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For decades video game discourse has been dominated by a single word, one with no clear meaning but a whole lot of promises to deliver: Immersion. As much as we love to use the word immersion to describe gripping experiences that draw us into fantasy worlds – it’s becoming harder and harder to define what, if anything, immersion actually means.
So, what is the deal with immersion? That’s something The Architect has been pondering for Eons and it’s about time we got some answers. It took diving to the deepest oceans and getting stuck into far-flung worlds, but The Architect has got a few ideas about what immersion actually means to us gamers, and how understanding it can improve the way we talk about our favorite games.
Check out the Snoman Archive: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeP1Enud_t8FBRrDroYPJvQ
You Saw:
Abzu – 2016
Cyberpunk 2077 – 2077
The Last of Us 2 – 2020
Red Dead Redemption 2- 2018
Bioshock – 2007
Bubsy 3D – 1996
Far cry 5 – 2018
Jumanji – 1995
Resident Evil 8 – Not Released Yet
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – 2018
Death Stranding – 2019
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim – 2011
Papers Please – 2013
Metroid Prime – 2002
Dishonored 2 – 2016
In Other Waters – 2020
No Man’s Sky – pffffffff
Deep Rock Galactic
Hitman 3 – 2021
Shadow of Mordor – 2014
Shadow of War – 2017
Prey – 2017
Superliminal – 2019
Breath of the Wild – 2017
What Remains of Edith Finch – 2017
Deus Ex: Human Revolution – 2011
Deus Ex – 2000
Dishonored – 2012
System Shock 2 – 1999
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – 2016
Antichamber – 2013
Monster Hunter World – 2017
Hades – 2020
Divinity: Original Sin 2 – 2018
Rimworld – 2016
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 2020
Paradise Killer – 2020
Heaven’s Vault – 2019
Disco Elysium – 2019
Yoshi’s Island – 1995
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – 2006
Resident Evil 4 – 2005
Mass Effect 3 – 2012
God of War -2018
The Last of Us – 2013
Fallout: New Vegas
Dead Space – 2008
Metro 2033 – 2010
F-Zero GX – 2003
Apex Legends – 2019
Descenders – 2019
DOOM Eternal – 2020
Crusader Kings 3 – 2020
Rise of Industry – 2018
Sid Meir’s Civilization 6 – 2016
Factorio – 2020
Satisfactory – Early Access
Subanutica – 2018
Her Story – 2015
Hypnospace Outlaw – 2019
New Super Mario Bros U – 2012
NERTS – 2021
Source
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I resonate more with the idea that "flow" is the big decider. Graphics and [complex/difficult controls with a strong tie to the narrative] can help, but I don't feel like games that really focus on those get a pass. Papers Please and Horizon: Zero Dawn both take me out of the game by being…very video-gamey. Being video-gamey isn't _bad_, and a lot of really fun games don't give a $%!# about "immersion". Conversely, some games try really hard. And then some games "seemingly" accomplish it effortlessly(in reality the devs put tons of effort into that, and should be applauded for their hard work).
It is overused as an industry buzz-word, but…it's kinda like seeing the wires holding someone up in an action-movie, bad CG moustache removal, or just bad writing or acting in a movie, when it doesn't happen. It doesn't necessarily kill the movie, but it's still important?
But yeah, all that's needed is a core gameplay loop. Story has never really "immersed" me unless I feel strong emotions. "Realism" is a dirty word and highly over-valued in gaming, when what's far more important is just fooling the player into giving the game the benefit of the doubt, rather than going to huge lengths to make my eyes bleed.
Sorry Adam, I feel like this was very superficial, and that you missed the mark here, even though the general distinction is agreeable. There are loads of scientific literature on immersion, why not reference some of it? I think you cannot talk about immersion without the concept of "presence" for example, or without the most immersive media – Virtual Reality.
Immersion feels like the buzz word replacement for 'game feel' which has mostly fallen out of favor with everyone in the games media industry at this point. It has a similar problem to game feel in that while most people will tell you that they know what game feel is, they have a hard time telling you how to create it or what it came from in any particular game.
Immersion for me is interesting because of how rarely I actually feel it. I do a lot of staring at UI elements unless a game does something to force me not to. What this means is that for a game to really hook me it's basically all on the narrative unless the UI is specifically part of the immersive process for a game. NieR (the first one) was the first game I played that I felt that true immersion feel and it took me several years to really understand why it hit me so hard emotionally when I first played it. To this day there are several songs on the NieR OST that if I listen to them I will immediately start crying.
Adam, have you played every game in existence?
That incorrect text reflection in the thumbnail is killing me. Guess it's immersion-breaking.
try Hardspace:Shipbreaker.
it's good.
that is all.
I’d argue video games per definition are ‘immersive’ since they’re an interactive artform unlike watching a movie or reading a book. That said, books and movies can also “feel” immersive. In conclusion, art is amazing !
Last two games that I played were Nier:Automata and Ghost of Tsushima, they both got me pretty immersed in their own kind of way.
I would be so disappointed if Henry Lord of Immersion is not featured in this video
How did you make a 21 minute video about immersion and not mention Journey?
I'm not the person, but "Szabó" is pronounced like "sabo" from sabotage (so kind of like saahbo). 🙂 Great vid as usual!
Elite dangerous in VR, or any other cockpit type game in VR is pure immersion because your brain almost forgets it's virtual
"built on a foundation of dead developers" I see what you did there.
The mechanical friction you briefly mentioned is a concept that I’ve been really interested in for a few years now. Like what Resident evil 4 gained by making you choose between offensive defense, and evasion. Would play and feel dramatically different if you had access to both
I remember feeling that with Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii. Being able to pinpoint where you were in Bionis from looking at the environment was really really cool. I was particularly blown away when I realized Sword Valley is literally Mechonis's sword.
I know this is out of your usual thing, but speaking of immersion, I'm sure you'll find out why its a very big thing in music games.
DJMax also likes to call it emotional sense. This will be a good topic for you to explore. I can play music games for hours on end. It is that good.
Thanks for putting the games in the description. Though, it would be even better if you'd put the title on screen when footage of a game is shown.
A hundred dollars? Sure I'll play.
Mister Hideo is a gamer. To be more specific, he's a gamer who sees everyone playing the exact same f***ing game and making the exact same game again and again and again. He kinda hated that so he began to make his own games. He didn't like how ice in video games wouldn't melt so he implemented a semi-realistic ice melting simulator in a game about walking talks that could launch nukes from anywhere. He wanted to not only fake reality for the sake of gameplay but to take it to the extremes for the sake of his idea of good gameplay. Metal Gear Solid 2, my personal favorite videogame, had a literal bucket of ice that wouldn't do anything much, but if you returned after a long enough stretch or knock the bucket over, spilling the ice, the length of time was accounted for and the ice melted quicker. Separate an ice from the rest and it'll melt and soak into the carpet while the group of ice would for a larger, much better puddle. Ice melting in a game about giant nuclear warhead transporting mechs, truly he's a special kind of crazy, he's gamer crazy. He's willing to try a crazy idea just to see what happens and that kind of crazy is why even now Metal Gear as a franchise has a loyal, supportive and f***ing crazy fanbase.
Oh, and he's also got some kind of woman worship fetish which manifests in lewd humor and lewd photos being in the game (ie, Playboy and his company are in fact on rather good terms).
Immersion is a purely technical term and does not consider factors like gameplay. No one outside of the "Gaming Scene" would recast this word in a psychological context. What is described here is still classified as Suspension of Disbelief. This can be seen especially well in the enemies in Shadow of Mordor. The belief is gone once the player realizes the logic behind the illusion. Which is basically a gameplay-bug.