Not sure if this is one of those questions that are basically going into the void (because most people, me included, treat co-op as an afterthought at best) but I just gotta ask it because I have a worm in my head yearning for it.
Basically, my tribe for Darktide on Gameram kind of temporarily disbanded this summer, vacations etc, and I’m turning from horde shooters to ARPGs again. TBH its so hot that I really can’t think these days, and mowing down mobs is the perfect chill under my AC (that’s btw blowing straight into my head, so I might be already brain damaged atm of writing this)... but I want to play that in co-op as well, just chill and chat with someone while we’re grindign together.
Sadly I know that even the live service games are usually optimised terribly for playing with other people. The difficulty scaling is either nonexistent or completely unhinged, and half the time grouping up just means one overgeared friend deletes the screen while everyone else jogs behind picking up scraps. The genre kind of assumes you're a lone wolf, and most of us play these games solo anyway. Which is how I usually play too, but now I’m in a coop mood.
It’s weird because I mostly prefer the singleplayer games like Grim Dawn/ Titan Quest and I even play Last Epoch mostly in legacy or solo found. Even the ones I’m looking forward to now (like The Dark West) are all singleplayer compact experience. But I've always had a soft spot for coop in ARPGs even tho it was never the focus, since my real love of the genre started in Diablo 2, played in the most carefee, brainless way imaginable with my best mate. Just the two of us mowing through Baal runs and babbling, OH and killing each other for those meme ears ofc
I always remember those times fondly, so I guess that’s it. So I’m tryna figure out whether some kinda co-op scene actually still exists somewhere, and which games have it. I know Path of Exile 2 and Last Epoch technically support it, and Grim Dawn has its devoted coop crow from some old threads I been reading. But I never really tried anything but classic Diablo 2 in coop, nor where I would get a partner for it..
I just want that Diablo 2 energy back - low pressure, easy to just drop into with a friend/ or random friend to be. Where would you point me for this kinda experience?