Can anyone suggest some good co-op games for two people?
Hello all! My buddy and I finally finished up Baldur's Gate 3 this week and we are not left with a giant co-op game shaped whole in our hearts. It was such an incredible experience and it was truly even more fun running through it together. We are excited to hop into another game, but we have no idea what to play. We've played a lot, and some games we've finished or tried recently included:
- Borderlands 1, 2, and 3
- Minecraft, Terraria, Vintage Story
- Raft, 7 Days to Die
- A Way Out, It Takes Two
I'm posting here today to ask if any of you have some suggestions for co-op games we could check out! I've Googled for suggestions to no end and 90% of what's there is games we've already played. If anyone has any recommendations for us they would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
~ Hyrulian
Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone!! I'm going to compile a list and check them all out one by one!
Portal 2?
It's not very long, but it has an entire co-op campaign that's completely inaccessible without a 2nd player.
My son and i play weekly. Heres our faves
Deep rock galactic
Helldivers II
Enshrouded
Remnant and remnant II
Valheim
How is the Helldivers community these days? I had so much fun with that one before the whole PSN debacle. It kinda killed the vibe for me at the time and I have since moved on to other things, but I was so surprised how much a third-person online shooter sucked me in at this point in my life.
Games playerbase is like, less than half what it was on Steam. Arrowhead has put out like 3 or 4 "apology" letters about "we hear your feedback, we will fix stuff" but its like, how many times you gonna say that? You know?
I haven't played for a while. Last I played, the bots spawn rate was too high when only two people loaded into a 4-5 star mission. They said they put out an update so I played to check, and they actually made it worse. Maybe it has improved since, but I haven't been back to check.
They just put another one out last week.
The fact that they're still apologizing for not listening to the player base and then going ahead and just not listening to the player base really doesn't fill me with confidence.
As a "3 hour a week dad" who has managed to rack up 150 hours of this game, it's a lot of fun. But it's also insufferable when they release updates that cause rag-dolling to launch you all over the map, and new enemies that are just completely bugged out.
From a 400k player base at the start to <25k now, I'm convinced they're actively trying to hurt the game to lower server costs. And why would they care? Each of those 400k players already paid their $50 for the game. And it's not like the new DLC is any good. The snow-armour that didn't help sliding on ice, and the fire armour that came with a fire-nerf.
It's fun, but don't go in expecting the same game every week. Chances are they'll nerf your favourite weapon in the interest of "balance", then ask for more money.
I remember just a handful of months ago when everyone was saying how "helldivers is already game of the year"
Lmao how the mighty has fallen
They just added a bunch of new missions, planet modifiers, and ship call downs, which was a pleasant surprise. Also, there is a lot of speculation that they're going to introduce the third enemy race pretty soon, so if you were enjoying it before, now might not be a bad time to dip your toe back in the pool.
I have considered it a few times and I even have Helldivers installed still, buuuut I'm balls deep in my first run of Elden Ring right now and I haven't even hit the DLC yet, so 🤷♂️.
Ah, well I'm sure it will still be here if/when you escape from Elden Ring. Have fun!
We easily fill with friends so its a blast. We have a group we’ve been playing with for over 15 years when we need more than 2
My time to shine! My wife is notoriously picky about games. You didn't specify local or online co-op but most of these have local if not online since we prefer to only need one copy.
Seconding 9 Parchments and the Trine series. They are both by the same studio and they are beautiful games, they make sure every new scene is a tableau worthy of a screenshot with hyper saturated fanciful environments. The gameplay is fun, polished and goes by fast, in a good way.
Abiotic Factor has been really fun for my buddy and me. Especially with the new update that came out last week. It's a Half Life themed survival game.
Others that get my vote:
Valheim - Norse mythology themed survival game with Playstationesque graphics
Phasmophobia - THE ghost hunting game(see also Ghost Exile, Ghost Exorcism Inc., Forewarned)
Left 4 Dead - the original Zombie FPS series (see also Back 4 Blood, it's kinda alright) PILLS HERE!
Risk of Rain - Pretty tough shooter series
Stardew Valley - A modern Harvest Moon, farming/life sim
Don't Starve Together - If you played Stardew valley in hell, but everyone's name started with a W
Factorio/Satisfactory - Resource harvesting and logistics sims. One's isometric, ones first person, one has zerg rushes
Grounded - Honey I Shrunk The Kids: the survival game
Deep Rock Galactic - Left 4 Dead for Dwarves. ROCK AND STONE!!!
Overcooked - cooking and serving game, lots of communication required
Portal 2 - First person puzzle game, also lots of communication required
Barotrauma - Submarine sim on Europa, requires marriage levels of communication
Binding of Isaac - Roguelike shooter that's sort of Zelda inspired, multiplayer was a little janky last time I tried it, but that was a while ago
The Forest - Excellent horror survival series
Starbound - Terraria in space
Trine series - A modern Lost Vikings, side scrolling puzzles and platforming
Subnautica 2 - A beautiful and terrifying diving/exploration game, original game has a coop mod 8 years in development, but it's been very buggy
Diablo - First and second games are still very solid experiences and there are some excellent mods out for both
Escape Simulator - Literally an escape room simulator. Has workshop support on steam for even more puzzles.
Green Hell - The Forest, but in the jungle, much more focus on the reality of being stranded in a place where just about everything is likely to kill you.
No Man's Sky - Space/planetary exploration sim
Dead Island - another zombie FPS
Dying Light - a zombie game with parkour
20XX/30XX - Megaman X styled platformers with roguelite elements
GTFO - Extremely hard, stealth based, alien FPS
Most "Souls" games - Very fun coop summoning, if you don't mind the sometimes extreme difficulty
Goat Simulator series - Goofy exploration games
Magicka series - Isometric action adventure games where you combine different elements to cast spells
Barony - a true roguelike FPS RPG, voxel based, very hard
Void Crew - Space sim, mission based, sort of Egyptian mythos themed, meant for up to 4 players but definitely possible with just 2
Human Fall Flat - Puzzle/exploration game
Half Dead series - Cube: the game
Orcs Must Die series - Tower defense
Dungeon Defenders series - also tower defense, but with class based
Secret of Mana - One of the first action JRPGS, the remake has drop in coop just like the original, but I believe it's couch coop, so if you're not right next to each other, you'll need something like Parsec to play it
Have a ton more, but those are the ones I can recall having the most fun. Others have probably listed a bunch of them and I probably missed a few good ones, but hopefully a few of them are new.
You could always tinker with some emulators for some retro coop games!
The overcooked series is definitely fun and always comes up cheap on sales for like 3 bucks. It's definitely one to add to any co-op rotation because it's easy to learn but hard to execute so you'll always be going back to get those extra stars you missed.
Note about Overcooked is that the new version that combines 1 & 2 (Overcooked All You Can Eat) seems to have major issues with online multiplayer that never got fixed. You're better off just buying Overcooked 2.
Great write up man, thanks :)
I agree, if they like survival games like Minecraft and Terraria, I too would recommend Valheim and The Forest/SOTF
Since you enjoyed BG3, I'd strongly recommend Divinity: Original Sin 1&2 if you have not played them already.
Other than that, a few random suggestions with sizeable coop campaigns:
I own DOS 2 from back when it came out, does DOS 1 still hold up? Would it be better if we just played 2 either way?
Both are great games, with 1 being a little rough around the edges but still very playable. The gameplay is different enough that it's worth playing them both imo. Story might be better if you play 1 first, but I played through 2 first, then went back later to play 1 and was pleasantly surprised how good it was.
I probably vehemently disagree with some recommendations to play BG 1 and 2 btw, your mileage may vary. It requires very specific builds and knowledge of DnD, or lots of trial and error. You can easily build a well rounded group and find yourself unable to progress because of lacking one very specific thing. If that doesn't sound to annoying, it might be worth a shot. If nothing else, rolling characters is fun.
Well, OP could always play BG1 and BG2 which are still two of the greatest games ever.
Survival Coop
Actiony
Sportish
RPGish
Strategy
Puzzle
Cozy
Best out of these for couples? She doesn't play shooters nor most first-person titles. I don't like turn-based games.
I'd recommend the we were here series. They're two people puzzle games.
Second this. It's a puzzle game that is all about communication. One player is in the room that has to solve the puzzle, the other player is in a different room that has the solution to the puzzle.
This is a game that you don't play being able to look at each other screens.
Just a warning, I’m a wimp and got scared in one specific scene/puzzle. It’s a very minor horror theme, ended up having to have my husband sitting on the floor next to me facing the other way to complete it cos I got too scared. Loved the series though, amazing games.
I wouldn't say horror, but it does have a sinister motif.
There's just not many story mode games that compare to Larians for co-op. Besides take two/a way out, I haven't found any RPGs that are worthwhile (borderlands was the closest I guess but the gameplay is boring)
There is the Baldur Gate 1 and 2 Enhanced Edition that has multiplayer. I never really tried it, so I can't say how good it is.
Another one is Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. The multiplayer has standalone campaigns. Definitely need to get the fan patches for this game.
I appreciate the response. Unfortunately my partner wouldn't want to play such dated games. I on the other hand don't mind them.
portal 2
Definitely this, and make sure you also play the community modules when you've finished the campaign.
Co-op is making a comeback!
Playing right now:
Ideas based on games you mentioned:
Interesting team dynamics:
Surprisingly Engaging:
Nintendo:
Keep coming back to it:
I didn't see this mentioned but it's a great couch co-op indie game. Has a 93% rating on steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/252110/Lovers_in_a_Dangerous_Spacetime/
Can also recommend this game, it's a cute and fun coop that can get kinda frantic at times. The kids love playing it with us
i'll just add a few i haven't seen yet:
loved grim dawn, great diablo style and awesome characters.
I liked Grim dawn for the amount of time that we (my other half and I) played it, but I seem to remember it had issues with shared quests in that you had to complete all quests individually (I'm pretty sure that was it, forgive me it's been awhile), is that still a problem? I might have to go check it out again if it isn't.
Try out the Divinity Original Sin series, also produced by Larian. Different system and setting but it's wonderful.
Seconded, Divinity is great!
Project Zomboid. Feels like a Sims game with zombie and great survival elements. Arguably, the best zombie survival game to hit the market. Supports split screen couch co-op.
Came here to say Zomboid!
Also, OP, dont be afraid to jump straight into mods. You dont have to fuss with a single file. Right from the start, inside the client, you can join modded multiplayer servers. The mods are automatically installed and applied then and there. Zero setup! I say this because a whole heap of mods are strictly quality of life and they really ease the learning curve.
However, picking and choosing your own mods for your own server is the headache you might expect. Let some saintly admin do all that work for you.
Good recommendation! I've played a decent bit of Zomboid, but never with any mods. I definitely should check some out!
I haven't seen Rayman Legends mentioned, so I'll throw it out there. It's a pretty flawless game for what it tries to be, and it's a lot of fun to play with a friend. The musical levels are just extraordinarily crafted. Definitely recommended if you're into platforming at all (and even if you're not it's worth a shot!)
Indeed. It's a little spooky.
After completing the whole game I thought, that was really fun, other than...wait... The whole thing was fun. That can't be right...?
Games I enjoyed playing with my then-gilfriend:
Chiming in to confirm: ibb & obb was a whole lot of fun
Stardew Valley. My wife and I have sunk well over 1000 hours into it and we still aren't bored. The amount of mods for it is insane and gives so much more depth to the game, but vanilla is super well done as well.
Remnant 2 and Deep Rock Galactic are the best that come to mind rn.
Remnant 2 is dark souls with guns and coop actually changes the game in some ways to better enable teamwork to make the dream work.
Deep Rock Galactic is just a wonderful little title about space dwarves mining a crazy bug planet. 100% randomly generated. Each of 4 classes feel like they bring something unique to each mission.
Maybe Valheim?
I didn't see these in the list:
Wyldermyth - indie fairly unique story building campaign with turn based tactical combat.
Wastelands 3 - post apocalyptic RPG with good story, choices, and characters. Great tactical turn based combat. Other than the other Larian games this is closest to filling the BG 3 shaped hole.
Halo Master Chief Collection; 1 - 3, Reach, and ODST are amazing co-op. We've played through all of them multiple times. 4 is... disappointing.
The dynamic story telling in Wyldermyth is fantastic, love interesting character arcs that can develop.
Divinity original sin 1 and 2.
The first one is harder. 2nd one if better to start with. Good fun if you like strategy and storytelling.
I play a lot of couch coop with my kid but adults would enjoy all these too. Most can be found under $20 on Steam and a lot are fairly lightweight games but have good coop mechanics and can be a lot of fun to sit down for an hour or two with.
On Switch
You can play Stardew Valley in multiplayer co-op mode, it's also quite cheap at $14, it's available on every platform and even has excellent Linux support
Weird to see someone mention Linux support on Lemmy.
Og halo was so much fun!
I've used split screen Halo to learn some completely unaware buddies about simple military strategy, such as "QUIT STANDING IN FRONT OF ME WHEN I'M HURLING GRENADES!!1!"
If you're open to silly casual games, Untitled Goose Game
Also, I heard Cult of the Lamb was getting a co-op update
Earth Defense Force. You can probably get 4.1 on a sale really cheap and that could be a decent introduction to the series as a whole, it also has the best overall story tone in my opinion, made of 110% grade B cheese
If you two enjoy it and don't feel burnt out, you can later get EDF 5, which has several QoL updates compared to 4.1, but tends to have a higher price.
This 100% it's so fun to laugh at how ridiculous the story and gameplay is with a friend. Plus each class truly feels unique in how you play them, so you have 4 play styles to choose from.
Left 4 Dead 2
In the same vein but very different: Warhammer: Vermintide 2 and Darktide. No local co-op and cross-play for them though.
The whole We Were Here series is marvelous. Asymmetrical co-op puzzle games. My friend and I’s recent games list looks very similar to this.
We also do a lot of single player games with one of us streaming over discord. When it’s a slow-burn puzzle or mystery game, it doesn’t really matter who is actually controlling.
For those types, I really recommend Return of the Obra Dinn. We’re currently working our way through the entire Frogwares Sherlock Holmes collection. The old ones are so terrible, which is a greatness all by itself.
A few I've played with a friend of mine: the We Were Here series, Portal 2, Monster Hunter World, Factorio and Deep Rock Galactic (which we both didn't like, but it's pretty popular)
Seconding the We Were Here series.
Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2
Edit: Oh, Neverwinter Nights
Do you find that NWN still holds up well today? I used to play it a lot when it first came out (first campaigns then dlc then persistant world servers), I haven't really played the enhanced edition much yet, so just wondered.
ooh, umm. I actually haven't played it since 2018. I can't speak for Enhanced Edition as that came out like a month after I completed the campaign.
Ahh right on - I had a lot of love for that game, so was curious. Might have to try it again regardless :)
My wife who is a huge Minecraft fan has been playing stardew valley with me.
She also loves the portal 2 coop
BattleBlock Theater is a good action platformer that has coop.
Escape Room Simulator is a good 3d puzzle game that can be played coop as well.
My wife and I just finished Super Mario Wonder. It was a lot of fun. Every level has a weird psychedelic section that completely changes the players or the level temporarily. It shakes it up and gives a lot more variety than the other side scrolling Mario games.
Dying Light
But not 2, because the sequel doesn't have true co-op
What are you on about? I've played and finished the campaign and DLC in Dying Light 2 playing only coop.
In the first one, you could drop in and out of each other's games and you would share progress on relevant missions. In number 2 you would join one players game, only they would get credit for any progress and it tethered you together. So although technically co-op, it was a significant downgrade from the first game and didn't lend itself to the open world nature of the game, more like being player 2.
Elden Ring with the Seamless Co-op mod. It's not difficult or complicated to set up and it works extremely well
Second this. A friend and I just finished up a full co-op main game + DLC run and it was a blast!
Halo
Unravel 2
You should give Journey to the Savage Planet a try. It's a 2 player 3D platformer metroidvania type game with upgrades and good humor.
The sequel is on the way as well, with local co-op.
Seconded.
If you don't mind an MMO subscription fee, you might try A Tale In the Desert:
https://www.desert-nomad.com/
It's fairly niche, and it's been years since I've played it, but it seems to still keep an active player base. It's much more cooperative than most MMOs, with very little PvP. It's like the whole community is working together to build a civilization.
Wow, I didn't realise that was still about! I'm tempted to go check it out again!
Check out Larian's other masterpiece, Divinity: Original Sin II. Original Sin I is great as well, but a little dated.
Dang, I scanned the suggestions and didn't see this one before posting!
I'm currently playing V Rising right now with my wife after Divinity 2. We are LOVING it. Definitely give it a try!
Don’t Starve Together
Pikmin 3
Overcooked
I too choose to try to break up this person's friendship.
I'm kidding... Mostly.
Satisfactory
for local coop of course portal and as a bonus, kid safe, - it takes two, biped.
Stardew Valley has really good multiplayer now. Might scratch some of that Minecraft and Terraria itch.
A couple titles that deserve mention and I don't see in any other lists:
Children of Mora - Narrative driven action RPG with some light Roguelite-ish elements. Amazing world building and story telling, good character choice/building and gameplay.
Cassette Beasts - Pokemon, if it were good. Much more mature story, tons of quality of life systems that makes building things fun, a weakness system that matters a lot more than "number big" and the entire game is double battles. I've played the game start-to-finish in couch co-op and it was incredible. They've recently added online multiplayer, but I cannot say with 100% certainty that the online allows you to engage with the story together. Couch co-op has one player play as the companion character in an otherwise unchanged experience whereas online has one player character hop into another player characters world.
Weird enough, the Monster Hunter franchise - I'm not sure how this isn't anywhere else in this thread. Use large weapon to hunt large monster. Build bigger weapon to hunt bigger monster. World and Rise are both on sale on Steam right now. World is dumb to move through the story together though, despite the fact that most fans who aren't me are likely to call it the better game.
V Rising - 49.2 Hours
Online Co-op
Isometric perspective
Vampire survival/crafting
Be a vampire lord with a keep, thralls, blood banks, cast magic, wild shape to a wolf, decorate a castle, posess a horse, make your Castlevania/vampire fantasy come true!
Enshrouded - 123.3 Hours
Online co-op, 3rd person perspective
Absolutely beautiful and haunting exploration/survival/crafting/action rpg.
Early access and already has had large updates
Wonderful and detailed building system. Will post pics if I remember when I'm at my PC.
Remnant II - 22.5 Hours
Online co-op, 1st/3rd person
Soulslike shooter
Has been quite challenging playing it single player but co-op seems like it could be good with easier progression
Stardew Valley - 252.2 Hours
Edit to add: 9 Monkeys of Shaolin - 7.0 Hours
Stardew valley has split screen support on PC!
Did not realize that! I can't wait to play with my daughter!
Yep that's perfect. They get to be the "farm hand" and get their own little cottge and everything! You can buy more cottages at the carpenter if you are more than two people.
Elden Ring with the Seamless Coop mod looks like great fun if you enjoy that type of game. I've wanted to try it for a long time.
Torchlight 2 and 3 are fun looting co-op experiences.
Most of these have been mentioned before, but I'll mention them again.
Halo Master Chief Collection. Everything before 5 is local split screen. 5 requires two Xboxs. I would just avoid Infinite, but I believe it also requires two systems, maybe including PC.
Diablo 3 is very accessible. 4 should be as well. I'm told Diablo 2 is the best, so I need to try to get back into it. All should be good options.
Monster Hunter requires more patience. At least for World, cooperation is good but really the game is geared towards individuals being able to take charge as necessary. Track, set traps, bait, capture, etc. Multiplayer is VERY useful during fights though.
Stranger of Paradise is kinda Souls-like but more forgiving. In my experience it's A LOT more friendly to Multiplayer. It's also a ton of fun with a friend.
Psi-Ops: Mindgate Conspiracy. An old PS2 game. One person controls the body, the other controls the mind. Especially if you have a Gameshark and you can go Godmode.
Any of the old Street sports games were a blast back in the day.
Older Twisted Metal for another old-school recommendation.
Gauntlet
Yellow Wizard Needs Food Badly!
GREAT SUGGESTION
Subnautica can be played together using the Nitrox mod
https://nitrox.rux.gg/
Ooh. Sweet.
Assuming Steam?
Halo, obviously. Master Chief Collection is pretty cheap to pick up these days, don't miss out on the Halo 3 ODST DLC.
Ready Or Not can be a challenge with just two people, but it is very rewarding to get a good score.
Zero Hour is very similar to Ready Or Not, but it has different features and I find it a bit easier.
Deep Rock Galactic
Risk of Rain 2
Elden Ring (Seamless Coop Mod is highly recommended)
Monster Hunter World (include Iceborn DLC)
Generation Zero
Project Zomboid (if you like this one you'll probably sink hundreds of hours into it)
theHunter Call of the Wild (chill hunting shooter)
Farming Simulator 2019 (new ones may be better, haven't researched)
Barotrauma
Factorio
Elite Dangerous
Green Hell
The Forest
Sons of the Forest
Morrowind has an OpenMW fork that supports multiplayer, if you get it set up this can be a fun game to play
I’m playing through BG3 with a good friend too, we’re actually planning on doing another, wildly different, playthrough when we’re done with this one. We’re playing sorta chaotic/neutral good right now and intend to do an evil campaign next with different characters and classes and possibly even modded.
Now I obviously haven’t tried it yet but the game has so much hidden stuff, branching paths and different-to-play classes I’m fairly confident you can play it at least twice and have an almost entirely new experience!
I believe the entirety of the Gears of War series has a co op mode
Also if you don't know anything about the series like I did before playing Gears 5 with my kids, don't play it with kids....
Nine Parchments - Top down Magic slinging romp. Similar to the Majica series, but with less knowing how to do certain key-press combos.
Orcs Must Die 2 - 3rd person tower defense where you place traps and use spells and weapons to take down foes. Continues the story of the first game, which did not have multiplayer, unfortunately.
Children of Morta - Top down dungeon crawler. Take on the roles of a family trying to hunt down an ancient evil. Like the Belmont's of Castlevania fame.
Full Metal Furies - Top down action fighter. Fight the Titans as some of the last remaining survivors of Ragnarok. Fun dialing with a good-sized world map to explore.
Astroneer - 3rd person survival crafting on a randomized planet. Cute component designs and a unique air management system. Plays best with a mouse & keyboard.
Deep Rock Galactic - Space Dwarves Corporate mining simulator. You and up to 4 friends drive do into infested planetoids in order to make some Gold. Destructible terrain and shenanigans.
Is there any reason you recommend two specifically over three? I know there is a third Orcs Must Die game but I have no idea if the community considers it "good" or not.
I haven't played the third one co-op yet, unfortunately so I can only assume that it holds up like the second one does.
The "We Were Here" series is a fun puzzle co-op game. The first one's free if you want to try before you buy.
Popping in to suggest Ship of Fools and Cult of the Lamb
Ship of Fools was shorter than I'd like but lots of fun. Currently playing through Cult of the Lamb co-op and and we've been having a blast
In the same vein, check out Klei's new game Rotwood. I'm early access, but well worth the price, and will no doubt receive updates for years to come.
Can't believe I hadn't seen anyone mention "it takes two" great game, was free on Gamepass when I last played it.
Warframe
If you're into souls-likes, try "Stranger of Paradise"
Its fantastic, nobody has heard of it for some reason. I played this last year with a friend and it was really fun (if you're into that playstyle)
Darksiders Genesis was also very fun with my little cousin, more hack n slash, one player gets to be pure meelee and the other half meelee half twin stick ranged.
Sniper Elite (4?) is pretty good as a chill co op FPS mission progression game.
Otherwise, probably any survival craft will do, you already played a few. I enjoyed Valheim and Planet Crafter and wish Subnautica had Multiplayer.
Solasta crown of the magister
Steam link
I love solasta to bits but I think it will feel really bad to play directly after BG3. You need to have a lot of love for DnD and the jank of indies to enjoy it all the way
Agreed, we played it after BG3 and it sure felt like a B rate movie but would still recommend to add to the list
Grounded
As of last week, Cult of the Lamb
For crafting/exploration/survival I'd recommend Valheim. Don't judge it by its looks, the game is insanely fun with friends.
Grab a PS2 emulator and give Kuri Kuri Mix a go.
It's by FromSoft of all people and it seems hardly anyone has heard of it.
Rayman Legends.
If you don’t mind horror games, the entire Dark Pictures Anthology and The Quarry are really fun shared stories with branching paths.
Are they local or online co-op?
Both! And the way they work is different based on the fact that locally you can both see the screen but online you have different views.
Ark survival evolved is something my husband and I enjoy playing together that's quite fun. The base building and dino taming together is very enjoyable if you're on a private server.
If you give this one a try, make sure whoever is hosting sets their server to private and invites the other person via steam. Otherwise you might get randos.
Sea of Thieves.
My recommendation for two people is a Brigantine, just for challenge.
You’ll fight better in a Sloop, but a Brigantine is more fun to operate for two people.
Wildermyth is an awesome indie RPG that I've had a lot of fun with as a two-player coop game. It's a turn-based dungeon crawler with a strong focus on role play and party dynamics.
I hear great praise for Across the Obelisk as a coop game from my friends, although I personally bounced off of it. It's a roguelite deck builder like Slay the Spire, but with multi-player, lots of meta progression, and a heftier time commitment for each run.
Gunfire Reborn is a roguelite looter shooter that's a blast in coop. I think it's still in Early Access, but what's already there is enough for me to be happy with it as a full game. To me it's a spiritual successor to Borderlands in combat and gamefeel, but without the grinding.
It's an old game, but Pixel Junk: Monsters is a ton of fun as a co-op tower defense. Don't bother with the sequel - s'bad.
PlateUp can be fun in 2 player co-op. If you've played Overcooked, its basically a clone of that, but turned into a roguelike. Its not the longest or deepest, but its still solid, and the price is very fair IMO, esspecially if you get it on sale.
Unraveled 2 is a beautiful and fun game for 2 people.
You should try a wholesome cute game called Bread and Fred!!! It's got penguins!
Dark Souls 1 (remastered) & 3 along with Bloodborne are good options.
Has nobody mentioned Barotrauma? Had a few hundred hours of fun with this, my buddy and I. Especially if you don't mind shit being not very shiny. It is unique, and it keeps on giving.
I have a co-op buddy too and heaps of good suggestions from others here. Two that I've been enjoying as 2 person co-op:
Wartales: started this after completing BG3 and it was a real interesting change in thinking. This is fantasy party adventure, but you run a team of mercenaries, so it's more about the team build and strategy, rather than the specific character focus that you have in BG3.
The Wild Eight: an isometric survival, crafting, set in a plane crash in the snow. Some story, discovery elements included.
Serious Sam - almost any version!
The Division 2 is fantastic co-op and often gets put on sale.
Cat quest 2 if you like cat puns and something casual. (Cat quest 1 is single player and doesn't (really) connect to the storyline of the sequel)
Not played most of the games you mentioned so not sure this'll be your thing, but I've gotten back in to Sky: Children of the Light recently and it's been great.
It's beautiful, f2p (ad free!!!) on a bunch of different platforms, and going in as a pair will give you a head start since it has a social aspect and is designed to occasionally get players to cooperate (though you can play alone just fine, I do most of the time and cooperate with and befriend other platers). It's mostly chill and you can take it at your own pace and make what you want of the world - follow the spirit guides and play through "proper" or fly/run/swim around and discover things on your own. You can use skills like playing instruments and taking photos, decorate your own or shared spaces, customise your character, chat to people from all over, or just chill in your favourite spot.
It's a very different experience, but have you considered Baldur's Gate 2?
Outward is made to be played by two players. It's a really beautiful survival rpg with difficult combat.
BattleZone (the one from like 2016) is surprisingly fun and has optional VR support
Since you played all Borderlands and just finished a D&D game, why not play "B&B" on Borderlands, there's a game called Tiny Tina's Wonderland which plays like Borderlands but is set in "medieval" fantasy (but still has gun for some reason)
I'd highly recommend Stolen Realms. Pretty cheap too
It's a hex grid turn based game. You can have up to 6 characters (difficulty scales per character) and can each control as many in the party as you want. Turns are taken as enemy, and players with the players able to act at the same time so you aren't waiting too long if you are communicating about what you want to do.
It has multiple "classes" with skill tiers that require you to take a few from that "class" but you can spec however you want.
The roguelike mode is very fun for quick sessions and will reward you with a choice of random skills and armors after every fight, but it also saves if you need to go and play later.
Abiotic Factor. It's basically a co-op Half-life.
Prodeus is still EA, but it has a solid first episode with good Co-op gameplay if you're into retro style shooters.
If you really want to go old school, OG Doom from 1993 and Bungie's Marathon Trilogy(1994-96) support co-op. I haven't tried Doom yet, but you do need to be technical to figure out Marathon co-op.
I couldn't find it mentioned already, but I really loved Vagante. https://store.steampowered.com/app/323220/Vagante/
Since you mentioned Vintage Story I'm gonna go ahead and praise that suggestion. A game truly worth supporting! Developed by only two people, with a huge dedication. Game has a lovely community too. Definitely give it a shot 👌
Core Keeper comes out of Early Access soon I think and should be up your alley
Super Mario 3 is pretty sweet
Cult of the Lamb's latest content release is bringing 2-player local coop
I enjoyed playing Toodee and Topdee with my roommate. Fun puzzle game. Can be played singleplayer or multiplayer. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1303950/Toodee_and_Topdee/
Minecraft Dungeons is also quite fun for co-op. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1672970/Minecraft_Dungeons/
Remnant 2 is sweet!
Here's a co-op indie game I made for Windows PCs. $1.
https://www.cheerandtrack.com
Diablo 4
Path of exile is superior.
Might as well add Grim Dawn too. Though I've heard multiplayer can be a little janky.
I haven't played it, but I have heard good words for having a few playthroughs. But I believe it does not have the staying power of POE.
Depends on the player, I think. It's a rather unique kind of game in the ARPG genre since you combine two masteries to make up your class. I prefer Grim Dawn over most other games in the genre, including PoE.
Again, this is very much YMMV. Depends heavily on what you prefer as the player.
Outriders. And a bit more tame but Unravel 2 for in-person.
Outward is pretty fun (and at times bs and challenging). It is also not that long of a game to finish. The soundtrack is also good.
There's a game on Kickstarter called Outbound. It's in alpha access right now.
The game looks like it's literally Raft in a camper van. Haven't tried it yet but I plan to.
Steam link