https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/features/red-dead-redemption-2-story-could-rockstars-malleable-fascinating/
Red Dead Redemption 2
If you haven't played Red Dead Redemption 2 yet, drop everything you're doing and get started. Seriously, even if you have kids.
This game offers an experience unlike any other. From robbing trains and wagons with dynamite, to fishing under a waterfall while Willie Nelson plays in the background. You play as Arthur Morgan, an outlaw and member of the Van der Linde gang, as he grapples with morality, loyalty, and the law in the changing world of the late 1800's. You're never more than 30 seconds from a different mission or hilarious encounter with an NPC. Ask anyone who's dipped their toe in RDR2 and they'll shamefully mumble the excess amount of hours they've given up for this game.
One of the reasons people spend so much time playing this game, you can do whatever you want! Once you're plopped into the game, hop on your horse and travel to any number of the locations on the map. From there you can take a pick at what looks fun that day. If you need to blow off some steam, head into the saloon, join a poker game, and after your first lost hand, begin killing everyone in the room. This is always fun as stormtrooper aim is alive and well in RDR2.
https://www.reddit.com/r/reddeadredemption/comments/e082wc/saloon_shootout/
Once you escape and lose the law, you can head over to a home on the outskirts of town. Break in, if there's people inside that's their fault. Take them out (or don't) and steal all their stuff. This is a distinct aspect that only RDR2 has. Last time I checked, Sonic the Hedgehog couldn't commit B&E.
Another reason this game separates itself from all the others, it genuinely teaches you things about life.
While playing, you're responsible for your honor level, which much like Choose Your Own Adventure, your honor level can alter your interactions and effect the storyline. When coming across a person who has had their leg bitten by a snake, you can choose to help or simply put the poor man out of his misery. Or, say you stumble on a stagecoach robbery in progress, you can take out the robbers and be given the loot by the man that was just being robbed, for some odd reason. Having low or high honor is fun whichever avenue you take, or even if it's a mix of both!
Every interaction in the game seems to carry a moral weight. It matters how you treat people, even though they may just be a bunch of 1's and 0's.
As unforgiving and picturesque as RDR2 is, it offers much more than can be explained in one sitting. There are parts of the game that players haven't even discovered yet. As a lover of history, my favorite aspect of this game is that it envelopes you in the wild west to provide the full experience of what a typical outlaw would go through in their lifetime. For those still grinding away at Call of Duty and Fortnite, it's time to carve out a month or two of your life for something better.
https://medium.com/humungus/my-reality-is-the-pandemic-and-video-games-are-where-i-dream-50ae583d3ba7