One of the best examples of a game that did it right was Heaven's Vault. The game was decent/mediocre (imo) but every time I opened it it summarized what I did last time and it had awesome timeline history

In Stardew valley no matter what you had done its so easy to just start doing something you like and the game smoothes you in. Its plot has zero time limits after all

Forgot to add my pet peeve: non adjustable time/turn/action/decision limits in single player games. I hate when I have to play a game with 'perfect knowledge'/wiki to get desirable outcome because I wanted to schmuck around trying things instead of focusing the main plot/whatever the game wanted me to do. Games like Homeworld, FTL, Phoenix Point and some CRPGs I made an error early into the game and instead of giving me a way to correct my mistake the game just became unwinnable at the end. "I have to live with the consequences of my actions." Some people love that but for me it ruins the feeling. Games aren't real life. I just spent 10+ hours and I can't continue anymore? Sucks.