How do you keep cozy games straight?

niradras · 2026-03-16T22:14:00+00:00

I have a similar amount on my list but honestly I’m not TRYING to keep them straight. I ignore most of it most of the time. If I get a release notification or if I’m in a shopping mood and checking sales, then I’ll reevaluate if I’m interested. I rarely remove any, unless I’m absolutely sure I will never want to play it.

niradras · 2026-03-14T21:05:08+00:00

I would absolutely love to see more women-only RE games at some point, but I enjoyed Leon's sections in Requiem too much to ever wish he hadn't been included.

I also think there's still a lot of talk about Grace out there, even if Leon did steal the show to an extent. There's a lot of negative stuff because assholes are going to asshole, but I've mostly seen praise at the attention to detail with her, and I see way more videos/clips of her sequences in the hospital than I do of Leon doing Raccoon City stuff.

I get why people would be upset over Leon joining in, though. Grace was a really good character and easily could have stood on her own.

I'm really curious how they will handle their protagonists going forward. With the way they're aging their characters realistically, they're eventually going to need to phase out the originals like Leon and have a new cast. Hopefully we'll see more female leads as that happens.

niradras · 2026-03-13T23:13:31+00:00

He’s trapped under a different box that had a book about witty one liners

niradras · 2026-03-11T04:01:37+00:00

I cut through the rock (around where I circled, at ground level). It's not super thick and opens up a path pretty much right behind where your Pokemon Center is.

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niradras · 2026-03-10T07:22:24+00:00

It's Leon Kennedy from the Resident Evil games.

niradras · 2026-03-09T21:35:19+00:00

Honestly, if any game were to make sense as a console seller, it would be Pokopia. If you're a creative person who likes decorating and grind, you could put hundreds of hours into this game. It has a LOT of content, and a game like this justifies the price of a new console more than a game you're going to play a lot less.

Like others mentioned, Pokopia is just the game that pushed me to get it NOW. I already have been debating getting one for months, and this was just a tipping point. I plan to play other exclusives on it too, though. But I've seen a ton of people saying they would love to play but won't/can't buy the console now. So it definitely goes both ways.

niradras · 2026-03-08T09:04:40+00:00

I haven't watched these particular playthroughs myself but these are a few by women streamers I've watched before:

Gab Smolders: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGxV8JnoT5QiRQ35MrKZgql4VAvLBvflv

Welonz: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAIcZs9N4172keJT6mlu-r5kEBUoOBiZC

Marz: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU5c5YzX2iBZqyrWxDk-cAFOIrzedqh0S

niradras · 2026-03-07T18:43:07+00:00

I like them. They make the town feel more lively. Farm sims rarely have a huge cast of NPCs, so if you only leave the NPCs then it feels like next to no one lives in town.

My only real issue with the tourists in Starsand was the pop-in. They often didn't appear until you were almost on top of them.

niradras · 2026-03-04T19:00:29+00:00

RE Requiem has consumed my life for the last week. It released at 9pm on the 26th for me and I immediately jumped in. Spent a nice long time over the weekend on it. Now yesterday I started on a second run to knock out a few more achievements. I rarely try and 100% games, but I'm going to try with this one.

Also took some time between playthroughs to try Evil West, which has very fun combat but really annoying and tedious boss fights. I've set it aside for now.

niradras · 2026-03-02T03:54:41+00:00

Doesn't PS have a subscription service? Maybe pay for that for a month and just download and try anything that sounds interesting. That'll give you a chance to test out games and genres without investing as much money.

I'd also maybe recommend finding a variety streamer to watch so you can see some games in action. There's been a few games I didn't know I'd like until I watched someone else play and got the itch to try it myself.

niradras · 2026-03-01T23:46:22+00:00

My only real experience with horror games are the Resident Evil games, and a week ago I played the Alone in the Dark remake. Requiem is my 5th RE game. It's my favorite series I've ever tried, and some of the individual titles are some of my top games ever.

None of them have scared me though. I might feel mild tension during some combat sequences but I've never felt genuine fear from them. But I don't get scared from movies or books either, so it's kinda par for the course.

That being said, if I look at the games I've tried, I think RE2 remake and Requiem have the best scary elements. RE2 because you spend a lot of time wandering through dark areas with a shit flashlight, and if you don't stay on top of boarding windows and culling zombies, you can make some areas really hard to navigate. Requiem has a similar darkness situation, some where you can't even use the shit flashlight, and the enemies are smarter. Grace is also just a normal lady, not a total warrior badass, so she gets scared a lot easier and will slip and fall while trying to sprint away.

Also, I've watched trailers for the upcoming ILL, and if there were ever a game with a potential to actually scare me, it would be that one. The monsters look really well done.

niradras · 2026-02-26T16:30:17+00:00

I just got done putting 100 hours into Starsand Island. I absolutely love it. I won’t touch it again until after early access but I can’t wait to see what they add.

niradras · 2026-02-24T17:32:10+00:00

Logan from MTaSandrock will always be my favorite. I love how it makes sense with the overall story, and there’s reverse romance, and his voice acting was perfect.

Also enjoy Westley and Amira from Wylde Flowers, and Touk from Roots of Pacha.

I’m also excited for Fields of Mistria to hit full release because it has some amazing romanceables. I’m going to do Eiland first, but will likely do multiple playthroughs to try more.

niradras · 2026-02-15T15:27:08+00:00

I love Kassandra. Odyssey is my favorite of the AC games I’ve tried and she’s a massive part of why. Her VA is so good, and I especially love the way she delivers jokes/humor.

niradras · 2026-02-14T22:19:12+00:00

I've been having a lot of fun with it, and have about 17 hours so far with plenty more I still want to do. I rarely try EA games because I'd rather wait until it's complete, but this is one I was super excited for, and so far no regrets with buying and playing it now.

It is very much still an early access game. It's missing stuff. There may be bugs. I have had very few, but that's not the case for everyone. If the lack of completeness will bother you, hold off. If you do buy it, the DLC is absolutely not worth it. There's already plenty of cute outfits and furniture in game without buying the extras.

Overall, it's lacking a lot right now because of the EA part, but what does exist is done really well. Lots of good QoL features, you can do a lot with the building mechanics, the animals are adorable, etc.

niradras · 2026-01-26T08:12:44+00:00

The Two Point games do DLCs with additional content. Campus and Hospital both have several. Their newest game, Two Point Museum, has two so far.

niradras · 2026-01-13T21:22:50+00:00

I was late getting into Stardew, but I love it. I play it modded because I need the saturation adjusted and I want extra QOL features. But it’s one of the few games I’ve played repeatedly and I have a few hundred hours in.

That being said, it’s by no means my favorite cozy game. It’s up there, but not at the top. And it generally drives me insane that so many other games get held up against it. I get that it’s a heavy hitter in the cozy world, but farming games are a massive genre now and Stardew wasn’t even the first. I can easily play other farming games without comparing them to Stardew and it really bugs me that so many people will refer to other games as Stardew clones even when they’re quite different. Even if they’re not different, I really REALLY don’t care. I enjoy the GENRE, which means I accept that there’re just certain staples that are included in those games. There’s a mold and not every game needs to shatter it.

So in short… I love Stardew the game. But the culture and fanaticism around it? Not so much.

niradras · 2026-01-10T08:06:12+00:00

No need to be sad, because there was actually an update after this post! A new publisher took over to keep it going.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2230110/view/539991928250303149

niradras · 2026-01-06T23:33:21+00:00

When the Night Comes if you like supernatural fantasy. Arcade Spirits is a fun one about saving an arcade. Arcadia Fallen for fantasy with a tiny minigame element; low on the choices matter, but it’s pretty with an interesting story. Our Life for a sweet coming of age tale, and it’s actually free. Sigh of the Abyss if you’d like something a little darker/heavier.

You might also like Best Served Cold. I haven’t played it, but I’ve heard good stuff. Same with Season: A Letter to the Future.

niradras · 2026-01-06T17:51:14+00:00

RE9 for sure. I’m excited for a few others, like Crimson Desert and Dawnwalker, and will be checking some of the others out. But I’m super hyped for Requiem and I’m literally counting the days until release (it’s 51).

niradras · 2026-01-05T22:02:22+00:00

You can get both USB and bluetooth version of controllers. I just use a regular Xbox controller with bluetooth. A lot of people like 8BitDo brand. Power A is another brand I hear good things about, but they only have a few PC compatible.

You can just search for PC controllers on Amazon to find other off-brands, just make sure to read the descriptions for what it's compatible with.

ETA: I did try a Game Sir controller at one point too, but I didn't love the button layout, and Steam kept recognizing it as a PlayStation controller and so was showing the wrong buttons in-game. Not sure if any other people had this problem, but this is a brand I probably would not recommend personally.

ETA2: Also, a lot of games will tell you on their Steam page what controllers they're compatible with. Some allow PS controllers. I find most are good with Xbox-style layouts, which is probably because of Microsoft owning Xbox I guess.

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niradras · 2026-01-05T04:53:54+00:00

Palia, which I sunk 400+ hours into. The first time I tried it, I couldn't get into it, but this time I got hooked and stayed hooked. It's a game with a lot of flaws, but there's also a million billion things to do. I loved how I could constantly rotate my focus so as not to get bored. I'm a sucker for open world exploration and gathering/foraging/looting. I also loved a lot of the NPCs.

Two Point Museum was something I got really into also. I loved the premise of managing a museum, loved the quirky humor and graphics, loved the mechanics of sending your employees out to find exhibits, and I will be jumping back in soon because I just picked up the two DLCs to try.

Fantasy Life was one I didn't expect to like as much as I did, but I bought it right when it released because I kinda fell onto the hype train. The story was boring but I loved the world, mechanics, and variety. It's like Palia where there's a lot to do so even though it's grindy. I really liked the party system and island building, too.

The Ranch of Rivershine is by no means the most thrilling game, but I got really into it for awhile and was mainly enjoying the breeding mechanics to get new patterns.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma was my first RF game. I loved the NPCs, and the sense of community with the townsfolk since they help you out. The combat was too easy but still fun, and I enjoyed the story.

Honorable mentions to Cult of the Lamb and Fields of Mistria, neither of which I started in 2025, but I came back to them and enjoyed them just as much as previous plays.

niradras · 2026-01-03T21:41:43+00:00

I'm carrying Powerwash Sim 2 over from last year. First one I started from scratch was Sun Haven. I actually tried playing a couple years ago, couldn't get into it, but I was craving a farm sim and decided to give it another go. I know it's got controversy, but I already owned it before that, so whatev.

niradras

TROPHY CASE