I'm reluctant to suggest What Remains of Edith Finch.
It will shred you.
I'm reluctant to suggest What Remains of Edith Finch.
It will shred you.
Good! Hope it does thin slices, thank you!
Limbo
Inside is great as well
Limbo and Inside, noted! Thank you both!
I say Inside. Mostly because I never beat Limbo because I got stuck, and Inside was graphically superior and super gloomy.
How about The Long Dark? A struggle to survive in a cold, dead world. The atmosphere is superb and I think it pairs well with a melancholy mood. Sorry to hear you're dealing with crap.
It doesn't have much of a pre-defined story to it, but I would say Project Zomboid is pretty moody and has a lot of gameplay depth.
I've heard Spiritfarer is quite emotional.
Oh boy, this is a game that absolutely ripped my heart out. I've never been great at saying goodbye, I did everything I could before the first goodbye and then I quit. I loved the game, but it hits me in a strange soft spot.
Brothers is kinda similar to provide a recommendation.
It is. Its also maybe not the best game to play when you're struggling. I played it when I lost a close family member and I became a wreck for weeks
It helped me process the loss, but it drew all of my emotions out in the process
Sunless Sea is moody, gloomy, weird and beautiful. Music is hauntingly disturbing and nostalgic at the same time. It’s a weird mix of roguelike, trading&combat sim that’s heavy on choose your own adventure narratives while exploring lots of unique locations.
Dying Light
Hardspace Shipbreaker (Solid story, Hating on a Doloris Umbridge type character)
Dredge
Last of us is an obvious answer I think if you haven't played either of those games. The exact opposite of your request, when I am feeling as you describe I really recommend wandersong. The game is like therapy, it looks campy and stupid at first but the dialogue has incredible depth and uplifting vibes.
Thomas Was Alone
It's not at all like the examples you give but it is such a good game that I think fits nicely here.
Never heard about it until now, but it does sound very interesting from the Steam blurb! Thank you!
Hollow Knight (more so than Silksong tbh)
Night in the Woods (not the same vibe as the games you mentioned but absolutely a “had a bad day” vibe)
Have you played Control? It was on sale recently on Steam
Just finished that one, I fucking loved it, but that story just sort of brick walls at the end in a way that made me want a sequel really bad. I want more SCP inspired games like Control, the setting and anomalous items alone make for a great game.
For both rich atmosphere and unique game mechanics, you could do a lot worse than Return of the Obra Dinn.
If you're unfamiliar, the presentation evokes early PC (or Mac, more specifically) black and white "1 bit" games, but real time 3d. This already is very distinctive, but the gameplay also sets it apart.
You are an insurance investigator with a magic pocket watch which allows you to travel back to the moment in time that someone expired, if you find their corpse. From these brief flashes (and by cross-referencing the ship manifest) you piece together what happened to all the crew and passengers on the ships ill-fated voyage, before it's baffling reemergence years after the fact.
Blasphemous (only the first one), This War of Mine, Valiant Hearts, Papers Please, Pathologic
Edit: Strange Horticulture, Arctic Eggs, and Lies of P
Thanks so much, this is certainly a lot of material!
I have an off-and-on playthrough of Blasphemous going on my Deck, I love the atmosphere and the story, plus the art direction is gorgeous!
Have played a bit of Papers Please and Pathologic, but didn't have the proper mood for the first, and found it hard to get over the traversal hump in the latter.
Is Blasphemous 2 not as good? I haven't played either but they're on my wishlist
The second game feels to me much less unique, compared to the first, especially the atmosphere. It's still a good game, just not what I expected from the sequel
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not always gloomy. The world is actually quite beautiful in most places. But its start to tears time is about 30 minutes.
Time to subsequent tears depends on your playstyle.
STALKER, it's story may not wreck you but the monolith will.
If you want to be kicked in the dick play the anomaly mod, pretty sure it's free and doesn't require the games.
Gemini Rue is a great point'n'click with a wonderfully somber and dark atmosphere, and a tremendously good story.
I'd also recommend Night in the Woods, and Sally Face.
The first two Thief games are also very dark (literally), and are some of the finest stealth games ever made, with good stories to boot.
Subnautica works for me on days like these. It's atmosphere, the clever design of how to explore more of the story and the constant danger. I also really like the ending, but I won't say more about that, cause spoilers.
If you liked Observer, I'll recommend Soma. I just had to sit back and think for a couple hours after I finished it
Peripeteia- Dark cyberpunk imsim. Obviously inspired by GitS and deus ex. I’d consider it pretty dark and pessimistic but lots of fun to play around in and explore the different ways you have to solve a problem.
These are basically ancient, but if you want to feel like crap.
the hunter call of the wild is my go to for depression gaming. very peaceful generally, walking around tracking animals. if you follow the story you often times end up cleaning up a reserve from trash and left behind tents etc. the hunting is ethical in the story too. gotta keep populations low because yada yada. its gorgeous aswell, very slow. really a good one. and every now and then you'll encounter a mythical animal and track it for 4 real world hours tryna get it for your trophy case.
Dear Esther and Kentucky route zero for the music and atmosphere, elden ring for the atmosphere and challenge. Something with an engaging story planescape torment & torment tides of numenera.
You have so many great recommendations so i am gonna add more.
Gulf Club Nostalgia/Wasteland: when depression hits hard why not hit it harder with a tale of nostalgia for a world we have not yet lost.
Simple golf game but the radio station is... A lot.
To the Moon: the whole series is just what if all we could give those dying the happiness of a lie implanted in their memories and what can we provide for those still living who dont get it so easy?
Among the Sleep: just a 2 year old kid and your mom has gone missing and the world is so scary in the dark.
Have you played journey? It's great in my opinion the music and visuals bringe up every time I play it the end he sequence has made me cry in a few occasions.
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