What's your go-to comfort Video Game?

[hzsmith]

Inspired by @Kesha's "What's your go-to comfort food?"  you can find here https://community.fiverr.com/forums/topic/331576-what’s-your-go-to-comfort-food/ , I want to raise you the following question:

What's your go-to comfort Video Game? That one game that you always go back to, immerse into that world and feel like you're home.

 

I'll start by shouting out Lineage II - The Chaotic Chronicle, and it's expansions until the 6th one (Interlude). It's my all time go-to comfort video game, that I've been playing on and off since 2005, and come back visiting it at least 2-3 times/year. It's a Korean MMORPG, developed by NcSoft, designed around no-life grinding & farming to get the best gear and compete in comunity driven economy and politics (huge clan vs. clan wars for Castles, Teritories, Epic Bosses & farming spots). Since the official servers have updated to a predatory cash-grabbing business model of pay to win, I'm playing on and off on private fan made servers that are running the old versions of the game.

This game is by far my favorite one, since it has (in my personal opinion) the best soundtrack ever made, that inspired me to start my business as a game composer. The influences of the Lineage II OST are present in all of the soundtracks I compose, and I really hope one day I'll be able to match the masterpieces composed by the maestro Bill Brown.

Video of the craziest Castle Siege I've ever participated in :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egpb18ASnCI

A piece from the soundtrack, conducted by Bill Brown played by Moscow's Filarmonica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iuvm8XUrULU 

Honourable mentions, on my top go-to comfort games:

• Gothic I, II & III (outstanding soundtrack composed by Kai Rosenkranz)
• World of Warcraft Classic, TBC & WOTLK
• Age of Empires 2
• Half Life 1 & 2 (still waiting for 3)

 

What's yours? I'm so eager to find out what hidden gems I've been missing!

 

[rabihumakhan]

World Bus Simulation (Brazil version).  I love driving, both in real life and in video games. I occasionally play zombie games as well but the one I mentioned above has been my love for the last few years. 

[texvox]

There are a few different tiles but if I had to pick a primary release it would have to be The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind for me. I was 13 when it debuted and I remember putting our terrible family computer to the test running it on the lowest settings for a laggy good time. It's the game that really took me from casual gaming to falling in love with gaming. I played it to death and spent twice as much time modding it. There was a time when I could give you the exact coordinates of almost every item in the original game release. I made some great friends along the way, and even got my first taste of voice acting a few years into it for a mod.

My wife jokes that when she met me I owned 8 copies of the game because I kept scratching, breaking or losing the CDs over the years. I still fire it up every once in a while for old time's sake and have enjoyed introducing my 4 kids to it (who comment on just how terrible the vanilla game looks; spoiled with current gen graphics much? 🤣). 

[allstral]

I used to finish the JRPG Suikoden series every two years, but I stopped because I no longer have the time for it. At least I can watch random small ytubers playing this game, so I can experience that nostalgic feeling, lol.

[rawque_gulia]

1. Euro Truck Simulator
2. Snowrunner
3. Mudrunner

I play these games because I can control and drive everything with just one hand and without complete focus. It's very handy and relaxing while multitasking (like when I'm in a boring webinar). Whenever I get a notification from a client, it doesn't even ruin my gameplay, and I can keep texting with clients and playing the game (until I get a response back).

4. Forza Horizon 5
5. BeamNG.drive
6. Rainbow Six Siege
7. Valorant

(some other games that I play when completely free)

[hzsmith]

14 hours ago, allstral said:

I used to finish the JRPG Suikoden series every two years, but I stopped because I no longer have the time for it. At least I can watch random small ytubers playing this game, so I can experience that nostalgic feeling, lol.

Oh yes!! I know Suikoden! Miki Higashino did an outstanding job when scoring the soundtrack for the series. I've heard at some time that they were going to create a remastered version for the first 2 games, to port them onto Nintendo Switch. Would love to see those remasters come out this year!

Edited June 16 by hzsmith

[hzsmith]

3 hours ago, rawque_gulia said:

I play these games because I can control and drive everything with just one hand and without complete focus. It's very handy and relaxing while multitasking (like when I'm in a boring webinar). Whenever I get a notification from a client, it doesn't even ruin my gameplay, and I can keep texting with clients and playing the game (until I get a response back).

Haaaaaaa don't text and drive!!! 😆

3 hours ago, rawque_gulia said:

7. Valorant

I've tried Valorant myself, but it seems like I don't have the reflexes to compete with zoomers and I mostly stayed in respawn screen haha. 

[hzsmith]

17 hours ago, texvox said:

There are a few different tiles but if I had to pick a primary release it would have to be The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind for me. I was 13 when it debuted and I remember putting our terrible family computer to the test running it on the lowest settings for a laggy good time. It's the game that really took me from casual gaming to falling in love with gaming. I played it to death and spent twice as much time modding it. There was a time when I could give you the exact coordinates of almost every item in the original game release. I made some great friends along the way, and even got my first taste of voice acting a few years into it for a mod.

My wife jokes that when she met me I owned 8 copies of the game because I kept scratching, breaking or losing the CDs over the years. I still fire it up every once in a while for old time's sake and have enjoyed introducing my 4 kids to it (who comment on just how terrible the vanilla game looks; spoiled with current gen graphics much? 🤣). 

Haaaa I've played that, but long after it's release. My first TES was Oblivion. I was mesmerized by the graphical output at that time, and after finishing it on different classes, I've went into Morrowind. Great game. In my opinion, it has the deepest lore and it has the most "RPG" elements compared to the other TES titles. It's such a ride, and it's lovable. The clunky combat and animations have their charm. It's in no way comparing to Oblivion or Skyrim in combat, but the story telling and the RPG aspect of it it's almost unbeatable up to day. The game wasn't about the combat from the start and I think that's where a lot of people are wrong when getting into Morrowind, expecting it to be an ARPG, and not focusing on the roleplaying aspect.

 

Have you tried TESO? It has a whole chapter set in Vvardenfell, with the Vivec's complete questline and so on. It's a good nostalgia trip, eventhought it hasn't the same charm as the original game. The good part is that every quest is voice acted and it's easy to get into. Give it a try when you have some spare time! It's not that demanding on your specs as well and it can run on any kind of machine with the right settings.

[katakatica]

I play a lot of different games and don't often go back to replay things, but Spiritfarer really struck a chord with me - playing it HURT but it was amazing. 

As for when I want to beat up something, I'll reach for Hades (II) or Cult of the Lamb. 

(Not a comfort game, but Tunic was amazing, I finally got around to playing it)!

[allstral]

18 hours ago, hzsmith said:

Oh yes!! I know Suikoden! Miki Higashino did an outstanding job when scoring the soundtrack for the series. I've heard at some time that they were going to create a remastered version for the first 2 games, to port them onto Nintendo Switch. Would love to see those remasters come out this year!

indeed! especially the soundtracks in the first and second series. I don't know when they will release the remastered, it's been more than a year since they announced it. btw, 1 month ago the original creator of this game released a new game called Eiyuden Chronicle, it has the same vibes and system, but unfortunately Miki Higashino has retired and can't contribute to this game. Still I think it's worth a try.

[sunboatrecords]

On 6/15/2024 at 7:36 PM, hzsmith said:

Gothic I, II & III

I'm also from Khorinis. Unbelievable. My introduction was Gothic II. III stood out as my favorite by far. Remember how buggy it was when it came out?

I also delved into Risen but struggled with Elex. It's disappointing they didn't continue the series past Gothic III. There's a remake of the first game in progress, but my experience trying it on Steam didn't capture the Gothic essence.

Looking back, I wish I had more time to immerse myself in games like these. They demand significant leisure time, which I now have much less of.

Edited June 17 by sunboatrecords

[shaon_design]

1. GTA
2. Snowrunner
3. Need For Speed

[texvox]

23 hours ago, hzsmith said:

Haaaa I've played that, but long after it's release. My first TES was Oblivion. I was mesmerized by the graphical output at that time, and after finishing it on different classes, I've went into Morrowind. Great game. In my opinion, it has the deepest lore and it has the most "RPG" elements compared to the other TES titles. It's such a ride, and it's lovable. The clunky combat and animations have their charm. It's in no way comparing to Oblivion or Skyrim in combat, but the story telling and the RPG aspect of it it's almost unbeatable up to day. The game wasn't about the combat from the start and I think that's where a lot of people are wrong when getting into Morrowind, expecting it to be an ARPG, and not focusing on the roleplaying aspect.

 

Have you tried TESO? It has a whole chapter set in Vvardenfell, with the Vivec's complete questline and so on. It's a good nostalgia trip, eventhought it hasn't the same charm as the original game. The good part is that every quest is voice acted and it's easy to get into. Give it a try when you have some spare time! It's not that demanding on your specs as well and it can run on any kind of machine with the right settings.

I have tried TESO! It was a lot of fun for a bit, but I've given up online gaming due to the time sink required for me to play them the way that I like to. 4 kids and a business eat up a lot of the day so single-player that I can put down for a while if needed is it for me these days. Still, maybe one day I'll check it out again. I can't get away from TES 🤣

[hzsmith]

44 minutes ago, sunboatrecords said:

I'm also from Khorinis. Unbelievable. My introduction was Gothic II. III stood out as my favorite by far. Remember how buggy it was when it came out?

I also delved into Risen but struggled with Elex. It's disappointing they didn't continue the series past Gothic III. There's a remake of the first game in progress, but my experience trying it on Steam didn't capture the Gothic essence.

Looking back, I wish I had more time to immerse myself in games like these. They demand significant leisure time, which I now have much less of.

OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! ANOTHER GOTHIC FAN <3. We're so few hahaha. 

I still remember the buggy days of Gothic III indeed. I've replayed it last year with tons of mods that theoretically have the role of making the game more playable (there's a whole video on youtube I can link you to if you want, that explains how to instal those 93248239483 mods). The athmospphere, the setting, the music and the RPG elements are unmatched to this day. The fact that you don't have markers on the map for quests, and you have to immerse yourself into the game to find out the objectives is my favourite thing about it!

I am too super excited for the remake! Can't wait to play it <3!!!! Old camp team!

I've also loved Risen (1). Sadly, the pirate theme of 2 and 3 wasn't for me. Also, I've played like 10 hours of Elex, but it wasn't my thing either. 

I remember how excited I was when Arcania released, but how dissapointed I was immediately after trying it haha. That game doesn't deserve to be in the Gothic Series. 

Anyhow, I'm so happy I've met another Gothic fan here! This is beyond unexpected haha!

[grayprogrammerz]

On 6/15/2024 at 9:36 PM, hzsmith said:

Age of Empires 2

I use to play around in 2005

old piece, yet still helps in 2024, to get out of stress and forget failures

[Kesha]

Love this! So I'm not a video game person, but (don't judge me) I do love playing word games on my phone like Scrabble, crosswords, and even a good round of solitaire. 

[hzsmith]

2 hours ago, grayprogrammerz said:

I use to play around in 2005

old piece, yet still helps in 2024, to get out of stress and forget failures

I remember playing it on Garena and Game Ranger or Vobly. Nowadays they've re-released it in a definitive edition you can play on Steam and it has a competitive ladder, new updates regularly and a super glued playerbase and also competitive eSport scene! Highly recommend to watch the NAC or the Redbull Wololo Finals from any year.

[hzsmith]

On 6/16/2024 at 4:28 PM, katakatica said:

I play a lot of different games and don't often go back to replay things, but Spiritfarer really struck a chord with me - playing it HURT but it was amazing. 

As for when I want to beat up something, I'll reach for Hades (II) or Cult of the Lamb. 

(Not a comfort game, but Tunic was amazing, I finally got around to playing it)!

Never tried Spiritfarer, but I just googled it, and the artwork looks fantastic! I will give it a try right away! ❤️ Thanks for this gem!

[melanielm]

I'm a fan of open-world survival games with most of the zombies turned off. Not good with jump scares!

Medieval Dynasty is one of my favorite super low-key games. I like building things and making up stories for my characters in my head. And I still log onto my old World of Warcraft account from time to time for nostalgia's sake.

[hzsmith]

1 hour ago, melanielm said:

Medieval Dynasty is one of my favorite super low-key games.

I've recently played that! They've added it on xbox game pass. Really immersive stuff with the fact that you have a quite RPG-ish story in a survival building game.

1 hour ago, melanielm said:

And I still log onto my old World of Warcraft account from time to time for nostalgia's sake.

You tried Season of Discovery? It's really a true nostalgic experience but with new elements. Highly recommend.

[reinaldomiret]

I find more funny to play indie games than triple AAA mainstream video games.

[duckls_]

I've recently fallen back into Civilization 6, probably the best game to unwind. Not the best game for productivity though, next thing I know 3 hours have gone by