What are Your Potato Chip Games?

[RiffRaff]

Basically, since I don't think anything should be a guilty pleasure (if you enjoy it, do it! Don't feel bad about it!), I've been referring to those types of games as potato chip games. Why? Because, like potato chips, we know they aren't exactly good for us and are best avoided or eaten sparingly. But that doesn't stop us from inhaling them by the bagful. You're not getting the best quality experience, butt fuck it, you don't care. It makes you happy.

Grabbed a few JRPGs from the current Steam sale as I haven't played the genre much over the past good handful of years. Had been much more into WRPGs. Anyhoo, one of the games I bought was Tales of Berseria; my first foray into the Tales series. And holy fuck is playing this game rather braindead. Even if the characters are anti-heroes they are still trope-y as fuck, I've heard the fantasy and ani-metal music a million times before, and the combat has this overly complex system to it that I've payed little attention to and have button mashed my way through almost every battle so far unscathed using next to no mental power. It's a game riddled with flaws, but I'm enjoying every second of it and will certainly be checking out more from the series when I finish Berseria up.

But my favorite potato chip games would be the Far Cry series. In particular from 3 onward. Big map riddled with icons and towers to climb and mindless shooting and wanton violence. Sure the villains are fun and interesting, but honestly, the stories are rather samey and doubly so for the gameplay. But I can, and have, sit there all day just doing menial quests going from map marker to map marker. It relaxes me and I genuinely have fun doing it. Many people criticize FC for never evolving or mixing things up with the gameplay, and honestly, I would be rather sad if Ubi ever messed with my beloved FC formula. And I guess you could toss the recent couple Ass Creed games in there too. Give me lots of map markers dammit!!! I'll eat a whole bag of them and then some!

 

[RiffRaff]

Oh god yeah. Tales of Berseria’s combat system is pretty solid, but on the default difficulty setting it’s the most mindless goddamn thing. Seriously, play with that difficulty slider and do it often. You’ll have a much more fun time with the game if you do that.

Skyrim’s kind of the epitome of potato chip gaming for me, though. It’s just a fun little sandbox to dick around in for a few hours at a time. Yeah, there’s more in-depth games that you could be playing instead, but there’s something enjoyably cathartic about it if you‘re not feeling up for anything else.

I have yet to double dip on Skyrim for modern consoles or PC mainly because I know I'll just end up neglecting all my other games lol.

 

[JuIc3]

Oh god yeah. Tales of Berseria’s combat system is pretty solid, but on the default difficulty setting it’s the most mindless goddamn thing. Seriously, play with that difficulty slider and do it often. You’ll have a much more fun time with the game if you do that.

Yes! Tales of Berseria lost me because the difficulty. I kept expecting things to ramp up some, but it never really did...really cool characters though!

 

[Zalno]

Mine would probably be Pokemon. All of the Pokemon games, really. I know there's better stuff out there and that if I indulge too much, it will kill me. But much like Oreos and pizza-flavored Pringles, I grew up on this shit, damnit! You'll have to pry it all from my cold, dead, diabetic hands.

 

[Slimybearreturnsv866.5]

For me not exactly lately but recently Odin Sphere Lefitsuar. Great simple fun repetive as fuck though I enjoy it but can only stand playing it for a hour or two at most before wanting to switch over to a different game.

Oh god yeah. Tales of Berseria’s combat system is pretty solid, but on the default difficulty setting it’s the most mindless goddamn thing. Seriously, play with that difficulty slider and do it often. You’ll have a much more fun time with the game if you do that.

Skyrim’s kind of the epitome of potato chip gaming for me, though. It’s just a fun little sandbox to dick around in for a few hours at a time. Yeah, there’s more in-depth games that you could be playing instead, but there’s something enjoyably cathartic about it if you‘re not feeling up for anything else.

Oh in terms of dicking around for a small bit of bit sized fun Garrys Mod feels great for that.

 

[Nova]

You know, I've actually been streaming one of mine: .hack//G.U. (specifically I've been playing the HD remaster Last Recode, since it's easier to stream a Steam game than it would be to dig out my capture card and hook up my PS2).
The combat is really mindless and button-mashy, with just enough depth to keep it from getting dull. It's also stupidly easy, even moreso in Last Recode where they increased the amount of EXP you get. The story is a perfect microcosm of mid-2000's anime cheese with the dorkiest wannabe-edgelord protagonist, and I love it so much.
I also really appreciate the presence of a gay option, complete with legit wedding scene. It's played a bit for laughs, sure, but I still adore Endrance as a character, and his presence here in a game originally released in 2007 is at least a little bit ahead of its time. It was my first experience with this sort of thing in a game, anyway.

Note for anyone who might want to try the game out for themselves: Because .hack is an overcomplicated mess of a franchise, the story in this game is literally incomplete. There's a time-skip right after the tutorial, during which a lot of important stuff happens that fuels character motivations for the rest of the game... and those events are covered in a 26-episode anime series, .hack//Roots. You can still mostly follow the plot fine without it, but there are a lot of references you will not understand. And that's before they start calling back to stuff from the previous .hack games, too (which have aged really poorly and you should definitely not play).

Skyrim’s kind of the epitome of potato chip gaming for me, though. It’s just a fun little sandbox to dick around in for a few hours at a time. Yeah, there’s more in-depth games that you could be playing instead, but there’s something enjoyably cathartic about it if you‘re not feeling up for anything else.

It's one of my most-played games on Steam for that reason. Well, that and I never bothered switching to the Special Edition due to the lack of mod compatibility, so all my hours are in just the one version.

 

[Cygnus Rush 961]

The "Potato Chip" games for me are "Forza Horizon 3&4". I know that they're "Open World" racing games with a festival theme involving cars and music in some fashion but there are times where I just want to pick a car from my vast collections and just drive. Sure there are some special events that come up every so often with some cars as a prize that might catch my eye but I just like to have a little bit of fun either taking pictures of said cars, doing silly things with them, or cruising around the map(s). If I want a more serious minded racing game I would chose between Project CARS 2, Assetto Corsa, or Assetto Corsa Competizione.

 

[✨ Matt ✨]

Pretty much everything I play, according to other people, lol. AssCreed, CoD, open world games, action games, arcade racing games, etc.

 

[AllCutUp1136]

The WWE 2K games. Dunno about Battlegrounds, tho...

 

[taterchimp]

Any of the Borderlands as a sniper. There's something therapeutic about lining up headshots to me, and watching the numbers grow as you get better gear. I've sunk too many hours in those games, and I am looking to start up TVHM in 2 in VR soon.

 

[taterchimp]

The "Potato Chip" games for me are "Forza Horizon 3&4". I know that they're "Open World" racing games with a festival theme involving cars and music in some fashion but there are times where I just want to pick a car from my vast collections and just drive. Sure there are some special events that come up every so often with some cars as a prize that might catch my eye but I just like to have a little bit of fun either taking pictures of said cars, doing silly things with them, or cruising around the map(s). If I want a more serious minded racing game I would chose between Project CARS 2, Assetto Corsa, or Assetto Corsa Competizione.

I only tried Forza Horizon 4 because of Gamepass and I got pretty hooked. There's always something to do, and almost every single action gives you some progression. Throw in wheelspins for new cars and dailies to grind out, and it was a pretty fun cycle to log in and drive for a few hours each day.

 

[RolanberryPrins]

Games I can't seem to uninstall: modded skyrim & fallout nv + 4. as others have said, just dicking around in a world is nice, especially when there are mods to keep things pretty and loading smoothly. As far as potato chip games though... games that reward careful overplanning. Like...Thief (the 'new' one, the one no one seemed to like), Dishonored, Monster Hunter World. That's also why I gravitate towards farming and sim games. They allow me to line up dominoes of tasks to do and then knock them over with brutal efficiency.

 

[Sam]

A few come to mind where I can just boot them up and just kill time; for when I want to play video games but not play a video game, if that makes sense. Where the medium itself is the fun.

Breath of the Wild—of course!—and Smash Ultimate. Before that I’d mess around in Smash on 3DS for a bout or two; the games have always been my “Nintendo Museum,” with Ultimate just being the absolute pinnacle of that (besides the lack of trophies...).

It isn’t my favorite in my favorite series, but Metal Gear Solid V is such a joy to play, always. Just moving around, knockin’ some guys out, casing an outpost. So, so satisfying, always.

Though I haven’t played in years, Halo was always something I could play for hours. And hours. And hours. It was a time in my life, and I’m not sure I could pick it up and play that way anymore, but it’s a part of me...

Turtles in Time, another game I could pick up at any moment and have to force myself to not finish in one sitting!

 

[zatoseyes]

I like to put Bugles on my finger tips and pretend I have claws.

Wait, I think I misunderstood the thread topic.

 

[Fwuffles]

I got into Rainbow Moon last year on a whim (it was on sale or something). The writing is pretty poor, the humor is flat, the story is nonsensical. The combat can be pretty engaging though, and while the leveling system can be tedious it's at least unique. There are many systems in the game built to keep you grinding for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours.

Despite all of this and more, I love it. There's something about the game that pulls me in and has me playing for hours at a time. I've lost whole weekends completely by accident, having that "oh shit, it's dark outside?" moment more than once.

 

[DeScruff]

Skyrim and Fallout 4 are probably those games for me.
Anyone remember back when God of War came out there was an image of someone who said they didn't have the money to buy a new game, turned on Skyrim and made their character look like Kratos? EDIT: Heres a reddit post of it. Thats kinda what Skyrim and Fallout 4 are to me.

Sometimes I just have a picture in my head of a character I want to play a game as or a weapon I wanna use.
Maybe I just feel like swinging a giant battle axe, or poison tipped arrows. Maybe I feel like being a mad scientist building death robots, or maybe someone who stalks and eats people (yay cannibalism!)
And even if the games don't have what I want. There probably is a mod for that.
You wanna make a bunch different beers? There are mods that add breweries to both games. exc

 

[modern_moron]

Legend of Bum-bo has great potato chip game potential once Ed finds a new coder and fixes bugs and adds more shit