10 Video Games With Incredibly Steep Learning Curves
6. Monster Hunter
Monster Hunter games are a bit different than other role-playing games, as they feature a unique means of improving your character. Instead of leveling up by doing random things, discovering new places, or killing critters around a village, players must rely on collecting new pieces of equipment if they want to progress.
How do you do this, you might ask; it's in the title, you need to find and kill monsters, but it's not as if that's going to be incredibly easy. To improve your equipment and weapons, you need to kill monsters, but you need the best armor and weapons to kill monsters, making the game something of a vicious cycle.
Monster Hunter's mechanics are actually pretty close to how a real person would improve in life. Nobody gains experience points as they do things, but improving your equipment often improves your chances in life, and Monster Hunter emulates that.
Of course, like life, Monster Hunter games don't just spell it all out for you. You will need to learn the mechanics of the game, plan your quests and intended monster encounters accordingly, and execute your plans with forethought. If you don't, you're going to wind up getting your player killed, and you will have to spend hours reading strategy hints online if you hope to excel at the game.