I think its just getting older. As an adult your time is more precious. theres other things you COULD be doing, so have less patience for poor pacing in a game. Both in terms of life, and in terms of games.
It was always a problem in games. but you had less choice as a kid. some rpg had a slow second half as a kid? well, maybe you had 1 other you could play. now? theres 20 in your steam backlog, and another 30 on sale on steam and GGG right now. and theres always the wife,kids,pets, yardwork, car, golf, fishing, etc as well.
I've always favored mechanics in games. so, learning the game, figuring out new builds, figuring out hidden mechanics, and systems is always the most fun part for me. so, a game that frontloads that will lose my half way. This is why I not just finished Wrath of the righteous and its 250h campaign, but made it about 150h into a second playthrough. the builds are deep, and you keep getting new unlocks the whole damn way. while, Divinity
s2 I quit in act 3 iirc. might even been act 2... its systems are shallow, and its trying to keep me going on story alone, while distracting me with sidequests. which distract me from the main quest and kill pacing.
Sandboxes like Skyrim are kind of built for this. while, more shallow then I would like, they are MADE for you to kindof just play till you stop. put it down and then comeback to and start again later. Kenshi, bannerlord, starsector, etc. The main story doesn't matter really much, so there is no drive to actually do it in the first place.
jrpgs have ALWAYS had that problem. huge focus on main story. but then give you an airship, open up the world for exploration, which totally kills the pacing, and drive for that main quest.
