Summary
Action and sometimes gritty violence or generally darker story themes tend to play a huge role in most successful open-world games of the modern era. Most big open-world games of today play less like a vast universe of cool and varied stuff to do, and more like just a big shooting range.
Chaos and violence reigning is the norm, but many of these games actually do offer alternatives. Some of the biggest action blockbusters out there can even be turned into extremely calming and relaxing affairs. It’s time to kick back and have a look at a few games people have no idea can actually be incredibly cozy.
The unexpectedly cozy vibes of theGTAseries, not just those ofGTA 5, are severely underrated. The only reason why Vice City, Liberty City, or Los Santos are hubs of crime and chaos is, generally, well, the player’s fault.
Should a player decide just to get a car (via legal and non-violent means, of course) and choose to simply drive around tosee the vistasin a casual and orderly manner, they’ll find thatGTAland is quite a beautiful and surprisingly neat place to exist in.
The world ofThe Witcher 3is filled with non-cozy terrors, but that’s for the common folk. For Geralt of Rivia, pretty much all of that amounts to little more than just training. Combine that with the beautiful effect the game’s wind has on the leaves, andThe Witcher 3’sabsolutely gorgeous forests, icy mountains, and even marshes - some of the nicest locations in gaming.The Witcher 3is also home to a lot of incredibly cozy mini-games, such as Gwent, and just plain ol' treasure hunting, which benefits a lot from the open world setting.
If that’s not enough, then the most demanding of players should give theBlood and WineDLC a chance, as it ramps the cozy factor all the way up to 11 by giving Geralt a house he can decorate as he pleases and chill out in.
Sure,Death Strandingfeatures a bunch of enemies, but they mostly feel like they were put there just to satisfy the modern gamer’s regular desire for carnage. Outside of the legendary flash game QWOP,Death Strandingis the truest “walking simulator” that there is.
At least in the beginning, the game simply tasks players with walking from one point to another, and it makes for a surprisingly satisfying gaming experience. It’s not for everyone, especially not players expecting the high-stress action espionage of Hideo Kojima’sMetal Gear Solid 5, but it is for players looking for a soothing game about helping people.
A place known as “The Wild West” usually wouldn’t be what one associates with the coziest of times, but in the video game world, at least that assumption can be wrong.
The developers ofRed Dead Redemption 2knew thatGTA 5featured a lot of mechanics that were only made possible due to the game’s modern world setting, so when makingRDR2,they made sure to include a wide range of minigames to make the game feel just as fun and cozy as its cousin title. On top of that, even nearly a decade later,Red Dead Redemption 2is one of the games with the best graphics and environments, making riding around on a horse just an absolute treat.
