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?
Try not to have an overly rosy retrospection about this. There were plenty of crappy, cash-grabby games in decades past. We just don’t remember them because they were crappy, cash-grabby, and not worth remembering. They hadn’t invented microtransactions yet, but that’s just one more flavor of crappiness.
TES Oblivion and Sonic Adventure 2. SA2 was a childhood favorite I got very good at, and the extra mission, game modes, and pet sim aspects makes it fairly re-playable without having to start a new game file. Oblivion is just whacky and fun, and if you know how to exploit mechanics you can get up to some pretty crazy stuff in a matter a minutes after starting the game. While grinding skills could be seen as… Well a grind, it’s a grind I personally enjoy. Both games let me dive straight into what I’m feeling like doing, and reward mastery (even if one of them is cheese mastery).
Stardew Valley is amazing for this. Minecraft was it for years and years, but Stardew is just like a nice hug. I adore it.
Hogwarts Legacy has also fallen into this category for me now.
No Man’s Sky is a good mix of nice scenery, low stress, and engaging without requiring a lot of mental capacity that can be comforting.
I haven’t seen anyone mentioning this gem:
Vampire Survivors
Minecraft. It’s just a nice game to get lost in.
Anyone of my simulation/management games. Whether it’s running a hospital, creating an auto manufacturing assembly line or helping some brave adventurers find oxygen I’m always more at peace with a single player goal driven experience.
Morrowind and Mario Maker 2.
I can always go for a game of Age of Empires 2. That game takes me back to my childhood.
Star Wars: Racer - I know every track by heart at this point, have it on my Switch and still play quite a bit. Amazing flow state game.
Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 - absolute classic and the nostalgia I get from playing is unmatched
Age of Empires 2 - the music is just muah
KotoR - Best Star Wars game ever made next to Dark Forces 2 and Jedi Outcast
Gravity Rush 2 for me. I have save I’ve kept for years now to fly around and explore the city. I already have done everything, but it’s still so fun and relaxing to find new landmarks or walk through the different districts. Feels like the kind of game world I’d love to live in (assuming a gravity girl didn’t pull me into her orbit and launch me into space)
Slay the Spire and the digital version of Ascension, solo play. I guess I like deckbulders. Ascension especially is so comforting for me, chill gameplay, no time pressure and I can put it down anytime and resume later on. Or not and just start a new one instead.
Or Isaac if I am in the mood for some action. plop plop plop plop.
for me it’s baldur’s gate. A return to my childhood each time
Deep Rock Galactic and (believe it or not) Crusader Kings
I can certainly understand why CK would be here
rock and stone
Rock and stone to the bone
XCOM 2 on the lowest difficulty. Sacrilege, I know, but there’s just no better feeling than waltzing through some aliens with my whole squad intact at the end while feeling like a tactical genius. And even the weird Chimera Squad is just fun at times for a bit of a changeup.
I am taking this as my permission to play on rookie!
You play however is the most fun to you! Gaming can become so much more fun when you realize that different difficulty levels are there to serve you and your enjoyment of the game, not the other way around!
