Comfort Gaming

[Marlew]

I dunno about you but I'm really struggling to get into anything besides story driven stuff at the moment. I've been working full time in the office (by myself mostly) throughout lockdown, so I'm fortunate in a way that not so much has changed in my life. On the other hand, while I look forward to getting home every day and getting stuck into a game, I'm finding that a lot of my usual favourite things are just stressing me out and a lot of other games are boring me. I'm aware that I'm pretty burned out by the many problems caused by Covid, this isn't the time or place for that discussion. It's about what comfort gaming is for you these days (or in general). 

 

I play a lot of bullet hell, rhythm and fighting games, and character action type stuff and I just can't be doing with the concentration or intensity right now. I still really enjoy them for a bit but I feel burned out very quickly. I lose my temper which isn't really me. I just want something mentally easier. So then I think, OK, time to really give Captain Toad, and Yoshi's Crafted World or whatever a proper chance and after even less time, I just think this is inane. They feel like the equivalent of one of those Spot the Dog books where he's looking for his ball or whatever. Is it in the picnic basket? No. Is it in the bog...? Look, it's obviously on the last page, let's get this charade over. 

 

And so the only stuff that's really keeping me engaged are second playthroughs of FF7R, Skyrim, Uncharted 4 and RDR2 (which I'm taking much more slowly than first time around), and the AC Odyssey DLC. I've also started FFX for the first time on the Switch and I suspect that will also be in the mix. They're games which don't especially respect your time, even Uncharted, long periods of repetition but they want to let you sink into them and get away from it all. And oddly for some perhaps, Dark Souls is also enormously comforting right now. I've just played it so much that the deliberate pace and knowing the entire thing inside out is very comfortable and familiar for me. I don't care if I die because I've already rinsed it. I just soak it all up and transport myself. Right now, that's all I want from gaming.

 

What about you? 

[joemul]

I played Horizon: Zero Dawn but I think it was the wrong time for me as I found it a chore after a while. Every mission involved a track through a lovely but ultimately lifeless world. 
 

Recently bought Lonely Mountain: Downhill & The Golf Club 2019 and they seem perfect to just pick up for an hour or two. 
 

restarted The Last Of Us for some narrative led escapism. 

[Pavey]

Just now, joemul said:

I played Horizon: Zero Dawn but I think it was the wrong time for me as I found it a chore after a while. Every mission involved a track through a lovely but ultimately lifeless world. 
 

Recently bought Lonely Mountain: Downhill & The Golf Club 2019 and they seem perfect to just pick up for an hour or two. 
 

restarted The Last Of Us for some narrative led escapism. 

 

 

Apart from the machines?

[joemul]

The machines are great. I meant more that there’s nothing to interact with. There’s little in the way of interesting THINGS. It would’ve been amazing to find the sort of things you saw in Fallout 3 - homes destroyed, sad tales to discover, random quests/stories to follow if you want to. 
 

instead you just run from a-b, often following a trail for half a mile to scan something to then follow the trail somewhere else.  
 

a post apocalyptic world should be bursting with interesting stuff. 

[moosegrinder]

I'm the exact opposite at the minute, I can't be arsed to start any new story driven games and learning a games way of playing is right out the window, so I'm playing basically grindfests like Animal Crossing, Modern Warfare,  Asphalt 9, Void Bastards. Anything that doesn't really require me to pay attention or put any real thought into it.

 

Which is pretty abysmal, now I see it written down...

[Qazimod]

Right now Outrun 2006: Coast to Coast is serving this purpose. I originally dug out my PC copy to ramble about in the Outrun thread but recently I’ve enjoyed simply throwing it on and doing the 15-stage endurance run. Also I’ve been dipping in and out of FFVIIR’s chapter selection mode, as the environments are great and you can have more fun with the combat when you’ve been through it once already.

 

Modern Persona games are the ultimate comfort-fodder though; localising everything in a single town or city (rather than a sprawling open world) allows for a sense of familiarity and - yes - comfort. I’m still overdue a full replay of P4G but I was playing around with old saves not too long ago and just sprinting around endgame dungeons...  

[Mawdlin]

I'm enjoying Picross because it's easy to get lost in the logic. Very absorbing in a mindfulness way.

 

Also dipping in and out of Assassins Creed Origins. There's not a great deal to stress about; it's a lovely way to uncover new areas, explore caves and pick off icons on the map. The combat is pretty button-mashy which actually adds to the switching off for a while vibe.

[merrychan]

After giving up on God Of War and pausing Astral Chain I've focused on finishing more compact games.

 

I've thoroughly enjoyed playing through Katana Zero and Gris on Switch. Just started Yakuza 0 on PS4 as my 'big' game, which seems like a great fit for current times (catharsis! singing! drinking! crowds!) and also Obra Dinn on Switch.

 

In Other Waters after that, then Kentucky Route Zero...thinking of going through some point n clicks too like Beneath a Steel Sky, Blade Runner etc.

[mdn2]

I've been struggling with story driven stuff as well at the minute. I've started Witcher 3, Deadly Premonitions, Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE, Halo Reach and Yakuza Zero, but none of them are holding my interest. I've gone back to huge amounts of Picross, Lonely Mountains and some rhythm action stuff. 

 

Xenoblade DE is out at the end of the month. That's proper comfort gaming for me, so I'm looking forward to that. 

 

[Siri]

Just before lockdown started, I spent a week off playing Path of Exile's new league, because that's what I tend to do every time a league happens (every three months or so). That, and I wanted some time to relax after looking after fretting over a family member in hospital (not Covid related and just before events went off the charts, thankfully).

Following that, during a period of working from home, I found myself playing games that I had to check in daily for, but not really for story - Phantasy Star Online 2 and the early stages of Animal Crossing meant a couple of hours of pottering around that worked around any home cooking and the like. I've stopped PSO2 for the moment as I know that I'll be on the PC version forever when that arrives, but I'm still having fun with AC, mainly working the turnip market so I can buy all the infrastructure I need. Not intending to make my island perfectly preened - in fact, I'm still trying to keep my island as wild as possible, just using flowers and trees that grow naturally and the like. I am, however, going to lump several boxing/wrestling rings outdoors on my island because I'm secretly Dana White.

And then after that for about a month, I was on furlough. I immediately wanted a story to get my teeth into, but something that was very easy-going, which in turn led me into going back to VA11 Hall-A, which was absolutely brilliant and just what I needed. Cozy, very endearing, didn't ask a lot of you outside of following the story. Due to that, I finally dug into Virtue's Last Reward and went through the ringer with it. Not everything was a hit, mind - I bounced off getting back into DJ Max and Dicey Dungeons. Same with Path of Exile as well, but that's generally because most of the excitement is bundled into the first week of playing.

Alongside that, my small group of discord friends went through the entirety of Borderlands 3 and Monster Hunter World. Both really fun and involving in a group, even if their respective plots are fuck all to write home about

At the minute, though I am a little lost in what I want to play. Zero Time Dilemma is the most obvious choice and I've put a few hours into it, but the structure of that game is incredibly awkward compared to 999/VLR. Went and bought Iceborne, but the big issue with MHW is that it fucking crashes/force closes itself all the time with the most recent update. It's not that big of a deal if you're playing in a group as you can just fuck around and catch up, but on Solo you're looking at putting in 50 minutes of hunting and then the game unceremoniously dumps you out of the application, which is absolutely godawful.

Currently looking at another six weeks on leave, so I should really get into something. The PC release of PSO2 should be a thing in the next couple of weeks and VR stuff a couple of weeks after that, so I just need to occupy myself. Bloodstained is looking pretty good right now, but it's the eternal struggle between playing something and... well, doing fuck all, and that's been a thing well before Coronavirus.

[GamesGamesGames]

Fallout 4 for me. I've gone off-piste from the start and am just exploring and skulking.

[Captain Kelsten]

World of Warcraft. I want to put time into story driven games but by the time I get a chance to actually play them, I can't be arsed because I'm too tired to get invested and just play wow instead. 

 

 

[Mr. Gerbik]

My type of comfort gaming is story-driven stuff that has just the right amount of challenge to keep me engaged but not so challenging that I actually have to repeat any section twice. I settled into Judgment, a Yakuza spin-off. I'm a huge fan of the series so I already know how it all works and know the streets of Kamurocho like the back of my hand.

 

And I just sit there basking in the glorious absurdity of the over the top crime drama in-between leisurely exploring. A side quest here, a few rounds of darts there, break a bicycle on some fool's head... It's perfect escapism for me.

 

I'm taking my sweet time but after this I'm probably diving into Final Fantasy XII remastered or something. Something I can lose myself in and which allows me to stray from the beaten path and leisurely do whatever I want. Go hunting or grinding or whatever.

 

[RubberJohnny]

Turn based stuff tends to be this for me because it doesn't demand constant focus, I'm playing Planetfall a lot at the moment, which is basically Civ + XCOM battles. You can stick it on, have a podcast or some music in the background, alt-tab out and check the internet and know that you're not going to die in the interim. Slay the Spire was very good for this.

 

I was tempted to pick up Divinity 2 because it's on sale at the moment too, but I keep expecting things I buy to be announced for Game Pass next week because that keeps happening.

[bradigor]

Being back reviewing means I am playing more than I have in recent years, but have a few games on rotation for pure enjoyment. Animal Crossing, Tetris 99, Picross (various) and now Lonely Mountains and Super Mega Baseball. 

 

Each I can play for a little at any point during the day, with the exception of Animal Crossing, which is my morning coffee game. 

[idiwa]

I'm enjoying playing CoD Warzone with a friend/co-worker at the moment, its good to just natter as we do stuff and it keeps us in touch daily as we're now working on different projects. But It's not exactly relaxing. I think really id like to get back into a decent golf game. Whilst I enjoyed previous versions of Everybody's Golf on PSP, Vita and PS3 the PS4 version leaves me cold and I just can't get into it.

 

Cool post yeah.. 

[fat flatulent git]

I'm only playing relaxing games at the moment.

 

Tend to start off by playing though either of Kung Fu Master or Golden Axe.

 

After that, I have my hour on Animal Crossing.

 

Then I usually play some of:

 

GTA V - just causing mayhem.

Dynasty Warrior.

Pilot wings 64.

Theme Park.

Tinkering with RPG Maker Projects.

Forza Horizon (any of them)

[Flanders]

What I would absolutely love for this lockdown is to wipe my memories of

the Mass Effect trilogy so I could play through all three from the beginning. A massive epic space adventure that’s not too taxing but full of charm.

 

I keep thinking about playing Andromeda instead but then I remember how bad it was when I tried the first time and weep.

[CarloOos]

I’ve started playing The Division 2, a game that’s been on my pile of shame for a year, as it’s the perfect zone-out-and-party-chat title. Just engaging enough without being too boring or too stressful.

[FalconGR]

I am playing through the Dark Souls trilogy back to back. I am currently half way through 2, which I've never played before, and I think is far better than a lot of people give it credit for (I've completed 1 and 3 multiple times, so having a completely new one to play through has been great). For me, From Software games are the perfect way to deal with any anxiety and stress. They have the grind aspect and repetition that is very therapeutic. But more they demand complete attention, so occupy your mind entirely whilst playing them. And the general fantasy setting and lore acts well for escapism. Finishing 2 and playing through 3 should occupy another month or so! Other than that I play some Wipeout HD with my brother, which is a nice palette cleanser. 

[JoeK]

Bizarre as it may seem, my go-to 'comfort' game is Darkest Dungeon. 

 

Because it's the only game ever where I've come to terms with dying.

 

Dying all the time.

 

And laughing when my team go mad and all have heart attacks.

 

It's strangely relaxing.

[Garwoofoo]

It's always big open-world games for me, the kind that aren't particularly hard but are stuffed full of side quests and distractions so I can basically do what I want each time I play depending on my mood. Stuff like Assassin's Creed, Yakuza and so on. Yes they've got a story, but it's never the main draw and just having somewhere fun to hang out with plenty to do is often enough. So far during the lockdown I've finished The Witcher 3, played Yakuza 3 and 4 back-to-back, and when I've finished Yakuza 4 I'm seriously considering starting Elder Scrolls Online again.

 

2 hours ago, Mr. Gerbik said:

My type of comfort gaming is story-driven stuff that has just the right amount of challenge to keep me engaged but not so challenging that I actually have to repeat any section twice. I settled into Judgment, a Yakuza spin-off. I'm a huge fan of the series so I already know how it all works and know the streets of Kamurocho like the back of my hand.

 

And I just sit there basking in the glorious absurdity of the over the top crime drama in-between leisurely exploring. A side quest here, a few rounds of darts there, break a bicycle on some fool's head... It's perfect escapism for me.

 

I'm taking my sweet time but after this I'm probably diving into Final Fantasy XII remastered or something. Something I can lose myself in and which allows me to stray from the beaten path and leisurely do whatever I want. Go hunting or grinding or whatever.

 

 

I see I'm not alone

[wev]

I started Ni No Kuni 2 around the time lockdown started but really can't be arsed with it, not the games fault, I was enjoying it (though preferred the combat in the original game), so really I've been bouncing between FFXIV and PSO2 and then playing the LEGO games with my other half when she wants to do something together.

[Down by Law]

I am alternating between Streets of Rage 4, Days Gone and Ace Combat 7. They are all radically different enough to keep me entertained and I think all three are really great games. 

[snowbind]

I've recently got back into the Division 2. I roused a group of mates to get up to wt5 so we can do that 8 man raid, it's been really relaxing running through other peoples maps to help boost them. 

[Unofficial Who]

Animal Crossing is the comfort game of choice at the moment. I had a feeling my partner would love it but no idea how deep she'd fall in love with it. Every time I play it now it's a new surprise as she keeps changing and refining the island. Is it a game? I'd describe it as the perfect dollhouse crossed with an advent calendar and it's provided us with hundreds of hours of joy so far.

 

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is providing a weird sort of comfort as well being a mix of old and new. I went in as a doubter but I'm head over heels in love with it six hours in.

[Stanley]

Dark Souls for me with a smattering of Uncharted Collection which I got free, but mostly Animal Crossing which is just totally relaxing and stress free, I don’t even have to do much other than listen to the waves whilst strolling on the shore. 
 

I’d quite like to get Mario Maker 2 as I think that would be a good way to escape by creating my own levels, I like creative stuff like that and Dragon Quest Builders 2. 

[davidcotton]

Picked up Assassins Creed Odyssey and really been enjoying sinking an hour or two into it after work.  Something relaxing about wandering about ancient greece with the forests and sunlight streaming down.

 

That said I was not best pleased the other night when I rocked up in Athens to find a plague had hit and the skies had turned grey with rain and everyone was shuffling about moaning and coughing!  Talk about art imitiating life.

[Gabe]

My go-to game when I don't know what I want to play/want something nice and familiar like a pair of comfortable shoes is Europa Universalis IV, though over the last month that's become Hearts of Iron IV. Loads or replayability and fun to experiment with, with stacks of mods to keep mixing things up.

[womblingfree]

Comfort games for me are arcade games. Ridge Racer, Dariusburst, Space Harrier, Mr Driller to name just a few, are all games I return to endlessly.

 

Timeless.