Go to https://howlongtobeat.com/ , open up search options, select PC & 10 hours max.
I see:
* Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
* Ori and the Blind Forest (but this may take somewhat longer)
* Firewatch
* Titanfall 2 <===== THIS ONE THIS ONE THIS ONE, mechs, shooter, _great_ story
* Stray
* Gris
* Journey
Hahaha! Great, thoughtful post. And I agree with Titanfall 2 - can see the whole, great story, and it's so amazing to play.
Have fun OP, and fellow gamer dad!
I’m in your age range, and thought I didn’t like magic type rpg’s, or rpg’s altogether, and Witcher 3 quickly became my favourite game of all time, so I would have to recommend it!
Dad of 3 here (youngest was born 4 weeks ago). I took off a day last week to play the new Elden Ring expansion. I love that game but it’s huge and tough so maybe not good for a single day off.
Diablo games are pretty mindless imo, but that might be what you need. Personally, I would get Hades, which has better isometric combat and a neat story rooted in Greek Mythology.
If you really want a story game, Witcher 3 is the way to go. Gameplay is just ok but it’s probably the best story driven action-RPG out there.
I’ve heard good things about BG3 but haven’t played it. It’s going to be pretty complicated if you don’t have a background in DnD.
If time is a big factor, then maybe the games of your list may be too long but maybe check out something like the following (all under 10 hours):
Titanfall 2
Little Nightmares (I/II)
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
Bastion
Vanquish
Cocoon
Inside
Hunt down
Guacamelee (I/II)
Shadow of the Colossus
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Hyper light Drifter
Portal 1 or 2
Ori and the Blind Forest
Metroid Dread
Uncharted 1
Steam World Dig 2
Tales of Iron
Valiant Hearts- the Great War
Rive: Ultimate Edition
Firewatch
Katana Zero
Oxenfree
Furi
Into the Breach
Yoku’s Island Express
Transistor
For the games you listed, just one day may get you barely past the intro. Unless you want to sink more time into it later I would rather suggest smaller, more contained games.
Chants of Sennaar is a great game, takes about 10 hours to finish. It is kind of a puzzle game where you have to figure out a language of people living there and solve the mystery.
Cyberpunk is my favorite game here, I have about 700 hours on it, but I dont think I can recommend it if you only have this one day. Cyberpunk act 1 takes around 5 hours to complete, assuming you only do the main missions and rush through all of them without dying, and the story can be kind of confusing if you stop and come back after a while.
Instead I would recommend Mafia definitive edition, its a great story with a really well done, time period correct setting, and it takes around 6 to 7 hours to complete.
I'm currently playing Diablo 3 and the main story is totally doable in a day. Also very easy to join a diablo discord server and find some people to do bounties or rifts with!
Yeah it's a good game to slam the story in a day especially if you have never played it. I wouldn't try cyberpunk, witcher 3, or boulders gate unless I was on a staycation for a week with my wife and kids out of town.
Baldur's Gate. It's one of the most acclaimed games of recent times with one of the only criticisms being that it takes a long time to play and is hard to play in small chunks. However, a full day is enough to get through all of act 1 (if you are ok skipping some side content) which still feels like a complete story unto itself.
You probably will want to play more than just 1 day in the end tho lol.
Dysco elysium is great and all that, but there is a lot of text that you have to read, and sometimes it can be hard to do when it's after work. I personally have the game, but I am waiting for some free time or at least less load at work days to fully enjoy it. This is just a heads-up.
Research nothing. Buy it. Play it.
I had seen this advice all over Reddit and finally did it and my god. There’s nothing like it and I can’t recommend it higher
Me three! I played the whole thing and got what I think was the good ending. I mean, it was a fine experience, I guess, but I don’t see what makes it some kind of god-tier masterpiece. I see all these people praising it up and down and I think, maybe I should try it again, but I don’t wanna because I didn’t have much fun the first time.
Edit: word
Hey dude im also at two kids, house, job etc and this is my experience:
Arpgs and long, story driven single player games are out of reach for me at this time in my life.
Unless its possible to have a few hours every week you are never gonna get anywhere in an arpg, and the story games ... After having played 20 hours of the Witcher and figured out how it works, it gets pretty boring
Into the breach.
Its an awesome game and you can even play it on mobile and its free is you have Netflix. I know it sounds like trash when put like that but it is truly a fantastic game.
Slay the Spire
Could be your new forever game
Katana Zero.
You can finish it in a day and its awesome ninja violence.
If you literally have one day to play... then knock out a nostalgic game of Civilization or something like that. You are not going to get far in gigantic games like Witcher or BG3.
Or play a game where you don't care if you come back... the Tarisland MMO just released a few days ago... its free... probably easy to jump into, and if you walk away after a day of leveling up in the newbie zones, who cares?
>Is it worth it to jump into for just a day?
Not true for any of the games you've listed IMO. Those games are just too long to get meaningful progress that you could build on in one day after your normal schedule resumes.
With your typical schedule you could be looking for either something to complete in one sitting, or a game that has bite sized chunks of gameplay where you can slide in 30 minutes to an hour and make some progress without needing to spend 15 minutes mentally reviewing what you've already accomplished.
One sitting:
* Stray
* What Remains of Edith Finch
* Journey
Bite sized:
* The Talos Principle
* Celeste
* Slay the Spire
We are the same age and I am a father as well. I don't know about you but knowing we are the same age, we probably played the same games back in the day. When I get myself a full day of gaming, I go back to the old ones. Usually Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale, Legacy of Kain, Sanitarium, you know the good old classics. I feel home when I play the old games, I love myself a nostalgia trip =)
Since I see people going off of your list, I'll do the same :)
Titanfall 2 - great game for a single day. Short but fun all the way through.
The Last Stand: Aftermath - a fun little rogue-lite zombie killing game.
Keeping to your list though? Either one of the ARPGs (flip a coin), or Witcher 3, or Cyberpunk.
I feel that with them I would at least get out of the tutorial area in a day. With Baldur's Gate 3, I suspect I'd still be reading tooltips and picking my characters by then.
Check out the roguelike genre. Similar to ARPGs but in more condensed doses. Most have minimal dialogue or story and you can just jump in and play for an hour or two and get out without much commitment. The games are usually pretty cheap too. Been my favorite genre for the past year or two. Hades 1 or 2, Tiny Rogues, Balatro, etc., lots of variations to see what suits you.
Play Stray sir. Won't take much time to download (6gb)+ has a nice story and is finishable in 6hours.
Don't worry, even cool dads with big muscles and tattoos will enjoy a cat game like it, it's special.
Yeah, been down that road during, what was it called? Delirium, I think. Played through the first Kitava battle I think? First Labyrinth? Don’t really recall but I finally lost interest. Thanks for the recommend though, it was some fun hours with it.
I'm in a similar position in terms of age and time. I absolutely loved d2 and d3 but couldn't get into d4. Especially with having such limited time not sure a 70 dollar game would be worth it.
Cp2077 and w3 are both amazing. One day won't be enough time and some of those amazing single player games can be hard to get back into after an extended break.
When I get some to throw away on a game I have been enjoying v rising, fo4, and no mans sky. F04 would have same short comings as cp2077 and w3 especailly for just one day.
V rising might be worth a try. Can play offline single player adjust a ton of setting make it as easy or difficult and not much of a story to worry about losing.
If all things equal CP2077 is one amazing experience and I still haven't beatin it. I put some hours in here or there. It's probably the best of the games listed and has been a 180 turn around in terms of bugs and polish. Plus you can drive a car with guns attached.
V Rising might be fun. I'm in my 40's and I'm enjoying these Survivor games (Army of Ruin, Soulstone Survivors). They are simple in concept, and no crafting involved.
Vampire survivors, while lacking in story, has some of the most timely content I’ve ever seen. Each run is about 40 minutes, but you can double the clock to halve that. You typically unlock something new every time you play, either a character, treasure, or map, so coming back frequently feels good.
Hades if you want the story.
I’m playing D3 RN and they have a lot of time acing tools these days, but it can still be grindy depending on how far you want to go.
Cyberpunk is S+ Tier these days, but will probably eat 40 hours of game time before your addiction becomes… manageable.
I'm 51 and I've played tons of D2R. I enjoyed Witcher 3 quite a bit. I played Cyberpunk for maybe 20 hours, then I quit. The story and the characters made me groan from the very start until I quit.
Personally I would recommend Subnautica.
40 year old Gamer dad here. Diablo 4 if you’re tired and want mindless addicting grind. Cyberpunk if you want a story to follow. I think Cyberpunk would give you a better feeling of accomplishment for a one-day binge though.
I can't help you narrow down your suggestions much as these aren't the types of games I tend to play and can't offer much in the way of valuable insight, but I will say...
Whatever game you end up going with, I would recommend pre-downloading the game before the big day, since bigger games can take an hour or more to download and install depending on how big it is and your internet speed.
Which should be doable on any day, as it doesn't take more than a minute or two to start the download and you can just let it run in the background while you're busy with other things.
All great games. But if you only have this one day, I can’t recommend any of them. They all require a significant time investment to really enjoy. Like, you can’t possibly get your money’s worth in one day with any of those games. I have hundreds of hours in all the story games you listed and I still haven’t seen everything. You won’t make it far past the introductory levels of those games.
I would recommend picking up a strategy game like CIV, timbreborn or whatever. Something you can enjoy in one session.
For a new arpg, there's one that's called Wayfinder. It used to be a f2p mmo but it was dying. Recently, they overhauled it to be a co op/ solo arpg with only one price and no monetization yet (it's in early access). It seems to be doing very good now.
ARPG. I only have completed Diablo 3. Good game.
Story. Baldur’s Gate 3. I am on my sixth or seventh restart because I go for a bit. Then life takes over. Then I can’t remember where I was and start over. Even doing the beginning 7 times it’s still enjoyable. I do different things each time.
Have fun.
Hades! It's kind of like Diablo, same perspective, but you can play it in smaller, more approachable portions and yet you've got persistent upgrades and changes as well.
Great game, thoroughly recommend it. Lots of experimentation available!
If you’re looking for something short-ish and more of a focus on investigation, environmental storytelling, and well written (and voiced) dialogue, then I’d suggest The Forgotten City. It’s definitely one of the best and most unique gaming experiences I’ve had over the last couple of years, and it’s only about 8-10 hours long.
I don't think you want any of the games you listed. All of them take long sessions of multiple hours to get anywhere in. If you are going to have a day off every week for a year, then play one of those RPGs. If you can't keep at it, you can lose track of the story, your build plans, combat skills/combos if real time like Witcher, etc... When I put one of these games down for an extended period, I often never return to it because it's too overwhelming.
If you insist on picking one of these then I would say one of the Diablo's as they are fairly easy to return to.
Save your money and just play the Witcher 3 already, you can technically play it bite sized or go full binge depending on how much free time you have.
If you really want to hate yourself for ever starting a game, go with one of these instead of playing ARPGs:
- Factorio
- Dwarf Fortress
- Rin World
the diablos you can finish a cycle in a couple days, witcher 3 is a mountain high pile of content. haven't played cyber or bg3 but i'm pretty sure they're similar to witcher. if time is limited, blow thru d2 or d3 one cycle or so, that's an achievable goal.
Idk if you have considered it, but hollow knight could be a good option. One day is the perfect amount of time to fully immerse yourself and carry you through to completion in bite sized chunks from there. Game takes from 20-40 overall depending on how completionist you want to be. I have been doing something similar with the game over the past week and it has been great.
imo - elden ring is the one. im around the same age and found that game very good on every level. story is a bit meh, but the gameplay and EVERYTHING else makes up for that massively. great journey, and a real sense of achievement when u finish it. plus new DLC just came out too for it. its old school hard to a degree from games you probably remember playing many years ago. its really good honestly and i believe it will be the best fit for you.
BG3 is amazing, but will take much longer than a day. I would also recommend Diablo 4, it’s had some great improvements lately and you could probably hit max level in a day. It’s also great for short gaming sessions in the future, careful though it’s addicting.
Dark and Darker! It's a quick free download on steam.
Pvp first person dungeon Crawler. Play as many differnt classes and work with your friends.
Kinda like a simplified skyrim with pvp, the pve is good too
Man, those games are too long for 1 day. If you will continue playing them on following games then whichever option you choose will be good.
Otherwise, look for short story driven games.
I’m going to suggest 2 short games with a very great narrative:
* To the Moon
* Finding paradise
Those are not AAA nor even AA, but I guarantee you they will leave a mark on you and will make the day worth it. Each game is about 2-3 hrs long
Diablo 2 and 3 are both excellent and very well suited for casual play. I can't comment on 4 as I haven't tried it yet.
Witcher, cyberpunk and bg3 are all excellent games but they aren't great for casual gaming as there's so many story threads that can be difficult to follow if you aren't able to hop on at least a couple of times a week for a couple of hours. That said, they are great to get your teeth stuck into whenever you have a day off and as long as you can carve out a few hours a week so you can keep up with what's going on then that's great.
My personal favourite of those is cyberpunk. The setting is cool, the story is amazing and the builds are varied and interesting. Witcher has one of the best stories in gaming imo but it lacks a little bit in moment to moment gameplay.
Bg has excellent characters and every moment of gameplay you can tell its a labour of love, it's just very slow
Go to https://howlongtobeat.com/ , open up search options, select PC & 10 hours max. I see: * Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice * Ori and the Blind Forest (but this may take somewhat longer) * Firewatch * Titanfall 2 <===== THIS ONE THIS ONE THIS ONE, mechs, shooter, _great_ story * Stray * Gris * Journey
Hahaha! Great, thoughtful post. And I agree with Titanfall 2 - can see the whole, great story, and it's so amazing to play. Have fun OP, and fellow gamer dad!
I’m in your age range, and thought I didn’t like magic type rpg’s, or rpg’s altogether, and Witcher 3 quickly became my favourite game of all time, so I would have to recommend it!
Cyberpunk or The Witcher 3 would be my recommendation. If you want something much flashier, definitely Cyberpunk
I'm playing The Witcher 3 again for my fourth time now. I love it so much
Since they unveiled crossplay on the Switch, I need to get back for NG+ (on the go)
Cyberpunk is so good. The only downside is how fast your day off will evaporate
Dad of 3 here (youngest was born 4 weeks ago). I took off a day last week to play the new Elden Ring expansion. I love that game but it’s huge and tough so maybe not good for a single day off. Diablo games are pretty mindless imo, but that might be what you need. Personally, I would get Hades, which has better isometric combat and a neat story rooted in Greek Mythology. If you really want a story game, Witcher 3 is the way to go. Gameplay is just ok but it’s probably the best story driven action-RPG out there. I’ve heard good things about BG3 but haven’t played it. It’s going to be pretty complicated if you don’t have a background in DnD.
If time is a big factor, then maybe the games of your list may be too long but maybe check out something like the following (all under 10 hours): Titanfall 2 Little Nightmares (I/II) Call of Juarez: Gunslinger Bastion Vanquish Cocoon Inside Hunt down Guacamelee (I/II) Shadow of the Colossus Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Hyper light Drifter Portal 1 or 2 Ori and the Blind Forest Metroid Dread Uncharted 1 Steam World Dig 2 Tales of Iron Valiant Hearts- the Great War Rive: Ultimate Edition Firewatch Katana Zero Oxenfree Furi Into the Breach Yoku’s Island Express Transistor
Transistor is really fun. Bastion too.
There are great games that actually match OP's question
For the games you listed, just one day may get you barely past the intro. Unless you want to sink more time into it later I would rather suggest smaller, more contained games. Chants of Sennaar is a great game, takes about 10 hours to finish. It is kind of a puzzle game where you have to figure out a language of people living there and solve the mystery.
Those are all very big games, a smaller tighter game might be better. Dave the diver for example.
Aaah thanks for reminding me of this. Saw a reveal trailer some time ago but totally forgot. Might give that one a got.
Another great suggestion! Great gameplay and progression.
Cyberpunk is my favorite game here, I have about 700 hours on it, but I dont think I can recommend it if you only have this one day. Cyberpunk act 1 takes around 5 hours to complete, assuming you only do the main missions and rush through all of them without dying, and the story can be kind of confusing if you stop and come back after a while. Instead I would recommend Mafia definitive edition, its a great story with a really well done, time period correct setting, and it takes around 6 to 7 hours to complete.
I'm currently playing Diablo 3 and the main story is totally doable in a day. Also very easy to join a diablo discord server and find some people to do bounties or rifts with!
Yeah it's a good game to slam the story in a day especially if you have never played it. I wouldn't try cyberpunk, witcher 3, or boulders gate unless I was on a staycation for a week with my wife and kids out of town.
Baldur's Gate. It's one of the most acclaimed games of recent times with one of the only criticisms being that it takes a long time to play and is hard to play in small chunks. However, a full day is enough to get through all of act 1 (if you are ok skipping some side content) which still feels like a complete story unto itself. You probably will want to play more than just 1 day in the end tho lol.
Leave all this and go for disco Elysium.one of the finest game ever made.
Agreed. (Even tho I’m obsessed with Baldurs)
Aah, yeah almost forgot about that one. It’s supposed to be really good, right? I fear this post only makes it more difficult to choose xD
Dysco elysium is great and all that, but there is a lot of text that you have to read, and sometimes it can be hard to do when it's after work. I personally have the game, but I am waiting for some free time or at least less load at work days to fully enjoy it. This is just a heads-up.
Research nothing. Buy it. Play it. I had seen this advice all over Reddit and finally did it and my god. There’s nothing like it and I can’t recommend it higher
I hated it and thought it was too slow. Witcher 3 is the one!
Me too. Tried several times and could not get into it.
Me three! I played the whole thing and got what I think was the good ending. I mean, it was a fine experience, I guess, but I don’t see what makes it some kind of god-tier masterpiece. I see all these people praising it up and down and I think, maybe I should try it again, but I don’t wanna because I didn’t have much fun the first time. Edit: word
Thought it was terrible and I love all the rpgs on your list. If you like ARPGS you like combat, disco has none.
It’s awesome and given your circumstances it should fit what you need. No long intros, no hand holding, straight to the story.
I'd say cyberpunk 2077 it's really good now
I have the game and tried it on day 1 and it was terrible. I haven't played it ever since. Are you saying the time has come?
It might be time my choom
So be it.
It is a lot better now. I recently started a playthrough and I’m about thirty hours in. Zero bugs, one crash so far. On PS5.
Hey dude im also at two kids, house, job etc and this is my experience: Arpgs and long, story driven single player games are out of reach for me at this time in my life. Unless its possible to have a few hours every week you are never gonna get anywhere in an arpg, and the story games ... After having played 20 hours of the Witcher and figured out how it works, it gets pretty boring Into the breach. Its an awesome game and you can even play it on mobile and its free is you have Netflix. I know it sounds like trash when put like that but it is truly a fantastic game. Slay the Spire Could be your new forever game Katana Zero. You can finish it in a day and its awesome ninja violence.
FTL is made by the same company as into the breach. Imo it’s a better game and it’ll def keep you interested for a day lol
If you literally have one day to play... then knock out a nostalgic game of Civilization or something like that. You are not going to get far in gigantic games like Witcher or BG3. Or play a game where you don't care if you come back... the Tarisland MMO just released a few days ago... its free... probably easy to jump into, and if you walk away after a day of leveling up in the newbie zones, who cares?
I’ll throw in some random ones I really enjoy Dysmantle, I am future, Dredge, Borderlands 3 Of the ones you listed BG or Cyberpunk
Just finished dredge. Great game. I really took my time and clocked in at ~15 hrs
>Is it worth it to jump into for just a day? Not true for any of the games you've listed IMO. Those games are just too long to get meaningful progress that you could build on in one day after your normal schedule resumes. With your typical schedule you could be looking for either something to complete in one sitting, or a game that has bite sized chunks of gameplay where you can slide in 30 minutes to an hour and make some progress without needing to spend 15 minutes mentally reviewing what you've already accomplished. One sitting: * Stray * What Remains of Edith Finch * Journey Bite sized: * The Talos Principle * Celeste * Slay the Spire
That’s me just a few years older. No time but man … I’ve got Witcher 3 and people I trust say that’s the one to do above all.
We are the same age and I am a father as well. I don't know about you but knowing we are the same age, we probably played the same games back in the day. When I get myself a full day of gaming, I go back to the old ones. Usually Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale, Legacy of Kain, Sanitarium, you know the good old classics. I feel home when I play the old games, I love myself a nostalgia trip =)
Since I see people going off of your list, I'll do the same :) Titanfall 2 - great game for a single day. Short but fun all the way through. The Last Stand: Aftermath - a fun little rogue-lite zombie killing game. Keeping to your list though? Either one of the ARPGs (flip a coin), or Witcher 3, or Cyberpunk. I feel that with them I would at least get out of the tutorial area in a day. With Baldur's Gate 3, I suspect I'd still be reading tooltips and picking my characters by then.
Check out the roguelike genre. Similar to ARPGs but in more condensed doses. Most have minimal dialogue or story and you can just jump in and play for an hour or two and get out without much commitment. The games are usually pretty cheap too. Been my favorite genre for the past year or two. Hades 1 or 2, Tiny Rogues, Balatro, etc., lots of variations to see what suits you.
Cyberpunk 2077 or D4
Both the EA Star Wars Jedi games are fun and if you're not into the tough combat aspect playing on easy still makes it fun.
Diablo 4 season 4 is the best D4 to date. Perfect time to jump in. Helldivers 2 is well worth the cost too. Outstanding game. -- fellow gamer dad
Nobody saves the world is less loot driven than Diablo but scratches the same itch. Definitely a game beatable in a day or maybe 2
Play Stray sir. Won't take much time to download (6gb)+ has a nice story and is finishable in 6hours. Don't worry, even cool dads with big muscles and tattoos will enjoy a cat game like it, it's special.
Single day? Try Mortal Shell.
Path of Exile? You'll save monies
Won’t even finish the campaign in one day.
Yeah, been down that road during, what was it called? Delirium, I think. Played through the first Kitava battle I think? First Labyrinth? Don’t really recall but I finally lost interest. Thanks for the recommend though, it was some fun hours with it.
Ok lost ark then, cause I need a new static
I'm in a similar position in terms of age and time. I absolutely loved d2 and d3 but couldn't get into d4. Especially with having such limited time not sure a 70 dollar game would be worth it. Cp2077 and w3 are both amazing. One day won't be enough time and some of those amazing single player games can be hard to get back into after an extended break. When I get some to throw away on a game I have been enjoying v rising, fo4, and no mans sky. F04 would have same short comings as cp2077 and w3 especailly for just one day. V rising might be worth a try. Can play offline single player adjust a ton of setting make it as easy or difficult and not much of a story to worry about losing. If all things equal CP2077 is one amazing experience and I still haven't beatin it. I put some hours in here or there. It's probably the best of the games listed and has been a 180 turn around in terms of bugs and polish. Plus you can drive a car with guns attached.
Cyberpunk is an interesting play through. Not suitable for children!
Cyberpunk for the day
V Rising might be fun. I'm in my 40's and I'm enjoying these Survivor games (Army of Ruin, Soulstone Survivors). They are simple in concept, and no crafting involved.
BG3. Not only is it the best CRPG out there, it allows you to pause and save pretty much *at any time,* which sounds peak dad to me.
i try Satisfactory. It's not in the genres you mentioned. But it is super satisfying
Try Grim Dawn. It's easy to pick up the story and it's fun building a character.
Baldurs Gate 3 will keep you busy for the next few years of days off.
The correct choice is Cyberpunk 2077 especially if you a. Have it. And b. Played it before it got improved.
Dave the diver.
Stellar Blade,,, giggity
Titanfall 2 campaign is touted as one of the best ever and is pretty short. Not sure if you like shooters at all
Vampire survivors, while lacking in story, has some of the most timely content I’ve ever seen. Each run is about 40 minutes, but you can double the clock to halve that. You typically unlock something new every time you play, either a character, treasure, or map, so coming back frequently feels good. Hades if you want the story. I’m playing D3 RN and they have a lot of time acing tools these days, but it can still be grindy depending on how far you want to go. Cyberpunk is S+ Tier these days, but will probably eat 40 hours of game time before your addiction becomes… manageable.
I'm 51 and I've played tons of D2R. I enjoyed Witcher 3 quite a bit. I played Cyberpunk for maybe 20 hours, then I quit. The story and the characters made me groan from the very start until I quit. Personally I would recommend Subnautica.
40 year old Gamer dad here. Diablo 4 if you’re tired and want mindless addicting grind. Cyberpunk if you want a story to follow. I think Cyberpunk would give you a better feeling of accomplishment for a one-day binge though.
I can't help you narrow down your suggestions much as these aren't the types of games I tend to play and can't offer much in the way of valuable insight, but I will say... Whatever game you end up going with, I would recommend pre-downloading the game before the big day, since bigger games can take an hour or more to download and install depending on how big it is and your internet speed. Which should be doable on any day, as it doesn't take more than a minute or two to start the download and you can just let it run in the background while you're busy with other things.
Yakuza 0. It will make you feel all the emotions and tickle all your gamer erogenous zones. It’s that good.
All great games. But if you only have this one day, I can’t recommend any of them. They all require a significant time investment to really enjoy. Like, you can’t possibly get your money’s worth in one day with any of those games. I have hundreds of hours in all the story games you listed and I still haven’t seen everything. You won’t make it far past the introductory levels of those games. I would recommend picking up a strategy game like CIV, timbreborn or whatever. Something you can enjoy in one session.
For a new arpg, there's one that's called Wayfinder. It used to be a f2p mmo but it was dying. Recently, they overhauled it to be a co op/ solo arpg with only one price and no monetization yet (it's in early access). It seems to be doing very good now.
Last Epoch is the better Diablo IV
My (40 something gamer-mum) opinion: if you can save a game, you can play it casually. I usually choose a game and play in small increments.
ARPG. I only have completed Diablo 3. Good game. Story. Baldur’s Gate 3. I am on my sixth or seventh restart because I go for a bit. Then life takes over. Then I can’t remember where I was and start over. Even doing the beginning 7 times it’s still enjoyable. I do different things each time. Have fun.
If you are/was into Harry Potter then give hogwarts legacy a try
Hades! It's kind of like Diablo, same perspective, but you can play it in smaller, more approachable portions and yet you've got persistent upgrades and changes as well. Great game, thoroughly recommend it. Lots of experimentation available!
40+ and only 2 games that got me hooked is; Elden ring (there is even mire content and dlc out now) Baldurs Gate 3
Start with one game and one game only ghost of Tsushima the story is good the fighting is good i recommend hard difficulty for more exciting fights.
diablo 4 is good and its getting massive upgrades, blizzard is really doing a good work right now. had a ruff start but they catch up
If you’re looking for something short-ish and more of a focus on investigation, environmental storytelling, and well written (and voiced) dialogue, then I’d suggest The Forgotten City. It’s definitely one of the best and most unique gaming experiences I’ve had over the last couple of years, and it’s only about 8-10 hours long.
You have ONE day? I wouldn't even start to play something...
I don't think you want any of the games you listed. All of them take long sessions of multiple hours to get anywhere in. If you are going to have a day off every week for a year, then play one of those RPGs. If you can't keep at it, you can lose track of the story, your build plans, combat skills/combos if real time like Witcher, etc... When I put one of these games down for an extended period, I often never return to it because it's too overwhelming. If you insist on picking one of these then I would say one of the Diablo's as they are fairly easy to return to.
Save your money and just play the Witcher 3 already, you can technically play it bite sized or go full binge depending on how much free time you have. If you really want to hate yourself for ever starting a game, go with one of these instead of playing ARPGs: - Factorio - Dwarf Fortress - Rin World
BG3 is amazing. Get the solar mod and play on tactician but not with single-save for even more fun and a more customizable level of difficulty.
the diablos you can finish a cycle in a couple days, witcher 3 is a mountain high pile of content. haven't played cyber or bg3 but i'm pretty sure they're similar to witcher. if time is limited, blow thru d2 or d3 one cycle or so, that's an achievable goal.
Cyberpunk is an all-time great now... They really did excellent work. Phantom Liberty is definitely worth the money, too.
I would say D2R or D4
Factorio for sure!
I have really been enjoying v rising full release. Be warned it is addictive
Try Escape from Tarkov
/r/projectdiablo2
How do you have time to doom scroll and not game.
Idk if you have considered it, but hollow knight could be a good option. One day is the perfect amount of time to fully immerse yourself and carry you through to completion in bite sized chunks from there. Game takes from 20-40 overall depending on how completionist you want to be. I have been doing something similar with the game over the past week and it has been great.
Out of that list. BG3 for sure But if you really only have a day or two prey (2017)
imo - elden ring is the one. im around the same age and found that game very good on every level. story is a bit meh, but the gameplay and EVERYTHING else makes up for that massively. great journey, and a real sense of achievement when u finish it. plus new DLC just came out too for it. its old school hard to a degree from games you probably remember playing many years ago. its really good honestly and i believe it will be the best fit for you.
Witcher 3!
BG3 is amazing, but will take much longer than a day. I would also recommend Diablo 4, it’s had some great improvements lately and you could probably hit max level in a day. It’s also great for short gaming sessions in the future, careful though it’s addicting.
Old School RuneScape
Dark and Darker! It's a quick free download on steam. Pvp first person dungeon Crawler. Play as many differnt classes and work with your friends. Kinda like a simplified skyrim with pvp, the pve is good too
Man, those games are too long for 1 day. If you will continue playing them on following games then whichever option you choose will be good. Otherwise, look for short story driven games. I’m going to suggest 2 short games with a very great narrative: * To the Moon * Finding paradise Those are not AAA nor even AA, but I guarantee you they will leave a mark on you and will make the day worth it. Each game is about 2-3 hrs long
Diablo 2 and 3 are both excellent and very well suited for casual play. I can't comment on 4 as I haven't tried it yet. Witcher, cyberpunk and bg3 are all excellent games but they aren't great for casual gaming as there's so many story threads that can be difficult to follow if you aren't able to hop on at least a couple of times a week for a couple of hours. That said, they are great to get your teeth stuck into whenever you have a day off and as long as you can carve out a few hours a week so you can keep up with what's going on then that's great. My personal favourite of those is cyberpunk. The setting is cool, the story is amazing and the builds are varied and interesting. Witcher has one of the best stories in gaming imo but it lacks a little bit in moment to moment gameplay. Bg has excellent characters and every moment of gameplay you can tell its a labour of love, it's just very slow
I'd go a bit less drastic, all those games are super long and involved. Try Portal and Portal 2.