Poll: What Increases Immersion For You The Most?

[Patathatapon]

The title is fairly self explanatory, I'm just curious to see what other people say.

Honestly, for me (from most to least):

Gameplay
Soundtrack
Visuals


I may have forgotten some other factors so feel free to add some.

1.Gameplay
This wins in my books by default because it depends on how you control the game. It can be horrible controls, to terrific controls that will increase the immersion, depending on the genre. For Example, I'm one of the few people that actually liked AMY (though I've never played Amnesia or silent hill) despite its horrible controls, and camera view, because I actually felt scared and endangered.

2.Soundtrack
This barely beats visuals, because I've been immersed into ugly games before, but rarely have I been immersed into game with mediocre soundtracks. For Example, In the Pokemon mystery dungeon, I always cry at the ending due to the music that plays, now matter how many times i play, it always makes me tear up.

3.Visuals
As stated before, for me visuals don't matter so much, but they can assist in the immersion, whether it looks like A giant piece of crap, or a beautiful landscape. I don't really have examples for this one so I'll go with saying visuals aren't that immersing for me.

I'm well aware immersion goes by opinion, so name what you think, and try to accept others opinions.

EDIT #10000: GAHH fixed it!!!

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Hard to say. A combination of music, gameplay, gaming world, atmosphere and story.

 

[Ljs1121]

I love me some good background noise. That's why Fallout is so awesome to me.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Wait... so what does "immersion" mean for the purposes of this thread?

 

[Patathatapon]

Wait... so what does "immersion" mean for the purposes of this thread?

Say your playing, a game like Minecraft, and you're mining your way through a bunch of stone, but than, you finally find a diamond, you feel as happy as if you heard your child's first word, but then, after you mine the diamond out of the wall, lava comes pouring in, making your only immediate though being "oh fuck!" then you start running for your dear life like it was your own.

Like that. Not as in, you go into water. You feel like your part of the game, and you are your character. Get it now?

 

[Kahunaburger]

Wait... so what does "immersion" mean for the purposes of this thread?

Say your playing, a game like Minecraft, and you're mining your way through a bunch of stone, but than, you finally find a diamond, you feel as happy as if you heard your child's first word, but then, after you mine the diamond out of the wall, lava comes pouring in, making your only immediate though being "oh fuck!" then you start running for your dear life like it was your own.

Oh, so like investment in the game? Mechanics. Easily. Mincraft is the perfect case in point, as is Brogue.

 

[Vicarious Reality]

Voted for soundtrack because i love good mood setting by said
I just seem to remember soundtracks

 

[RedLister]

Voted for soundtrack but visuals and story also play an important part for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV2qBcLmhsY

Listening to this on a high up cliff looking out at the landscape and the sunset in divinity 2 Dragon Knight Saga....just made me stop and stare mezmerised (is that a correct word to use to be stunned into silence by tranquility?)


I have rushes during some fights when certain music plays. Like in fallout 3 deathclaw or a horde of ghouls coming at me i got a minigun and donning full power armour (go in big or go home) and this plays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-3PFcr-agQ

Heres an extra for the hell of it from Stalker Clear Sky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS1NiceTQ00

 

[skywolfblue]

A gameplay bug can ruin the experience faster then low graphics or droll music can. So gameplay for me.

 

[the abyss gazes also]

Story with gameplay being a close second. I get into the story and then sometimes when the gameplay fails it kicks me out.

 

[Wayneguard]

Sound goes a long way toward complete immersion for me. Though visuals do count for something, it's really the sound that seals it. For example, I can become equally immersed in the resident evil remake on the gamecube or resident evil 2 for ps1 (I hesitate to put the original RE because the voice acting... god the voice acting).

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

For me it`s a combination between all of them and i`m a sucker for little graphic details like objects being influenced by the player (grass, stuff that falls over, ...).
I liked the graphics and atmosphere of Rage but the gameworld at all was static. This pulls me out.
Sound is important too. Weak gunsounds in shooters are just bad. They can change the whole mood and can make a otherwise good game just meh.
I can`t really point it out because it`s almost everytime a combination. The most important thing is that nothing should be "not fitting" compared to the rest of the game. A detail that stands out really bad can pull you out of the whole game. The game doesn`t get bad because of that but everytime you play it you`ll see this/these specific flaw(s) and it just pulls you out of immersion.

 

[SpaceBat]

Great, fitting music is definitely one of the biggest factors of immersion for me. If you want an example, think of Bastion after you make that decision or just look at the entire MGS series. Without music, a lot of those heavy scenes that stick with you for a long time would be less effective (unless silence is the point, of course)

 

[Scrustle]

Gameplay. While both sound and visuals are important (moreso than they are usually given credit for) they are unnecessary if a game gets the gameplay just right. When the gameplay is designed so perfectly and you just get in to that "flow" then crappy visuals or sound don't matter. But they are important. Like for example sound is a big part of the immersion in games like Braid or Scott Pilgrim. Visuals are also important to the immersion factor of Scott Pilgrim, but also in something like Okami or El Shaddai. But gameplay is the clincher. Without gameplay that keeps you sufficiently engaged then even the most immersive sound and visuals will be nothing but bombastic and empty.

 

[xshadowscreamx]

the story and great gameplay to back it up. but you need all the elements to create one awesome experience of immersion...story, gameplay, sound(just as important as story). and character and even the setting....in fact ''setting'' could be on the poll,(fallout 3)

 

[Skorpyo]

For me, that answer may come as being a little bit... odd.

Whenever I play a game, I'm always looking for small ways that I can find an advantage. A corner the A.I. won't venture into, a corner that has a hit-box just the right size for me to deal damage from without being damaged, portions of the level geometry I can just barely see through where I can look for movement, odd ways to fool the A.I., etc.

When I can't take advantage of something the programmers overlooked, I get immersed very quickly. Max Payne 3 actually did a really good job of that.

 

[lunavixen]

Storyline is one of the biggest things for me, if a game can't appeal to me in terms of story (or have a specific reason for playing/specific appeal, like LittleBigPlanet's cutesy appeal with sackboy and childish appearance).

Gameplay can be a dealbreaker, games with absolutely terrible controls can really break you out of a good gaming streak, whereas games like Assassin's creed, where the control system and game flow stays constant and you don't have to really think about the controls, you can really get into the game.

The soundtrack is sort of important to immersion to me, a game where the soundtrack doesn't really match the scenario it's used in can really grate, but good soundtrack used appropriately (Beyond Good and Evil's soundtrack went really well with the game, as did Assassin's Creed, Final Fantasy, and Silent Hill among others) can really add to the atmosphere created by the game.

 

[automatron]

I quote that always stuck with me in regards to immersion:
"the best and most immersive soundtrack is one you barely notice"
I guess sound would be the most for immersion, as well as bad controls.
I can get over bad graphics in a game. Bad graphics and a bad looking world are too different things.
Gameplay is important of course, but I think sound can add so much to a game, and turn a good game into a great one.

 

[Contradiction]

Depends on the type of game and the type of immersion.
For real deep in game immersion I would have to say lore. Seeing as that's not an option I'd have to go with soundtrack. If you let it the soundtrack can make an experience

 

[Hawk eye1466]

Gameplay because as long as I can tell what I'm doing graphics don't mean a lot and as long as the soundtrack is appropriate and fits the mood if I do notice it it's usually because I like it.