Who has played ______ and can give me a recommendation?

[Violentvixen]

I suggest that you take I Am Setsuna off that wishlist at once. It is bad.

Yeah, I got it on Switch quite a while ago and regretted it.

Legend of Mana is a beautiful and unique mana game, I remember liking it quite a bit despite not being big into Mana as a series (at the time) (or now, really)

Oh, I missed Legend of Mana. As someone who doesn't like the series that much, I think this one is very cool and special. If you are ready for a rather open game of this kind, this is a good one. I do think it requires you to be in a certain mood in, being ready to take your time and to accept that you won't experience everything in one playthrough. If so, it's a pretty good choice.

Legend of Mana is great and $12 is a steal. They also improved a lot of quirks from the original Playstation game for this version. As Felix said, he ready to take your time, talk to villagers and explore. It is also absolutely fine to play with a guide, many of us picked up the Prima strategy guide back in the day because the game has a lot of times paths fork and it's (intentionally) unclear what impact your decisions have.

Trials of Mana if and only if you're in the mood for Mana specifically. It's ok.

Aw, SD3 (the original SNES game this is a remake of) is one of my favourite games of all time. The remake is quite good and if you're curious about the Mana series it's a good entry point into it.

 

[Paul le Fou]

I suppose that came out harsher than I intended—I enjoyed Trials of Mana! And definitely, "curious about the series" counts as "in the mood for Mana," too.

 

[Mogri]

Anyone familiar with Urban Myth Dissolution Center?

 

[Nodal]

Anyone familiar with Urban Myth Dissolution Center?

Only the demo, which I recommend trying. It put me off the game even though it sounded really cool.

 

[Kalir]

I'm digging into it now. The localization into English is kinda spotty but if you just want a dang ol Story McMystery time, it's decent.

 

[Beowulf]

Has anyone played any of the Undertale fangames/hacks, like Undertale Yellow? Babywulf has been super into Undertale recently, but I don't want to give him stuff that's either terrible or grossly inappropriate. (And it seems like there are a LOT of these, but I have no idea if any of them are even vaguely playable!)

 

[FelixSH]

I haven't tried any of those, but maybe he would enjoy Deltarune (the next game from Toby Fox)? It's not done yet, but the first two chapters are, which is a decent chunk of game, iirc.

Elsewise, he could play games that are similar, like...well, not Omori (I mean, depends on his age), but maybe he would enjoy Earthbound or Mother 3? I mean, they are still pretty different, especially when it comes to gameplay, but the tone is similar.

 

[Bongo]

The games that influenced Toby Fox, such as Live A Live, Earthbound, and Moon, would be good starting points.

 

[Beowulf]

I haven't tried any of those, but maybe he would enjoy Deltarune (the next game from Toby Fox)? It's not done yet, but the first two chapters are, which is a decent chunk of game, iirc.

Elsewise, he could play games that are similar, like...well, not Omori (I mean, depends on his age), but maybe he would enjoy Earthbound or Mother 3? I mean, they are still pretty different, especially when it comes to gameplay, but the tone is similar.

He's played both chapters of Deltarune several times; and my attempts to push Earthbound/Mother 3 have been met with resistance. Hence looking for other options.

 

[Bongo]

Do you have any notion of what aspects of Undertale and Deltarune hold the strongest appeal for him? That can, admittedly, be a really difficult question with youngsters. But if it's the comedy, that would lead in a totally different direction than if it's the drama or the secrets-riddled game structure.

There aren't a lot of funny games out there. Depending on his age, Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden or The Stanley Parable might go over well, but they are ultimately parodies where Undertale is grounded in sincerity. Kirby and the Mario RPGs are aesthetic precursors that have a similar blend of light and bombastic, but they lack the emotional complexity that made Undertale famous. If Earthbound is too dry, anything from 90s Squaresoft (or studios populated by Square alumni) might be juicier, and in particular I reiterate that it was Live A Live and Moon that were major influences on Toby Fox, but they're, like, old, and a lot of the things that make Undertale special are still only seeds in them.

Something indie might answer better than any of those stodgy mainstream classics. I suddenly remembered Wandersong, which I like more the more I think of it: narratively rich and with a similar sense of subjectivity driving its themes.

You probably shouldn't let him read Homestuck, however, but for a different reason than you may expect: all of its references are over a decade out of date and that does really matter.