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turning the brain off and on ~
it is the strangest thing, but I have found that roughly an hour of a zelda* game is the absolute best way to "defrag" my brain after work.
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lukadian and I have talked a little about this before, how there's a sense of contentment with the nostalgia and less ... brain noise? than doom-scrolling or even checking friendly discord servers. takes less energy than creating stuff, or talking with friends, but occupies the brain and hands just enough to filter away the stresses of a day. generally I get about 1/3 to 1/2 of a dungeon done in that time; the perfect amount to make some headway and not feel rushed, but it's not even really about getting through the game itself, these days. savoring the journey itself.
I'm sort of poking at the brain trying to figure out why "that" of all things does the trick with feeling refreshed at the end of the day versus watching a movie or any kind of modern game which just makes me restless and tired all at once. Takes me back to middle school days where everything felt simpler and kinder? clear goals and repetition versus the chaos of the day? masterful level design that's just that immersive in a stress-reducing way? (... though redeads aren't very stress-reducing LOL)
* my vice of choice tends to be rotating through the older 3D/Gamecube Zelda games - OOT/MM/WW/TP, mixed up with a playthrough of FE9/10.
Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon? :o If so, what's your game of choice?
lukadian and I have talked a little about this before, how there's a sense of contentment with the nostalgia and less ... brain noise? than doom-scrolling or even checking friendly discord servers. takes less energy than creating stuff, or talking with friends, but occupies the brain and hands just enough to filter away the stresses of a day. generally I get about 1/3 to 1/2 of a dungeon done in that time; the perfect amount to make some headway and not feel rushed, but it's not even really about getting through the game itself, these days. savoring the journey itself.I'm sort of poking at the brain trying to figure out why "that" of all things does the trick with feeling refreshed at the end of the day versus watching a movie or any kind of modern game which just makes me restless and tired all at once. Takes me back to middle school days where everything felt simpler and kinder? clear goals and repetition versus the chaos of the day? masterful level design that's just that immersive in a stress-reducing way? (... though redeads aren't very stress-reducing LOL)
* my vice of choice tends to be rotating through the older 3D/Gamecube Zelda games - OOT/MM/WW/TP, mixed up with a playthrough of FE9/10.
Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon? :o If so, what's your game of choice?
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It used to be one of the most profitable events in game and requires a good bit of collaboration between large squads. GW2 meta events like that typically tire me out, but for some reason, that specific event required just enough focus/strategy mixed with just enough MMO fun to pop all the stress from a sucky day out of my brain. Focusing and needing to try new stuff kept me thinking about non-work things, on map shenanigans kept me chipper.
It was one of the first times I genuinely started trying to learn the game better and not just cruise through it, and I still remember and use some of the tricks I learned back then.
Like I said, a lot of the comparable events leave me so exhausted that I have to take a break from the game, but that and a couple of others are just so enjoyable that they were perfect for post work de-stress.
I don't really play GW2 to de-stress anymore (the game has gotten much bigger since then. It's more of an "Oh god, I have to do all these things" game for me now, which is very sad)
But! I've found that tossing on Fire Emblem Awakening or Fates on the 3ds and playing a map or two on one of the saves where I'm doing horrible things and building bad characters with the XP maps tends to cheer me up. I'll pop a couple of battles in, check any new supports, and then I'm good to go.
The only other games I could think of would be Mass Effect 3 or maybe Dragon Age Origins, so many games exhaust me no matter how much I like them, so finding ones that actually leave me more refreshed is a rarity and a treat.
Coincidentally, listing these games has made me realize most of them are some of the only games that I like to try to play on harder difficulties, that I really go at with all I'm worth. I think the fact that they don't stress me out is probably a huge part of my being willing to try something that might make them more stressful.
no subject
also totally makes sense with the 3DS FE games - almost little "bite sized" maps as well and there's something puzzle-like to optimizing your army for the next mission too, that can be a nice counter to the actual strategizing.