I’d say Eternal actually fits the bill more. Once you get all the mechanics down every encounter becomes this deadly ballet of high speed chess where you really can enter a flow state of just reacting and acting.
2016 can be like that but it’s a little bit more forgiving, funnily enough managing to keep your brain more in the foreground.
Depending on your definition of cozy 2016 could win, because it is not as taxing as Eternal. At least I could manage 2016 much better than Eternal with my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. But if you manage to stick with Eternal I think it’s more conducive to get you into a meditative state.
I remember being stuck at one point as a kid. Eventually I gave in and ordered the official hint book. Mind you, that meant physically mailing a paper and I guess the money to the company and then waiting several weeks for the reply.
I finished the game two days before the book arrived (use physics book with horse). But it was still worth it. The book also contained a novelization of the story written by Bernard. Title: My Physics Adventure or It’s Never Too Late To Stop Polution So Let’s Start Yesterday
Had a CyberMaxx VR headset back in the days. It had a whopping resolution of 505x230 per eye at a combined 60 Hz (so each eye only got 30 Hz). Headtracking worked with 3 degrees of freedom. The included mouse driver for DOS made the head tracking available for every DOS game even if it didn’t have support. It came with Tekwar and a Flight Unlimited demo I never could get to run.
Some games worked with stereoscopic 3D. That was about the only really awesome thing about the headset. But the 30 Hz displays made sure that you could only play for a short while anyways. Descent was nausea inducing on its own. But in VR it was a guaranteed pukefest.
Thinking about playing with the headset was always much better than actually doing it. I’d pull it out every few years and then put it back into storage. Last I heard it died at my brother’s.
I still regret that I didn’t find an appropriate figure without pants for Diarrhea 4. Not to mention it will probably be years until I can find the energy to implement aliens you can shart on.