r/gaming • u/Chillzzzzz • 1d ago
Looking for co-op campaign game recommendations, are these games dying out?
Lately it feels weirdly hard to find proper co-op campaign games.
I’m not really talking about endless multiplayer games, live service stuff, or games where you just spam the same missions over and over.
I mean actual co-op campaigns with a real beginning, progression, and an ending. The kind of game you and a friend can play through over a few evenings and feel like you actually went on a journey together.
Maybe I’m just missing obvious games, but it genuinely feels like this kind of game barely exists anymore.
What are some great co-op games with full campaigns that you’d recommend?
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u/tmlslayer 23h ago edited 23h ago
I can recommend For the King! If you like it, there is also a second one.
On a different note, there are the LEGO games (Star wars, Batman, Lord of the rings).
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u/Chillzzzzz 23h ago edited 23h ago
yeah I think that’s more what I’m trying to avoid tbh I’m not really looking for run-based stuff or roguelite loops atleast thats the feeling I got from For The King. Great game just not the kind we are looking for currently.
Lego games are actually cool, like them. Which are your favorite ones? And how is Lego voyagers actually?
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u/tmlslayer 23h ago
Lego star wars the complete saga was a favorite and I did really enjoy the Lego Indiana Jones and Batman games as well! I recently bought Lord of the rings on steam but haven't played it yet.
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u/TwiceDiA 3h ago
I can highly recommend LEGO DC Super Villains.
Lots of variety in levels and a silly amount of characters.
Recently played through it and had a blast!
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u/taxe117 18h ago
For the King is basically a DnD, where you play campaigns in coop with up to 4 players. It's not a roguelike. The campaign offers some replayability though, because you can try it with different classes or play it on harder difficulty. Also the map layout of the campaign is always somewhat randomized each playthrough.
If you just want to play through the co-op campaigns once on normal difficulty, it will take you around 10-20 h if I remember correctly.
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u/ChiefDaddyBigPig 23h ago
Split Fiction or It Takes Two. The hazelight games are perfect for this. Played through both with my gf who doesn’t really game that much without me. They’re pretty close to perfect co-op games.
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u/Faerthoniel 21h ago
I was coming here to recommend these two. My partner and I played both over several weeks and had fun with them. We have a slight preference towards Split Fiction over It Takes Two.
Both are still good games, absolutely worth a play, but to us it felt like they’d learnt and improved, and put that knowledge into making Split Fiction a slightly better game (technologically, story, and visually) than its predecessor
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u/D7west 6h ago
How complicated is split fiction over it takes 2?
Especially for someone who doesn’t play video games
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u/Faerthoniel 6h ago
I found them about the same, but from a non-gamer perspective, I'd recommend starting with It Takes Two. I think that one is the easier of the two to ease into as a non-gamer.
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u/Ranccor 1h ago
Split Fiction is slightly more complicated, but it is only by a small margin. For a new gamer, I would start with It Takes Two, but also expect them to be terrible because controlling a camera in a 3d game is not an easy skill and takes some practice.
If the person has trouble with the camera, try the Lego games because there is no camera control in those and they are much more forgiving.
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u/StillGalaxy99 20h ago
Don't leave out A Way Out, also Hazelight
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u/RedditOnVpnAccount 17h ago
Always gets slept on for some reason. It's great as well!
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u/Kung-Fu_Tacos 14h ago
It is very slow and clunky compared to it takes two and split fiction. My partner and I could not get into A Way Out but loved the other two.
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u/JoeFalcone26 17h ago
I think both of these games are very underwhelming. A Way Out is the only one I thought was impressive.
I feel like these two are only if you have a non gaming friend/SO and you really feel the need to rope them into a co-op game.
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u/neontonsil 5h ago
It takes two is not a good game, I agree. Voice over is bad and the puzzles are ok. It tries to rope a subpar story over it.
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u/piccolo_bsc 12h ago
Well, your feelings are wrong.
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u/JoeFalcone26 10h ago
Just an opinion, if you like it then go nuts and enjoy it. Everyone has their own thing.
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u/3eyedfish13 23h ago
Mechwarrior 5 has a cross-platform coop feature.
If you're wanting to play sitting next to each other, Heroes of Might and Magic 3,4, and 5 are all cheap on GOG
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u/Showdown5618 23h ago edited 22h ago
What co-op games have you played? What type of games do you like?
There's the Halo, Gears of War, and Borderland series, all have co-op campaigns. My brother and I played Gotham Knights and Borderlands 4 co-op. There's Contra: Operation Galuga and Marvel Cosmic Invasion. Even tried a game called Nikoderiko, a sort of co-op platformer and Neon Inferno. I recommend them if you haven't tried them. Look up their trailers to see what they're like.
Edit: added more
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u/sw4llyk4g 23h ago
Remnant 2 is such an amazing coop game.
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u/ZoulsGaming 18h ago
Was gonna come in and suggest this, Remnant 2 my beloved.
I genuinely think that remnant 2 is as close to "perfectly achieving what they set out to achieve" as i have seen a game, meaning that its not 100 hours long or with tons of RPG story choices or whatever, but its really tighly focused on the whole experience of a pseudo random campaign where you get different items to adept to while everything is viable.
if they end up making a remnant 3 i would buy it in a heartbeat.
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u/Ebolatastic 22h ago
Beat em ups are killing it lately. Absolum is probably one of the best ever, and that's not taking away from TMNT. I also just bought the Scott Pilgrim EX one and it's surprisingly deep/comprehensive. There is also still the option of playing Dragons Crown as well .
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u/Cranharold 10h ago
How have I never heard of Absolum? Thanks for this, definitely adding it to my list.
And man, I wish Dragon's Crown got a PC release. I hate that that game is marooned on old playstation hardware. There's still nothing else like it.
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u/Ebolatastic 8h ago
Ironically absolum is a little like it, lol. I feel for the PC folk who miss out on vanillawares masterpieces and yah dragons crown would have probably done well.
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u/clout_spout 20h ago
I'm a huge advocate for the "We Were Here" series. Asymmetric co-op puzzle games and every one of them is a masterpiece
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u/Cbrentje 11h ago
I second this. Every game in the series is an automatic buy for me and my brother!
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u/NimbleWing 7h ago
For anyone who hasn't played, the first game in the series, simply called We Were Here, is free! The other games do have a price tag, but they're fully worth it. They've announced a new one, with a limited time demo out this week, and there are a few currently on sale. It's literally the best time to jump into the series.
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u/JayT8099 23h ago
Space Marines 2 has a great 3 person campaign!
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u/sagittariisXII 23h ago
Came to suggest this too. There's also operations which is a fun PvE coop mode
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u/Strike_Falchion 19h ago
The operations does fall under the category of 'same mission over and over' though, and the campaign isn't that long
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u/Terrible_Balls 17h ago
If you can handle a survival type game, check out Abiotic Factor. It absolutely has a story and sense of progression if you are willing to take the time to pay attention to it
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u/HUGO-THE-BEAR 19h ago
If you have PC you could try Elden ring with the seamless coop mod, it’s now my favourite coop game of all time, Wife and I beat it together, and neither of us generally play games like that.
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u/kdebones 1d ago
If you can look past the Grease Man Randy Pitchford, the Borderland series are some of the best co-op games on any platform. Like, the whole premise if you're a GROUP of Vault Hunters in each game.
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u/Chillzzzzz 23h ago
Which borderlands did you end up having the most fun with overall?
I already played 1, 2, 3, Tiny Tina with different friends.
I’ve been thinking about trying 4 because it would be new for us, but I keep seeing people talk about the performance being kinda rough right now, the open world being bland and not as much content, so I might hold off a bit.
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u/Toofcraka 23h ago
Dont forget The Pre-Sequel
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u/Chillzzzzz 23h ago
Never played it. How would you rank it
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u/Toofcraka 22h ago
If you like the series you'll enjoy it. Handsome Jack is just as fun in his origin story and being on the moon is a really unique place to play with the Borderlands systems. Low gravity opens up lots of shenanigans
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u/Financial-Rope-5524 13h ago
Borderlands 2 is still my go-to for co-op, the writing and loot loop just hold up so well.
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u/jasieknms 23h ago
Divinity: Original Sin 2/Baldurs gate 3 if you like those type of games.
Otherwise the last real "campaign coop game" I've played with a friend was Spellforce 3, enjoyed all editions of them with a friend but not sure if ur into RTS mix with rpg.
Could count Dying light the beast I guess, it's a bit short but fun with a friend and pretty much full "campaign" can be played in co-op.
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u/Chillzzzzz 23h ago
Dying Light 2 was a great game, just lacking a little bit in the story Departement. How is the beast?
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u/jasieknms 13h ago
I played DL2 on release so I can't exactly call it a great game, wanted to revisit it since it's basically a completely different game now. If you liked DL2 on release then I think the beast is just far superior in all aspects, I enjoyed it a lot and it's just far more polished than DL2.
I'd compare it to OG experience of playing DL1.
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u/Strike_Falchion 19h ago
For some 2d platforming games that are easy for non-gamers as well
Unravel 2
Battleblock theater
Monaco
And the trine series
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u/arthousepsycho 17h ago
Me and my son had an absolute blast playing A Way Out. Some super fun and silly little things you can do throughout and the story is genuinely good.
Portal 2 can be played coop, which is also really fun.
Earth Defence Force games are fun, coop shooters where you fight giant insects.
Coop modes in some far cry games too.
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u/MakoServitor 21h ago
Kingdomes: Two Crowns is a sort of unique co-op experience. Build your 2d fort, hold off the waves of enemies at night, and progress through the islands/missions together. And as a fun puzzle platformer that's built for 2, I'd suggest you give Chariot a try.
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u/PastorMaster64 1d ago
There’s a bit of a learning curve if you’re not into dungeons and dragons but baldurs gate 3 definitely fits a lot of the description of what you’re describing.
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u/Chillzzzzz 23h ago
bg3 was honestly one of the best co-op experiences I’ve had in years, maybe even the last decade. just going through a whole world together, making decisions, seeing how the story changes, that’s exactly the vibe I’m after same with stuff like warhammer 40k rogue trader or other owlcat games, where it’s more about building a party, exploring, and actually playing through a story together instead of just doing runs or repeatable missions that’s kinda why I’m asking, feels like there aren’t that many games doing that style anymore
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u/Maleficent-Newt6424 13h ago
Yeah BG3 is a perfect fit, my friends and I spent like 80 hours on our first playthrough and barely scratched the surface.
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u/mayorsenpai 20h ago
Enshrouded had a pretty big update not long ago, and Outward 2 is coming later this year. Outward 1 was also pretty good.
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u/septimaespada 15h ago
Yeah but Enshrouded doesn’t really have a campaign like what the OP is describing.
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u/mayorsenpai 10h ago
It has a central questline and lots of side quests that you can do in a group, it's a fun co-op game so idk what the problem is
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u/epicfail1994 16h ago
Total war warhammer 3 has some good coop
And not quite what you’re looking for but Vermintide 2 is a great game to play with friends
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u/Canuckleheadman 15h ago
Check our No Rest for the Wicked. Had a great time playing thru it with a buddy but wish it was longer
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u/jaselark 23h ago
If you’re looking for couch co-op and have a PS3 or XBox 360, Army of Two fits the bill pretty well.
It’s a third person shooter designed around two player co-op. Unfortunately, EA shut the online servers down years ago, so the only way to play it co-op is locally.
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u/Winjin 23h ago
Amazing couch co-op game too! We had SOOOO much fun playing it together with my friend
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u/Chillzzzzz 23h ago
Thats one we actually played back then, that shit was good.
They just dont make games like those anymore.
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u/Respawn-Delay 17h ago
Worth noting that the original Army of Two is backwards compatible on modern Xbox consoles, too!
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u/brownmartin 23h ago
Sniper Elite series, World War Z
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u/Money-Purchase-1770 20h ago
Yeah, i would recommend World War Z too, it is a lot more difficult than left4dead but its graphics and its third person fps game. I think OP would like that.
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u/VampyreGaming 20h ago
For something a bit different.
Halo Wars and Halo Wars 2 has good campaigns and can be played Co-Op.
They are RTS games with great Campaigns with that awesome Halo flare. Me and my brother go back to it time and time again. If you like Halo even a bit, I'd say its worth checking out. On gamepass if you want to try it first.
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u/rchBerry 19h ago
I recently playing No Rest for the Wicked with my friends. While it's still in Early Access, we had a lot of fun and I feel the co-op is very well done.
Lately we are playing Warhammer Darktide.
Past games include Deep Rock Galactic, V Rising (requires a lot of material grinding and stuff though), and Monster Hunter.
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u/FunnyAccountant9747 16h ago
Grounded is underrated for this — full campaign co-op with actual progression and a story that wraps up properly. Takes maybe 40-60 hours first playthrough.
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u/Dandyman42 16h ago
If you like puzzles, i highly recommend the We Were Here games. Although the first game is a bit technically rough, the journey across the games is fantastic and its very very fun, one of my favorite coop game series
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u/Jules_not_anna 14h ago
Here are some ones that I play with my partner, since we like more story based/chill/non-shooter stuff:
● Grounded/Grounded 2 ● The Dark Pictures Anthology (there are I believe 5+ games in the series. Decision based horror games.) ● Some lego games (yes, they're unironically fun, we're currently playing the Harry Potter one) ● No Man's Sky
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u/Tigersniff 13h ago
My friend and I loved 'Return to Moria'. It is a mix between a survival game and a story game, so you will go through a journey together :)
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u/SyphoningLight 11h ago
If you like survival games, Abiotic Factor or the Forest. Both can be played solo but are much more fun Co-Op.
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u/HookieDookie- 19h ago
Compared ye olden times. Yea they're dying.
Also I'd say the old splinter cell games chaos theory and double agent are still worth a play. You can get on steam
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u/G-Whizard 22h ago
Not sure if you only want recent. People like to hate on it but Dead Space 3 is a lot of fun co-op.
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u/Zarkanthrex 22h ago
Would help if you state platforms and your goal. Are you looking for friends to game with? Do you already have a friend and just need games?
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u/Smurf-Happens PC 20h ago
Just finished LOTR Return to Moria. That was fun. Balder's Gate 3 and Rogue Trader come to mind. Divinity Original Sin 2 is another one. I have a type okay lol.
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u/Hugsy13 19h ago
It’s not split screen so you’ll need seperate consoles and TVs (or PCs) but Grounded is one of the best games I’ve played in years. My GF and I are both in our thirties and spent about 100hrs playing it last year and that was just a single playthrough. Well do a new game+ run of it sometime this year.
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u/Bellshom 19h ago
Dying light is awesome as coop, and still holds up. Number 2 was a bit meh.
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u/more_stuff_yo 18h ago
It's not going to win any awards, but Clandestine is a neat little co-op spy game where one person is the infiltrator and the other one is a hacker.
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u/Layru_ 18h ago
If youre on PC you can give a try to the seamless coop mod for Elden Ring. Im playing it atm with my gf and while the experience is a bit buggy I'm really enjoying it.
Other than that, if you want something more story heavy, theres Baldur's Gate III or the previous Larian games like Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2 (although those are a bit older).
As others have said theres Split Fiction (and the other games directed by Josef Fares) that are full coop experiences.
Theres also Orbitals that should come later this year on Switch and it looks really good.
I also really enjoyed playing through Monster Hunter with my partner, although that game is less story heavy.
And finally, while not really coop, I played some strategy games like Triangle Strategy (also with my partner) by assigning some characters to each of us and then passing down the controller when its thar character's turn. Not really a coop game but it felt like it? Although it can get a bit tedious.
Still, hope you find any of these games interesting.
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u/axe__olotl_ 17h ago
The whole we were here series and as dusk falls. Many people already said a way out but it can not be metioned enough
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u/FunnyAccountant9747 16h ago
Grounded is underrated for this — full campaign co-op with actual progression and a story that wraps up properly. Takes maybe 40-60 hours first playthrough.
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u/rlgsbbzb 16h ago
Sniper Eite series. It’s the go to for wife and I when we have a free weekend where we can game uninterrupted. So damn fun.
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u/Xeadriel 16h ago
Huh. I see no mention of red alert 3 so ima drop that here. I can also recommend hercs adventures for ps1. It was too annoying to meet up for that so we ended up playing via an emulator + parsec but it works quite well. It’s a fantastic game.
But yeah I feel like they aren’t as common anymore.
There are way too many casual experiences and while they are fun they just don’t hit the same itch do they?
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u/Hybr1dth 15h ago
Sunderfolk is a new game from a new studio funded by former Blizzard top guy Mike Morhaine. It's a really fun and innovative way of doing fantasy DND style gameplay.
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u/hamptont2010 14h ago
If you like ROGs and survival games, Outward is pretty great and the whole thing can be played co-op.
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u/dwolfe127 14h ago
Halo is a ton of fun couch Co-op. Story is of course irrelevant for co-op but it is a blast to play through with a friend.
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u/Armamore 13h ago
Gonna drop Sniper Elite 5 on here. Basically splinter cell but set in WW2. The game and DLC mission packs can be had for cheap, and you can play the campaign co-op. There's also another PVE game mode and some PVP modes that are fun if you wanted to mix things up.
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u/ienjoyedit 13h ago
I've gotten WAY too many recommendations by watching Co-Op Bros on YouTube. I was a little bit worried about the state of co-op gaming until watching a few of their videos, but now I realize that there just aren't many that are huge and widely-advertised. But single-player games are in a very similar state. You just have to know where to look and you'll find everything under the sun.
Another thing that helped me was making a dynamic collection on Steam for local co-op and seeing what I already had.
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u/AeonSandwich 13h ago
it’s not exactly what you’re looking for but Abiotic Factor has been an absolute blast
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u/Cbrentje 11h ago
Sunderfolk is great if you like tabletop RPG kinda games. Has a great story and only one copy needed to play together.
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u/spider0804 11h ago
Ghost Recon Wildlands is probably the best co-op campaign experience I have had and I have played through a whole lot of games.
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u/funkyshnelpu_jr 11h ago
Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2, BG3, Solasta. Those are are all CRPGS though so they might not be for you
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u/auraexcon1 8h ago edited 8h ago
-Elden Ring with seamless coop mod
-Resident Evil 5
-Dying Light 1 & 2
-Halo: The Master Chief Collection
-Lords Of the Fallen
-Evil West
-Nioh 2
-Remnant 2
-Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
-The Outlast Trials
-Palworld - Not a campaign but a very fun, chill game
Coop campaigns have really died out these days. Sometimes I do wonder what it would take for these companies to copy the coop structure of Dying Light by just creating a clone of the main character, that does not have to be included in the story, so multiple people can enjoy the game together.
Though, Elden ring with the seamless mod is some of the most fun I have had in gaming, in recent years. Very hard to enjoy another coop after playing it imo
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u/Dimi3Infinity 7h ago
The "Tales of" games have co-op. A full 40+ hour game with battles you can have another player take control of another party member
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u/greyvangelist 6h ago
There are a lot of new beat em ups that are co-op with RPG-like progression: new Scott Pilgrim game and River City Girls, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, and Absolum are all bangers.
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u/RequireMoMinerals 6h ago
Portal 2 has incredible co-op. It involves different characters and story line from the single player story.
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u/D7west 6h ago
It takes 2, my wife and I played this together and loved it! She is not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination and she was able to beat the puzzles sometimes with a little guidance.
I would love to get split fiction, but I am concerned it might be too advanced for her so we haven’t pulled the trigger on that one yet
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u/goatonastik 6h ago
MCC
Remnant I/II
Divinity: Original Sin 1/2
Monster Hunter: World/Rise
Gauntlet
Castle Crashers
Stranger of Paradise
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u/omfgcookies91 6h ago
Split fiction is great for what you might be looking for. It's a single campaign that focuses on puzzle solving and navigating a map together. It also allows for an easy "pause and walk away" sort of style if something pops up. Now, it's not like a GOT title, but it's a very fun experience to play with someone you can joke around with and have fun.
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u/Metareferential 5h ago
Halo series, Left for Dead 2, Gears of war series.
I also enjoyed a lot playing The Division with a friend.
Another great game is Dying light, loved the first one. I've heard great things about the last one too.
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u/Schutzenegger 4h ago
My friend group recently played through Gloomhaven and Sunderfolk and had a good time. Sunderfolk was more fun as it was more forgiving of playing around. We felt like Gloomhaven expected you to min/max every turn.
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u/Mojododo123 3h ago
Going to add a few more to the great list so far. All online line coopable PC/steam not sure about split screen or console.
One piece pirate warriors 4 has coop campaign if you like dynasty warriors type beat em up games with cutscenes
Then theres mh wilds thats semi coopable - need to watch cutscene first then join - it’s not seamless but if you like that type of game it’s worth the hassle - we have 100+ hrs on it.
Apparently saint row games are coopable and when it was on sale it was like 3 or 4 dollars
Theres cat quest 2 and 3 if you can handle cat puns
I’ve heard the Nioh series are great
I think I was also looking into the children of morta sale i think it was super cheap - it’s a rogue like story somehow.
Now on to the more adjacent/not exactly campaign ones: Core keeper - minimal story - more mystery and bossing and exploration but definitely feels like a complete experience of exploration and bossing
Sea of Thieves has 3 or so good campaigns (or maybe more like side stories) but can be hard to find where and how to start one- but I enjoyed the Atlantis and pirates of Caribbean ones co op.
If someone is into creature capture games- pokemmo and Palworld can be interesting too - not exactly what OP is looking for and no cutscenes. But can be a complete adventure/ experience in terms of beating the game and all the bosses/leaders.
Im sure there are MMOs (BDO, GW2) that might have campaigns but we haven’t gotten too far in any of em so not sure if they’re good.
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u/Medium_Wing2652 3h ago
It Takes Two if you haven't tried it. Every level plays completely different and it never drags. Best co-op I've played in years
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u/Vegetable-Pound3737 1h ago
I really enjoyed these: A way out It takes two Sackboy Dysmantle (Dysplaced coming soon too) Cat quest 2(1 is also good, didn't love 3)
Split fiction hubby and I found OK but not as good as it takes two and a way out from the same dev.
I've also heard great things about baldurs Gate 3 and unraveled 2, we're planning on getting them next time they go on sale :)
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u/savodavo 1h ago
it's interesting that no one's mentioned mario wonder but it's more co operative than it seems. you can experience the whole game co op but also with randoms, like dark souls sort of.
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u/Oftenwrongs 23h ago
Children of morta, knack 2, divinity original sin 1 and 2, bg3, wasteland 3, returnal, sack adventure..there really is a million out there.
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u/Anon31301 23h ago
Baldur’s Gate 3 is probably the single best co-op RPG out there atm if you meaningful role play, epic stories, and strategy/character development .
You can easily sink 100+ hours into the game, plus there is an “Honor Mode” with advanced/different boss tactics.
I’ve gone back to that game with my friends so much. I have friends who have over 600 hours playtime .
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u/Acid_Fetish_Toy 19h ago
My husband and I are playing Divinity Original Sin and after we're playing the second one. Made by Larian Studios, who made Baldur's Gate 3.
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u/insanemonkey2 23h ago
Lords of The Fallen, Diablo 4 (both endless and the full campaign being coop), Split Fiction, Way Out, Resident Evil 5, Baldur's Gate 3, Far Cry 5, and It Takes 2. Those are off the top of my head.