So... KCD.
I never knew much about the original but had seen the occasional positive mention (mostly here). And I had no idea there was a KCD2 coming. But early last month I saw someone (CohhCarnage) was doing a playthrough of the first, so I decided to check it out. And it looked amazing and I watched the entire playthrough - and learned there about the impending release of 2.
So, I grabbed it at launch. And I'm having a blast. I described it to friends as the closest equivalent in gaming there is to Read Dead Redemption 2 - insofar as it gives you a grueling, immersive sandbox just to exist in and experience all the whacky side adventures/activities.
The combat is punishing, but I'm slowly getting better (a combination of just learning how to engage with it slightly less terribly, as well as getting upgrades in stats/skills and gear). I spent hours working on alchemy and making potions to sell and buy better equipment. And I did get quite lucky several hours in when I stumbled across a bunch of peasants fighting an armoured guy on the road. By the time I got there and was trying to work out who was who, the guy had died, along with a few of the peasants. I looked at the bodies and saw taking stuff from the peasants was "robbing" and from the armoured guy was "looting". So his stuff became mine. A bunch of pieces were upgrades to what I had (or filled slots I hadn't bought anything for yet - there's SO many inventory slots) - including a helm far, far better than anything I had yet seen. 20 or so hours further on and I'm still rocking that ugly helm, though most of the other pieces have been replaced by now.
It's an incredible game and I can't tear myself away from it. Brutal, though.