Rayman Legends.

Can’t believe I hadn’t seen anyone mention “it takes two” great game, was free on Gamepass when I last played it.

Core Keeper comes out of Early Access soon I think and should be up your alley

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.

Cult of the Lamb’s latest content release is bringing 2-player local coop

Og halo was so much fun!

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.

portal 2

I couldn’t find it mentioned already, but I really loved Vagante. https://store.steampowered.com/app/323220/Vagante/

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.

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.

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!)

Gauntlet

Try out the Divinity Original Sin series, also produced by Larian. Different system and setting but it’s wonderful.

Portal 2?

It’s not very long, but it has an entire co-op campaign that’s completely inaccessible without a 2nd player.