Stressful games.

[Kingjackl]

I've been playing XCOM 2 and it hasn't been the best for my blood pressure. I'm fine with most of the stuff that makes XCOM stressful - permadeath, near misses, tactical decision making, etc. That's what makes the games fun for me.

No, what stresses me out is scanning for stuff in the Geoscape. I hate that I can be in the middle of getting supplies, or making contact with new cells and get yanked out of it so they can force me to choose another Dark Event mission, respond to a retaliation or watch another black-site pop up. What's worse is a lot of those missions require you to respond immediately, so I can't give it a couple of days for the scan to finish and then go on the mission with potential new upgrades in hand. Given that it's meant to be a game about guerrilla warfare, it sucks that we're still forced to react to threats. We should be choosing when and where to strike, not the government.

 

[Fijiman]

The Dead Rising games.

(Well, DR2 and beyond at least. Never played the original.)

They give you a big ol' fuckabout zombie sandbox, then put fucking time limits on everything. The main story has a time limit and all the side quests have time limits. If you don't find and complete them in time they disappear permanently.

Complete bullshit. Negates the nature of a sandbox since every second spent messing about or exploring feels like a second wasted.

I instantly dismissed DR3 as soon as I saw it had kept the time limits.

I only played the first one and I absolutely hated that about the game, especially since certain things can actually take while to do if you don't know exactly how to deal with them quickly. For example, the quickest, and sometimes only, way to certain areas is to go into the main courtyard, and while that doesn't sound bad, it is usually patrolled by a group of escaped convicts in a jeep with a 50 cal machine gun mounted on the back that respawn just about every time you go out there. These bastards are bad enough to deal with once, but every time you go out is just bullshit.

For my own source of stress in video games as of late, World of Tanks is an almost endless source of it. While I mostly enjoy playing, the RNG can be a missive *****, from making you miss or boucle shots that should have been impossible to do so on to enemies punching though the thickest part of your armor with a shell that shouldn't have even had a chance in hell of doing so even with a maximum high roll. It's incredibly annoying at the best of times and rage-quit inducing at the worst. There have been many times where I've honestly asked myself "why the fuck do I still play this game?"

 

[DeliveryGodNoah_v1legacy]

Stressed in a "fun" way? Well, I finally finished Alien: Isolation after being out for 2 years and owning it since then.
I was absolutely terrified and paranoid for well over half the game, and it was so much fun. Admittedly, around the 12 hour mark I didn't find any part of the game that scary anymore, but I guess that might have been the point in a way? Like, you're sick of it's shit?

Stressed in a bad way? Pretty much any online survival game. Why? Because every online survival game I've played is full of nothing but dickheads. And no I don't just mean they always kill me. I mean, they always try to be that fucking "LOL SO RANDOM XD" youtube bait and make loud, obnoxious noises or blast shitty music ironically while pretending to dance half naked or something. And then still somehow kill you, call you 30 different names, and then find some other way to harass you later.

Maybe stressed isn't the right word here...I guess that was more annoyed. But there is the stress that you can die at an second, probably from someone you couldn't see, and having to start from scratch.

I would have said Overwatch stresses me out, but that's a lie. I just get angry. It constantly seems like lately I will get almost all my teams gold medals, but we would still lose. It's like I'm always stuck with a really shitty team. It could be my fault in some way, but I don't always see how.

 

[The White Hunter]

Serious progression raiding in Final Fantasy XIV was fucking stressful as hell but that's partially down to who we were raiding with.

 

[The White Hunter]

I had that feeling when I made it to Sen's Fortress my first time through. I went through the entire game spoiler-free So my road up to that point was less than optimal. As soon as I beat those snake dudes and saw those swinging pendulums, I literally gave my screen the finger and turned the game off hahahahaha!

Welcome to Sens Funhouse, where the fun literally never stops. If you want proof that the game hates you, look no further. It's a toss up between whether I hated that or Blightown more.

At least it makes Anor Londo feel easy by comparison(at least until you reach the boss(es)). To sum that up:

1. Reach the center of the Royal Cathedral in Anor Lando.
2. Meet Orstein and Smough.
3. Realize you have to fight both at the same time.
4. Cry.

People find Sen's Fortress hard?....

Then I found Ornstein and Smough hilariously easy but the Capra Demon in the lower burg gave me endless shit.

Blighttown was fucking aggravating, not exactly stressful, but I did get super pissed off at the mosquitos.

 

[OpticalJunction]

Amnesia the dark descent. It's a great game but sometimes I need a break from it, the atmosphere is too intense

 

[bliebblob]

Chalk up one more for starcraft, or warcraft 3 in my case. You know a game is stressful when it necessitated the introduction of a whole new term to describe it's effects. And you'll know this 'ladder anxiety' isn't made up when you've experienced it before you even knew there is such a term.

To a lesser extent also open word MMO PvP. Which is odd since I have no such issues with say, team fortress 2. If I had to guess I'd say it's because an MMO's open nature makes it hard to know what to expect. Lone players may be bait, opponents may use all sorts of table-turning potions, there may simply be several times more of their team than there are of yours, ... Even flat-out exploits are never off the table. Plus once killed one tends to be out of commission for a good while in these things, so even if it's still fun despite all of the above you're playing knowing you could be shut out from the good times at any moment. I suspect open world survival PvP is much the same, which is one of the reasons I'm unlikely to touch it anytime soon.

 

[Dalisclock]

People find Sen's Fortress hard?....

Aggravating as fuck is a better term. Particularly getting almost to the top and getting knocked off a narrow walkway by a swinging blade after getting rid of the stupid serpent mage who tosses spells at those trying to cross. Or getting outside and getting hit by a firebomb when you're almost to the bonfire.

Speaking of the Capra Demon, so far he is boss that I hate the most by far. Eventually I got tired of getting murdered the moment I stepped in the door and resorted to tossing firebombs over the wall until he burned to death. Because fuck that guy.

 

[The White Hunter]

People find Sen's Fortress hard?....

Aggravating as fuck is a better term. Particularly getting almost to the top and getting knocked off a narrow walkway by a swinging blade after getting rid of the stupid serpent mage who tosses spells at those trying to cross. Or getting outside and getting hit by a firebomb when you're almost to the bonfire.

Speaking of the Capra Demon, so far he is boss that I hate the most by far. Eventually I got tired of getting murdered the moment I stepped in the door and resorted to tossing firebombs over the wall until he burned to death. Because fuck that guy.

I get that, kind of, honestly Sen's Fortress is a cakewalk with a longbow if you come packing a good amount of poison and standard arrows though, most enemies will walk into the traps and the giants can be poisoned (and are easy to dodge anyway). The bonfire is in a shitty place though, the spot you fight Ricard is bullshit, and the pit with the demons is nightmare fuel if you dont have the rusted ring and a ballache even with it.

 

[Zombie Proof]

I had that feeling when I made it to Sen's Fortress my first time through. I went through the entire game spoiler-free So my road up to that point was less than optimal. As soon as I beat those snake dudes and saw those swinging pendulums, I literally gave my screen the finger and turned the game off hahahahaha!

Welcome to Sens Funhouse, where the fun literally never stops. If you want proof that the game hates you, look no further. It's a toss up between whether I hated that or Blightown more.

At least it makes Anor Londo feel easy by comparison(at least until you reach the boss(es)). To sum that up:

1. Reach the center of the Royal Cathedral in Anor Lando.
2. Meet Orstein and Smough.
3. Realize you have to fight both at the same time.
4. Cry.

People find Sen's Fortress hard?....

Then I found Ornstein and Smough hilariously easy but the Capra Demon in the lower burg gave me endless shit.

Blighttown was fucking aggravating, not exactly stressful, but I did get super pissed off at the mosquitos.

Dude, Sen's Fortress was a pain in the ass but I loved every minute of it lol. Conversely, I beat Ornstein and Smough on my first try albeit with only one estus left. My diesel strength build is no joke.

Had the EXACT feeling about the Capra Demon as well. That bullshit was unfair as fuck to just throw on you like that.

 

[The White Hunter]

I had that feeling when I made it to Sen's Fortress my first time through. I went through the entire game spoiler-free So my road up to that point was less than optimal. As soon as I beat those snake dudes and saw those swinging pendulums, I literally gave my screen the finger and turned the game off hahahahaha!

Welcome to Sens Funhouse, where the fun literally never stops. If you want proof that the game hates you, look no further. It's a toss up between whether I hated that or Blightown more.

At least it makes Anor Londo feel easy by comparison(at least until you reach the boss(es)). To sum that up:

1. Reach the center of the Royal Cathedral in Anor Lando.
2. Meet Orstein and Smough.
3. Realize you have to fight both at the same time.
4. Cry.

People find Sen's Fortress hard?....

Then I found Ornstein and Smough hilariously easy but the Capra Demon in the lower burg gave me endless shit.

Blighttown was fucking aggravating, not exactly stressful, but I did get super pissed off at the mosquitos.

Dude, Sen's Fortress was a pain in the ass but I loved every minute of it lol. Conversely, I beat Ornstein and Smough on my first try albeit with only one estus left. My diesel strength build is no joke.

Had the EXACT feeling about the Capra Demon as well. That bullshit was unfair as fuck to just throw on you like that.

Sen's is hilariously easy with a bow and some caution.

Capra Demon in the Burg? That thing is bullshit, it's adds are bullshit, fuck that tiny little closet it lives in.

Funny how the ones you fight later are complete bitches.

 

[CaitSeith]

Five Nights at Freddy's. I still can't grasp the optimal gameplay strategy for that haunted house simulator, and unnecessary jump scares just stress me out.

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

Any online competitive game. I get massive performance anxiety, so badly that I often wimp out and don't play at all. I bought Overwatch at launch and still haven't played it due to being stressed out by the idea of causing five other people to lose due to my ineptitude.

 

[Sonmi]

or one who is getting their ass beat so they flee and deny me my kill, they invaded me, they shouldn't be able to up and leave imo.

While it sucks when an invader gets beat 1 on 1 and bails out, the ability for invaders to just leave is perfectly justified in the sense that if they couldn't, invaders would just get fed to planned out ganksquads with no chance to flee, or fight back really.

 

[Frankster]

League of Legends.

For me there is no such thing as having fun in this game, I'm grateful my friends don't play it as much anymore so I don't have to either, it was doing my heart no favors.

Especially hate when someone decides to just watch how you play the entire match so they can comment and give you "helpful" advice, makes me understand why people hate backseat drivers.

Also a personal choice people will probably laugh at: Dead Space 1+2

I'm genuinely terrified of being in poorly lit dark corridors with monsters that go ooga booga or however it was Yahtzee put it. Thus for me Dead Space 1+2 is legit scary, more so then any other horror game like Amnesia or Five Nights at Freddy.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Oddly enough no mention of Darkest Dungeon yet, a game where stress is literally part of the game mechanics. Your party is down to 30% health, all have afflictions, you're out of torches, food and healing items, but you only have 4 more rooms to go... can you make it...

and then the RNG bends you over and fucks you up the ass with a 3 ft horse dildo.

 

[SummerHaze]

Games don't have to be stressful. They should relieve stress. I prefer small games, http://www.friv4online.com/ . Play is fun and can trigger the release of endorphins, the body?s natural feel-good chemicals. Improve brain function. The social interaction of playing with family and friends can also help ward off stress and depression.Stimulate the mind and boost creativity. They should The option of free online games comes as a pleasant breather for the overworked folks in today's hectic schedule.

 

[hermajesty]

NBA 2K games. Many a controller has been thrown across the room because of the ridiculous AI

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

So Evolve just went free to play and while I've enjoyed playing it again, since it is fun. It is also one of the most stressful games I've ever played, to the point where I no longer want to bother starting it up.

It's just feels like your doomed no mater what roll you play before you start it up. If your a hunter it feels like the monster can just take you out, if your the monster it feels like you will die against a team (despite the fact I usually win as the monster).

What are some games you want to like but just stress you out too much to play?

That was EXACTLY the game I was about to mention.

As Hunters, the game is fine. It's difficult, it's a bit stressful, but it doesn't feel unfair, unless the monster is so good they somehow manage to evade you the entire game until stage 3 in which case you're fucked.

As Monster, though? I HATE playing as monster. I run and run and hide and run and stealth and I always feel like the hunters are on my ass. In fact, the usually are. No matter how far I run, no matter how much I try to juke them, they are always just one step behind me and I can't possibly keep far enough away from them to reach stage 3 where I have a strong shot at winning. In outright combat, I'm not bad, I usually leave a dome with one enemy hunter down. But they're always right behind me and it drives me bananas.

I still like the game and I do enjoy playing hunter (especially Trapper), but I just CAN'T play monster to save my life. :s

 

[Inazuma1]

Darkest Dungeon, both in game and out.