Sometimes, it’s a matter of feeling like playing certain types of games or not. When a game I was anticipating doesn’t do it for me when I first play it (could be over multiple sessions), I just shelve it for a while and come back to it once I’m more in the right mood for the kind of experience offered.

Happened for Death Stranding, Elden Ring, both Red Dead Redemption games, to name a few. All games I greatly enjoyed after a second or third attempt at getting into them.

Probably an 40 mins. But then again what game out there exists where literally nothing happens within the first 15 mins , whether gameplay or story?

Not long. For the typical modern game that lasts hours on end, I might give it an hour or two. If I find it mechanically frustrating or it otherwise doesn't click with me, I'm not going to continue with it.

For example, Mass Effect was obviously well-received by most, but I personally couldn't get into it. The combat just felt clunky and generally not fun. The world itself looked great, the story seemed like it could be interesting, but I just wasn't having fun, and that fun factor, which for me derives almost entirely from gameplay, is the most important part of a game. I have an online friend who raves about how great ME is, and I finally played it after he badgered me about it enough, but after I told him I dropped it because it bored me, he said something along the lines of "Once you get your level high enough it plays a lot better." Sorry, but I'm not going to go through an entire RPG just because it might finally start getting good 20 hours in. I just don't have the patience.

Some rpgs don't really get going until like a good 2 hours in