So... what are your definitions of "Comfort Food Games", exactly? Some of these aren't necessarily my favourite games in their respective series, but I like them enough to feel comforted and cheered up because of their familiarity.
After having a bad week I can relate, now for reliable standbys you say...
Well it should be said that i'll shove on any variety of DK, Mario and to a lesser extent Sonic platformer to quickly play a few stages (kind of harder with most Sonic games due to progression style) if I need the quickest fix. As for comfort food games that require a whole playthrough...
Ocarina of Time: Easy choice, i've played through it more times than I can count and now there's the 3DS version to make it all the more colourful, all of my yes. The great thing about Ocarina is how well paced it is, you're always doing something and it's got a good ratio of overworld to dungeon, the only bit i'm never that keen on doing is the Gerudo Fortress but after about 20 runs I think I finally remember how to reach that one carpenter who I always forget.
Metroid Prime: Tallon Overworld is like my home away from home, the rain,
the music, the flora and fauna, I wish that one area was a little bigger. Primes slower pace to its 2d counterparts is actually quite beneficial at times, hopping around crumbling scenic ruins scanning the remnants of a fallen society, everything just works. The Sequels just don't have that extra touch that makes Prime so easy to revisit.
For some less frequently revisited titles...
Castlevania Symphony of the Night: Another visit to Drac's abode is always a treat, i'm sure most of you already know that I love the music but aside from that the locations themselves are heavy with atmosphere, the way each area of the castle has a layout to suit the location itself makes the whole place come together really well.
Ace Attorney Series: And people say these aren't replayable, not too dissimilar to re-reading a good book or re-watching a favourite movie, sometimes I just need to step back to Wright's crazy courtroom antics, the dialogue is witty, the characters charming, like meeting back up with old friends, sure I may know all the solutions but you could say it's about the journey and not the destination. The numerous entries help ensure I don't retread the same ground too often.
Back in the day you could probably add Banjo Kazooie, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga and Pokemon Red/Fire Red to this listing. But with a Pokemon game each year these days I don't get much need to revisit Kanto yet again.
I suppose I could say more about the platformers, the genre itself is always replayable, hop and bop style more so than action focused ones (so i'm much more likely to go for Mario and DK than say Classic Castlevania and Mega Man). There's been a lot of new platformers in recent years and more to come, so it'll be interesting to see which of these fall into the frequent rotation.
Part of me wants to detail the comfort food goodness of each platforming title and why but that will take entirely too long.
Oh actually there's one more, the ultimate comfort food for both single and multiplayer.
Super Smash Bros Brawl/Melee: The list above reveals a shocking twist i'm sure, I enjoy Nintendo games, shock and awe. Both these games therefore are where comfort is king, a treasure trove of Nintendo wrapped up in a Zany brawler, it is without a doubt my most tunred to game when all else fails (like yesterday in fact), I will jump on Yoshi's Island and start sending people flying with Ike's Ragnell and DK's limbs, ever so reliable stuff.
Actually most of both Schala's and The Xtortionist's list work for me as well, I like 'em, Resi 4 is a longer trip but it's still so damn playable and in my opinion still schools most modern third person shooters.
Hey, the Japanese names for some artes are weird as heck. They sound soooo cool, but they really tend to mean a bunch of nonsense when translated literally. Well, Flynn being there in the PS3 version is truly a treat (because he's more of a physical Magic Knight). He gets some of the quicker artes I like to use, but again, I like sticking with Judith because I'm a sucker for aerials, and you all know how much I value quicker attackers.
The last acts of Tales games are generally direct-to-DVD sequels that don't really need to be there. Vesperia is not immune to this.
Never has there been a more fitting comparison, Direct to DVD sequels, making a mental note of this one.
My Vesperia team plan was usually, Yuri, Judith and Repede all out attack, Estelle stands at the back and does her healing and magic stuff, it was perfection. I always have trouble breaking away from using the central character, Judith was one of the few that felt similar enough to be okay with.
Persona 3 Portable, I will warn, can be lengthy depending on your playstyle. If you feel like you might be burnt out on it, then stop. I'd like you to continue with Graces, but go with TLS.
And yup! I have the same problem sometimes. I get motivated at the wrong times of the day.
I checked up on my file, only 5 hours so far....well shit, we'll see how far I can go. This games sort of freedom as to what I can choose to do is almost like choice paralysis at times.
!) is kind of similar to Capacity Cores in Abyss, where you equip different capacity cores in order to learn new artes or get stat upgrades. The orb has six elements: Light, Earth, Water, Darkness, Wind, and Fire. Depending on which Absorber you have equipped, you can get points for that element with elemental cores obtained from fights or harvest points. Regardless, what you're equipping here is stat ups and passives, not battle mechanics.)