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What games would help in escaping the gloomy pandemic situation we are in right now?


ain_sr

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So the pandemic has taken a toll over many people both directly and indirectly. It has made everything seem quite gloomy. I need a game where my mind would just shut down to the troubles and be engaged in the world of the game. Would be thankful for your suggestions.

 

EDIT: Thank you all for the suggestion. I am compiling a list of 10 recommendations here to help out another 'ship-wrecked brother sailing over life's solemn main'

 

In no particular order

 

  1. Ratchet & Clank
  2. Spyro Reignited Trilogy
  3. Gravity Rush
  4. MediEvil remake.
  5. Stardew Valley
  6. Terraria
  7. Journey
  8. Abzû

  9. Yakuza 0 + All Yakuza games

  10. Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles

     

Edited by ain_sr
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Heh, looking through my game list I only now fully realized how many of the games I played are either about war or some sort of apocalypse or post apocalypse scenario, or just gloomy in general. Obviously thats not helpful to you right now, but here are some games I can recommend that do not have these themes.

 

Ratchet & Clank. Fun, easy and colorful game, basically you get to use many creative weapons and they took away any serious undertone from the original Ratchet and Clank so you can just shut your brain down and play around with your guns.

 

Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Was even more fun to play for me, colorful platformer, main focus is on collecting lots of gems while going through the different worlds. Was one of the best experiences I had on the PS4 in recent memory aside from Horizon Zero Dawn.

 

Horizon Chase Turbo. Racing cars with ridiculous and ever increasing speed in the old arcade style of being on the rail of your current road. Surprisingly fun to play, over a hundred different tracks.

 

If you are into building stuff I can recommend both Tropico 5 and Jurassic World Evolution. You are a carribean dictator in Tropico 5, building a dictatorship of your choosing and going through different quests, game does not take itself seriously and has many great jokes and easter eggs hidden in it, rarely was being an oppressive ass this much fun. Jurassic World Evolution is for people who want to play god and build a zoo with extinct animals and then watch these animals interact with each other, including fights you set up to make them even more appealing to your visitors. You can even design them how you want and create a few nasty hybrids.

 

Mount & Blade: Warband. Not a well known game and pretty niche, also quite old but gives you absolute freedom to do what you want in its world, be it looting stuff as a bandit, establish holdings as a vassal, crown yourself king, be a gladiator or mercenary, or just be a trader and amass wealth. If you are into building your own Warband and making a name for yourself in various ways and you can stomach the games outdated looks and controls, then you are in for an addicting experience.

 

Aside from these and a few indie games most of my other games are about killing shit, grand scale conflict or surviving in very bleak environments. Maybe my account should lighten up a bit. I recommend staying away from the game Plague Inc btw.

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I'll be escaping into some visual novels to take my mind off things. Stardew Valley is nice too, I love playing it when I want to relax. Otherwise, if you have a favorite game, you could try revisiting that and doing a new playthrough just for the sake of having fun with it.

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Whenever I want to get lost in a game, I pick a JRPG or sim. For JRPGs, I'd recommend Ni no Kuni or Dragon Quest XI. For sims, DQ Builders, Terraria, or Slime Rancher (in addition to the ones already named). Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is also worth a look.

 

If you just want a game that will make you smile, A Hat in Time.

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My suggestions for positive and humorous games:

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch
  • Animal Crossing: New Leaf on 3DS
  • Everybody's Golf on PS4
  • Everybody's Golf (Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational) on Vita/PS3
  • West of Loathing on PC/Switch

Trying to think of good games that have heavier emphasis on story, I can't think of many that don't have a somewhat gloomy setting.
Yakuza 0 (PS4, PC, Xbox One) has a great story and lots of humor. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch) has a great story too, fun battle system and it's easy to forget outside world exists when you arrive in Alrest and start exploring.

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8 hours ago, Nighcisama said:

Ratchet & Clank. Fun, easy and colorful game, basically you get to use many creative weapons and they took away any serious undertone from the original Ratchet and Clank so you can just shut your brain down and play around with your guns.

 

Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Was even more fun to play for me, colorful platformer, main focus is on collecting lots of gems while going through the different worlds. Was one of the best experiences I had on the PS4 in recent memory aside from Horizon Zero Dawn.

 

Horizon Chase Turbo. Racing cars with ridiculous and ever increasing speed in the old arcade style of being on the rail of your current road. Surprisingly fun to play, over a hundred different tracks.

Thanks for the recommend, feel I can check-out Ratchet and Clank. But I haven't played any of the games nor aware of the story. Which one would you recommend for a new entrant in the Ratchet series, both on PS4 and PS3?

Thanks for all your suggestions, unfortunately I do not have a Nintendo System( too high import duty). Also somehow I do not find JRPG or RPGs

 as my cup of tea :( 

 

5 hours ago, Feral said:

You should go back to Red Dead Redemption II. It is awesome and will steal your soul for so long that you won’t notice when pandemic ends.

Thanks! I believe in saving the best for last. I know it's awesome and as of now we don't really know till when the current situation is gonna last, hence I am afraid that if I get into it now there would an abysmal emptiness for a while after I have finished the game!

 

 

 

7 hours ago, xh117 said:

Yakuza games, basically feels like vacationing to Japan.

 

5 hours ago, Eyjabria said:

Trying to think of good games that have heavier emphasis on story, I can't think of many that don't have a somewhat gloomy setting.
Yakuza 0 (PS4, PC, Xbox One) has a great story and lots of humor.

Thanks, will Yakuza 0 be a good place to start for a newbie to the series?

 

 

Stay Safe and keep gaming everyone! :D 

Edited by ain_sr
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1 hour ago, ain_sr said:

Thanks for the recommend, feel I can check-out Ratchet and Clank. But I haven't played any of the games nor aware of the story. Which one would you recommend for a new entrant in the Ratchet series, both on PS4 and PS3? 

The original series is very old but can be played on PS3. If you do not have a problem with outdated graphics you can start with the old Ratchet and Clank 1-3 series, the third game especially is one of my favorite PS2 games. On PS4 there is only one of these games and its basically a remake of the first game, it therefore has a completely different feel to it, changes the story and how characters act significantly to lighten it up a bit, is shorter and generally much easier, though I very much enjoyed it as well despite all the changes.

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Knack 2! 

I just got it on sale for like $6 and I couldn't stop playing it. Its all cartoon-y and plays so much better than the original. Its pretty long, too, and if you want the plat, you basically have to replay a lot of levels again AND do the time trials AND battle arena. 

I ended up platinuming it in three or four days 

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I really don’t understand people saying RDR2 when the OP wants to forget about a disease and needs something light hearted!
 

I just started Yakuza Zero. It’s amazing! Loads to do and whilst the main plot is intense, some of the crazy side stories have made me laugh out loud. 
 

Perfect game for right now. 
 

 

Edited by MatrixThing
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I see Rayman Legends on your profile @ain_sr that's the first game that came to my mind after reading your question :)If you don't want to play that again, then maybe have a look at Rayman Origins, at least i think both are rather similar in tone/atmosphere :) i see you do have Rayman Origins on your profile too...

 

Besides that Journey can be quite a good walk through a virtual world too. And Abzu too. Although these two and other "walking sims" do have a rather dark yet a bit hidden dark theme to them...

 

As Ni No Kuni II has been mentioned, that might go well too i guess. But the first Ni No Kuni might be even better as you have many quests to go around and heal people's hearts with magic and felt that at least at first really cool :) after a few quests it becames repetitive though :( 

 

Haven't played it but maybe Dreams?! I heard it's similar to LittleBigPlanet series...

Edited by Evil_Joker88
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A LOT of great games/series I won't be listing due to some kind of prominent dark theme (Dishonored, Dying Light, God EaterMad MaxINSIDE, Alien Isolation, etc). Among also trying to be cost friendly, i'm avoiding to list certain games because you already own them (Flower), probably aren't your type of game (Dragon Ball Z: Kararot), and/or finding them overrated (Uncharted).

 

List-

Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy

Shantae series (especially with the sequel coming out in May)

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Indivisible 

 

On 3/29/2020 at 2:09 AM, Redgrave said:

The only things I can recommend that are lighthearted or not gloomy are Gravity Rush and the MediEvil remake. Gravity Rush is pretty upbeat and has a cute main character that does their best to be optimistic. MediEvil is also nice because you play as a funnee skeleton knight with the goal of becoming a hero worthy of his other hero friends but the game also has a nice sense of humor.

 

Umm... "lighthearted" and "upbeat" aren't really accurate terms. The entire game has an eerie and portentous atmosphere, which is the way it should be given the story and setting. It's a good game (series)—that the OP can get lost in and enjoy himself with—but it does contain that gloomy theme, visually and tellingly.

Edited by EcoShifter
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5 hours ago, ain_sr said:

Thanks, will Yakuza 0 be a good place to start for a newbie to the series?

 

 

Stay Safe and keep gaming everyone! :D 

 

I started with Yakuza 0 myself. It's a story prequel for all the other games in the series so it should be a very good starting point. Stay safe and have fun! :)

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I just play normally, however I don't think this is a great time for trophies, at least not stress inducing ones. Most games I play aren't particularly gruesome anyway. I think open world games probably "shut down" my mind the best, kind of feel like getting AC Odyssey just for that. It's easy getting lost climbing stuff and chasing objectives. If you have Switch Zelda BotW is a great one.

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3 hours ago, EcoShifter said:

Umm... "lighthearted" and "upbeat" aren't really accurate terms. The entire game has an eerie and portentous atmosphere, which is the way it should be given the story and setting. It's a good game (series)—that the OP can get lost in and enjoy himself with—but it does contain that gloomy theme, visually and tellingly.

 

I guess I just have a different idea of lighthearted then, especially compared to a lot of other stuff I play. Though some levels are more gloomy and stand out that way yeah, but there are some that are normal or sunny towns. Or the Pleasure Quarter with the music that plays. :P Plus there are some sidequests and other characters that are comedic in some way, so while there is gloom and some dark moments I think it has a fair amount of bright or funny moments that wouldn't make you feel down or have a sense of dread playing it.

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