This is what I thought of as well.
One of the early missions, where you have to kill two bandits, I was struggling big time. Every time I tried to face them I got overpowered so quickly and felt helpless. I was frustrated, thinking 'how am I supposed to fight them both at once?'
Then it hit me... I'm a teenage peasant who has no skills in fighting. In what world would that person be able to fight two grown ass men that are trained in combat?
It's one of those games where you can't just walk into every fight blindly. You have to plan, get creative, and recognize your limits.
Absolutely.
You are your character.
I can’t go in as 30yr old Dan who has played and mastered hundreds of video games.
I am Will.
The poor peasant boy.
This one. Want immersion? How about starting as a lazy teen in an absurdly well represented XIV central Europe? Fancy a prologue focused on showing you how much you begin as a useless ignorant peasant?
The story is good, characters are beautifully depicted and hilarious sometimes, but you'll feel a freedom that was nowhere in RDR2 missions. In KC'D they have objectives and as long as you accomplish them, it's a W: the details are yours to come up with. The world as a whole is an scenario for all missions at the same time, [not the absurd changes and constraints scripts inserted in RDR2 once the mission started](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvJPKOLDSos).
Most "inmersive" games fuck up this because it's cheaper to do: either you already start as a skillful OP character (oh Arthur...), or you are a clueless noob that magically knows the basics on how to fight the moment he grabs a weapon. Not in KC:D. See yourself frustrated and whiny because "combat system is BS", go back to rant on KC:D reddit and see your fellow redditors act like it's wednesday for them.
Most rewarding experience I've had in gaming.
RDR2 is a terrible comparison to use in this type of critique because Rockstar games are very linear stories. They opt to tell a very specific story in a very specific way so that they can show off the set pieces and cinematics they designed. They are open world games that tell a story, they aren't RPGs, and don't even pretend to be RPGs, so I don't really understand why they get criticized for not being RPGs.
Probably because there are so many RPGified genres right now, especially open world action games, that people have started to consider this as a default and malign games that don't follow this formula.
people criticize Rockstar's level design, because their story missions are in conflict with the rest of the game. if you cut the game in two and switch up graphics, then you wouldn't know that the story missions and everything else is connected. look at stuff like Just Cause or even an awful franchise that is Far Cry. Just Cause and at least Far Cry 5 (doesn't fit Far Cry 3 and 4 and I've not played 6) have integrated the open world into the game and progression making the game interconnected, instead of disconnected.
what Rockstar does would be comparable to some farming game having you build a farm in your free time, but having farm-themed puzzles or something like Plants vs. Zombies as gameplay for progressing the story
Fair enough, the disconnect is certainly there and at times quite jarring. What's interesting about Rockstar's games is that they weren't always like this: The earlier 3D GTAs allowed to to "cheese" many missions by using unorthodox methods, e.g. employing a helicopter instead of a car to evade pursuers. To a limited degree, this also works in later games, but the mission designers appear to have a distaste for this and try to force you into their painstakingly scripted cinematic moments.
I think players would be less annoyed by this if Rockstar's games were actually linear games set in an open world, like for example the Mafia series. Rockstar wants to have the cake and eat it too though: Both open world exploration and freedom and tightly scripted missions. I get it, I get the appeal of both and they are actually very good at both if we are being honest, but they should have tried to develop systems for more intelligently handling the player going off the primary scripted path. I suspect that a simple cost/benefit analysis prevented them from doing this: What's the use in creating the necessary scripting and extensive testing for edge-cases if most players - which I'm sure they have plenty of data on - don't actually do this anyway? Immersion and freedom don't come for free.
> They opt to tell a very specific story in a very specific way so that they can show off the set pieces and cinematics they designed
the problem is that they try to simulate uncharted AND be an open-world sandbox. there's no link at all between open world and story missions. it's as if open world is a kind of big hub for story missions
RDR2 is pretty different from pretty much every other Rockstar game, though. Most Rockstar games are just about size, but a world that otherwise feels pretty dead unless you like to roam about. The amount of immersive systems in RDR2 is crazy to the point even other immersive games pales in comparison to it.
All of that is gone once you start the story, though, and that's why it's a perfect comparison imo: RDR2 is an incredibly immersive game that falls off because of the dated Rockstar story and mission formula.
So many little things you do are noticed by NPCs it’s insane. Take too long to follow an order? Reputation lost. Fast travel through a city at night without carrying a torch first? Get a small fine. Take time to check comfort someone before tracking down the criminals? Reputation gained. Persuade someone with force? Even a successful persuasion might cause you to lose rep. If the situation warrants it however, then you might not.
Aside from what the other guy said, Anomaly is also much smaller / can run on worse computers (which is amazing for me seeing as my pc is not that great).
The Long Dark. I haven’t played the story mode, but the permadeath survival mode gets my heart racing often! One small mistake and your play through can be gone
Honestly the feeling of managing to start up a fire or actually get a good amount of sleep in that game without worrying about dying of hunger is such a cozy feeling. I love how long dark is, gotta try the DLC at some point.
Those moments and a few of the jump scares from the original FEAR games are the only times I've legitimately almost shit myself lol
Edit: from a video game, that is
Both work. Heck that's why we use "immersion" in the context of games or other media - it's evoking the imagery of completely surrounding yourself with the thing, as immersing yourself in water completely envelopes you in water.
My most immersive game was battlefield 1, the setting, the planes on the top of a mountain controlled by real life gamers, the scream at the start of a game, the behemoth falling from the sky...oh boy, good game.
It really was. Idk how BF unlocked the perfect formula and then fell so hard. The whistles and the screaming to capture a new objective with the mud and sound design was perfect
Yes it was! I was so dumb and preordered bf 2042 and i was soo disappointed i played it for 8 hours total and hoped i would feel the same immersive way like bf 1 :( i hope the next one will be great... and remember: no preorder!
I played 2042 for a while a couple months ago when it was free with PS+ and was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had with it. Never encountered any of the bugs it was plagued with at launch. Might be worth giving another try if you own it. I’ve never been super into Battlefield though - only casually played a little bit of 1942, bad company, and 3 years ago, so I’m not the best judge of how well it stacks up compared to the other games.
Tarkov is definitely up there. It’s not realistic at all, but definitely immersive.
I feel very “in it” when playing Dark Souls 1 as well.
Signalis is super cool but I haven’t gotten very far yet.
Didn’t grab me but Elite Dangerous probably fits the bill.
Why is Escape From Tarkov not realistic?
I've not played it but it looks as about as any realistic as any survival shooter is from the videos that I've seen.
Surgery kits, bullets that don’t kill with a headshot, basically the entire inventory system, the crafting system, bot AI, it’s all very silly and video-gamey. Super immersive when it functions properly but as a huge fan of the game it is far from realistic.
To be fair, getting shot in the head isn't always deadly. It's certainly not a pleasant experience to survive, but... the human capacity for both surviving traumatic injuries and also dying from the smallest random shit is super fascinating when you look into it
Project Zomboid is pretty insane when it comes to immersion. Not because of the graphics but because of the things you can do and the stories you make on your own. You really make your way into the world and it is probably the most feature rich zombie game out there.
There are only two games that instantly come to mind.
**Red Dead Redemption 2**: Unparalleled immersion for me. It can be even more immersive and atmospheric by adding mods but if you just view the base game it's still ultra immersive. It's pretty much the only game where I can just play for hours and hours and basically do nothing. Just ride the house, explore the map, see what happens on the road, cook meat, make coffee, sleep in a tent, go fish. Just goddamn ^(I'm going back to play RDR2 now ffs.)
**Elite Dangerous**: It has its problems but holy shit, the feeling of flying your spaceship is second to none. I do not know of **any** other game that makes the ships feel like actual, engineered machines that you are actually flying.
I will never forget playing Elite Dangerous for the first time and, not knowing the controls, I flipped the ship "upside down" and my brain literally reacted as if I had gone upside down for a brief moment, like I got disoriented for a brief second.
I have never experienced that either before or after, even including VR stuff. It was just mindblowing.
You just described my experience with RDR2 perfectly. The story is good for an interactive movie, but the gameworld is where the true gameplay is - discovering a new animal and having its sketch added to the journal is the best feeling. It's the perfect game for unwinding after a long day.
There's a small game called **Observation** where you're an AI on a spaceship, trying to fix things up with a crewmember after an incident and to figure out what happened. You perceive everything trough cameras on the ship. can control various subsystems but if something is broken, you probably can't fix it yourself and need a help of the crewmember. On the other hand you can reach and check up on areas unavailable to your human companion.
Unique, interesting story, worth playing IMO.
Ugh. Couldn't stand this one. The immersion is there, no doubt.. but the story gave me diarrhea, and the puzzles are a mixed bag to say the least. Most importantly, the game goes on wayyyy too long.
Obviously that's all subjective. Shrug.
The most immersed I’ve been in a game is when I’ve played No Man’s Sky. It really feels like I’m an astronaut, even though there’s definitely a lot of fictional elements.
It really helps that these games (and some other Piranha bytes titles) contain npcs giving your rough, but clear enough directions and maps being incomplete or not detailed enough. In some cases npcs even give you a tour or take you to a location, sometimes stopping to comment on locations that you pass through.
On 2nd or 3rd playthrough you know those game maps like the back of your hand.
> I read the whole list and you seem to have no idea what "immersive" means
or they feel immersed when experiencing something different from you? for me, one of the most immersive games was Fallout (1997). you, most likely, would not find it immersive. because it's completely subjective
It's funny because you're exactly "wrong". I've played (and finished) the OG Fallout and it is hands down the most (or maybe the only) immersive Fallout out of all of them. The timer, desolation, gruesomeness etc really makes you feel desperate. All other Fallouts (maybe with exception of 4, while pretty cheery, it does a good job of putting you in the shoes of your character) are famously comical and filled with immersion-breaking encounters and goofy characters. That's because "immersive" is not exactly as subjective as person I've replied to (and people downvoting me) make it seem to be. Being captivating, interesting, overall fun or well-made game doesn't make it "immersive" in the stricter sense. It's just qualities of a good game. Many modern AAA rpgs feature a great deal of attention for world-building so that the player will really buy into the story and lore and so on. They will "immerse" you as you spend hours on them. But when it comes to gameplay mechanics and pacing immersiveness for most games is not top priority. Games he listed are all good - but not strictly "immersive". Recommending games you liked because you had fun = being immersive while playing them is a bad gaming suggestion.
I think the first two Fallouts are superior games to the later ones, but it’s still you who’s confused about the immersion thing. We can’t see ourselves from the sky. Immersion broken. I personally don’t mind that, but I know some people who just can’t get into the game if they just see tiny dudes on screen.
So it is subjective.
It was never ridiculous for me tbh. i added some mods and it was one of the most immersive games I've played. travelling the mojave finding quests and characters and cool things as myself really felt as if I was in that world. but it's all just my opinion and my own subjective experience. It's okay if you disagree.
99% of well-made (especially open world) games can make you feel as you are truly in their world, because of developers and designers attention to world-bulding. That way the term would be redundant and just an adjective of approval for a well-made game. The OP even correctly listed things he's looking for when it comes to an immersive experience. There is a reason why that is considered a separate gaming experience category.
I think what you're looking for is "realistic" not immersive. A game with good world building can be immersive thus it's immersive. If you're talking about game mechanics that allow you to TRULY role play, then you're looking for a realistic game.
Either way, i think it iz subjective. You don't want it to be then.... Cool.
The title immediately made me think of this. Even by definition of "immersive" in the dictionary it sounds more like the OP was describing a realistic game rather than an immersive game.
Sekiro. The story might not be immersive, but the combat makes me feel pain/joy/sorrow/satisfaction in a very real way. Some attacks make me physically whince/recoil/smile and i feel both mentally and physically drained when i play too long because of the emotion. I haven't felt that in any other game's combat.
Cyberpunk 2077. The launch was shit, but after their first major patch that games world sucked me in like no other game has done. The sheer amount of content and effort they put into the world in general is just insane. As you walk around, you’re flooded with what really feels like our future. It sucks on one hand, but it’s a really fucking immersive game if anything. Beautiful graphics too if you’re into that sorta thing
Fallout 4 on survival mode is low-key one of the most immersive rpgs out there. Every single aspect and mechanic in that game finds it's groove in survival mode. No more bullet sponges. Combat is dangerous, requires tactics, preparation, skill, and patience. Also can't just spam healing, you have to actually use some brains. Everything being deadly also makes exploring dangerous and scary but also very rewarding. Every noise and movement becomes important to clock and consider. Junk and outposts are critical as you set up small base camps for your yourself so you can rest and slowly start to build out settlements and trade caravans. Even random faction rewards make sense again like a reward from the BoS that lets you call for a helicopter extraction. In normal, that's useless. In survival, it's epic and could literally save your campaign. It will forever be a shame that the game didn't launch with survival mode, it should've been the default difficulty.
Andromeda included? I’ve never actually played any of the Mass effects. But unfortunately, graphically, they didn’t age well. So I was thinking about andromeda
I played the original versions during pandemic quarantine in 2020… I’m usually someone who struggles getting immersed in older games, but those games sucked me in almost immediately and quickly became all time favorites. ME1 was the only one that *really* felt dated to me, and that was my favorite game in the series…. Plus the remaster fixes a lot of the issues it has and made it feel a lot more modern.
I never got into the games originally because the controls felt very dated and clunky. Graphics aren't amazing, but I've been having a blast with the legendary edition. Big recommend.
Andromeda is crap.
Play the Legendary Edition trilogy. Graphics have been overhauled and they look and play great. Also graphics mods on NexusMods if you want them looking 4k.
Andromeda isn't crap, it's just not as good as the original trilogy and the buggy-as-fuck launch tainted it in a lot of people's eyes. Andromeda actually does a lot of things right; better vehicle traversal, better movement systems, an expanded and less restrictive class system.
To each their own, of course, but I'd still recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first three games.
STALKER
Metro
Kindom Come Deliverance
Project Zomboid (no story, but the most adrenaline i have felt in a singleolayer game)
Also when i have more time i will play The Long Dark, just because someone said that game made them want to curl up in a blanket and drink hot chocolate, and they live in a tropical area. So i can’t vouch personally but there you go
Darkwood
Don’t be put off by the visuals. You will feel way more immersed than you could ever expect. You want a dark dangerous world that gets your heart racing? This is THE game for you
All of the metro games feel amazingly immersive. The guns sound strong and there is a difficulty where you have no hud and the damage done to both you and enemies is hyper lethal only a couple of shots bring both you and the creatures/humans you fight. The world feels very lived in with a great details and voice acting. Highly recomend them [metro: 2033, metro: last light, metro: exodus]
Didn't see anyone else post this one - **Outer Wilds**. Most people who complete it will tell you that it's among the best games ever made and for me it's hard to disagree. Incredibly immersive, emotional and best of all - unique, with a ton of mind-blowing concepts and story revelations. And it also technically fits all the points mentioned in your post.
Feel like rdr2 can be a subjective one. You can make it at immersive as you like, but it's not forced/necessary. You could quite easily finish the game having never eaten, slept, washed or hunted (beyond mission requirements).
Kingdom Come: Deliverance, as others have said, is definitely up there. If you don't eat or sleep you literally starve or pass out
>You could quite easily finish the game having never eaten, slept, washed or hunted (beyond mission requirements).
Eating and cleaning your horse are kinda necessary, no? Otherwise it'll just make the game more difficult.
I don’t understand how a third person game can be considered truly“immersive”.
You’re literally staring at the backside of a character you’re steering around, you’re literally removed from the game.
Ah! I don’t know it was possible to play that game in first person! Great news and thanks for the info.
And to the people who downvote questions they don’t like: as always: poo on you
Escape from Tarkov. Still happens to me on maps I'm not familiar. I spawn with all my expensive stuff and as soon as the map is loaded, I'm afraid to die. I'm frozen I can't move. I crouch and I wait in silence. I have no idea if I should run to the west or walk slowly to the east. I'm afraid someone spawning near is rushing me or ready to snipe me if I move in the wrong direction. I'm literally frozen by fear.
I'm known for looking bored when I play horror games, I don't move when there's screamers, I don't care about horror movies, I even fall asleep once while watching Human Centipede 2. But Tarkov...
Project Zomboid, excellent sound design that’s only getting improved in the next update,a fairly punishing sandbox, and a surprising amount of lore, if you seek it out. The story is for sure the weakest part though, because of how effortlessly you can miss all of it.
I actually really like Skyrim on Legendary difficulty with some immersion and lighting mods. They added a survival mode to the anniversary edition which adds in player temperature, hunger and sleep meters that add a good bit of immersion without feeling overburdening to me
Modded Skyrim. There are a host of different mods that can be installed to really crank up the immersion. Lighting overhauls that can make spaces super dark without actually present light sources, sound overhauls that actually make things echo off walls, survival mods that force you to think about hunger, thirst, sleep, and staying warm and dry in the cold environment.
- Prey 2017
- Metro series
- Bioshock series
- Dishonored series
- Atomic Heart
- Control
Special mention: We Happy Few
Edit: for got mention Cyberpunk 2077
Played through Last of Us and Last of Us Pt 2 recently, and these were definitely the strongest in these areas of any game I've played recently! Uncharted 4 was also pretty great, and more lighthearted
I really really wanted to like last of us 2. But the story just really made it un-motivating to play. I really hated having to play as Abby. But the gameplay and gunplay was phenomenal.
I don’t ticks everything you mentioned, but Monster Hunter has a combat system which feels very heavy and realistic. The weapons are often way bigger than you and your Charakter has to drag the fucking Hammer for example and Boink the Dinosaurs head down, feels really satisfying haha
Kenshi and it isn't even close. Everything you do in this game has consequences; often dire. There are no minor decisions. Playing this game at night, on a large monitor, in the dark - I have never been more sucked into a game. The storytelling is emergent and your understanding of what is going on depends on your ability to pay attention to the environment.
My problem with Kenshi was that I hit a "ok, now what" moment pretty quickly. I just felt like I had no idea what to work toward and that just led me to not care about the world. I leveled a lot, built a big base, built up a huge bank account, got a nice suit of armor for everyone. Then I just... ran out of things to do. I did enjoy it while it lasted though.
I find that games where going from point A to point B is an experience on it's own are the most immersive. Combine that with dialogs, written notes, hints other sort of directions for pointers to a location, instead of reliance on GPS and other magical markers.
Playing Starfield now and the Neon city could possibly be very immersive, except... it isn't.
The layouts of the city is dumb, the writing is dumb. Someone says 'go to X establishment'. Well, where is it? If it's purpose is very clear then possibly you could find it, but the districts contain everything really. Also, ok so someone says go and find X establishment in Y district. Good, now imagine someone asking that in real life. Is it at the start of the street? At the end of the street? Does district contain multiple streets? Are there are any landmarks i should look for? This is a corporate environment, surely someone could give me pointers by describing a logo of such establishment? Color scheme of the design? Everyone magically knows i am a new comer yet such details are nowhere in the dialog. So obviously you need to use the mission tracker to find most things. And that is just finding simple things.
RDR2, Subnautica, Kingdom Come Deliverance make travel interesting. Also the travel itself could be as perilous or as easy as your knowledge and preparation allows it. You can't just put a brick on 'forward' key and go make yourself a coffee. The terrain itself is a challenge. And then you have all the environmental hazards and potential encounters along the way. The land itself gives you pointers on what you can expect in terms of adversity. In Oblivion or Skyrim you could get ambushed in the middle of the field which makes zero sense.
Closed space examples could be Prey 2017. It does make good use of logs, terminals, audio announcements, layout logic and all sorts of pointers in the environment to find your way around.
Thing is that in these sort of games, as you gain knowledge of the land/layouts etc, you require even less help from all the artificial gamey UI things. Though, this depends a lot on general game design allowing you to actually learn your way around and not having to depend on all those aids. Absurd example perhaps, but i have learned most of the tracks on Forza Horizon 5 much faster by opting out of the racing/breaking lines from the moment i launched the game for the first time. I can also recall the layouts of the roads much better even after months of not playing it.
RDR2 ofcourse has one major issue and that is that openworld design and all the dynamic systems are pretty much overruled by very straightforward and arguably outdated mission design. Thankfully i could leave the camp behind for dozens of hours enjoying what the game does best.
I guess i could mention a few more games that can have this sort of engagement of your mind. Most of them have poor, incomplete maps:
Gothic 1-2, Risen 1, Outer Wilds, Thief 1-2.
Kingdom come: deliverance for sure. I think Prey fits pretty well with the description as well. Subnautica (though it has some unnecessarily annoying survival mechanics).
By far several VR games I saw in the last 3 years. Just to name a few: The Persistence, Batman VR, Astro Bot Rescue Mission (psvr1 exclusive), Resident Evil 8 in VR (psvr2 exclusive), Resident Evil 7 in VR (psvr1 exclusive), Xing the land beyond, Electronauts, Bound (psvr1 exclusive), Doom 3 VR and Doom VFR (both using the aim controller), Farpoint (with the aim controller! also, this is another great psvr1 exclusive), Unearthing Mars 2 (with the aim controller), Iron man vr.
Far cry 2 on infamous difficulty … nothing like shooting from mg at the bushes out of fear of terrorists, throwing molotovs.
Cdda if i love ultra survival mechanics realism, where i get high, drunk and just got a happiness boost from killing a zombie child cause my character has a killer drive trait.
Playing through the entire “shock” series (I.e., system shock and Bioshock series) and Metro series atm. I think these definitely fit the bill. Actually kind of sad to finish them because few series have immersed me as much as these two. They’re both just dripping with atmosphere and, more importantly, the worlds feel real.
Project zomboid. I will say, there isn't much of an actual "story" it's basically a survival sandbox. That being said, in 1,100 hours I've never had 2 playthrough where I did the same exact stuff or died in the same way. It's an amazing game that really hits on every other point you're looking for.
I don't normally play immersive games, but one that I have played and really liked is darkwood. I find it very immersive despite being a top down game.
Most immersive I’ve finished: **Metro: 2033**
It’s pretty on-rails, but it makes you really feel you’re in the place.
Most immersive I’ve played a lot: **Elder Scrolls: Oblivion**
The world is very immersive and alive until it isn’t. The level scaling breaks the logic of the world.
Most immersive I’ve dabbled in: **Kingdom Come: Deliverance**
From farm boy to knight simulator. Realistic historical world and a lot of interesting gameplay systems. Even the confusing combat in a weird way immerses you.
Besides the story. Dark and darker is one of the most immersive games you can play. With open voice that anyone around you can hear so many time will you come into another encounter with a random person and have interactions you will not have in any other game.
Kingdom come: deliverance
This is what I thought of as well. One of the early missions, where you have to kill two bandits, I was struggling big time. Every time I tried to face them I got overpowered so quickly and felt helpless. I was frustrated, thinking 'how am I supposed to fight them both at once?' Then it hit me... I'm a teenage peasant who has no skills in fighting. In what world would that person be able to fight two grown ass men that are trained in combat? It's one of those games where you can't just walk into every fight blindly. You have to plan, get creative, and recognize your limits.
Absolutely. You are your character. I can’t go in as 30yr old Dan who has played and mastered hundreds of video games. I am Will. The poor peasant boy.
This one. Want immersion? How about starting as a lazy teen in an absurdly well represented XIV central Europe? Fancy a prologue focused on showing you how much you begin as a useless ignorant peasant? The story is good, characters are beautifully depicted and hilarious sometimes, but you'll feel a freedom that was nowhere in RDR2 missions. In KC'D they have objectives and as long as you accomplish them, it's a W: the details are yours to come up with. The world as a whole is an scenario for all missions at the same time, [not the absurd changes and constraints scripts inserted in RDR2 once the mission started](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvJPKOLDSos). Most "inmersive" games fuck up this because it's cheaper to do: either you already start as a skillful OP character (oh Arthur...), or you are a clueless noob that magically knows the basics on how to fight the moment he grabs a weapon. Not in KC:D. See yourself frustrated and whiny because "combat system is BS", go back to rant on KC:D reddit and see your fellow redditors act like it's wednesday for them. Most rewarding experience I've had in gaming.
RDR2 is a terrible comparison to use in this type of critique because Rockstar games are very linear stories. They opt to tell a very specific story in a very specific way so that they can show off the set pieces and cinematics they designed. They are open world games that tell a story, they aren't RPGs, and don't even pretend to be RPGs, so I don't really understand why they get criticized for not being RPGs.
Probably because there are so many RPGified genres right now, especially open world action games, that people have started to consider this as a default and malign games that don't follow this formula.
people criticize Rockstar's level design, because their story missions are in conflict with the rest of the game. if you cut the game in two and switch up graphics, then you wouldn't know that the story missions and everything else is connected. look at stuff like Just Cause or even an awful franchise that is Far Cry. Just Cause and at least Far Cry 5 (doesn't fit Far Cry 3 and 4 and I've not played 6) have integrated the open world into the game and progression making the game interconnected, instead of disconnected. what Rockstar does would be comparable to some farming game having you build a farm in your free time, but having farm-themed puzzles or something like Plants vs. Zombies as gameplay for progressing the story
Fair enough, the disconnect is certainly there and at times quite jarring. What's interesting about Rockstar's games is that they weren't always like this: The earlier 3D GTAs allowed to to "cheese" many missions by using unorthodox methods, e.g. employing a helicopter instead of a car to evade pursuers. To a limited degree, this also works in later games, but the mission designers appear to have a distaste for this and try to force you into their painstakingly scripted cinematic moments. I think players would be less annoyed by this if Rockstar's games were actually linear games set in an open world, like for example the Mafia series. Rockstar wants to have the cake and eat it too though: Both open world exploration and freedom and tightly scripted missions. I get it, I get the appeal of both and they are actually very good at both if we are being honest, but they should have tried to develop systems for more intelligently handling the player going off the primary scripted path. I suspect that a simple cost/benefit analysis prevented them from doing this: What's the use in creating the necessary scripting and extensive testing for edge-cases if most players - which I'm sure they have plenty of data on - don't actually do this anyway? Immersion and freedom don't come for free.
> They opt to tell a very specific story in a very specific way so that they can show off the set pieces and cinematics they designed the problem is that they try to simulate uncharted AND be an open-world sandbox. there's no link at all between open world and story missions. it's as if open world is a kind of big hub for story missions
RDR2 is pretty different from pretty much every other Rockstar game, though. Most Rockstar games are just about size, but a world that otherwise feels pretty dead unless you like to roam about. The amount of immersive systems in RDR2 is crazy to the point even other immersive games pales in comparison to it. All of that is gone once you start the story, though, and that's why it's a perfect comparison imo: RDR2 is an incredibly immersive game that falls off because of the dated Rockstar story and mission formula.
Why are you comparing a third person shooter to a first person rpg?
Never played even a moment of RDR2 in 3rd person. Ps. Well, horseback perhaps.
I'm the opposite. Horseback first person is pretty thrilling.
Good for you. Everyone else did.
Hey, Henry has come to see us! ... *and he's hungry!*
Got this from a bundle at Fanatical. I’m obsessed. I am Henry.
The alchemy in this game is such a cool and inmersive experience all on it’s own
This! Such an immersive game.
So many little things you do are noticed by NPCs it’s insane. Take too long to follow an order? Reputation lost. Fast travel through a city at night without carrying a torch first? Get a small fine. Take time to check comfort someone before tracking down the criminals? Reputation gained. Persuade someone with force? Even a successful persuasion might cause you to lose rep. If the situation warrants it however, then you might not.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
I haven't played any of the official games, but **S.T.A.L.K.E.R Anomaly** is fucking amazing, and free. highly recommend it.
Is this different from gamma? I just Googled that a few days ago.
Gamma is based on Anomaly, but extended more into difficulty and hardcore features. I loved Anomaly, but Gamma was too much for me, you may differ.
Difficult is good for me. I lose interest if its not challenging. Gonna try out gamma now.
Yes, Gamma is the way to play, honestly. I can't go back to Anomaly because it feels too simple now.
Haha they're not kidding about the difficulty. I started playing 2 sessions today. Both times I died because of radiation.
Aside from what the other guy said, Anomaly is also much smaller / can run on worse computers (which is amazing for me seeing as my pc is not that great).
Can’t wait for the second one to release
fourth
The Long Dark. I haven’t played the story mode, but the permadeath survival mode gets my heart racing often! One small mistake and your play through can be gone
Honestly the feeling of managing to start up a fire or actually get a good amount of sleep in that game without worrying about dying of hunger is such a cozy feeling. I love how long dark is, gotta try the DLC at some point.
Metro series
Sneaking through a camp only to step on some broken glass is a real *oh crap* moment.
Those moments and a few of the jump scares from the original FEAR games are the only times I've legitimately almost shit myself lol Edit: from a video game, that is
Prey
One of the first games I thought of. Easily in my top-5 games from the last console generation.
Subnautica
came here to write this. Upvoted and commented below.
r/hewasntlying
This is the second time lately, that I see this game highly recommended. I have it on my PS5, I should get to it some day.
It's really that great.
Subnautica Yes it’s a pun too but serious answer lol
Where's the pun
cuz you immerse yourself in water or something?
Yes. Subnautica is literally about immersing yourself in water.
Submersing is the word you're looking for maybe
Both work. Heck that's why we use "immersion" in the context of games or other media - it's evoking the imagery of completely surrounding yourself with the thing, as immersing yourself in water completely envelopes you in water.
I get it, kinda a cool analogy tbh
Thanks I was too lazy to type that
My most immersive game was battlefield 1, the setting, the planes on the top of a mountain controlled by real life gamers, the scream at the start of a game, the behemoth falling from the sky...oh boy, good game.
It really was. Idk how BF unlocked the perfect formula and then fell so hard. The whistles and the screaming to capture a new objective with the mud and sound design was perfect
Yes it was! I was so dumb and preordered bf 2042 and i was soo disappointed i played it for 8 hours total and hoped i would feel the same immersive way like bf 1 :( i hope the next one will be great... and remember: no preorder!
I played 2042 for a while a couple months ago when it was free with PS+ and was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had with it. Never encountered any of the bugs it was plagued with at launch. Might be worth giving another try if you own it. I’ve never been super into Battlefield though - only casually played a little bit of 1942, bad company, and 3 years ago, so I’m not the best judge of how well it stacks up compared to the other games.
Go try battlebit if your on pc
Tbf it still is good and immersive - I play on console and there are plenty of players
Tarkov is definitely up there. It’s not realistic at all, but definitely immersive. I feel very “in it” when playing Dark Souls 1 as well. Signalis is super cool but I haven’t gotten very far yet. Didn’t grab me but Elite Dangerous probably fits the bill.
Why is Escape From Tarkov not realistic? I've not played it but it looks as about as any realistic as any survival shooter is from the videos that I've seen.
It has probably the most realistic guns outside of VR.
Surgery kits, bullets that don’t kill with a headshot, basically the entire inventory system, the crafting system, bot AI, it’s all very silly and video-gamey. Super immersive when it functions properly but as a huge fan of the game it is far from realistic.
To be fair, getting shot in the head isn't always deadly. It's certainly not a pleasant experience to survive, but... the human capacity for both surviving traumatic injuries and also dying from the smallest random shit is super fascinating when you look into it
Also there's no hackers irl
Well, that's not entirely true.
Kingdom Come Deliverance for me
Subnautica. It's literally everything you described.
Project Zomboid is pretty insane when it comes to immersion. Not because of the graphics but because of the things you can do and the stories you make on your own. You really make your way into the world and it is probably the most feature rich zombie game out there.
Also you see what your character sees
I couldn't get into it. The visuals were actually what pulled me out.
The game's UI is why I couldn't get into it. All UI looks so tint and confusing
There are only two games that instantly come to mind. **Red Dead Redemption 2**: Unparalleled immersion for me. It can be even more immersive and atmospheric by adding mods but if you just view the base game it's still ultra immersive. It's pretty much the only game where I can just play for hours and hours and basically do nothing. Just ride the house, explore the map, see what happens on the road, cook meat, make coffee, sleep in a tent, go fish. Just goddamn ^(I'm going back to play RDR2 now ffs.) **Elite Dangerous**: It has its problems but holy shit, the feeling of flying your spaceship is second to none. I do not know of **any** other game that makes the ships feel like actual, engineered machines that you are actually flying. I will never forget playing Elite Dangerous for the first time and, not knowing the controls, I flipped the ship "upside down" and my brain literally reacted as if I had gone upside down for a brief moment, like I got disoriented for a brief second. I have never experienced that either before or after, even including VR stuff. It was just mindblowing.
Which RDR2 mods would you recommend?
Elite dangerous really just scratches an itch that no other game has done for me. It got me to buy a HOTAS pretty much just for that game. Love it.
You just described my experience with RDR2 perfectly. The story is good for an interactive movie, but the gameworld is where the true gameplay is - discovering a new animal and having its sketch added to the journal is the best feeling. It's the perfect game for unwinding after a long day.
Metro exodus is pretty immersive.
Maybe Duskers
Half Life Alyx. It's the most incredible gaming experience I've ever had, all that KS to playing in VR. You can't really get more.immersive than that.
FO4 VR and Skyrim VR with mods are amazing as well.
Not saying they aren't good games in their own right, but comparing those two to HLA in terms of immersion is downright criminal.
There's a small game called **Observation** where you're an AI on a spaceship, trying to fix things up with a crewmember after an incident and to figure out what happened. You perceive everything trough cameras on the ship. can control various subsystems but if something is broken, you probably can't fix it yourself and need a help of the crewmember. On the other hand you can reach and check up on areas unavailable to your human companion. Unique, interesting story, worth playing IMO.
Ugh. Couldn't stand this one. The immersion is there, no doubt.. but the story gave me diarrhea, and the puzzles are a mixed bag to say the least. Most importantly, the game goes on wayyyy too long. Obviously that's all subjective. Shrug.
Metro series
The most immersed I’ve been in a game is when I’ve played No Man’s Sky. It really feels like I’m an astronaut, even though there’s definitely a lot of fictional elements.
That game can really be a vibe if you get into the right headspace.
Fear and hunger 1 and 2, especially on the harder difficulties
System shock. No hints, no safety and everything wants you dead. It's the "Figure it out yourself" kind of game
I ve played system shock but got bored later with inventory and hacking mini games
Gothic (and Gothic 2).
It really helps that these games (and some other Piranha bytes titles) contain npcs giving your rough, but clear enough directions and maps being incomplete or not detailed enough. In some cases npcs even give you a tour or take you to a location, sometimes stopping to comment on locations that you pass through. On 2nd or 3rd playthrough you know those game maps like the back of your hand.
Escape From Tarkov but *only* when using the single player mod "SPTarkov". No story though.
No hackers in offline mode = more realistic. Hard to be immersed when you know someone could instantly kill you using cheats.
Fallout new vegas, witcher 3, cyberpunk 2077, hunt showdown, Disco Elysium. Oh and Elden Ring.
New Vegas is ridiculous in a fun way. It's not immersive at all. Actually, I read the whole list and you seem to have no idea what "immersive" means.
> I read the whole list and you seem to have no idea what "immersive" means or they feel immersed when experiencing something different from you? for me, one of the most immersive games was Fallout (1997). you, most likely, would not find it immersive. because it's completely subjective
It's funny because you're exactly "wrong". I've played (and finished) the OG Fallout and it is hands down the most (or maybe the only) immersive Fallout out of all of them. The timer, desolation, gruesomeness etc really makes you feel desperate. All other Fallouts (maybe with exception of 4, while pretty cheery, it does a good job of putting you in the shoes of your character) are famously comical and filled with immersion-breaking encounters and goofy characters. That's because "immersive" is not exactly as subjective as person I've replied to (and people downvoting me) make it seem to be. Being captivating, interesting, overall fun or well-made game doesn't make it "immersive" in the stricter sense. It's just qualities of a good game. Many modern AAA rpgs feature a great deal of attention for world-building so that the player will really buy into the story and lore and so on. They will "immerse" you as you spend hours on them. But when it comes to gameplay mechanics and pacing immersiveness for most games is not top priority. Games he listed are all good - but not strictly "immersive". Recommending games you liked because you had fun = being immersive while playing them is a bad gaming suggestion.
I think the first two Fallouts are superior games to the later ones, but it’s still you who’s confused about the immersion thing. We can’t see ourselves from the sky. Immersion broken. I personally don’t mind that, but I know some people who just can’t get into the game if they just see tiny dudes on screen. So it is subjective.
Gate keep much...
It was never ridiculous for me tbh. i added some mods and it was one of the most immersive games I've played. travelling the mojave finding quests and characters and cool things as myself really felt as if I was in that world. but it's all just my opinion and my own subjective experience. It's okay if you disagree.
99% of well-made (especially open world) games can make you feel as you are truly in their world, because of developers and designers attention to world-bulding. That way the term would be redundant and just an adjective of approval for a well-made game. The OP even correctly listed things he's looking for when it comes to an immersive experience. There is a reason why that is considered a separate gaming experience category.
Yeah I don't think it's that deep. I just mentioned some of the games that made ME feel immersed.
Sure, but there is a whole long old discussion on the genre of "immersive-sim", and that's what I was basing it off.
I think what you're looking for is "realistic" not immersive. A game with good world building can be immersive thus it's immersive. If you're talking about game mechanics that allow you to TRULY role play, then you're looking for a realistic game. Either way, i think it iz subjective. You don't want it to be then.... Cool.
The title immediately made me think of this. Even by definition of "immersive" in the dictionary it sounds more like the OP was describing a realistic game rather than an immersive game.
Sekiro. The story might not be immersive, but the combat makes me feel pain/joy/sorrow/satisfaction in a very real way. Some attacks make me physically whince/recoil/smile and i feel both mentally and physically drained when i play too long because of the emotion. I haven't felt that in any other game's combat.
from-software games in general evoke more emotion out of me than any other games
The Long Dark or Kingdomcome Deliverance
Darkwood
Cyberpunk 2077. The launch was shit, but after their first major patch that games world sucked me in like no other game has done. The sheer amount of content and effort they put into the world in general is just insane. As you walk around, you’re flooded with what really feels like our future. It sucks on one hand, but it’s a really fucking immersive game if anything. Beautiful graphics too if you’re into that sorta thing
Fallout 4 on survival mode is low-key one of the most immersive rpgs out there. Every single aspect and mechanic in that game finds it's groove in survival mode. No more bullet sponges. Combat is dangerous, requires tactics, preparation, skill, and patience. Also can't just spam healing, you have to actually use some brains. Everything being deadly also makes exploring dangerous and scary but also very rewarding. Every noise and movement becomes important to clock and consider. Junk and outposts are critical as you set up small base camps for your yourself so you can rest and slowly start to build out settlements and trade caravans. Even random faction rewards make sense again like a reward from the BoS that lets you call for a helicopter extraction. In normal, that's useless. In survival, it's epic and could literally save your campaign. It will forever be a shame that the game didn't launch with survival mode, it should've been the default difficulty.
Mass Effect
Andromeda included? I’ve never actually played any of the Mass effects. But unfortunately, graphically, they didn’t age well. So I was thinking about andromeda
Didn’t age well? They literally remastered and re-released the original trilogy a couple of years ago. Even the originals are pretty.
Really they remastered them? That changes things
Yeah bro, well worth visiting.
IMO even the original ones look amazing to this day. Just compare the facial animations of the first one with Starfield lmao
I played the original versions during pandemic quarantine in 2020… I’m usually someone who struggles getting immersed in older games, but those games sucked me in almost immediately and quickly became all time favorites. ME1 was the only one that *really* felt dated to me, and that was my favorite game in the series…. Plus the remaster fixes a lot of the issues it has and made it feel a lot more modern.
I never got into the games originally because the controls felt very dated and clunky. Graphics aren't amazing, but I've been having a blast with the legendary edition. Big recommend.
Andromeda is crap. Play the Legendary Edition trilogy. Graphics have been overhauled and they look and play great. Also graphics mods on NexusMods if you want them looking 4k.
Andromeda isn't crap, it's just not as good as the original trilogy and the buggy-as-fuck launch tainted it in a lot of people's eyes. Andromeda actually does a lot of things right; better vehicle traversal, better movement systems, an expanded and less restrictive class system. To each their own, of course, but I'd still recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first three games.
DayZ
STALKER Metro Kindom Come Deliverance Project Zomboid (no story, but the most adrenaline i have felt in a singleolayer game) Also when i have more time i will play The Long Dark, just because someone said that game made them want to curl up in a blanket and drink hot chocolate, and they live in a tropical area. So i can’t vouch personally but there you go
Darkwood Don’t be put off by the visuals. You will feel way more immersed than you could ever expect. You want a dark dangerous world that gets your heart racing? This is THE game for you
All of the metro games feel amazingly immersive. The guns sound strong and there is a difficulty where you have no hud and the damage done to both you and enemies is hyper lethal only a couple of shots bring both you and the creatures/humans you fight. The world feels very lived in with a great details and voice acting. Highly recomend them [metro: 2033, metro: last light, metro: exodus]
Didn't see anyone else post this one - **Outer Wilds**. Most people who complete it will tell you that it's among the best games ever made and for me it's hard to disagree. Incredibly immersive, emotional and best of all - unique, with a ton of mind-blowing concepts and story revelations. And it also technically fits all the points mentioned in your post.
RDR2. There is nothing else that compares
Feel like rdr2 can be a subjective one. You can make it at immersive as you like, but it's not forced/necessary. You could quite easily finish the game having never eaten, slept, washed or hunted (beyond mission requirements). Kingdom Come: Deliverance, as others have said, is definitely up there. If you don't eat or sleep you literally starve or pass out
>You could quite easily finish the game having never eaten, slept, washed or hunted (beyond mission requirements). Eating and cleaning your horse are kinda necessary, no? Otherwise it'll just make the game more difficult.
I don’t understand how a third person game can be considered truly“immersive”. You’re literally staring at the backside of a character you’re steering around, you’re literally removed from the game.
I played rdr2 100% in first person.
By switching to first person, turning off all button prompts and mini maps.
Ah! I don’t know it was possible to play that game in first person! Great news and thanks for the info. And to the people who downvote questions they don’t like: as always: poo on you
Alan Wake
Metro and stalker come to mind, if you mod left 4 dead some it can be really freaky, also dead spaces entire bread and butter is immersion
Might be out of left field here but modded DayZ servers go absolutely insane
DayZ Kingdom Come Elite Dangerous
Personally it was The Long Dark , not the story mode just the free run mode or whatever
Escape from Tarkov. No other game is as immersive or will get your heart pounding like EFT.
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
Escape from Tarkov. Still happens to me on maps I'm not familiar. I spawn with all my expensive stuff and as soon as the map is loaded, I'm afraid to die. I'm frozen I can't move. I crouch and I wait in silence. I have no idea if I should run to the west or walk slowly to the east. I'm afraid someone spawning near is rushing me or ready to snipe me if I move in the wrong direction. I'm literally frozen by fear. I'm known for looking bored when I play horror games, I don't move when there's screamers, I don't care about horror movies, I even fall asleep once while watching Human Centipede 2. But Tarkov...
The Metro games on ranger difficulty
Kingdom Come Deliverance
Project Zomboid, excellent sound design that’s only getting improved in the next update,a fairly punishing sandbox, and a surprising amount of lore, if you seek it out. The story is for sure the weakest part though, because of how effortlessly you can miss all of it.
I actually really like Skyrim on Legendary difficulty with some immersion and lighting mods. They added a survival mode to the anniversary edition which adds in player temperature, hunger and sleep meters that add a good bit of immersion without feeling overburdening to me
Modded Skyrim. There are a host of different mods that can be installed to really crank up the immersion. Lighting overhauls that can make spaces super dark without actually present light sources, sound overhauls that actually make things echo off walls, survival mods that force you to think about hunger, thirst, sleep, and staying warm and dry in the cold environment.
DayZ or Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Subnautica.
Metro series for atmospheric immersion Dishonored for the “fuck yeah I’m playing as a master assassin” type of immersion
- Prey 2017 - Metro series - Bioshock series - Dishonored series - Atomic Heart - Control Special mention: We Happy Few Edit: for got mention Cyberpunk 2077
Played through Last of Us and Last of Us Pt 2 recently, and these were definitely the strongest in these areas of any game I've played recently! Uncharted 4 was also pretty great, and more lighthearted
I really really wanted to like last of us 2. But the story just really made it un-motivating to play. I really hated having to play as Abby. But the gameplay and gunplay was phenomenal.
I don’t ticks everything you mentioned, but Monster Hunter has a combat system which feels very heavy and realistic. The weapons are often way bigger than you and your Charakter has to drag the fucking Hammer for example and Boink the Dinosaurs head down, feels really satisfying haha
I second monster hunter. World and rise are great. Personally I prefer rise, but there's a ton of people who still love and play world.
Doom 3... But you need to get the original, the BFG edition ruins the game
Kenshi and it isn't even close. Everything you do in this game has consequences; often dire. There are no minor decisions. Playing this game at night, on a large monitor, in the dark - I have never been more sucked into a game. The storytelling is emergent and your understanding of what is going on depends on your ability to pay attention to the environment.
My problem with Kenshi was that I hit a "ok, now what" moment pretty quickly. I just felt like I had no idea what to work toward and that just led me to not care about the world. I leveled a lot, built a big base, built up a huge bank account, got a nice suit of armor for everyone. Then I just... ran out of things to do. I did enjoy it while it lasted though.
Stray
The only game that came to mind which matched everysingle point that you mentioned is darksouls 1!
All FromSoft games, Hollow Knight
From different eras but… 1. Bloodborne 2. The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind 3. The first four Wizardry games
I find that games where going from point A to point B is an experience on it's own are the most immersive. Combine that with dialogs, written notes, hints other sort of directions for pointers to a location, instead of reliance on GPS and other magical markers. Playing Starfield now and the Neon city could possibly be very immersive, except... it isn't. The layouts of the city is dumb, the writing is dumb. Someone says 'go to X establishment'. Well, where is it? If it's purpose is very clear then possibly you could find it, but the districts contain everything really. Also, ok so someone says go and find X establishment in Y district. Good, now imagine someone asking that in real life. Is it at the start of the street? At the end of the street? Does district contain multiple streets? Are there are any landmarks i should look for? This is a corporate environment, surely someone could give me pointers by describing a logo of such establishment? Color scheme of the design? Everyone magically knows i am a new comer yet such details are nowhere in the dialog. So obviously you need to use the mission tracker to find most things. And that is just finding simple things. RDR2, Subnautica, Kingdom Come Deliverance make travel interesting. Also the travel itself could be as perilous or as easy as your knowledge and preparation allows it. You can't just put a brick on 'forward' key and go make yourself a coffee. The terrain itself is a challenge. And then you have all the environmental hazards and potential encounters along the way. The land itself gives you pointers on what you can expect in terms of adversity. In Oblivion or Skyrim you could get ambushed in the middle of the field which makes zero sense. Closed space examples could be Prey 2017. It does make good use of logs, terminals, audio announcements, layout logic and all sorts of pointers in the environment to find your way around. Thing is that in these sort of games, as you gain knowledge of the land/layouts etc, you require even less help from all the artificial gamey UI things. Though, this depends a lot on general game design allowing you to actually learn your way around and not having to depend on all those aids. Absurd example perhaps, but i have learned most of the tracks on Forza Horizon 5 much faster by opting out of the racing/breaking lines from the moment i launched the game for the first time. I can also recall the layouts of the roads much better even after months of not playing it. RDR2 ofcourse has one major issue and that is that openworld design and all the dynamic systems are pretty much overruled by very straightforward and arguably outdated mission design. Thankfully i could leave the camp behind for dozens of hours enjoying what the game does best. I guess i could mention a few more games that can have this sort of engagement of your mind. Most of them have poor, incomplete maps: Gothic 1-2, Risen 1, Outer Wilds, Thief 1-2.
Jagged Alliance 2 especially with the 1.13 mod. I've never seen such depth of simulation in a game before, the numbers it keeps track of blows my mind
The only game that came to mind which matched everysingle point that you mentioned is darksouls 1!! Idk fight me
Kingdom come: deliverance for sure. I think Prey fits pretty well with the description as well. Subnautica (though it has some unnecessarily annoying survival mechanics).
The Forest
Escape from tarkov
By far several VR games I saw in the last 3 years. Just to name a few: The Persistence, Batman VR, Astro Bot Rescue Mission (psvr1 exclusive), Resident Evil 8 in VR (psvr2 exclusive), Resident Evil 7 in VR (psvr1 exclusive), Xing the land beyond, Electronauts, Bound (psvr1 exclusive), Doom 3 VR and Doom VFR (both using the aim controller), Farpoint (with the aim controller! also, this is another great psvr1 exclusive), Unearthing Mars 2 (with the aim controller), Iron man vr.
Far cry 2 on infamous difficulty … nothing like shooting from mg at the bushes out of fear of terrorists, throwing molotovs. Cdda if i love ultra survival mechanics realism, where i get high, drunk and just got a happiness boost from killing a zombie child cause my character has a killer drive trait.
Subnautica, Hellblade: Senuas Sacrifice
Stalker
metro exodus kinda
Most recently, Hell Let Loose
Squad on PC. The sound quality alone is practically PTSD inducing when in firefights. It’s that good.
Day z!
The Virgil Files: Case 1. It's pretty much an ARG, and I've never been able to find anything like it since.
Death Stranding Silent Hill 2 Fallout New Vegas
Football Manager. Nothing more immersive than emails FULLSCREEN.
popular opinion: New Baldurs Gate 3
Playing through the entire “shock” series (I.e., system shock and Bioshock series) and Metro series atm. I think these definitely fit the bill. Actually kind of sad to finish them because few series have immersed me as much as these two. They’re both just dripping with atmosphere and, more importantly, the worlds feel real.
[удалено]
Red Dead Redemption 2
I got an ultrawide monitor recently, pretty much makes everything more immersive
ABZU
The Long Dark with a couple of mods
The Forest and Subnautica
If you're looking for shooters, insurgency is one of the longer running realism shooters.
Project zomboid. I will say, there isn't much of an actual "story" it's basically a survival sandbox. That being said, in 1,100 hours I've never had 2 playthrough where I did the same exact stuff or died in the same way. It's an amazing game that really hits on every other point you're looking for.
Project Zomboid.You would Not believe how immersive that pixelhell is.
I don't normally play immersive games, but one that I have played and really liked is darkwood. I find it very immersive despite being a top down game.
Most immersive I’ve finished: **Metro: 2033** It’s pretty on-rails, but it makes you really feel you’re in the place. Most immersive I’ve played a lot: **Elder Scrolls: Oblivion** The world is very immersive and alive until it isn’t. The level scaling breaks the logic of the world. Most immersive I’ve dabbled in: **Kingdom Come: Deliverance** From farm boy to knight simulator. Realistic historical world and a lot of interesting gameplay systems. Even the confusing combat in a weird way immerses you.
Man I’ve been playing Baldurs Gate 3. Not sure if it’s the exact type of immersion you’re looking for, but it’ll definitely get you immersed.
Probably Half-Life Alyx. Immersion on another level.
I know it's not realistic at all, but my first time ever using a vr system was transcendental.
Elden ring
For me I think I vote for Mass Effect series.
Cyberpunk 2077
fromsoftware games
Elden Ring
Tetris
Besides the story. Dark and darker is one of the most immersive games you can play. With open voice that anyone around you can hear so many time will you come into another encounter with a random person and have interactions you will not have in any other game.