S.T.A.L.K.E.R Gamma. Completely free if you don’t count the disk space and one of the funnest, and most difficult games I have played.
Running around like most other FPS games will just get you killed. The AI is written in such a way that it correctly understands actual flanking, and when it peeks a corner, it does it exactly the same way a real player would - it’s actually scary.
I snuck into some occupied buidlings and killed every enemy except one. I was in a barn which had a front entrance and a hole blown in the back wall. I knew that the last enemy was out the front, across the road, inside the window of a building there, so I went out the hole in the back of the building and around the side, intending to go behind a fence and then behind their building to get them. When I got to a place I should have been able to see them, they weren’t there. I turned around and they were behind me along the fence - I nearly shit my pants. When I had the idea to go around back, the AI apparently had the idea to run out the front of their building into the front entrance of mine, and take me from behind by complete surprise - essentially the same exact tactic I had thought of.
It was then I realized how great the AI actually was and now every time I play I live in complete fear.
Portables are the best for this, imo. Steam Deck or a used 3DS are my choices. The latter is easy to mod and play all sorts of games including the gigantic DS/3DS library.
I find both systems clutch for the suspend function. Lets you pick right back up where you were. I will say the 3ds is much better at this with clamshell design that suspends on closing the lid and it’s battery life in suspend is fantastic!
I also find stress relief games. Mindless 3rd person action games for me. Mad Max was great because I could drive around picking fights or crashing stuff. The Batman Arkham games and the Shadow of Mordor games are other great examples for me. I have not found any relaxing “cozy” games that work for me. Nothing has really grabbed my attention enough to stick with.
I also find stress relief games. Mindless 3rd person action games for me. Mad Max was great because I could drive around picking fights or crashing stuff. The Batman Arkham games and the Shadow of Mordor games are other great examples for me.
Yeah, so for me it would be most Switch games through emulation (such as Captain Toad, 3D World and Odyssey) and P3R/P5R.
I have not found any relaxing “cozy” games that work for me. Nothing has really grabbed my attention enough to stick with.
I checked ‘cozy’ games but like you, they don’t seem to be my type of games.
I’m truly debating about the Deck but €670 is a lot to invest when being uncertain. Also what if it wouldn’t fix the exhaustion issue of screens and desks.
I work from home, so the last thing I want to do on my leisure time is sit at the same desk I’ve sat at for the last 8 hrs. So I lounge on the couch and play through my huge steam deck library. It is not a cheap device, to be sure. But I felt it was absolutely worth it for me.
Depends on if you want to play multiplayer or not. If you do, maybe give Arma: Reforger a try. It’s pretty slow and tactical most of the time, as a single well-placed bullet to the dome will kill you.
If you’re more into singleplayer games, then maybe Prey (2017)? It’s more of an immersive sim, so playing at your own pace is highly encouraged.
Not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but Hunt: Showdown is a pvpve experience set in a fictionalized horror-themed 1900s old west.
The guns have few shots and are very slow to reload. Often your best strategy is to move very slowly and deliberately, looking closely for any movement from other players, taking care not to make any errant noises. Every single sound you make, including right clicking to aim down sights, is audible to your opponent if they’re close enough. One good shot is enough to down someone.
The result is a unique experience that can hit both extremes: agonizingly slow build up of anticipation, or a fast paced chase through the woods to cut off an escape.
Also the sound in that game is absolutely top tier. It’s very easy to pinpoint a location of a sound, making noise a high priority while moving around.
Btw: There are USB foot keyboards on the soulless online marketing platform of your choice. They can usually be programmed to different keys or combinations. While it is not something I would use for FPS gaming, it can come handy in situations like yours. I have one with three different switches that are programmable which is quite handy.
I had this exact argument about Day of Defeat back before Counterstrike got assimilated by Valve. I had no respect for all the bunny hopping in CS, but enjoyed the slow(er) gameplay and strict limitations of DoD (such as running 40 meters and then panting, very realistic representation of my own fitness lmao).
I would also recommend Hell Let Loose. We recently had a game night with about 6 friends who all come from call of duty style, faster paced games. All of them mentioned how slow it felt and half of them were able to adjust to the new style and did pretty good. I would compare it to Battlefield but in a hardcore mode with less destructable environments.
Yeah that’s one thing I miss about the game, not having destructible environments. I understand why though the matches go for an hour and a half fighting back and forth there would be nothing left on the map
If you can mind the obnoxious patriotic undertones, Hell Divers is actually my go to game rn. Partly hate it for the mentioned but overall, pretty decent game. I’m not a hard core gamer really (in general) but the game has grown on me and it’s PvE so it’s fun being able to play with others instead of being toxic.
I’d like to second what priapus said - Helldivers is actually making fun of the type of blind patriotism you find obnoxious. It’s heavily inspired by Starship Troopers which is also a comedy movie making fun of that type of obnoxious patriotism. It’s all very tongue in cheek, devs aren’y actually pushing the patriotism.
Interested in why you call them patriotic “undertones” lol. The patriotism is overt to the point that if you miss that it’s satire you may be missing out on half of the experience of the game
There is your answer: if screens exhaust you, do something without screens.
Games are supposed to give you a good time, reinvigorate you, and prepare for your “real life”. If you’re sick of screens, then pick up pottery, or squash, or hiking, or skydiving, or cooking, or… thousands of activities out there to have a good time without a screen.
having a huge backlog
That’s work. Just don’t. Do stuff that makes you feel better, not just tick a box in a backlog so you feel slightly less bad.
The “backlog” is not something to work through, it is a lesson to learn: Do not buy a game unless you have time and are motivated to play it that very moment. If you buy it to play it “later”, or “next week”, you very likely are not going to play it, and it is just wasted money.
(The same is true for books, by the way. And when it comes to books, I refuse to learn this lesson.)
Morrowind is clearly and by far the best TES game ever made. It’s old and it shows, but this doesn’t take anything from the quality of the game. It has one of the best executed and most interesting worlds in any game I’ve played, it has great main story that is still just a scratch among other stories hidden throughout the Vvardenfell, and lastly the soundtrack… It’s epic when it needs to be epic, it’s calm when it needs to be calm, great melodies very well tied to different areas and parts of the game, it’s just awesome.
I played chivalry 1 a lot back then until people became so good that it didn’t feel organic anymore to me and there wasn’t really any kind of matchmaking… I really miss the early days of it. How is chivalry 2 doing?
Unfortunately, I feel it’s heading in the same direction. Torn banner released a final update in 2024 and basically dropped the development in order to work on other games. The skill ceiling is super high, and most players are very very good. Every now and then there’s a sale or the game goes free and there is an influx of new players. In any case, I still enjoy it a lot 😁
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