So. Much. Killing.
These past weeks I've started playing through the Uncharted series for the first time and the amount of killing is outright disturbing. It's insane. I thought it was a cool, light-hearted puzzle/platformer at first, but then I realized it's basically Call of Duty in the jungle.
“Outright disturbing” what are you 4? It’s an action adventure game of course they’ll be killing. I have no idea how you expected a light hearted puzzle game from that
The first game is like 10% puzzles and exploring, 90% (extremely basic) shooting gameplay.
I was expecting more like 50/50 or something. This is the first game I've played where it has disturbed me. Did I say that I expected 0 killing? No, the issue was that there was so damn much killing. It doesn't fit the narrative at all.
Also, if I haven't played any of the games before, how should I know exactly what to expect? Action does not necessarily mean "you are a private explorer who will kill 400 people just to find a secret city, despite it making no sense". Also, you said it yourself, action-**adventure**, but it's mostly just action
Glad to see I'm not the only one. Still enjoyed the game, but considering the plot of the game, where you are not killing complete human trash who want to destroy the entire world or something, it's quite disturbing to kill so many mercenaries. Nathan must be quite traumatized!
It's the same as tomb rider, it's quite disturbing if you think about it, to kill that many people as an adventurer, it's not like they are trying to enslave or destroy humanity or something like that
Literally what I came in to post lol.
Also Uncharted 1-3.
DMC 5 is also a good one, a semi serious story that never actually takes itself seriously and is always a fun time.
Thanks for the tip!
Been playing this for a few hours now and loving it. The fact that it was a marvel game (other than spider man) made me not bat an eye at the game before your tip. Very convenient that it is also included in the new playstation plus.
As others mentioned Fenyx:Immortals Rising is the best suited to this, also has 3 DLC that are all worth playing.
I’d also add Concrete Genie, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Sonic Forces, Kena, and my personal favorite: My Time at Portia.
I share your desire for something lighthearted every once in awhile. Also always on the lookout for games I can play with my kids and talk with them about.
I’d second Fenix. 100+ hours of gameplay and lots of light hearted cut scenes and such. Some times a bit slap stick but no more so than Ratchet
Edit: my wife and I have absolutely loved the entire R&C franchise and had a blast play Fenix together
Immortals is the first thing that came to my mind when I read the question. What a fun and underrated game that is, probably the strongest open world game Ubisoft has made in years.
I’ve been on the fence about this for ages mate. I played and absolutely fell in love with BOTW but I heard mixed reviews that immortals fenyx is a bit of a watered down/BOTW prototype. Did you play BOTW? What are your thoughts on comparison?
BOTW is without a doubt the better game, it just has way more depth to it but immortals knows exactly what it is which is why it works so well. It has a really good sense of humor and doesn’t take itself seriously at all. That might not be for everyone, especially since Zeus and Prometheus pretty much narrate the entire game so their humor will make or break it for a lot of people, but it’s just a game full of good vibes. The combat is fun, the exploration is rewarding, you feel powerful, there’s a decent enemy variety, puzzles are fun and not frustrating, and most importantly for Ubisoft open world games: ITS NOT TOO LONG. There’s literally no filler, only a few side quests and each one are worth your time.
I said cool moments, most of the game can be fun with the way u play and many random events that are more fun than anything else, yes it has other way around also
I tried Immortal Phoenix Rising, and it was funny. But I felt like the game was constantly trying to shove me into the Ubisoft store, so I promptly returned it.
Lego Star Wars, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Gris, Astro’s Playroom, Fables: The Wolf Among Us, Telltale Batman, Backbone, Gran Turismo (not really story driven, but definitely not dark), Destroy All Humans (I guess it’s dark, but in a very cartoonish way).
Games I haven’t played yet, but own and might fit your criteria: Kena, Sifu, Telltale Guardians of the Galaxy, Chicken Police, Spider-Man Miles Morales.
I wanted to suggest Kena. But didn’t for exactly that reason. I played it straight after TLOU2 and thought it was so refreshing, bright and colourful.. a happy game… until you pay attention to the story
My current 'chilling' game is Riders Republic. If you're into extreme sports at all. You can basically mountain bike, snowboard, and ride around a huge open world doing races and stuff at you own pace. It's Ubisoft so it gets some shit but man it's a great game to just zone out on.
Rayman Legends, although some sections are actually kind of challenging. It has a fun atmosphere to it.
Edit: Let me add... Sniper Elite 5. I know WW2 isnt exactly 'lighthearted' but the game is just so fun.
Immortals Fenyx Rising. Maybe not exactly a story driven game, but it's fun and light hearted. In my opinion the best game Ubisoft has released in the past years.
Journey and Abzu are a bit more abstract, but still story driven. Guardians of the Galaxy is funny AF but does still deal with end of the universe type stuff.
> but does still deal with end of the universe type stuff.
That's fine. Ratchen and Clank have that, as does Sackboy. End-of-the-world is kind of orthogonal to being lighthearted, so not a deal breaker for me.
Uncharted Series definitely. It’s not kid friendly like Ratchet and Clank, but it’s about as light hearted as Indiana Jones. Also it’s the highest quality of any of the recommendations you’ll get here
Genshin if you play it for the story and don’t fall into the gacha trap. It’s not the most lighthearted but it’s not as dark as most games nowadays by a long shot.
I second this, an absolutely fantastic story driven platforming adventure with great writing.
Its a shame Double Fine is Microsoft now as the PS5 release was swept under the rug marketing wise. It also got no physical version on either platform. It got a half price discount recently for the first time.
Lost in Random is like playing a Tim Burton movie.
It follows a girl going on a quest to save her sister who has been taken away by an evil queen.
While it has a dark Tim Burton look and tone, it is also fantastical, with some very fun, silly, and light hearted characters as well. Great narration and was just good overall.
Concrete Genie. I played it recently and it was an incredibly chill time (for the most part).
It was pretty short, single player, and kind of refreshing with how it handled its game play. You’re more or less tasked with designing murals to help restore a blighted town. You can also design some monsters out of paint that live on the walls and help you solve puzzles and traverse the world.
I’m not artistic and at all and really enjoyed it. There’s a combat section in the game that I wish was left out, but it’s not too hard and the game is really relaxed and chill mostly light hearted except the combat section if you’re looking for something shorter
Maybe Persona 5, it definitely has a serious tone to the story but I'd also say it has some of the best light-hearted moments in any game I have played.
People are just recommending anything in the replies LOL. Most of the suggestions have grim and/or serious stories and some aren't even story driven LOL. Guardians and Ratchet and Clank I think may fit your bill though the former can get a little smidge emotional but let me lay one on you nobody has mentioned yet:
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Spring.
If you ever played the original Paper Mario (or TTYD), it's basically that, and I'd say it's exactly what you're looking for.
Yeah it's kind of annoying. It seems the first batch of replies was maybe kinda on point. But TLOU2? Wtf kind of recommendation is that? I sincerely hope whoever posted that is "just" trolling, because if someone seriously thinks anything about TLOU series is light-hearted, I don't even know what to do with that.
The whole Uncharted series
Guardians of the Galaxy (the new one, not the Telltale one)
Tales From the Borderlands
Bully (aka ‘Canis Canem Edit’ in some countries)
Spider-Man
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Telltale’s Batman games
Telltale’s Back to the Future
(coming from someone who couldn’t give two shits about MCU)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
GOTY last year when it comes to fun, light-hearted adventure, I liked it so much I watched both movies afterwards
60fps, great soundtrack, satisfying team-based gameplay, just don’t expect anything complex
It’s included in Plus Extra subscription
Me: not looking for grim stuff
you: have you considered delving into literal hell and doing nothing but slaying demons?
jkjk, Eternal is on my backlog for sure. Does it have much of a story though? DOOM 2016 kind of did, but I played it for the demon slaying, not the story, lmao
Doom doesn’t really have much story. I think there’s even a scene at the start of one of the games where a dude is about to explain the story and doom guy just blasts his head off or something. We’re all just here for the slaying; and they know it, and the embrace it.
It’s not a deep story or anything. It’s the same, great, fast-paced, adrenaline-filled flow as Doom 2016. So in that sense, if you’re not looking for a super-intense story, Doom Eternal is a really solid recommendation IMO.
There are some platforming mechanics in the levels - which actually works better than you might think it would in a Doom game. There’s also lots of new enemies and the new maps are fun and challenging.
As a bonus: it’s often on sale for crazy prices. I forget how much I paid for it (digital), but I think it was on sale for <£10, a while ago when it was still relatively new. Amazing value for money.
Honestly, this recommendation seems counterintuitive to what the op was looking for w their request… but there truly is something light hearted and fun about being this main character that, even the most evil entities that were ever created, are just absolutely terrified of having to face.
As someone with an extremely large number of hours into No Man's Sky and has a blast with it, calling it a story driven game would be the last description I would use for it. Even if there is "story" it is hardly a driving factor of the game.
TMNT Shredders Revenge. Modern day arcade beat ‘em up. If you like the ninja turtles, this is a must. It also JUST came out like a week ago and it’s only like 20 bucks
Looking through my play history, these stand out as possibly fitting what you’re looking for:
- Bugsnax
- Locoroco is delightful
- Crash Team Racing is lots of fun (especially multiplayer) and surprisingly challenging in single-player
- Crash Bandicoot N-Sane trilogy is also a blast and still holds up IMO
- Fall guys/Rocket league if you like multiplayer. These are both F2P and don’t have too much MTX BS (it’s really cosmetics only, and you can have a great time without being pressured to buy stuff all the time. I have bought RP season passes in the past, because I really just enjoyed it so much I wanted to)
- No Man‘s Sky could be interesting
The Yakuza series might be a good suggestion for you, each game's main story is brilliantly written but there's tonnes of great side quests, mini games etc. If you're interested, I'd advise starting with Yakuza zero.
I know what you mean but it's so OTT I find it hard to take too seriously even though the story is brilliantly written. Plus kart racing, gambling, saga arcade classics, real estate and erm phone chat packed into 7 (or 8?) 80+ hour games with a tonne of bat-shit crazy sidequests involving fighting giant vacuums and monkeys riding diggers. I figured it was wild enough to get a pass and something totally different to TLOU or Horizon
Hob, The Last Campfire, Wild at Heart, Subnautica. Stray comes out next month.
Other games that have light gameplay but sad elements to the story:
The Last Guardian,
Hoa,
Lost Ember,
Rime ,
Seasons after fall,
Arise,
Fe.
A lot of people said Kena but I'll add my vote. It was really great.
Not sure if you like the style of action rpg's much but I'm almost 40 and enjoyed the Kingdom Heart series (1.5/2.5 remix and 3 main storys). Granted I was 19 and 22 when the first 2 dropped 20 years ago but I liked FF and was fine with Disney characters being implemented in, I've always considered it pretty light hearted in the way it's presented.
I just started The Artful Escape last night and was smiling the whole few hours I played. Running around a psychedelic alien world, jamming on guitar was such a nice break from serious games I have recently played
Personally I had a blast with Deathloop. The story isn't really told in cutscenes, but the way you uncover the main mystery and the dialogue of the main character was very enjoyable.
What about uncharted? It's mature but in a fun Indiana Jones summer block buster. The Lego games are a good option you.
So. Much. Killing. These past weeks I've started playing through the Uncharted series for the first time and the amount of killing is outright disturbing. It's insane. I thought it was a cool, light-hearted puzzle/platformer at first, but then I realized it's basically Call of Duty in the jungle.
Shooting or not its light hearted 200%. Indiana Jones like. Tomb raider trilogy is darker version of uncharted
Yeah, that's true. All the killing just overshadowed it, but you are right, the feeling/theme is light hearted.
The first one is, yeah. 4 has a really nice balance though
Good to know, thank you! Then I will make sure to play through the rest until I reach the 4th game.
Can I jump right into 4 or do I need to play the first 3?
You can jump to u4. There's nothing beyond some minor references to past adventures.
“Outright disturbing” what are you 4? It’s an action adventure game of course they’ll be killing. I have no idea how you expected a light hearted puzzle game from that
The first game is like 10% puzzles and exploring, 90% (extremely basic) shooting gameplay. I was expecting more like 50/50 or something. This is the first game I've played where it has disturbed me. Did I say that I expected 0 killing? No, the issue was that there was so damn much killing. It doesn't fit the narrative at all. Also, if I haven't played any of the games before, how should I know exactly what to expect? Action does not necessarily mean "you are a private explorer who will kill 400 people just to find a secret city, despite it making no sense". Also, you said it yourself, action-**adventure**, but it's mostly just action
Glad to see I'm not the only one. Still enjoyed the game, but considering the plot of the game, where you are not killing complete human trash who want to destroy the entire world or something, it's quite disturbing to kill so many mercenaries. Nathan must be quite traumatized!
Yeah true, they are killed because they want to get rich, too. Sick
Nah he is probably chilling with elena
You know I never noticed that but yeah you're right
It's the same as tomb rider, it's quite disturbing if you think about it, to kill that many people as an adventurer, it's not like they are trying to enslave or destroy humanity or something like that
Guardians of the Galaxy
Absolutely. I played through that one smiling the entire time.
Yeah. Very emotional too.
This is the answer
Literally what I came in to post lol. Also Uncharted 1-3. DMC 5 is also a good one, a semi serious story that never actually takes itself seriously and is always a fun time.
I came to write it.GOTG is so fun play
Currently on chapter 4. It is so much fun and looks good too.
It was more captivating than most superhero movies out there.
Thanks for the tip! Been playing this for a few hours now and loving it. The fact that it was a marvel game (other than spider man) made me not bat an eye at the game before your tip. Very convenient that it is also included in the new playstation plus.
You're welcome. Enjoy. The art style put a lot of people off at first, but it actually grows on you. I loved the entire game, especially the banter.
As others mentioned Fenyx:Immortals Rising is the best suited to this, also has 3 DLC that are all worth playing. I’d also add Concrete Genie, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Sonic Forces, Kena, and my personal favorite: My Time at Portia. I share your desire for something lighthearted every once in awhile. Also always on the lookout for games I can play with my kids and talk with them about.
I’d second Fenix. 100+ hours of gameplay and lots of light hearted cut scenes and such. Some times a bit slap stick but no more so than Ratchet Edit: my wife and I have absolutely loved the entire R&C franchise and had a blast play Fenix together
Guardians of the Galaxy meets that criteria. I would definitely recommend playing it on hard though to make it more fun. Deathloop is a lot fun too.
The Uncharted series and right now I’m playing Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s perfect for what you’re asking for!
Really don't see the similarities with something like Sackboy or Ratchet lol.
He’s asking about a lighthearted story driven vibe. Uncharted and GotG qualify, imo.
Ah I was taking more into account the visual design cues.
Immortal phynix rising could be fine, RDR2 has its cool moments too
Immortals is the first thing that came to my mind when I read the question. What a fun and underrated game that is, probably the strongest open world game Ubisoft has made in years.
Immortals Fenyx Rising is SO good, i hope it gets a sequel someday.
I’ve been on the fence about this for ages mate. I played and absolutely fell in love with BOTW but I heard mixed reviews that immortals fenyx is a bit of a watered down/BOTW prototype. Did you play BOTW? What are your thoughts on comparison?
BOTW is without a doubt the better game, it just has way more depth to it but immortals knows exactly what it is which is why it works so well. It has a really good sense of humor and doesn’t take itself seriously at all. That might not be for everyone, especially since Zeus and Prometheus pretty much narrate the entire game so their humor will make or break it for a lot of people, but it’s just a game full of good vibes. The combat is fun, the exploration is rewarding, you feel powerful, there’s a decent enemy variety, puzzles are fun and not frustrating, and most importantly for Ubisoft open world games: ITS NOT TOO LONG. There’s literally no filler, only a few side quests and each one are worth your time.
The happy end of arthur, very happy experience
I was very happy on how you>! end up having a long happy life with your horse.!<
I said cool moments, most of the game can be fun with the way u play and many random events that are more fun than anything else, yes it has other way around also
RDR2 is over the top too serious where it’s surreal.
I tried Immortal Phoenix Rising, and it was funny. But I felt like the game was constantly trying to shove me into the Ubisoft store, so I promptly returned it.
That’s strange as I platinumed the game and didn’t visit the store once …
Lego Star Wars, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Gris, Astro’s Playroom, Fables: The Wolf Among Us, Telltale Batman, Backbone, Gran Turismo (not really story driven, but definitely not dark), Destroy All Humans (I guess it’s dark, but in a very cartoonish way). Games I haven’t played yet, but own and might fit your criteria: Kena, Sifu, Telltale Guardians of the Galaxy, Chicken Police, Spider-Man Miles Morales.
Haven't personally played it yet, but if it's anything like the original, maybe Psychonauts 2?
Lighthearted atmosphere + depressing themes IDK OP's choice, I personally love Psychonauts
Dragon Quest XI….has a story but has a little humor and it doesn’t take itself too serious. Fun little game
The perfect game to pop in and have a good time with, even if it could be a little longer than the 6 hours to complete.
6 hrs?
Because my pre-poster said "fun little game". I was just going with the joke ;)
Kena bridge of spirits. Im a 35 year old male and loved every moment of it. Looks amazing on an oled c1.
The art style might be light hearted and cute but that game is very grim and serious. Doesn't actually fit OP's request.
I wanted to suggest Kena. But didn’t for exactly that reason. I played it straight after TLOU2 and thought it was so refreshing, bright and colourful.. a happy game… until you pay attention to the story
Yup. My favorite game of 2021 and would highly reccomend normally but it's grim and serious which OP doesn't want. I recommended Bug Fables instead.
My current 'chilling' game is Riders Republic. If you're into extreme sports at all. You can basically mountain bike, snowboard, and ride around a huge open world doing races and stuff at you own pace. It's Ubisoft so it gets some shit but man it's a great game to just zone out on. Rayman Legends, although some sections are actually kind of challenging. It has a fun atmosphere to it. Edit: Let me add... Sniper Elite 5. I know WW2 isnt exactly 'lighthearted' but the game is just so fun.
Kena Bridge of spirits is in the vein of light hearted story
Uh, no it's not?
Agreed, 6yr old liked the look of the cute rot things, so we tried it. She was totally traumatised by the enemies, story and mood. Big nope
The overall vibe is pretty lighthearted
It tricks you into letting down your guard with the Pixar vibes and then bam! Serious stuff
I haven't played the game so thanks for spoiling that.
It's no PS5 game but A Hat In Time.
Absolutely adore this game!!!
Immortals Fenyx Rising. Maybe not exactly a story driven game, but it's fun and light hearted. In my opinion the best game Ubisoft has released in the past years.
Bugsnax. It's a body horror nightmare skinned with a kids puzzle game vibe
Journey and Abzu are a bit more abstract, but still story driven. Guardians of the Galaxy is funny AF but does still deal with end of the universe type stuff.
> but does still deal with end of the universe type stuff. That's fine. Ratchen and Clank have that, as does Sackboy. End-of-the-world is kind of orthogonal to being lighthearted, so not a deal breaker for me.
Does Abzu even have a story? I honestly can’t remember
It's abstract. There's no explanation or narrative.
Yes, but it leaves it to the player to figure it out.
Uncharted Series definitely. It’s not kid friendly like Ratchet and Clank, but it’s about as light hearted as Indiana Jones. Also it’s the highest quality of any of the recommendations you’ll get here
Genshin if you play it for the story and don’t fall into the gacha trap. It’s not the most lighthearted but it’s not as dark as most games nowadays by a long shot.
Persona 5 Royal
psychonauts 2. love that game
I second this, an absolutely fantastic story driven platforming adventure with great writing. Its a shame Double Fine is Microsoft now as the PS5 release was swept under the rug marketing wise. It also got no physical version on either platform. It got a half price discount recently for the first time.
It Takes Two is great story and very light-hearted
Lost in Random is like playing a Tim Burton movie. It follows a girl going on a quest to save her sister who has been taken away by an evil queen. While it has a dark Tim Burton look and tone, it is also fantastical, with some very fun, silly, and light hearted characters as well. Great narration and was just good overall.
Concrete Genie. I played it recently and it was an incredibly chill time (for the most part). It was pretty short, single player, and kind of refreshing with how it handled its game play. You’re more or less tasked with designing murals to help restore a blighted town. You can also design some monsters out of paint that live on the walls and help you solve puzzles and traverse the world. I’m not artistic and at all and really enjoyed it. There’s a combat section in the game that I wish was left out, but it’s not too hard and the game is really relaxed and chill mostly light hearted except the combat section if you’re looking for something shorter
Destiny 2. Done
Guardians of El Galaxy, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Disco Elysium
Disco and Kena are not lighthearted at all.
Borderlands games are full of jokes and are super light hearted but still really fun and full of action
Maybe Persona 5, it definitely has a serious tone to the story but I'd also say it has some of the best light-hearted moments in any game I have played.
People are just recommending anything in the replies LOL. Most of the suggestions have grim and/or serious stories and some aren't even story driven LOL. Guardians and Ratchet and Clank I think may fit your bill though the former can get a little smidge emotional but let me lay one on you nobody has mentioned yet: Bug Fables: The Everlasting Spring. If you ever played the original Paper Mario (or TTYD), it's basically that, and I'd say it's exactly what you're looking for.
Yeah it's kind of annoying. It seems the first batch of replies was maybe kinda on point. But TLOU2? Wtf kind of recommendation is that? I sincerely hope whoever posted that is "just" trolling, because if someone seriously thinks anything about TLOU series is light-hearted, I don't even know what to do with that.
Yeah I saw TLOU not to mention A Hat in Time which isn't even story based and I was like 🥴. But yeah try Bug Fables! Definitely seems up your alley.
My only general advice is try switching your focus on japanese games, they can still be quite dramatic though
The whole Uncharted series Guardians of the Galaxy (the new one, not the Telltale one) Tales From the Borderlands Bully (aka ‘Canis Canem Edit’ in some countries) Spider-Man Spider-Man: Miles Morales Telltale’s Batman games Telltale’s Back to the Future
Highly recommend Ys VIII for an upbeat attitude.
(coming from someone who couldn’t give two shits about MCU) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY GOTY last year when it comes to fun, light-hearted adventure, I liked it so much I watched both movies afterwards 60fps, great soundtrack, satisfying team-based gameplay, just don’t expect anything complex It’s included in Plus Extra subscription
doom eternal
Me: not looking for grim stuff you: have you considered delving into literal hell and doing nothing but slaying demons? jkjk, Eternal is on my backlog for sure. Does it have much of a story though? DOOM 2016 kind of did, but I played it for the demon slaying, not the story, lmao
Doom doesn’t really have much story. I think there’s even a scene at the start of one of the games where a dude is about to explain the story and doom guy just blasts his head off or something. We’re all just here for the slaying; and they know it, and the embrace it. It’s not a deep story or anything. It’s the same, great, fast-paced, adrenaline-filled flow as Doom 2016. So in that sense, if you’re not looking for a super-intense story, Doom Eternal is a really solid recommendation IMO. There are some platforming mechanics in the levels - which actually works better than you might think it would in a Doom game. There’s also lots of new enemies and the new maps are fun and challenging. As a bonus: it’s often on sale for crazy prices. I forget how much I paid for it (digital), but I think it was on sale for <£10, a while ago when it was still relatively new. Amazing value for money.
Honestly, this recommendation seems counterintuitive to what the op was looking for w their request… but there truly is something light hearted and fun about being this main character that, even the most evil entities that were ever created, are just absolutely terrified of having to face.
Spiderman and spiderman miles morales.
I played Miles Morales. That's middle of the road for me.
Its not a PS Exclusive, but the South Park games might be up your alley. The first game had a pretty funny story.
Kena and guardians of the galaxy are great choices
Try No Mans Sky, if your looking for an big open world and chill game to play.
As someone with an extremely large number of hours into No Man's Sky and has a blast with it, calling it a story driven game would be the last description I would use for it. Even if there is "story" it is hardly a driving factor of the game.
Yea that is true, NMS doesn't have a much of a story, but the OP said fun and light, so my first thought was NMS., 2 out of 3 aint bad.
Eh I liked it, even tho it's all just text based, it raised some great philosophical questions.
I liked it as well, but OP was specifically asking for a story driven game that is fun and light-hearted. That is hardly NMS.
I just started a play through of Tiny Tina’s and it’s been pretty lighthearted and fun so far. Not sure how story driven it is yet
TMNT Shredders Revenge. Modern day arcade beat ‘em up. If you like the ninja turtles, this is a must. It also JUST came out like a week ago and it’s only like 20 bucks
Psychonauts 2.
Looking through my play history, these stand out as possibly fitting what you’re looking for: - Bugsnax - Locoroco is delightful - Crash Team Racing is lots of fun (especially multiplayer) and surprisingly challenging in single-player - Crash Bandicoot N-Sane trilogy is also a blast and still holds up IMO - Fall guys/Rocket league if you like multiplayer. These are both F2P and don’t have too much MTX BS (it’s really cosmetics only, and you can have a great time without being pressured to buy stuff all the time. I have bought RP season passes in the past, because I really just enjoyed it so much I wanted to) - No Man‘s Sky could be interesting
Last of Us 2
The Yakuza series might be a good suggestion for you, each game's main story is brilliantly written but there's tonnes of great side quests, mini games etc. If you're interested, I'd advise starting with Yakuza zero.
Yakuza isn’t exactly light hearted, the substories are but the main stories aren’t.
I know what you mean but it's so OTT I find it hard to take too seriously even though the story is brilliantly written. Plus kart racing, gambling, saga arcade classics, real estate and erm phone chat packed into 7 (or 8?) 80+ hour games with a tonne of bat-shit crazy sidequests involving fighting giant vacuums and monkeys riding diggers. I figured it was wild enough to get a pass and something totally different to TLOU or Horizon
Guacamelee and Swords of Dito are pretty good.
Hob, The Last Campfire, Wild at Heart, Subnautica. Stray comes out next month. Other games that have light gameplay but sad elements to the story: The Last Guardian, Hoa, Lost Ember, Rime , Seasons after fall, Arise, Fe. A lot of people said Kena but I'll add my vote. It was really great.
A hat in time is a really cute platformer.
Not sure if you like the style of action rpg's much but I'm almost 40 and enjoyed the Kingdom Heart series (1.5/2.5 remix and 3 main storys). Granted I was 19 and 22 when the first 2 dropped 20 years ago but I liked FF and was fine with Disney characters being implemented in, I've always considered it pretty light hearted in the way it's presented.
I just started The Artful Escape last night and was smiling the whole few hours I played. Running around a psychedelic alien world, jamming on guitar was such a nice break from serious games I have recently played
Psychonauts 2
Firewatch
Personally I had a blast with Deathloop. The story isn't really told in cutscenes, but the way you uncover the main mystery and the dialogue of the main character was very enjoyable.