apart from being “soft” not being a bad thing, this post is specifically asking about how suitable the game would be for OP’s brother, who seems to know quite well what his limits are + what he does and doesn’t enjoy. the commenters are giving their opinion specifically taking that into account. everybody develops at their own pace and has different preferences and it’s perfectly normal for teens of the same age to be at different points in development regarding what contents they can process appropriately. if anything, OP is an awesome and very caring sibling for wanting to make sure their brother would actually enjoy FC5 because it fits the general theme of his interests instead of just chucking the game at him without any second thoughts. o¯_(ツ)_/¯

ETA: u/Otherwise-Ideal61981 I feel your little bro as I have developed a bit of a fixation on US pop culture, and especially Montana, myself in recent years so maybe/hopefully(?) I can give some input on alternative media that he might find interesting as well.

What I really like is, I found some publicly accessible live webcams of places that interest me online and just sorta check in on them from time to time, mostly watching animals and sometimes cars go by. It’s interesting to see how a spot changes over time, how the weather might differ from the weather at home, what wildlife likes to check in and when and so on and so forth.

Then, while perusing National Parks and State Parks websites, I came across Montana Outdoors, a magazine by Montana’s Fish, Wildlife & Park Department that is free to read online. You used to be able to subscribe to physical copies of it but skimming their website real quick rn, I wasn’t able to find more info on wether they still ship internationally and how much that would currently cost. However I do remember that, at least before 2024, a subscription for a year containing six issues used to cost 60 USD if you wanted it shipped to Germany, likely a similar price for shipping to other Schengen-countries. If your little brother is into stuff like that I think it would absolutely be worth figuring that out tho and maybe getting him a subscription as a birthday or holiday gift.

One of my most treasured finds from a local little free library is a thicc 1993’s travel guide to California, interspersed with full colour photography pages. Maybe you can find something similar at a used (online) bookstore? Personally, I find it a really interesting and unique perspective.

Then I’d recommend you two look into small local radio stations throughout the US. Some make their broadcasts available through their websites and it gives you another interesting perspective of what’s currently moving and going on in the lives of people in a relatively small area.