Buyers remorse, any suggestions for getting the most out of the Xbox One for our situation?

First some background. The last console I owned was the original Xbox which I purchased while in the army stationed in South Korea back in 2001 (I'm 35 now). I loved it! It gave me something else to do than manage to get in trouble over-indulging in off-post
activities. I'm a computer tech guy and I love gaming. The Xbox was perfect for my situation at that time. I eventually moved away from consoles and went back to just PC gaming as I would already purchase a fairly powerful PC every few years anyways, so it
made sense financially for me. I play a wide range of games from several Blizzard games (taking an indefinite break from WoW though), to FPS games, adventure games, RPG, strategy, etc.

My girlfriend also likes to play games of many types, though only a few FPS games appeal to her (such as Halo). She recently moved from another state, and brought a PS3 and WII with her for her apartment. One of the things she'd mentioned wanting for Christmas
was an Xbox One. She really didn't think I was going to get her one, but I surprised her with it! We were both pretty excited about it at first, but quickly started to grow colder over it, just weeks after getting it. Now, I am not claiming any fault other
than our own for not fully understand what we were getting into.

We both like playing Diablo 3. Was the second game we purchased after Fallout 4. Low and behold, your battle.net characters are separate from your Xbox live characters. That sucks. It's fun playing it on the xbox since you can use a controller there, and
that particular game actually feels better with a controller to us. Otherwise though it's annoying that when I'm at my own place, I switch back to my PC characters. Sucks having nothing shared.

We both played The Elder Scrolls Online for a while on the PC, and wanted to get back into it and thought it would be fun to be able to play in the living room. On a whim she purchased it, assuming an MMO would have all platforms sharing it since otherwise
it would be 3 small fractured communities rather than, well, a "massive" one. Of course we were burned again, and it's pointless to play it since we can't play with each other unless we drop money on another Xbox One which is out of the question.

Both of us had good memories of playing the Halo games before we even knew each other, so I bought Halo 5 because it would give us something to play together. I think by now you all know where this is going...

Halo 5 does have co-op like the other Halo games. The description for it even says so on the digital store. Too bad we didn't catch the lack of the word "splitscreen". So now we've purchased yet another game that we can't play together. Both of us are pretty
upset to be stuck with a system that we can't really enjoy together. We LOVE playing games together. Now we both wish we'd have purchased something like an Alienware Alpha for the living room (or just had me build a small gaming rig).

NOW that that's been said, what do you all suggest (short of purchasing another Xbox One), for us to get the most out of this system so that we can actually play together. Are there any AAA games that have split screen co-op modes? Are there any games that
aren't cut off from their PC online experience?

:)

 

Anyone ever successfully obtained a refund for a digital purchase?

Yeah, they won't give you one for buyers remorse.

 

controller shake/flick not working

ive been killed twice in nightmare mode because of this am going to try and play w/out kinect........am getting serious case of buyers remorse

 

TBh to get the most out of an xbox one between two people you want another console, plus they are much cheaper now, if you buy games digitally you can game share so only buy the game once, only buy live once, there are many benefits.

Developers seem scare to use shared games between platforms, which I think is silly but hey ho.

If you really are into so many games types I would suggest staying on PC TBH.

Split screen is really a thing of the past very few games offer it now, think about it though how complicated is a game now and they have to do everything twice, eek.

 

I can sympathise with the lack of shared data for characters and progress across platforms, but that isn't uncommon and you'll find the same issue on the X1's rival platform the PS4. Consoles are pretty much closed systems so, it's rare to be able to share
data from one platform to another, if the other platform isn't in the same family eg: an Xbox 360 with data on games like Diablo, State of Decay, I think Destiny? etc.

For upcoming titles across Windows 10 and Xbox One, like Fable Legends, data will be transferred. It'll become a common feature that will warrant the expectations you had when expecting it now with the X1 to PC and back again, on third-party titles.

For splitscreen, I think Halo is the only next-gen franchise to get slammed for not including the feature.

The Xbox One is pretty much blowing steam out of its gigantic vents when straining to deliver the visuals and effects found in games like Halo 5, personally I think it's wholly unrealistic to expect the console to do what consoles of old were doing with
basic games like Goldeneye, Halo 1 et al. Only today, running a visually stunning, effects-heavy experience from two perspectives on the same screen.

Might happen down the line, but I doubt it. {=]

I believe the Preview Game, Ark: Survival Evolved has, or is getting a splitscreen mode. You may want to look into that. I hear good things - but I'm not throwing money at Preview Games. They tend not to go anywhere if the Steam library is any indication.
{=D

You may want to search over at
Co-Optimus for games tailored to your needs mate. It lists virtually every game, on all current platforms, with couch co-op and splitscreen to local lan and online multiplayer. Has a good search feature too. {>_0}

 

Use google before you buy games. That's my suggestion.

 

If you enjoy shooters then Black Ops 3 has a splitscreen mode.

Halo gets the grief I think Argontheos because that's a big part of why it became so popular. Couldn't 343i have just turned down some of the flashy visuals when running in splitscreen?

 

"Diablo III" is the best local co-op option on the ONE and you've already got it.

"Divinity II: Original Sin" is another great local co-op. It's like "Diablo" but it's a massive RPG and is rated very highly by gaming critics.

The Lego games are pretty good and manage the split screen fairly well. Pick your favourite cinema franchise and you're set.

The games above allow you to share the space on the screen together like "Diablo III". However "Divinity" and "Lego" will split the screen if you get too far apart. Shared screen is better than split screen so I would say these are your best options to
begin with.

If you're happy with a permanently split screen then there's the "COD" franchises that support it online and off. Also you've got "Borderlands II".

"Minecraft" is good fun and if you both enjoy fighting games check out "Dead Or Alive" and "Blazbue: Chronophantasma Extend" (it's a Japanese thing) for 2 great fighters where you both get as much screen space as the other.

Hope some of that is helpful.

 

Yep, I worked last night and was unable to post, but before heading to work we realized that indeed Diablo III has local co-op. That will pretty much tide us over for our couch gaming for a while. We will of course play the heck out of Halo 5 and Fallout
4.

Great posts all of you! I really appreciate it. I hope nothing I said ever came off as being anti-console, because that couldn't be farther from what I intended to convey. The system is great for plopping down after work and relaxing on the couch and playing
a game. Both of us have enjoyed playing it, but we just had few disappointments that made us second guess getting it. Once we figured out how to do co-op on D3 (honestly it almost seemed hidden how you go about doing it), we will have something we can both
enjoy. Great tips on the other games out there as well. We really appreciate it.

I realize split screen gaming is kind of fading away. My first thought is that it's more of a way to entice more sales, but although that may play a part, there probably is more to it than that. Kind of crazy that it would only be due to performance reasons
though considering how much my old overclocked core i7 920 PC with a single nvidia GTX760 can handle. My girlfriend commented right away that GTA V doesn't look as good on the Xbox One. But anyways, that doesn't really matter to me. I'm not meaning to start
a pc vs console war, as I think those are silly. Both have their place and both have their strengths. The console wasn't purchased for superior graphics quality. It was purchased just as a way to quickly play games comfortably on a couch...games that are optimized
around a controller, etc. Also we like having the media apps and such so we could get rid of a couple other devices.

Sorry I'm a bit wordy! Thanks again everyone for the tips. If anyone else has any game suggestions I'd love to hear about them!

 

Oh yeah, you talked about HALO Co-op.

HALO 5 is a SINGLE player game. You can only play co-op online.

But... The Master Chief Collection allows you to play all the previous HALO titles in Co-op.

The online Multiplayer was a mess when it launched but the local Co-op worked fine.

I think "Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate" features split screen co-op. I'll double check when I'm home.

 

Get Borderlands Handsome Collection. You get two complete games with all dlc and it has split screen for you and your girl.

 

@Jena ~ Well, not really. =) Halo 5 is pretty much firing on all cylinders at this time in the console's life, in terms of using the system's resources to deliver the best experience both visually and in the 'feel' of the gunplay. That's not to say it won't
be topped in future with successive advances in chip technology and new techniques and leaps in game engines and design and whatnot.

For a start the game's campaign is geared toward cinematic set-pieces, visual effects, complex AI, and high frame-rate with a progressive resolution system that adjusts [scales] the resolution at key moments so as not to impact your frame-rate during play.

So, it's not like you can twist a dial down and deliver a middling to decent experience in both halves of a split-screen. The cuts being made to the experience found in the online co-op and singleplayer experience, to get split-screen, would be pretty noticeable.
You'd probs just have a 'meh' experience in both halves of the screen. lol {XD

It'd make for some mutual, probably bond-strengthening complaints as you share a couch and play the mediocre version of Halo 5. Heh ha.

They'd sorta have to build the co-op campaign from the ground up, and sacrifice a bunch of cool shhhhh- izzle. Or just simply deliver the feature of split-screen co-op that would exist for the sake of existing, and that would get the same kind of groans
and online moaning as CoD Blops III's not-so-great split-screen campaign experience [when it's not on a gigantic TV.]

Forgetting the technical aspects of it all. Split-screen just isn't as popular as it used to be. I think all metrics show that even games like Mortal Kombat that are perfect couch combat games, are played mostly online. The vast majority of gamers have excellent
internet speeds, and Microsoft/Xbox especially has probably the most robust servers in gaming.

Gamers might fire up Mortal Kombat and give their best friend a good kicking while sneering from across the couch, occasionally, but they're generally handing some squeaking foreigner thousands of miles away, his or her butt. {=D

 

I tried split screen back on the Original XBOX and 360 and I always found myself too focused on the wrong side of the screen so I completely abandoned the idea of playing couch co-op. HaHa

Just wasn't for me but I do realize some like playing that way.

 

@Argontheos: But the cinematics could be full screen with it splitting for player controlled sections.

Surely they could cut down on things such as draw distance and particle effects when it split screen? PC games let you change such things, I'm sure that 343i could do the same thing automatically.

As to firing on all cylinders, really? The console is barely two years old, it can't be pushing its limits yet.

 

Pushing its limits had nothing to do with age. It has to do with the developers using all the available resources when developing their product.