dragons dogma and nioh have my fav character bulding systems

also brace yourself for baldurs gate 3

Mass Effect

Pathfinder: kingmaker and pathfinder: wrath of the righteous

Arpgs?

Elden ring

I wish I had a GameCube, would've loved to play all those Mario games back in the day.

It's a strategy game with light hearted dating sim elements on the side it u like fire emblem or XCOM it's similar to those in a lot of ways

every heard of Xcom?

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Thats why I want it to be a M rated version where they truly are a threat and not just clowns beaten by a 10 year old

Don’t get me wrong, I love gta V also. When I first played it, I thought the return to arcade driving and fun over-the-top story/characters was a breath of fresh air. After all these years though, the vibe of IV just has that staying power for me. It’s like the same feeling I get rewatching Heat, which is fitting since both games have missions directly inspired by the movie — only IV is the one that matches it’s tone.

I beat it on series X recently and ran into that problem. A YouTube video on an Xbox controller button mashing technique helped me get past it easily though (instead of tapping the button, rapidly slide your knuckle back and forth over it)

the story mode (I have never played GTA Online in any capacity) of GTAV is just a really special game to me. It came out at a time when I hadn't been a gamer in years. The last game I played to completion at that point was Metal Gear Solid 4 because I was and am a massive fan of (most of) the Metal Gear Solid series. Since then I had completely fallen out of gaming for a really long time. It wasn't until my younger brother moved in with me for a variety of reasons that he brought along all his video game stuff.

GTAV was the first game he purchased for his Xbox after he moved in and I became obsessed with it. I related in so many different ways to all the characters of the game, and that story for as satirical, over the top, and absurd of it is was a really deep and rich experience for me and still is every time I revisit it. It's the game that made me a gamer again. So I hold it in very high esteem.

Drive with some restraint and you might learn to enjoy it. Liberty City is the real star of the game, maybe take some time to immerse yourself and just walk around the map. IDK, I’ve played through IV and V 3 times a piece and always have a way better time with the former.

My favorite part about starting up gta 4 is the uncomfortable "DADDY'S BACK BITCHES!" opening that i always forget about and then have to lower the tv volume for

Idk about killing people but iirc the Pokemon adventure manga shows killing pokemon (scyther cutting arbok in half being one of the more famous panels)

alright, thank you. I'll give it another go and see how it feels to me. It's so wildly different in tone, and in basic game mechanics/physics, from V that it was just jarring to kind of go back in time to that one. It's strange I suppose that GTAIV is so much harder for me to travel back in time and play than San Andreas was, but maybe that all boils down to that arcade style that you touched upon. I want to like GTAIV so I'm definitely willing to be patient with it...but yeah, it has admittedly been a bit of a struggle for me so far.

Thanks for not taking my post as some kind of attack on the game. I've been shouted down a ton on reddit for not particularly enjoying X game or another, regardless of how mild my criticism might be. So it was nice to have a serious response that took my general criticism at face value and acknowledged that it's not just me not "getting" something, but could in fact be a valid reaction.

This is what came to mind when I read what OP was looking for. Imagine a game like Metoid. But every time you play it, something is different, or better and it evolves over time. Average sessions last about 20 mins. Ultimate pick up and play game IMO.

I have this problem also. For me, Horizon Zero Dawn was easy enough for me to pick up and put down, but still has a good story. The interface and story/quest tracking helped me remember what I was supposed to be doing. Callisto Protocol was also pretty easy to pick up and walk away from as it’s pretty linear. I’ve got RDR2 as well… haven’t played it for the reasons OP mentioned.

I called the Celadon City Police on his ass! Him and his lvl 15 Rattata are going to jail

Air juggling became an issue in fighting games so they had to make chaining combos harder.

I disagree completely. I see it totally the opposite. Maybe it depends on the specific game, but a lot of fighting games are made to be easily digestible and easily picked up by anyone.

Yeah, you're not gonna get a lot better in that time. But that's kinda a moot point. OP has about a couple hours a month. I'd say you'd be hard pressed to find any game that you can actually genuinely improve in with that kind of time.

They're super straight forward these days. And there's tons of single player options and the difficulty can be scaled entirely to your skill level. I think I'm pretty decent at fighting games now. And it's not because I had the mindset of improving or anything. It's just that the games are so simple, fun, and easy to pick up that I was playing a ton just because it was fun. Idk, it's not for everyone but I'd say as long as you're not playing online, it's worth a shot here.

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Let me ask you a simple question: Have you played Red Dead Redemption 2 and if yes, how much did you enjoy it?

My point is that GTA IV is kind of the Red Dead Redemption 2 of the GTA series. It is a relatively slow, deliberate game, kind of depressing and unique in its tone, but also very colorful if you look deeper. It's a well-written, incredibly coherent world that you can fully immerse yourself into and still discover new things about after years of playing it, but it's also not for everyone.

The driving physics for example are deliberately heavy, contrary to the arcadey physics the rest of the series is known for. They are the equivalent of the slow animations of RDR2. You're not supposed to have an easy time dodging traffic and sliding around corners, because you're meant to slowly getting used to driving in a strange environment with strange rules together with the protagonist as he's trying to find his place in the absurd, but kind of not realistic persiflage America he found himself in. It's actually meant to take hours for the player to get comfortable with the driving. The driving physics aren't even realistic - cars have ridiculous mass and overlong braking distances - they are hyperrealistic, exaggerated to the point of absurdity, just like the entire setting of Liberty City.

This aspect alone shows that GTA IV has very experimental aspects to it, aspects that go against player's expectations, against what they want from a GTA, because the developers valued tone, atmosphere, narration and, crucially, ludonarrative consistency over pure and simple fun. In some ways, it's a huge success in this regard, but in others, it's an inevitable failure, a dead-end, a decision they almost entirely reversed with the sequel, which is far more of a San Andreas 2.0 that merely uses the technology of GTA IV (albeit simplified and toned down in many respects) while ignoring its rather groundbreaking attempts at unifying gameplay and presentation, only fixing the one glaring dissonance the series suffered from by introducing Trevor as a playable character who can go on wild rampages without breaking character.

I'd argue that it's very much worth it pushing through, but don't force yourself if you never get in the right mood, that is, don't expect it to be continuous, lighthearted fun in the traditional sense, like the rest of the series. Here's my recommendation: Just walk around for a bit, not doing any missions. Take a train ride without a clear goal, soak in the atmosphere, observe people, watch some TV, surf the game's Internet, call a few phone numbers, experiment with the features of the phone you're given, and just explore, do some sightseeing. Perhaps notice, while you're doing this, how every single building is unique and realistic, fitting its environment perfectly, how much the city changes over the course of each day, how surprisingly interactive and logical everything is. Consider treating it less like a game and more like a place you're visiting.

I'll give it a couple more play sessions and see if it really grabs me.

I’m having fun so far(1-2 hours) all I’m doing is taking my time with missions and trying to get a feel for the roads and car mechanics