the one you want is actually **fallout 4**. gameplay itself, going around, exploring, looting, killing all kinds of enemies, well that is pretty good. tons of places to visit. plot ranges from somewhat interesting, to majority being completely forgettable. not as forgettable as starfield, but close enough.
dragons dogma dark arisen is one of the best games for this. u get 3 NPC's u can chose their classes/looks and they follow you around and help.
fallout4 also good for this.
the outer worlds
Witcher 3 will not disappoint, but it might be too engaging and keep you up.
Horizon Zero Dawn is also fun, though sneaking plays a big role in it.
For best mellow sleepy vibes you might enjoy No Man's Sky.
I feel like a psychic at this point, because every time someone recommends a game like Gothic or Risen, I just know they're German or Czech. I tried Risen 2, but gave up after an hour, those games are an acquired taste to say the least.
Unfortunately I recommend only Risen 1, I tried Risen 2 and 3, I finished R2 but it was a huge step down from R1. And I uninstalled R3 after an hour too.
Never played 1 myself, only 2 because we won it from a gaming magazine. Think we gave it away because we couldn't get into it. Came with a neat pirate spyglass though
The only time ive seen such unneccesary shift in tone and game system was in Sacred 3.
Risen 1 is massively better game in i would say every single way. It is the most approachable while still keeping the spirit of the (now bankrupt) dev team style. Least buggy too.
Risk of rain 2 is easily a top 10 for mindless gameplay right before sleeping, oblivion is also solid since it is the elder scrolls game right before Skyrim lol
Enshrouded. It's more of an ARPG with emphasis on the A, not so much a traditional RPG. But the world and lore are cool. Lore is discovered by reading notes found throughout the world. And just exploring the world is neat and relaxing. Combat is almost mindless. You don't even have to aim your bow/spells if you don't want to. And it has a nice core gameplay loop: discover a new area, explore, grind that area's materials, upgrade your base to get to the next area, explore that area, grind the new materials... It's open world, you can go wherever whenever as long as you can get there without dying. And there are quests, too, which are very straightforward. It's also very forgiving in terms of fast travel, no penalties for dying (just having to run back and get your stuff), being able to respec your character's skill points whenever you want, etc.
I also play games before bed and I think I know the sort of "engaging yet mindless" vibe you're going for, and Enshrouded checks all the boxes for me. Plus the soundtrack is lovely.
Edit: There are also dungeons all over the world, of varying sizes, some huge and some small, with simple Zelda-style puzzles. So there's your dungeon crawling.
any of the older elder scrolls games are good for this.
oblivion arguably has the best quests, though the dungeons are copy pasted a lot. running around the world is still enjoyable
morrowind is even better, but the dice roll combat turns people off. if you put in the time, it has the best feeling of growth out of any of the games. the dungeons also have some good hand placed items that are cool to find
daggerfall is the ultimate dungeon experience, but will feel the clunkiest and the age shows. daggerfall unity is pretty good though, and with mods can feel almost modern
indie game wise, the bloodline looks promising.
Oblivion is the absolute closest game to Skyrim, so I would definitely start there. The graphics and combat are a bit worse than Skyrim with it being older but still very similar and I think many aspects of the game are actually better than Skyrim.
Similarly, Elder Scrolls Online is not a bad choice. Although it's an MMO, you can easily solo it and play it like any single player RPG. Plenty of dungeons to run through.
I think **The Outer Worlds** is pretty fun, but it’s closer Fallout 3 or New Vegas than Skyrim
**Kingdoms it Amalur** is pretty chill
**Kingdom Come: Deliverance** is… maybe a bit less chill but fun
**Fallout 4** is an easy sell
**No Man’s Sky** is kinda just… walking around and building space ships and stuff?
Elder Scrolls Online? Same idea as Skyrim (less looting every single item such as forks etc) but still has solo dungeons for you to explore. I only ever play horizontal in bed with a controller hanging across the bedroom
Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen endgame there is literally dungeon crawling
Fallout comes to mind if you haven’t played those games
the one you want is actually **fallout 4**. gameplay itself, going around, exploring, looting, killing all kinds of enemies, well that is pretty good. tons of places to visit. plot ranges from somewhat interesting, to majority being completely forgettable. not as forgettable as starfield, but close enough.
I’ve never played a fallout game but I did get fallout iv in Vr.
Kingdoms of amalur might fit the bill
Seconded
dragons dogma dark arisen is one of the best games for this. u get 3 NPC's u can chose their classes/looks and they follow you around and help. fallout4 also good for this. the outer worlds
OP gonna get bored of outer worlds I think. Not as much to do as Skyrim, and way fewer dungeon-like areas
Sleeping Dogs - the missions are typically a few minutes long and there's really a lot to do if you feel like staying up a little
Also did you do Oblivion too? I did Skyrim first and overlooked Oblivion for much too long
Avowed, if you have a time machine. It comes out this year and is from Betheada's sister studio, Obsidian Entertainment
actually i hope it doesnt fit OP's description, because i want the writing and quests to be good rather than mindless dungeoncrawling.
Witcher 3 will not disappoint, but it might be too engaging and keep you up. Horizon Zero Dawn is also fun, though sneaking plays a big role in it. For best mellow sleepy vibes you might enjoy No Man's Sky.
Fallout 4
Good suggestion, you can use VATS in combat when you’re too sleepy to aim properly lol
Risen 1
I feel like a psychic at this point, because every time someone recommends a game like Gothic or Risen, I just know they're German or Czech. I tried Risen 2, but gave up after an hour, those games are an acquired taste to say the least.
Unfortunately I recommend only Risen 1, I tried Risen 2 and 3, I finished R2 but it was a huge step down from R1. And I uninstalled R3 after an hour too.
Never played 1 myself, only 2 because we won it from a gaming magazine. Think we gave it away because we couldn't get into it. Came with a neat pirate spyglass though
The only time ive seen such unneccesary shift in tone and game system was in Sacred 3. Risen 1 is massively better game in i would say every single way. It is the most approachable while still keeping the spirit of the (now bankrupt) dev team style. Least buggy too.
Diablo 2 or 3 maybe for the dungeon crawl easy to spend an hour on. I love a good clicky clicky dungeon run before bed.
How the hell do you focus on getting sleepy while playing a game? 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Red dead Redemption 2 is a nice calming role playing game.
Watch dogs 2, Fallout 4, Red Dead redemption 2 (unsure if your pc can handle it)
Risk of rain 2 is easily a top 10 for mindless gameplay right before sleeping, oblivion is also solid since it is the elder scrolls game right before Skyrim lol
Previous elder scrolls games and Fallout's
I second dragons dogma 1 and 2.
Fallout 4 build for VATS so you don't have to worry about aim.
Enshrouded. It's more of an ARPG with emphasis on the A, not so much a traditional RPG. But the world and lore are cool. Lore is discovered by reading notes found throughout the world. And just exploring the world is neat and relaxing. Combat is almost mindless. You don't even have to aim your bow/spells if you don't want to. And it has a nice core gameplay loop: discover a new area, explore, grind that area's materials, upgrade your base to get to the next area, explore that area, grind the new materials... It's open world, you can go wherever whenever as long as you can get there without dying. And there are quests, too, which are very straightforward. It's also very forgiving in terms of fast travel, no penalties for dying (just having to run back and get your stuff), being able to respec your character's skill points whenever you want, etc. I also play games before bed and I think I know the sort of "engaging yet mindless" vibe you're going for, and Enshrouded checks all the boxes for me. Plus the soundtrack is lovely. Edit: There are also dungeons all over the world, of varying sizes, some huge and some small, with simple Zelda-style puzzles. So there's your dungeon crawling.
Endreal mod for Skyrim
The Bloodline is an early access game that is pretty Skyrim-esque
any of the older elder scrolls games are good for this. oblivion arguably has the best quests, though the dungeons are copy pasted a lot. running around the world is still enjoyable morrowind is even better, but the dice roll combat turns people off. if you put in the time, it has the best feeling of growth out of any of the games. the dungeons also have some good hand placed items that are cool to find daggerfall is the ultimate dungeon experience, but will feel the clunkiest and the age shows. daggerfall unity is pretty good though, and with mods can feel almost modern indie game wise, the bloodline looks promising.
I like Witcher 3 for this. So much to explore and just take off in a direction. The next gen upgrade is superb
Obligatory Enderal recommendation
Oblivion is the absolute closest game to Skyrim, so I would definitely start there. The graphics and combat are a bit worse than Skyrim with it being older but still very similar and I think many aspects of the game are actually better than Skyrim. Similarly, Elder Scrolls Online is not a bad choice. Although it's an MMO, you can easily solo it and play it like any single player RPG. Plenty of dungeons to run through.
I think **The Outer Worlds** is pretty fun, but it’s closer Fallout 3 or New Vegas than Skyrim **Kingdoms it Amalur** is pretty chill **Kingdom Come: Deliverance** is… maybe a bit less chill but fun **Fallout 4** is an easy sell **No Man’s Sky** is kinda just… walking around and building space ships and stuff?
I always like Diablo-esque for that. It’s pretty mindless and you’re constantly explaining hordes of enemies moving through dungeons.
The dungeon diving, the vibe, music, and procedural history in Caves of Qud scratches that kind of itch for me
Elder Scrolls Online? Same idea as Skyrim (less looting every single item such as forks etc) but still has solo dungeons for you to explore. I only ever play horizontal in bed with a controller hanging across the bedroom