Note: I feel like most Gacha games could go on here; if people have specific gachas they wanna point to, please send them my way. For now I just put GBF.

Also just generally, if people have recs, send them my way!

I honestly feel this way about a lot of RPGs (open-world, especially). But I guess where I'd draw the line is games that actively punish you for not learning their systems. Like, you could play an Elder Scrolls game without understanding the systems and probably get through it... you just wouldn't have an optimal build, that's all. By contrast, I found Stardew Valley absolutely brutally punishing. There was no fun to be had in that game if you didn't understand all the different crap going on. Dropped that within a couple hours.

Also, I had no idea Star Fox Zero was one of "those" games. I bought it for $10 several years ago, but I haven't had my Wii U hooked up at any point since then.

That's a good point; many games can throw lots of mechanics, but often they don't necessarily expect you to engage with all of it. With the Skyrim example, there are stealth mechanics, magic systems, melee combat, etc, but you're probably not engaging with all of them at the same time, and in fact, the game actively discourages you from doing that.

Star Fox Zero I put on here less because it is mechanically dense, and more because of the fact that you have to divide your attention between two screens constantly, which many people criticized it for.

What about The World Ends With You, a DS game that requires you to pay attention to and control both screens simultaneously, one with buttons and one with the touch screen?

Good call! Adding it.

Idk about anybody else but Sim City for me, especially with the dull and overwhelming tutorial.

Probably a lot of strategy games could fit in this list.