Game Immersion

Edelweiss

Edelweiss

New member
So after trying out Dear Esther and replaying Half life 2 recently I noticed that very little games are able to pull off this very overlooked aspect of a game which is full and effective immersion. Immersion is one of the main aspects of a game that keeps me coming back for more and pulling through the entire story and not just resulting in me brushing it aside a couple of hours in.
I think the new paradigm with AAA game dev's nowadays is games have to have (A) A strong online/multiplayer component and (B) Be very action-orientated and be achievement-based for fear of losing mainstream interest. I wish there were more immersive games to be enjoyed..
But I digress.
Any of you guys have any other mentions of games you found very immersive? Are you fine with where the game industry is heading with the surge of always-online FPS's?
 
One should distinguish between immersion & flow (the psych concept) I think.

e.g. If I jam UT3 then I'm "in the zone" & block out everything else, yet I would not call it immersion.

Immersion...say TES or Dishonored.
 
The question is what causes immersion, does it not vary from individual to individual. I have noticed a trend where we make games shiney and have characters with the depth of a puddle.

There are always plenty of fps's around but there are going to be at least 2 epic rpg's next year i cant wait for dragon age 3 and witcher 3, dragon ages was very immerse I got attached to the characters and i think that is one of the key ingredients to getting people sucked in.
 
I hope the new thief is as immersive as the others were. But yes. Dishonoured too.

- - - Updated - - -

B1nary said:
The question is what causes immersion, does it not vary from individual to individual. I have noticed a trend where we make games shiney and have characters with the depth of a puddle.

There are always plenty of fps's around but there are going to be at least 2 epic rpg's next year i cant wait for dragon age 3 and witcher 3, dragon ages was very immerse I got attached to the characters and i think that is one of the key ingredients to getting people sucked in.
Click to expand...

Right you are, an engrossing story and real depth and dynamic characters makes games very immersive as you get sucked into their frame of reality. But for me the most powerful tool of immersion is the perception of the game world/environment and most definitely the ambience of it all. Moments of sublime silence and subtle ambience is really so much more than a loud jarring soundtracks and effects.
 
I found Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas to be very immersive, particularly the latter. I could just play those games for hours. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is another one that comes to mind.
 
Must say that I am surprised that metro pulled me in like it did.
When I turn of my flashlight is freaking dark not this darkness you get in some games.
Playing fallout NW atm and the night is a bit too light wish it was darker like metro.
 
I hope VR technology really pulls off with the Oculus rift and Sony apparently working on VR too then maybe we'll get lots of really good immersive games.
 
Here are some of the games I've played that had sucked me into them so badly that I played them for countless for hours:

GTA San Andreas: I think we all can agree that this game has massive pulling power. For me the biggest reason is the amazing world and map it creates, and the fact that you get freedom to roam the streets and do whatever you want.

NFS Underground 2: For some reason I came to love my car. My car was my pride and joy. I had a Supra that I drove around for hours on end, without doing anything really, just driving. I mean yes a game like Forza is much much better, but Underground made me love my car, which is why I'll always love the game as well.

Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis: I spent literately years playing this. It was an absolutely amazing experience for me, and loved to play with the mission editor. I would make up my own war story, document it and make missions within the Mission editor to act out these wars. I had a blast.

TES Skyrim: Naturally a game so rich in lore and weight had to feature in my list of immersed games. The story impressed me, but the whole universe it creates is what keeps me coming for more and more.

Minecraft: Yes Minecraft immersed me into it's world of blocks for some unknown reason. The fact that I built everything, and everything was built through hard work finding and gathering all the resources immersed me into it's world all that much.

All these games I not just played a lot, but I "lived" in their world. I would sit and make plans on how I am going to play certain parts of these games again, and what I'm going to do next. These games consumed not just my time, but my thoughts and dreams as well. And that to me is as immersed I can get in games.
 
DieGrootH@mmer said:
Here are some of the games I've played that had sucked me into them so badly that I played them for countless for hours:

GTA San Andreas: I think we all can agree that this game has massive pulling power. For me the biggest reason is the amazing world and map it creates, and the fact that you get freedom to roam the streets and do whatever you want.
Click to expand...

Sandbox was cool in this game. I would just cruise around doing handbrake turns and trying to lose the cops in the super cars in Las Venturas, all while listening to the custom music station. :D
 
I'm not really a Civilization fan, but everyone I start I game I play for one of six more hours than intended.

It's probably more of a flow thing than an immersion thing though.

One of the more immersive games I played recently was the Mass Effect series. Even if I played it in broken sessions of a few minutes here and few minutes there, I felt engrossed.
 
Last edited:
DieGrootH@mmer said:
Minecraft: Yes Minecraft immersed me into it's world of blocks for some unknown reason. The fact that I built everything, and everything was built through hard work finding and gathering all the resources immersed me into it's world all that much.
.
Click to expand...

Indeed so , i get the urge to play it every now and then and once i start i go on week long minecraft binges
 
Edelweiss said:
Any of you guys have any other mentions of games you found very immersive?
Click to expand...

The first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Also has loads of replay value with all the mods for it. Every time I loaded up the game felt like I was in a different world. Possibly the most immersive game I've ever played.

Metro 2033 (not so much in the sequel for some reason).

Fallout 3.
 
Looking at some of the responses in this thread, it's fairly easy to see that the genre that is the most likely to suck you into it's world is RPG's. Which is not a surprise, seeing as most good RPG's actually does a lot of work to create this fantastic world for you to live in. It's easy to get lost in them because they give you the created world on a silver platter.

This I find lacking in many other genre games. There is no reason for a FPS to have the same level of immersion as a RPG (just look at Half -Life). But other genre games seems to concentrate too much on other thing than sucking gamers into their world. Which is why those who do actually get that right, those are the games that will be remembered and played for years to come.
 
I have been pulled in more by adventure games lately than action.

The Walking Dead - I'll probably keep mentioning this in "best game that" type threads for a while to come.
To the Moon - This hardly qualifies as a game, but it pulled me in big time.

And then on the other hand is Dead Space 2. Not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination but I fail to really get into it, which probably just proves that the whole immersion thing is subjective.

MissileToe said:
I found Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas to be very immersive, particularly the latter. I could just play those games for hours. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is another one that comes to mind.
Click to expand...

HerZeLeiD said:
The first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Also has loads of replay value with all the mods for it. Every time I loaded up the game felt like I was in a different world. Possibly the most immersive game I've ever played.

Metro 2033 (not so much in the sequel for some reason).

Fallout 3.
Click to expand...

Same story as Dead Space 2. Good (possibly great) game but it never managed to click for me.
 
Am I the only one that immediately thinks of Amnesia: The Dark Descent when it comes to immersion. The on-screen effects when in darkness/staring at a monster was to me the most immersive experience i've encountered in a game, and I'm not even a fan of "scary" games.

That being said, I do believe immersion is very much open to interpretation and opinion, as its 100% a mental thing. I'm sure we could find someone that could be totally immersed by minesweeper. :)
 
mottamort said:
Am I the only one that immediately thinks of Amnesia: The Dark Descent when it comes to immersion. The on-screen effects when in darkness/staring at a monster was to me the most immersive experience i've encountered in a game, and I'm not even a fan of "scary" games.

That being said, I do believe immersion is very much open to interpretation and opinion, as its 100% a mental thing. I'm sure we could find someone that could be totally immersed by minesweeper. :)
Click to expand...

The sound is what does me in in Amnesia. That sounds just creeps deep into my bones and freaks me out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top