Games that are like "comfort food" to you

All year long, I had no plans to purchase Black Ops 2 or Halo 4. I wasn't interested. I felt burned out on CoD and was never really interested in Halo to begin with, but played it with friends. But as their release dates approach, I find myself almost craving them. I want them to bring back memories of playing Halo 3 after the midnight release with my friends or getting my first Predator Missile in MW 2. I feel like I'll be picking up Halo 4 and BO 2 purely for the feeling of "comfort". Do you guys have similar feelings towards any other games?

Halo and Assassin's Creed honestly. Assassin's Creed especially.

It isn't unusual to feel comfortable when doing something you enjoy doing. If you're interested in something, such as video games, and it is a major hobby of yours why wouldn't you "crave" news and new games? Perfectly natural although I'd advice against actively waiting for a game that is 4 years away. I did that with Darkfall Online. Actively waiting: Joining guilds, spending a lot of time on the forums, closely following development. Because you usually can get really disappointed. It is way better to stay current and enjoy games as they come out instead.

Max Payne 2, Dark Souls, Serious Sam 3: BFE. All wholesome fun games that evoke great memories playing them.

Halo and Assassin's Creed honestly. Assassin's Creed especially.

Borderlands 2. It's that kind of game that everybody plays and knows about and offers exactly what the screenshots portrays; shooting foul-mouthed people.

Call of Duty. As much as I can bitch about this game, I always end up liking the SP enough to feel '' into it '' as I'm playing.

Skyrim. There's nothing wrong with this game, but to me, there's very little good other than the game world. I love dragons, I love norse mythology, I love snow. So I love Skyrim. But I don't like its gameplay.

Not really.

Streets of Rage 2 and the old Sonic games are always fun to go back to. Mario, too.

But as for a modern franchise? Halo's definitely up there for me, as well.

All games in their own way are my comfort food. To try to break it down even further would be futile. I do have some guilty pleasures like Harvest Moon but I don't really consider guilty pleasures and "comfort food" to be the same thing.

Earthbound for the SNES. Hands down.

The original Dirt (which I just loaded up again recently), Borderlands 2 and Sims 3 has been fun going back to.

Call of Duty. Other than the first, second, and fourth games, there's nothing particularly jawdropping or great about them - but all of them are simply dumbass fun.

Also, Skyrim. It's a great game in many, many respects, but I find myself playing it... and playing it... and playing it... and playing it. Endlessly. I can get off of CoD, no problem, but Skyrim is a game that I've been consistently playing with only a few extended breaks since launch and I really don't think I'm going to stop anytime soon, especially since I just got back into it on PC and am experimenting with mods now. It's like a long, endless hole - I love everything about the game.

Burnout Paradise and the Sims [2/3], for me.

Team Fortress 2

CS 1.6, been playing for 11 years. Will be playing for the rest of my life.

Arkham City for me. Especially the challenge maps.

GTA San Andreas. I fire it up every couple of months.

Minecraft. That is my go-to game when I am in a bad mood. Nothing can beat it. 
 
GTA: San Andreas. I have almost the entire game memorized at this point but I still like going back to it at least once a year, if not even more frequently. I had a ton of fun playing it this summer. 
 
Forza (whichever version is out. Right now for me it is Forza 4. I don't know if I will get Horizons.)

Super Mario Bros. 2

I always go back to it. It was one of my first really formative gaming experiences and I feel like I am visiting an old friend when I play it. I think the only other game that comes anywhere close is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

F.E.A.R. PC love those damn office levels just something about them and shooting torso's in half never gets old.

GTA4 the euphoria physics is still awesome and fun to mess with also the game is just great in every aspect for me.

Max Payne the snow just seems soothing to me and really enjoy the storyline and writing, soundtrack etc.

@Lukeweizer: I feel exactly the same way about Blops 2 and Halo 4, every year my play time in the multiplayer goes down and I say 'I won't be getting these next year' but then it rolls around and I'm just like, ah okay then, its like tradition. I'm part of the problem I guess but at least the campaigns do look different this time and I really liked the Blops 1 campaign. I just doubt I'll be playing the MP for as long as I did Halo 3 and MW2.

Other games for me are fighting games, Tekken, Street Figher etc, can just turn your brain off, listen to podcasts and play a few games.

The first few levels of Doom and Duke Nukem 3D

Mirror's Edge. I can play that game any time, any day, multiple times all the way through. The game is almost flawless basically, there's just nothing there to stop me from playing through it several times in a day. 
 
I guess Crysis 1 to a lesser extent too. I don't play it as much any more, but there's just so many ways to play through it and I love toying with the Koreans and finding new ways to blow shit up.

Super Mario Bros 3 always does a good job of cheering me up and giving me something to play for just the right amount of time.

Super Mario RPG.

It is just so good all around, even now! With a caveat that it is an original cart. The Wii VC just feels off...

Mirror's Edge, I love to casually blast through a level where I know a decent route from start to finish, then go back and look for new shortcuts.

Wipeout HD is pretty relaxing once you get into the groove of how the ship wants to move.

My current rhythm game of choice (currently osu!, previously Stepmania) always provides that feeling of comfort as I watch my hands move to hit the notes which my eyes have seen but my brain hasn't fully processed and everything syncs up perfectly. It's an utterly mesmerising way to spend either a few minutes or a few hours.

The Heroes of Might and Magic series has been like that for me, something I can go back to with little pretense and still enjoy myself.

Platformers like Mario. Also big RPG's are a treat for me.

The NBA 2k series at the moment. If I'm stressed and I just want to turn off my brain I enjoy playing around with the gm mode in that game, just wheeling and dealing players to improve my team.

Valve games, I guess. I play TF2 when I have nothing else, and usually buy their new games. I find it strange that I bought GO, but it just felt like the right thing to do. I've already played the game for more hours than I spent dollars to obtain it, so I'd say I got my moneys worth, as I have with every other Valve game.

Ocarina of Time. Probably complete it at least twice a year.

The Legend of Zelda series.

The Halo series.

And Minesweeper. Actually that's more like crack.

Deus Ex

TF2 is basically the pizza of video games as far as I'm concerned.

When I hear the phrase "video games," the beginning of Streets of Rage 2 is the first thing that comes to mind. Brilliant music, quintessential graphics--one of the first games to really convey a sense of atmosphere.

@Lukeweizer: I feel exactly the same way about Blops 2 and Halo 4, every year my play time in the multiplayer goes down and I say 'I won't be getting these next year' but then it rolls around and I'm just like, ah okay then, its like tradition. I'm part of the problem I guess but at least the campaigns do look different this time and I really liked the Blops 1 campaign. I just doubt I'll be playing the MP for as long as I did Halo 3 and MW2.

Other games for me are fighting games, Tekken, Street Figher etc, can just turn your brain off, listen to podcasts and play a few games.

Battlefield series.

Skate 3

Minecraft, littlebigplanet, or wipeout.

Any Banjo-Kazooie game. Brings back some good memories.

Any open world racing game. Just pop it in with your favourite music and just...cruise.

Rock Band 1 - 3. Before I quit music games at the beginning of the year I always played Rock Band to pass time, when I was frustrated with something, needed to relax, whenever. Now? Probably just games in general. Since I got married I use games as those things since I don't get to play as often as I used to.

Dragon Age: Origins. When it comes to gathering a fantasy party and set out to kill orcs, it's the absolute best.

comfort food sa in like, you play when you're bummed out/depressed?

i guess ill say Civ5

Halo, Minecraft, and he original Torchlight.

Probably the Lego games. I'm glad Batman came out this year so I got the required dosage of busting everything into studs as I'm not the biggest LotR fan. I won't be surprised if I end up playing it somewhere down the line though.

Persona 3 for me. If I'm having a rough time of things (tedious week at the office, conflict with family or friends, bad job interview, etc...), that game never fails to give me just the right amount of distraction and always makes me feel a bit better. It's my ultimate fictional comfort food.

@JadeGL said:

Super Mario Bros. 2

Me too. I can't even think about the overworld music without involuntarily smiling. Smiling now. :D