With gaming often bringing me into a really depressive headspace sometimes with how the markets are developing, whats a game you can always go to and just be lost in, or just be happy with?
Personally i would go for advance wars 1 and 2 on the gba (there is no remake and never will be)
the artstyle, the music, the game-play is just simple, yet effective, a sublime experience of very fun times.
Whats yours?
Minecraft. It’s just a nice game to get lost in.
Outer wilds. The music is so pretty, and going back to it after you’ve explored it all feels like being on your childhood playground again. Sometimes now I just go out into space and watch how the planets move.
Second this. Outer Wilds is amazing. If you do play, try not to look up anything as the satisfaction of exploring and figuring things out is so cool. The sound track is very good as is the DLC.
Ooo heavy second Outer Wilds. Very fantastic game and comforting.
How would you sell that game to someone? I keep hearing about it but know nothing about it? What makes you love it?
The outer wilds is an exploration game of the highest pedigree. You’re in an intricate solar system with lots to discover and puzzle out to solve the central mystery of the game. The atmosphere is quite fun and calming. The music is pretty catchy too. I appreciate the big revelations, the moments where you immediately feel big brained by putting 2 and 2 together. It’s genuinely a really good time if you want game about the wonder of discovery.
Thank you, sounds like it’d be up my alley.
There’s a reason you keep hearing how good the game is but still don’t know much about it. The community is great in letting everyone experience it themselves.
It’s best if you know nothing about Outer Wilds before playing it, trust me. I know this is a cliché way of recommending stuff, but in this case it can’t be overstated. Just give it an honest try for at least 1-2 hours.
It’s a game that gives you “2”, “plus”, and “two” separately, instead of telling you the answer is 4. Some people don’t like it and prefer handholding. Half of the game is done in your head when you’re not playing it.
So basically a game that’s heavy on exploration and puzzles? It’s not open world is it?
Not in the way BOTW is, it’s closer to Myst in that there’s a world (solar system) to explore with lots clues and lore but not a lot of irrelevant fluff.
Gotcha, I prefer a bit of structure (BOTW being one of few exception) so that works out for me.
deleted by creator
Been meaning to play it after I bought it a while ago. I’ll have to get to it this weekend
I haven’t seen anyone mentioning this gem:
Vampire Survivors
Stardew Valley comes to mind right away, but I think it applies to all titles after you get the hang of it, with the exception of heavily RNG-based games like Risk of Rain 2, Hades, Dead Cells where you have to be alert almost all the time. Currently I’m enjoying playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Definitely a comfort game just riding your horse around.
I tried Stardew Valley one time, and it killed me. I would probably call myself a completionist and all the stuff I have to remember from the get go and dates and times I need to be somewhere to don’t miss out just made me stressed out. But I haven’t looked into it if you really miss out or you can do the stuff later, too. It was I while ago… perhaps I will give it another try.
I don’t think you can actually permanently fail anything. If you want to just farm and ignore socializing with people that’s totally fine, you can always raise your friendship with them later, once the farm is more established. Having sprinklers installed really cuts down on tedium.
Adventuring in the mines is another way to go, you can ignore farming for a while if you like, or just do it on rainy days.
Or you can just spend all your time socializing until you are maxed out and don’t need to anymore (stardew wiki required if you want to keep your sanity figuring out how to max socialize).
It’s all valid.
Stardew Valley is as stressful as you wanna make it lol
Don’t get me wrong, it can get stressful at times, but I’m on my fourth playthrough and this time, I suddenly stopped caring so much about the story, I just like doing the tasks. Fishing is trance-like, I love that mini game so much.
I’m surprised Katamari Damacy hasn’t been mentioned yet. Both that game and its sequel, “We Love Katamari,” have been remastered in recent years (in fact, the sequel just came out last week) and they’re a joy to play.
The game has all that OP mentions… Quirky art style, awesome music, simple tactile gameplay, and just overall a relaxing and fun time.
i tried the remake of the first one and personally, i didnt like it, it felt like they added minutes to the timers and generally feels off, but im glad you like the remakes
Interesting. I played the original ages ago (like, as a Japanese bootleg before it got localized for Western markets) and only played the remake last year… Can’t say I noticed a difference in difficulty, and hunting down 100% Achievements was QUITE the challenge.
“We Love Katamari” DOES feel off to me, though. Like, I get kind of frustrated at the density of objects, and it’s never a feel I’ve experienced with the original or its remaster.
i see, let me give you an example than, in the original, as we are surely both familiar with, one very early level has you transition from a room to a garden and than the outside of the house. In the ps2 version i have roughly, a minute between finishing the level and it actually ending most of the time. In the remaster, on my first try i sat there for several minutes before it actually ended, so idk what they did, but they changed something.
Power wash simulator. Feels good to clean.
Diablo games. It’s nice being able to slay demons and not put much thought into it.
GTA, online friends mode, cruise on my motorcycle checking out scenery, ride the coasters.
Which diablo game would you recommend for someone trying to get into it? Sounds up my alley from how you describe it
I’m gonna be the oddball here and recommend D2R. Although I haven’t yet played 4 ($70 wtf no thx), I’ve played the rest, and while I certainly have the nostalgia goggles on a bit, I’d say it’s one of the best examples of the genre. The remaster did a great job of adding some desperately needed QOL features that have come about in the genre since its release, and updating the graphics, without detracting from the atmosphere of the game.
As for 3, personally, I feel like it removed too much of the thought, i.e. skills and stats, and put the focus solely on luck, i.e. gear and loot, while also removing some deeper loot customization options; as well as the graphics and general atmosphere being more cartoon-ish and much less bleak, as much better fits the series, imo. But as someone else has said, 3 can be tried for free, and the general gameplay loop is pretty ubiquitous throughout the series: Kill monsters, level up, get better gear, rinse and repeat. So you can really get a feel for if that kinda thing is for you or not.
I’ve definitely heard that 4 is much more of a return to the “series’ roots” if you will, so that might be worth checking out as well.
The OG is great, but it definitely hasn’t aged as well, and it’s very clunky and a bit slow, but is definitely worth playing at some point. And there are cool mods too add new classes and such!
While not Diablo, Path of Exile, Grim Dawn, and Last Epoch are some others that are basically Diablo in everything but name.
I’ve played a ton of Path of Exile; it’s free to play and has major feature updates every few months. I haven’t played Last Epoch but I’ve heard good things.
You can try Diablo 3 for free and see if that style of gameplay is fun to you.
Diablo 4 is certainly a better game (so far) in my opinion though. Micro txn bullshit aside it’s a good balance between mindless demon slaying and some story.
I don’t get the mtx hate, it’s purely cosmetic, just ignore it?
I wasn’t saying I have a problem with it. Others do though.
The new diablo 4 just released and it’s perfectly fine to skip the others and go straight to 4!
Factorio. The factory must grow.
Slay the Spire for me. Got all the characters to A20 with multiple heart wins, 700+ hours in across phone and steam deck, still having a blast with every run. The awesome thing is that every run is so distinct, every card in the game can be good in the right scenario.
deleted by creator
And then you add mods…
I love playing Spire on my iPad! It’s such a fun and strategic game!! I love how every run is different and getting OP feels so fun!
Great game. My kid used to love doing fun runs. Making all the choices, consequences be damned.
As others have already touched upon, I think the Zelda series is masterful (pun semi-intended) at this.
I can’t count how many times I’ve replayed through Ocarina of Time just to relax and vibe. These games really excel at creating little moments of catharsis.
I used to spend hours in OOT just hanging around Kakariko or Lon Lon Ranch or soaking in the ambiance of the Forest Temple.
Or hanging outside the Stock Pot Inn in the morning, waiting for it to open in Majora’s Mask.
Or floating around on the Great Sea in Wind Waker.
Or taking Marin down to the beach in Link’s Awakening.
And so on, up through the BotW/TotK era.
Definitely minecraft. It’s a great game to relax
I just started playing Minecraft for the first time, June 2023. Survival mode is so fun. I just made an underground hidey hole because the creepers are relentless at night
I’m working myself backwards from Valheim to Minecraft…
There are a lot of games I’ve spent a lot of time in, but none come close to Fallout New Vegas.
I left my heart in the Sierra Madre.
What are your feelings on the other fallout games?
The top-downs are classics.
The Bethesda games don’t really do a lot for me personally, mainly because I really like to get into the lore of games, and Bethesda games usually break the lore a lot. That, and I just haven’t found the world’s they made as interesting. That said, lots of people love them, so don’t let some grump on the internet talk you out of enjoying something.
It is still Guild Wars 2 for me.
It is very chill to play and only explore and it also has more challenging content if i feel like it. Best MMO out there. At least for me personally.
If anyone can show me the way to a guild wars 2 community here i would be grateful btw.
i just might get back into it for it
I have the base game. I played for a couple hours but haven’t got the “hook”. It feels very… unfulfilling… “objective marker on map, done, next”. Maybe not for me or I’m playing it wrong?
Honestly I still come back to old school RuneScape every now and then for that comfy nostalgia. Even as I type I get that pang to go questing.
Yeah we do not quest like other mmos, except in the campaign maybe. Which i always found refreshing and way better. I dont like to run from one questgiver to the next and back and do fetch quests, just to access the rest of the game. Cannot play those games anymore.
It is a theme park where you decide where to go. You could go to pvp from the start since stats are the same for everyone, or boost to 80 and start the expansions or wvw right away.
Funny thing about the markers on the map is , that most of them got added after launch because people did not know where to go and many complained it felt to empty.
They wanted to make it feel more real, so you have to get used to dynamic events and meta trains.
No other game that i know of has those grand fights with hundred of people against giant bosses like guild wars. Or mounts that feel different to play and not just means to travel. Check youtube for griffon and rollerbeetle races. Amazing stuff.
The combat seems to be simple sometimes but that is mostly in the open world and beginner zones.
Depending on the class, endgame in group content can be quite difficult. But the nice thing is that almost everything is optional.
Gotta set your own goals.
The achievement panel is sometimes confusing but once you learn to navigate and stick them to your HUD they become your questlog and there are a lot of them.
It also has no subscription so you can take all the time you need, which also helps socializing.
The fee to get the whole game can maybe be steep and the starter story is a bit old fashioned, but at least you own everything and it is cheaper and has more things to do than most other games these days.
It is understandable if you are not into it tho. We all play games for different reasons and like or dislike certain mechanics.
Just wanted to give you a rundown why i like it so sorry for the wall of text. :)
I appreciate it! It helps me understand what turned me off. I’ll look into giving it another shot when I want a break from Deep Rock Galactic.
To me, the best approach for base game, has always been to tackle it similar to Zelda BOTW/TOTK - you should just wander around until you find something interesting and then hang around and see what events might pop up. It’s not a very quest-driven experience similar to other MMOs and requires a bit of a different mindset.
I haven’t thought about guild wars 2 for years, but I remember buying it a long time ago because it was available on Mac, but it seems like that’s not the case anymore? And now it’s free to play now, I guess? It definitely feels like I wasted my money. Good game though lol
Satisfactory ! This game is an addiction for, I can play for hours, for me it’s very relaxing to build factory with no timer and great graphics !
+1 for satisfactory Not hard to learn, but extremely hard to master ^^ Trying to create as effective factories as possible is time consuming but rewarding
Pure comfort? Pokemon Crystal Clear - it’s like healing for the soul after a long day of marking.
Less pure comfort? Darkest Dungeon - because sometimes you need to feel pain to really relax!
Boy, time to relax from my incredibly stressful job! boots up exceedingly difficult game Why are we like this? lol
Me: boots up game to de-stress Game: “My name is Malenia, blade of miquella”
Man the brutal rng in darkest just makes me never want to touch it again. I know that’s a huge part of those kinds of games but in that game in particular in just feels extra painful
It’s a hard game to play if you’re playing a story about the lives of your characters. What got me over the hump was a change in view - it’s not a story about a party of heroes that save the world, it’s a story about the price paid before people can become heroes (and at least try to save the world before having a heart attack because a tiny pig man squealed too loud).
As soon as I started thinking of it as a horror game rather than an rpg, things just clicked more.
