Feel good games

Been playing Pikmin 4 and it's fun in a relaxing, chill kind of way. You spend your time exploring areas, collecting resources with your Pikmin, playing mini games, and experiencing the fun environments and music. It's a feel good kind of game (except when your Pikmin dies lol). But that got me thinking.. when you think of feel good games, what comes to mind for you, SW? Another franchise I can think of is LittleBigPlanet. The first game and second game were marvelous.

The Super Mario games immediately spring to mind.

Dave the Diver was that for a while with me. Easy gameplay loop and just generally relaxed gameplay. Also agree with Archangel and Super Mario.

Classic Tomb Raider always made me feel that way. I'm replaying TR2 atm, getting all the secrets/items. There's just no other feeling that compares for me than what these games offer. I get this introspective/isolationist/purely refreshing feeling going, every time. Like the outside world just disappears.

Just Cause 2 is like junk food.

@uninspiredcup: NGL was kind of hoping for a Rapelay mention. 😅

@uninspiredcup: WTF??? I thought I'd never see you say you enjoy a JC game.

But yeah JC 3 is the pinnacle when it comes to the series. Great game to just chill on, and with the tether system, the possibilities (and results) are almost endless.

@last_lap: I love JC2 and the lesser extent JC3.

It has the tone of Roger Moore era Bond, knows it's game, and doesn't fanny about with dumb shit.

Gets repetitive granted, but for the bursts of fun take it over whatever shit Ubisoft or Rockstar are farting out.

Bust a move or almost any and all pinball simulators.

Death Stranding.

The Tony Hawk and Skate series are my feel good games. Fun and relaxing, usually funny interactions with NPCs and nice bright environments. Also amazing soundtracks in both franchises.

Playing "It Takes Two" with a friend.

I can be just as happy playing any of them. I just feel the tether options for 3 ramped it up a notch. And 4 while more of the same the balloon tethers to use on the vehicles made the game a bit fresher.

And the best thing is the game never takes it self too seriously and thus doesn't have some dumb story, its just go there, take down the Dictator (maybe they need to make one in the US considering the current climate🤣) and that's it. Just a pure fun serious.

Bloodborne, Lego games, LittleBigPlanet games, RecRoom, Dragon Quest games, Goat Simulator, UFO 50, Retro Game Challenge, Astro Bot, LttP, Mario Galaxy, Outrun 2, Dave the Diver, those Digital Eclipse retrospective/documentary collection game things.

What makes me feel relaxed is playing Animal Crossing. It's not about huge storylines, fancy graphics or complex mechanics. It's very simple. You simply build your town how you want and you can do as you please. I predict that if Nintendo releases a new Animal Crossing at launch, that will move consoles at a record rate.

I should give Animal Crossing a chance, maybe I will on the next one. The last one just didn't seem appealing.

@SolidGame_basic: Yeah, by all means. Don't touch the spin-offs though, like Happy Home Academy or the Amiibo Festival. Stick to the real Animal Crossing games.

Returning to the SNES games I loved as a kid:

Axelay, Donkey Kong Country, Tiny toons Buster busts loose, ...

My best friend plays it, and so she wanted us to play together. I got it, and disliked it. I describe it as a "home decor" game, because from what I played, there's very little actual interactivity with the items you get. I got a lawnmower because I thought it would help me clear up the grass in my yard faster, but my character simply tugged at it and that's it. Dropped it after that and sold it. XD

Monster Hunter

Journey and Abzu

Astrobot Rescue Mission

Ninja Gaiden 2 (OG) in that it feels good to violently obliterate everything you see

Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. Those game always make me feel great when I play them.