Question Wednesday #2: Therapy Games

[moon_hotel]

Sorry I missed last week, it completely slipped my mind! I'm setting myself reminders to keep up on QWednesdays though. 

This week's icebreaker is kind of a your-mileage-may-vary question, but here goes: do you have any "therapy games?" That is, are there any games/genres that you like to curl up with when you're feeling down, or help you burn off stress? And, as always, what are you playing right now?

Comments

[melodyrose]

Hmm. Therapy Games huh? Well for me it tends to depend on what I'm working with. I've discovered that nine times out of ten though, they tend to be portable games. I guess it's in part because half the time I feel guilty sitting down playing games due to it not being "productive enough", but a portable game can go anywhere.

Honestly it tends to be dungeon crawlers as a genre. But I need to clarify more than that. Like the original persona is a dungeon crawler but I can't really play that to relax. However Pokemon Mystery Dungeon? That's good for me. Etrian Odyssey too. Actually I seem to be literally incapable of getting tired of EO. And I think I know why those two particular series work for me.

Color and sound.

A lot of dungeon crawlers I know of are a bit.. .dark? And here's the thing, I like dark, enclosed spaces, but there is something very... oppressive? about a lot of ones I like. This doesn't mean they're bad just when I am feeling down it's not what I want. But think about it - When you first step into the first dungeon of the first etrian odyssey, you are greeted with this:



and this tune.

And the rest of the strata seem to follow a similar theme, from what I've seen. Yes, the games are very hard... but I'm all right with that from a personal standpoint. I find the grinding soothing, because it's in such an environment. Not to mention I find the mapmaking EXTREMELY soothing. I get real pleasure out of that. Though it's annoying when I misplace my stylus.

And I can't forget Mystery Dungeon. The environments in that game are just as beautiful, and while the dungeons sometimes get long, the difficulty level is such that I can just tend to relax with the game. Actually I remember spending a lot of time when I was stressing out between classes sitting in the hallway with my DS, playing mystery dungeon to keep myself on an even keel because it was something of a constant for me.

But I have to contrast these with something like, say, Legend of Grimrock, which is a great game in its own right - It's not something that relaxes me like the other ones do. I think it's in part because while individual areas of EO and PMD can get oppressive? I have the option of just going somewhere else to relax. That hasn't been an option in Grimrock for me. And just... beautiful, open environments, beautiful sounds. They just... relax and distract me.

I am honestly not sure entirely why they settle me when I start panicing, or when I am a gigantic mess... but they do. And I guess that's all that matters to me. It might be in part because the visuals and sound relax me, and then the concentration I need in party management distracts me. I haven't thought about it too much.

Sorry for ramblecomment ^^;;; I kind of like these games a lot and I have been afraid to post because I'm me.

[washy]

I feel this! I adore Etrian Odyssey for those same reasons. Koshiro's nailed something I don't see in a lot of JRPG composition: ambient tunes?! They're so long form and pleasant, and usually there's a catchy melody behind it that it's centered around. Plus, in the more recent games, the live jazz band performances make it feel soooo much more real. Hamauzu is the only other composer who seems to have a similar grasp.

Also besides music the sound effects are so pleasant??? The little ringy dingy when you get EXP, the walking steps, battle SFX. People tend to hone in in the cutesy artwork being misleading, but it's really all around pleasant.

[melodyrose]

That's really very true about the sound effects! They all contribute. And I'm not sure if you've noticed, but at least in untold? The footsteps change with surface. Like the third strata sounds actively... squishy? But I agree, it feels that I don't see ambience a lot and I am SO musically drawn that it's very little surprise that it existing DOES suck me in.

And actually in some ways, maybe it's just brainstalgia talking or something, but some ways i actually prefer the fm tunes to the arranged versions? At least in like, untold. EO4 has some awesome music. Just got to the fourth land in that game (have I mentioned I play games REALLY SLOWLY? I've been working on EO4 for well over a year now.)

But yeah all the little sound effects help contribute. I cana say yeah, the cutsey artwork could be seen as misleading, and in some cases it makes me kind of uncomfortable, like just some of the design choices, but it's really just part of the overall aesthetic. Because think about it - look at the screenshot I posted. Does it REALLY look like you're entering somewhere dangerous? I don't think so anyway.