story blows. Shivering Isles provides a good story, but the faces thing can only really be fixed via mods...which may or may not include nudity depending on which ones you get.

 

[captaincabbage]

There's not a single aspect of your mum's needs that doesn't fit into Oblivion perfectly.

 

[weker]

How can people here recommend World of Warcraft?
MMO's like WoW are hardcore games were deep commitment is needed to stand any chance in the game, I don't think that OP's mom is looking for that.

OT: Torchlight perhaps?

WOW takes a while to get to those areas thats why.
WOW teachs you the gameplay over a long period of time so its not hard to play, and casual for most of the game.

 

[Double A]

My mom is interested into taking up some gaming. She is a bit of a fantasy nut (reads different fantasy books, Song of Fire and Ice, etc), and she wants to find a game that she could play.

- Nice landscapes, visuals
- Not too difficult or complex (she gets frustrated when she doesn't understand something right away)
- Fantasy rpg, ability to create and customize a character

Me and my sister were thinking Fable II/III, but if you guys could suggest anything else, it would be nice to give her some options.

EDIT: By mom-friendly, I meant mostly difficulty/complexity of the game. She's not too prudish when it comes to romance/sex/violence!

Then how the hell is she an ASOIAF fan?

Anyway, I guess Oblivion and Fable are the games for her. Morrowind for more challenge (and fun). Also, I'd have her take a crack at Sands of Time sooner or later if she really likes visuals and landscapes, as well as Ass Creed.

 

[GrimHeaper]

My mom is interested into taking up some gaming. She is a bit of a fantasy nut (reads different fantasy books, Song of Fire and Ice, etc), and she wants to find a game that she could play.

- Nice landscapes, visuals
- Not too difficult or complex (she gets frustrated when she doesn't understand something right away)
- Fantasy rpg, ability to create and customize a character

Me and my sister were thinking Fable II/III, but if you guys could suggest anything else, it would be nice to give her some options.

EDIT: By mom-friendly, I meant mostly difficulty/complexity of the game. She's not too prudish when it comes to romance/sex/violence!

Demon souls
Easiest game ever.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

Dragon Age II

- Nice landscapes, visuals
CHECK

- Not too difficult or complex (she gets frustrated when she doesn't understand something right away)
As much as hate to call it "streamlined" because that seems to be a naughty word among a ton of gamers today, I'm confident that even someone who'd never played a video game before could handle the game, especially if the difficultly is set to the lowest level, CHECK

- Fantasy rpg, ability to create and customize a character
CHECK

Also, you don't really HAVE to know about Dragon Age: Origins to enjoy it.

EDIT: I see a lot of people recommending Oblivion. I haven't actually played it myself, so that may be better suited, but I will offer a counter-point: I find that non-gamers tend to struggle with the first person perspective dual-analog control. People who've been gaming for some time take it for granted that this is a normal way to experience games, but even my wife (who loves games, but is a bigger fan of third-person gameplay, 2-d gameplay, and puzzle games) oftentimes struggles with first-person perspective dual-analog controls. It's an acquired skill, and as gamers we tend to forget that.

EDIT: If you're gonna go with the MMO, go Lord of the Rings Online. It's basically WoW-Lite in Tolkien's setting, and it's completely free to play.

 

[frjiolefrito]

Wow is great for casual. Just leveling a character and socializing is tons of fun. You don't have to RAID or do end game dungeons to get mileage out of wow. I've known plenty of people who just level. However much time you get out of an RPG single player game you can get that and more out of wow casually. You most certainly can play wow for a couple minutes and put it back down. It's only when you start doing dungeons and raiding that you need any kind of time. Leveling, collecting vanity pets, leveling skills, gathering require no one. If she wants to do some small dungeons at low levels there is dungeon finder. That'll take a little more but you can always drop out. I found oblivion ugly and boring.

The social aspect alone is what I've found a lot of older players love.

 

[coates32]

If your mother is looking fantasy as in medieval fantasy, you can try to show her Infinite Undiscovery for the Xbox 360, but it is very cheesy and doesn't have any character customization options.

 

[frjiolefrito]

FORGET it then.. ZELDA! BAM!

 

[DanielBrown]

What about Lord of the Rings Online?
The majority of the population are at least 20+, so there is hardly any name-calling and retards as you find in WoW. I haven't had many bad encounters at all over the years I've played.
The visuals are also gorgeous and the atmosphere of the game world is amazing.
The problem might be on the difficulty thing. LOTRO can be hard to understand with the deeds, traits/virtues and all the different skills(some classes have way too many!). If she gives it a chance she might love it though.
LOTRO is also free to play these days!

Not sure what to suggest if MMORPGs is out of the question. Don't have many other games that fill the terms.

 

[teebeeohh]

if the doesn't mind generic fantasy settings try Oblivion. If she does mind wait for skyrim

 

[Thamian]

Getting on a bit now, but Dungeon Siege 2 would be recommendation. Really easy to get to understand controls and so on (really good tutorial section too), looks quite good still (I think... It's been a while since I've played it but still...), and more importantly, really, really easy to get into the world and story.

 

[Paulie92]

How does she feel about sex/romance and (extreme) violence?

I thought Fable was pretty easy, but was the character really that customizable? I haven't played 2 and 3, so I don't know about those.

Otherwise, maybe you could try Oblivion.

i'd agree with Oblivion. Fable has some character customisation, but thats buying hairstyles/facial hair and the good/evil choices change your appearance.

Oblivion is a decent choice (i.e. good game) but I'm not so sure it's mum friendly, I'm going out on a limb here and saying you and I play a lot of games. We find games a bit more intuitive to in general, but I remember picking up Morrowind as like the third game I played (granted Oblivion is easier to pick up than Morrowind) and being so confused it took me about 3 tries over the course of a year to get into, totally worth it in the end but maybe a bit frustrating for a newcomer.

Though end of the day, you know your mum so if you think she can handle it go for it!

 

[Windcaler]

If you think she might like an MMORPG then Aion comes to mind. Pretty easy up till around level 25, best character customization in any MMO Ive played, and its got a pretty good fantasy setting. It is a bit of a grind though

Neverwinter nights 2 might also be agood one, though the mechanics can scare a person off. Then theres Dragon age: origins which is a little more simple and still has quite a bit of character customization.

 

[Unesh52]

First thing that came to mind was Eternal Sonata. Seems like it might be a bit of a drag for her though. It's slow and mired in all the usual rigmarole of JRPG micromanagement. And you can't customize a character.

Hmm... White Knight Cronicles looks pretty and has a character customization feature. (I mean, it amounts to absolutely nothing, but it's there.) I can't remember how complicated it is though... I had a bit of trouble getting used to it, but I'm sure she could work it out with your help. It's a shame that game kind of sucks though.

 

[Nexus4]

Fable 2 or 3, that is if she is only just getting into gaming. Then she can move onto something a little more substantial.

 

[silverleaf81]

The most obvious choice: The elder scrolls: Particularly, Oblivion, Morrowind or wait for Skyrim.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

Recettear an item shop's tale

def.

 

[Master Kuja]

My mom is interested into taking up some gaming. She is a bit of a fantasy nut (reads different fantasy books, Song of Fire and Ice, etc), and she wants to find a game that she could play.

- Nice landscapes, visuals
- Not too difficult or complex (she gets frustrated when she doesn't understand something right away)
- Fantasy rpg, ability to create and customize a character

Me and my sister were thinking Fable II/III, but if you guys could suggest anything else, it would be nice to give her some options.

EDIT: By mom-friendly, I meant mostly difficulty/complexity of the game. She's not too prudish when it comes to romance/sex/violence!

Demon's Souls, definitely go for Demon's Souls.

Spoiler

On a more serious note, Fable 2's probably a good choice seeing as you can't actually die in that game.

 

[Rems]

If she's into fantasy and you need one not too complex then:

The Fable Series,

Oblivion (you might want to download some mods for her first, they improve the game a lot).

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic- rather linear, simple controls still good fun though. Not very complex or difficult.

The Zelda series- not really rpg's but similar. There is a new version of Ocarina of Time coming out.

Kingdom Hearts games

I'd suggest the Baldur's Gate series if only for the wonderful writing, dialogue and characters but it's not exactly 'pretty' anymore (still look fairly good though- probably rose tinted glasses there) and is complex, being based on DnD.

The Witcher's again are awesome rpg's but probably too complex. (Perhaps on easy mode and isometric view where the subtleties of the game like potions are not needed?)

Oh, just noticed the customisation requirement. That knocks out some of these.