Games that spark joy

[Nifft Batuff]

I don't know why, but for me:

Underrail,
any SMT game.

Older games let me feel nostalgic, melancholic, not really joyful.

 

[Zenithsan]

So you're going to play the same 10 videogames til you die? Damn

I mean yeah I like my dark souls and FFT, but I think the joy of finding new obscure games and knowing a little bit more bout other games is the most enjoyable aspect of gaming

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

EXCITEBIKE

 

[Kruyurk]

Recently, Kenshi has brought me real joy. It feels like a real world, like the Middle Earth or your favorite fantasy world can seem real. It's not that it's totally consistent, but rather the way the gameplay, freedom and atmosphere complement each other so well.

 

[Viata]

EXCITEBIKE

Designing tracks and calling your friends to try them was the shit.

 

[Churrasco]

Most of the games that made me happy were when I played them as a kid but here is what I remember

Spoiler

On the console side...
Final Fantasy series, notably FF3, FFT, FF9
Chrono Trigger
Secret of Evermore
Super Bomberman 2
Harvest Moon
Super Mario RPG
Megaman X
Breath of Fire II
Terranigma
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Legacy of Kain series
Suikoden 2
Parasite Eve
Monster Hunter series

Spoiler

on the PC
Thief series
Tex Murphy series
Syberia
Master of Orion
Freespace 2
VTM Bloodlines
Half Life 2
Age of Wonders
Caesar III
Endless Space 2
Saints Row 3
Uplink
Runescape's quests
World of Warcraft TBC
Checking every tuesday and thrusday(?) to see which game was gonna be added to Good Old Games....

 

[Zlaja]

Most happy gaming moments all come from when I was a kid (obviously). Only played console games back then, 'cause we didn't have a PC at home. Here's some examples I can think of right now:

Super Mario World: blew my mind when SNES came out and playing it at a friend's house. Never wanted to go home. Still the most magical platformer ever.

Phantasy Star IV: remember being blown away by the games pretty animated cutscenes. Loved the combat too. Grinding was fun. And grind I did.

Resident Evil 2: scared the shit out of me back in the day. But couldn't stop coming back for more. Was so cool having the game shipped with different colored discs for Leon and Claire. Never seen that before at the time.

NHL 93 & NHL 94: Played these with 2 friends when I first moved to Sweden and got into hockey. We had so much fun, taking turns and playing against each other. Much fun and butthurt was had.

 

[destinae vomitus]

Wizardry 8 and Jagged Alliance 2 are so brimming with soul they hurt to look at, which is why weaklings don't give them the credit they deserve

 

[Gostak]

A pirate quartermaster

 

[Starwars]

There are so many old games that have that. But some that me and my friends had a ton of fun with were early Mario Kart, Micro Machines and Twisted Metal. Lots of multiplayer fun was had.

 

[perfectslumbers]

Mount and Blade sparks joy, so does Endless Legend (as long as you make sure not to buy the Brazilian dlc) and Terraria

Minecraft is really fun too if you play Complete the Monument maps

 

[HeroMarine]

so does Endless Legend (as long as you make sure not to buy the Brazilian dlc)

What's this?

 

[perfectslumbers]

What's this?

A grand strategy game, like science fantasy civ. The studio that makes it will make a few dlc's for all of their games, and then outsource 2 or 3 dlc's to a random Brazilian studio and the outsourced dlc's are always terrible.

 

[Tweed]

Games that give me warm fuzzies:

Arcanum
Archolos
Arx Fatalis
Betrayal at Krondor
Daggerfall
Darklands
Deus Ex
DooM
ELEX
Fallout 1 and 2
Flashback
Gothic 1 and 2
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Might and Magic 6
Morrowind
Planescape: Torment
Risen
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (All of them + Anomalmeme)
SMT 1/2/Nocturne
Shining Force and Shining in the Darkness
System Shock
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (The original one on the NES, not the arcade game)
Ultima V
Underrail
Uplink
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
World of Xeen

Just to name a few.

 

[Alphard]

Deus Ex
POP WW
super mario
snake on my first phone
Metal slug in games room, where you had to put money every time you died, and you died a lot
Spore
Dragons Dogma
Guild Wars (the original )
Some korean mmos like Tera, Dragon Nest, Vindictus in their prime. Also Air rivals (obscure spacecraft 3d pvp mmo)
Pokemon when i was kid , especially Emerald with the Battle Frontier. Pokemon Mystery dungeon and pokemon ranger


Now that i have listed them, i realize that maybe it was the innocence that i has as a kid to let me enjoy those. Except for Deus Ex (GOAT ) , others were not complete masterpieces but only had some aspects that were truly excellent.
Especially pokemon that is a very mediocre game, but when you first experienced it as a kid , it was magic

 

[AdamReith]

Had one of these rare joy moments as I was learning the ins and outs of Mius Front.

My first night fight was something special, tracer rounds firing off into blackness, no idea what the hell was going on. Then a wonderful flank action from the enemy on the right just as the sun was rising.

When the Russians encircle your guys, like a big pizza pie. That's amore.

 

[Flynn Lockley]

My recommendation: Growlanser Wayfarer of Time.