Nowadays I'd be intimated by games that expect me to read a book (a thick manual) before playing the game. I don't mind complex games, but I want the game to teach me the ropes bit by bit, with a good and extensive tutorial.

Now that I've e.g. played Mechwarrior 3 a bit, I like its tutorial missions. It has lots of controls and things to learn, but as long as you go through the tutorials, you should be fine I think.

Back when I was young, I recall buying Falcon 3.0c (as I generally liked flight combat sims), and really trying to learn to play the game, reading the manual etc. I lost interest before I was able to quite get it, it felt a bit too complex (realistic?), and I don't think it had a good, or any, tutorial? Falcon 3.0c was the reason I started preferring WWI and WWII era flight combat sims, as they have much less to learn, and they are more about dogfighting rather than shooting missiles from miles away.

I've also started Master of Orion and Master of Magic numerous times, but never having stomach to learn them fully to enjoy the game. I am always lost what exactly I am supposed to do (next). Build something? Send ships to all directions? What kind of ships? What are all those different buttons and numbers? Etc.

M.A.X. (on GOG) has a tutorial, but oddly it seems to teach very little what you'll be doing in the campaign missions. It was odd experience, I first played the tutorial missions through, but then as I entered the campaign, it felt I had to re-learn the game. The tutorial missions mostly seemed so different from the campaign missions, and taught the wrong things, as far as I could tell.

Most RTS games are fine to me, the first missions usually are about the basics, you don't get too many units or technology levels, and the complexity ramps up as you go further. Then when I try something like Civilization (the first one) or even Warlords 2 that doesn't explain anything but just throws you in the middle of the game, I lose interest quite fast.

Naw, there are a LOT of games out there that require a big learning curve and you have to not just be interested in the genre and game but be willing to sink your teeth deep into learning the full game experience and have the time and dedication to do so and really get the most out of it. This is especially true with games that are highly complex, or that are massive and take forever to complete for the most part.

One thing I really love for example is flight simulators, including just plain sims like Microsoft FSX, as well as flight combat sims like IL2 Sturmovik, Lockon Modern Air Combat, Pacific Fighters, Janes Longbow series, the various flight sims avail on GOG etc. and of course the space flight combat sims (Star Wars, Wing Commander). The more realistic and full featured these sims are, the longer it takes to properly learn how to fly the craft and understand all the gear to get the full experience, plus learn combat and maneuvers etc. and you have to keep playing it regularly enough to retain the complexity in your mind. That can be a little intimidating if you're looking for something to play at a given moment that you can dig into more quickly.

Games like you describe can be like this too IMHO, as well as other deep strategy games. I think you really have to not only be in the mood to play them but to be completely ready to "dedicate your life" to them for a while so to speak. I truly have to be in the mood to dedicate my life to a particular game these days in order to actually install and play it.

I installed Skyrim on Dec 30 or so, and pretty much spent about 6 weeks playing it non-stop every day. Put in an embarrassing number of hours (about 400) and still haven't finished the game although I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. :) Currently taking a Skyrim vacation to not lose touch with the real world though. :)

Yeah, but even then... I just kind of opened up the game and it was instantly just bombarded with buttons. Probably one of the only games I've actually bothered to read the manual for.

Still, it was pretty much unplayable until I downloaded OpenXcom. Not for interface reasons, but performance problems since the rerelease was just a choice between Dosbox slapped on or displaced colors with the Win9x/XP edition.

Also, I tried UFO. Doesn't seem to like new systems, but then again I had the Steam edition.

Wait' do Horror or Survival Horror games would fit this category?, I mean they make you shit your pants, so not exactly intimidate, but they do show a decree of it

This is a good thread, so I'm bumping it!

Another set of intimidating games for me are the old D&D games that have recently been released on here. Will their UI/clunkiness be hindering to enjoyment? Is there too much to learn that I'll be out of my depths? As appealing as they are and as much as I want to experience them, the *unknown* factor for me is intimidating. I hope to try them someday, though!

Great thread - I'm glad it's not just me intimidated by certain games. My nemesis are games like Age of Wonders, HoMM 3, Disciples, etc. I usually take too long faffing about and before I know it I'm overwhelmed with no way back. I just find it just too demoralising and so quit playing. Mind you, having said that, I adore the King's Bounty series and play them to death but that's because I don't have to worry about micromanagement - I've only one army to worry about and no towns/cities to build and manage:)

So does anyone have any suggestions for an EASY strategy game that will help me overcome my dread of playing these games? I've bought SpellForce 2 but keep putting off playing as I feel that it will be more of the same. Help :)

Set Bioshock to easy like Darth said and you'll be perfectly fine, there ain't jump scares in it either. Once you've completed it on easy you'll have gotten a hang of how things work and then you can try Normal.

I am intimidated by Grand Strategy games as well, put in about 9 hours in Crusader Kings II, I still have no idea what is happening. That was my first and last grand strategy purchase. (excluding Civ V which according to my library is a Grand Strategy game)

Yes, but there are other ways to get out of mortuary. That is not the only way, neither are you forced to go through that same method. You could just force your way out, which isn't hard btw.

You get information about that(hooked finger and its location) when you talk to the man pretending to be a zombie and if you intimidate him enough. Also obscure objects opening portals to other dimensions is the main plot element of the game.

It isn't so much as intimidation for me, as irritation. Having played a lot of games over the course of my life, I have become very nit-picky about how games operate. For example: Items not stacking, a lack of a bestiary, clunky controls, shops that do not sell in multiples (but have infinite stock), points of no return, grinding, random encounters, ect.

Maybe I am jaded, or perhaps I know that a game could be better. Either way, a game has to have a lot of character to make me overlook technical flaws.

Yes. Crusader Kings 2, Sengoku and Europa Universalis 3. :(

Curiously enough, Civ 4 and 5, as Gal Civ 1 and 2, even though they are very complex, I don't usually feel intimidated by them.

There is the occasional game (Lords of Xulima comes to mind) in which level ups are stressful because you need to make permanent decisions.

Also, in games like Morrowind, there are too many things you can do. Even if you decide you want to break the game with an exploit, there are too many exploits to choose from.

The Gary Grigsby titles.

And a lot of historical titles: I don't want to screw up the past too badly, such as losing at Midway or failing to defend Stalingrad. The ghosts of battles past will haunt me: "We pulled victory from the jaws of defeat against incredible odds, and you couldn't win sitting there in your chair KNOWING how the battle turned out?!?"

I'm still butthurt over my failure to get anywhere past the tutorial in that game. High stakes and nasty as all hell. I'm all for tactical gambling, but when doing it against an omnipotent light speed AI my stinking old brain just can't go fast enough.

Actually Civ V AI is a bit forgiving, which can be clearly seen when someone who is as bad as me at strategy can win a cultural victory at normal difficulty.

Undertale ! It looks so nice with the story and all but holy shit so much quick time event shit is making me steer away