Happy Alternatives

[Adamantini]

My List:


Goose goose duck - because its hilarious with friends

Minecraft - say what you want, but the annual urge to play this game with 100+ mods is real.

Oxygen not Included - I love games that involve managing problems.

Don't Starve Together - survival with managing problems

Stardew Valley - relax time

Disco Elysium - a very good RPG experience

Mind Over Magic - managing problems.

Manor Lords - managing problems.

Divinity 2 - Baldur's gate 3 experience

Baldur's Gate 3 - Divinity 2 experience

Bloons TD6 - relax time

Heroes of the Storm - Because we all have a game that frustrates us.

[AnimaAnimus]

maybe.. but I never played FFXI before Idk if it is welcoming new players

After you get it downloaded and install the overhauls its going to start off really slow. But if you just use shout to ask about linkshells (ffxi versions of fc) you should be able to find a group easily. There are a lot of beginner friendly ls out there who are more than happy to help guide you on your journey. If you are NA I would suggest Bahamut server, its the second largest server, but the largest, Asura, is packed to the gills with bots making it hard to do anything without mercs. Once you get used to the slower pace and navigating the menus it becomes a quite enjoyable experience, esp with all the qol impovements made to the game over the years.

And imo the story telling in XI is leaps and bounds better than XIV. They were not so focused on making everything light and happy so while there are moments of levity, there are also a lot of dark themes that get explored and resolved in a lot more interesting ways than the power of friendship trope xiv leans heavily into. The expansions are also all stand alone experiences that you can play at your own pace and in any order, so you are not locked into having to slog through hundreds of hours of msq to get around.

Also you get the best version of blue mage that has ever existed and pet jobs in summoner, beast master and puppetmaster that are true and well done pet jobs. Bards and Corsairs are true and amazing support jobs and mages are so much more interesting than lay lines and fire spells.

[Antharaes]

No list. Waiting for my new system to arrive and then back to Unreal Engine and finish my cinematic. Not much of a gamer, this being the only game I play.

[Voidmage]

FF14:

Less and less right now.
Only really a few daily’s, leveling gatherers and doing island sanctuary on the side.

Genshin Impact;

Still have to do the summer event and saving wishes for Capitano when he comes. Got lucky with Arlecchino already and Furina.

Fate Grand Order:

Usually only when I have a bit of time or sit in a cafe. Got also lucky here with Lady Avalon.

Both gachas without money though so it’s mostly just saving and quick dailies.

Star Wars bounty hunter;

Actually only downloaded it and wanted to start on Sunday for the nostalgia.

I am quite fond of little indi games like “Oneshot”, “paper lily” or “you will (not) remain”.
Short games without much playtime but nice stories and messages.

Looking at this short list I don’t play any new games tbh.
Elden Ring disappointed me and BG3 we played together ages ago.
I only have time for one long game nowadays and that is usually FF14.

[Nitelancer]

Right now I am playing FF IV (3D remake) and OSRS. I am an OG RS player from the early 2000s, so it'll always have a special place in my heart. I haven't played in many years, so I decided to revisit it, and I am very much enjoying the quests and leveling process. It's much more fun and satisfying to me than Dawntrail was. Also, I am playing FF IV because it's just a great game with a great story and I never played the 3D version. Be warned though, the 3D remake is more difficult than the original.

[CaptainLagbeard]

Tried Monster Hunter World, I got bored about halfway through every fight I did do, so I only got like 3 and a half hours before quitting.

I do have a few games I have been meaning to play, mostly old RPGs... Maybe Dawntrail IS the perfect reason to finally try to get through the rather rough and slow start on the Icewind Dale games and Neverwinter Nights 2...

[LynxDubh]

I am really thinking of monster hunter but there is no magic

There is the the big doot Hunting Horn. Buff your allies with songs from your big honking battle instrument.

[Adamantini]

I almost forgot to mention Metal Hellsinger.

It's just so relaxing to shoot demons to the rhythm of bangers like these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVyPO_tR540
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HidvYgF9-8Q

[Serilyn]

I'm going to cycle through seeing what is going on in other MMOs I've played: Wow, Swtor, ESO, GW2. Then move onto either my unplayed games list or give in to nostalgia and replay some old favourites to refresh my memory (looking at you BG1 and 2).

Tried Monster Hunter World, I got bored about halfway through every fight I did do, so I only got like 3 and a half hours before quitting.

I do have a few games I have been meaning to play, mostly old RPGs... Maybe Dawntrail IS the perfect reason to finally try to get through the rather rough and slow start on the Icewind Dale games and Neverwinter Nights 2...

For IWD there is actually a mod that adds chatty party members that can add a little to the experience. And NWN2 I found the original campaign okay, not great but not terrible, loved the expansion Mask of the Betrayer though. I'd probably look into whether there are any mods to improve some of the NWN2 models these days as some haven't aged well.

[Boblawblah]

There is the the big doot Hunting Horn. Buff your allies with songs from your big honking battle instrument.

The hunting horn experience

(a video of Jack black playing a toy saxophone)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRSpaLObDL4