Games

Hah, I actually just busted out pen and paper for Dragon Age Veilguard, although it was to compare companion stats, and nothing to do with the story.

EverQuest - especially in the classic era (99-02) fit this for me. The quests were delivered through unsaved text interactions with no quest log type feature - epic weapon quests were notorious for requiring detailed notes, notably prior to any walkthrough websites being available. There were also no maps and players were compelled to draw their own for zones and dungeons. I filled multiple Franklin-Covey (sp?) leather journals during my adventures and look at them with much nostalgia.

Return of the Obra Dinn. Indie darling puzzle game where you are an insurance adjuster working on a recovered ghost ship. Very thematic and satisfying to take notes by hand

Edit: whoops someone already mentioned it

I've wanted to do this for awhile with a RPG - you might have convinced me to do this on the next one I pick up.

Honorable mention fir Outer Wilds, cause taking notes and keeping track of things you learn is critical to the gameplay, but the game actually provides an excellent UI already it already.

Also, Elden Ring and other FromSoft games are a contender, cause when you meet a random NPC that says like 3 lines of dialog and doesn't repeat them, you're gonna have trouble remembering any of that 20 hours later when yoy meet them again.

Funny you mention Riven, that was my first offender too way back in the day.

Recently, it's mainly with KSP and Cities:Skylines for planning stuff while I don't have access to the game.

In-person tabletop RPGs. My group have been playing 1st Edition AD&D and a compact, modernized version of D&D Basic/Expert called Old School Essentials.