I hunt and fish...a lot. Which means I am regularly not on the asphalt. This truck is 2x4, my last truck was a 4x4 Silverado, the truck before that was a 2x4 Ford.
I got the Ford stuck once, about a week after I bought it when I didn't move fast enough through some loose river rock and had to be pulled out. And if I had just moved faster through that patch of rock I wouldn't have gotten stuck to begin with. I drove that truck for 13 years after that and never needed 4x4. My last truck, the 4x4 Silverado, I drove for 23 years and I can count on one hand the number of times I actually needed the 4x4. And if I had not had the 4x4 I probably wouldn't have put myself into the position to need it to start with.
So, is 4x4 nice to have? Sure. Is it absolutely necessary? Not really, unless you're a rock -crawler. Especially if you pay attention and don't put yourself into situations where you need it. You can almost always drive around.