I haven’t seen either of these mentioned yet, so you might look into Ponpu, and Light Fingers on the Switch.

Ponpu might be a little much, but Light Fingers may be a decent-ish pace, as it goes for something of a digital tabletop-like game design. They tend to go on sale around the holidays, so if you wait a little while you may snag’em on the cheap.

@sugar_in_your_tea Tbh as someone that’s felt similarly (even to the ARPG point somewhat), I’d suggest dropping the bulk of RPGs.

Adventure games (see Wadjet Eye’s releases) & some visual novels provide plenty of story & striking art without the gameplay elements that you’ve found unappealing in RPGs.

This is coming from having tried multiple times over the years to give RPGs a fair shake. Some genres just don’t click barring a few exceptions.

@showerthoughts Thank goodness the metaverse never took off, but still gotta be on guard against moves towards that BS.

@LeylaaLovee When you play a long game (i.e. 60+ hours) all the way through, it’s hard to tell how much of it was genuine enjoyment over some kind of weird sunk cost situation.

Kind of like watching a show that goes on for a ton of seasons. You get into a habit and despite inconsistent quality, you keep going back and you’re not sure why, especially after the really bad parts.

It’s why I understand *some* of the 100+ hour playtime negative reviews, & am skeptical of positive ones.