My brother skips every cutscene in the game we chose to stay connected

My brother moved from Ohio to Arizona last year. We used to see each other at least twice a month, and our new substitute is a cooperative game every Wednesday night. The routine has been good for us: headsets on at nine, one drink each, ninety minutes before his early shift.

We recently started a story-heavy game because he said he wanted something with an actual plot. During the first session, he skipped the opening scene. I assumed he had watched it before. He had not. He just said, “We’ll figure it out.”

He now skips almost every optional conversation and rushes through dialogue choices. I want to know why the town distrusts us. He wants to reach the next fight before our time is up. Last Wednesday, he triggered a major decision while I was reading an item description. When I asked what happened, he said it probably would not matter. It mattered ten minutes later, when a character left and neither of us understood why.

I am aware of how small this sounds. The real purpose of Wednesday is talking to my brother, not preserving fictional lore. We catch up while traveling between objectives, and I would rather have a rushed game with him than a perfect game alone. But I also feel increasingly foolish for trying to follow a story the other player treats as loading-screen decoration.

When I suggested switching to a game built around short missions, he said he likes this one and does not want to start over. When I asked him to stop skipping, he said ninety minutes is already short and he does not want to spend half of it watching characters talk. Both points are fair. They just describe different activities.

Would you keep this as our social game and play the story separately, even though that means repeating content? Set a rule that main scenes stay and optional dialogue goes? Or admit that a narrative game is the wrong container for a relationship maintained on a clock? I do not want to turn our weekly call into a debate over cutscenes. I also do not want the shared game to become something I endure because the ritual around it matters.