Poll: What Increases Immersion For You The Most?

[Dr. Paine]

I really can't say, though if forced to choose, I'd say soundtrack wins by a very slim margin. While visuals and gameplay can be perfect, absolutely stunning things... it's the music that can push you from being impressed to really feeling the location (my example of choice there would be Metroid Prime's Phendrana Drifts theme, it just sounds like ice and cold). It's the music that can make you go from seeing how sad a scene is to shedding tears (I'll actually have to try this out at some point, but I'm firmly convinced that, say, the scene when you've cured the genophage in ME3 would lose a lot of impact without 'Vigil').


That said, another big make-or-break for immersion (in my books) is voice acting, if the game has any. If the voice acting is crap, then the game is dead in the water. Writing, as others have said, is another big factor... if you have clumsy or painfully cliche dialogue, it will take me right out of the game.

So yeah, that's my take on things. It's interesting to see how many others feel the same.

 

[malestrithe]

Well made characters. If I can't give two shits about some character, preferably the one I'm playing, I can't play the game to its end. This is why I can't get into Western RPGs. They do not provide me a reason to keep playing.

 

[Poetic Nova]

While I chose gameplay, I also want to ad atmosphere. Games like Metro 2033 did it right on both fronts.

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

Well. Stories, gameplay, characters and setting are what really make a game immersive for me. But characters makes a game more immersive.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

The game has to be challenging enough for me to forget its a game. When I am thinking about strategies to get past a really hard part I forget its a game. Stealth missions in non stealth games also work.

 

[Flames66]

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

I will agree with you there. Having background noise makes it feel like the world isn't just revolving around you, like there are other battles going on.

For me, I must be able to relate to the character. That usually means making the character into an extension of myself.

 

[RustlessPotato]

For me it's ambient sounds. Specially when you'r playing with headsets. Just an example, but in Condemned: Criminal Origins (it's a survival horror game focused on melee combat, really great), you hear your enemies walking on the floors above you if you're in a building for example. Or in Dead Space you'd hear something metallic falling.

Then it's the little details in the world. People talking to eachother and stuff like that. Best example I can give you is the wildlife in Red Dead Redemption.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I really couldn't say. The fact that I'm not aware of it is gets me immersed in the first place.

I could only comment on what pulls me out of my immersion.

 

[Dragoon]

I really need a good mix of all of them that fit together to get immersed. If a game had really pretty visuals and awesome gameplay but a soundtrack that just didn't fit I just would not be able to be immersed in the game.

 

[Dandark]

I usaully need a combination of things and they have to work well together rather than any one thing in particular. However I do usaully find that a good soundtrack can really get me into the mood of things, visuals being good can help but usaully the soundtrack and gameplay are what gets me.

For an example of soundtrack making me really like something, there is Blazblue and Asuras wrath.

An example of gameplay would be Prototype and it's sequel.

 

[Epona]

Immersion is just a buzz word that has as many definitions as people who post about it. In my opinion immersion exists when you are so into a game that you block out the world. I think it has more to do with your surroundings than it does the game.

Who can get immersed in anything when you have to change diapers, cook lunch, etc..? It's not the game that causes immersion, it's the environment you are playing in. Also, if a game immerses you today, doesn't mean it will tomorrow and it's not the game that changes from day to day.

 

[Don Savik]

Sound design and aethetics are a big one for me. I think you should've had "sound" instead of "music" as a poll option to be honest as one encompasses the other. Gameplay helps, but I think gameplay is only an issue if the game itself is too "gamey", like Max Payne 3 collecting golden gun parts. It completely destroys all immersion for me when they have collect-a-thon's in a game I'm supposed to be taking seriously.

Immersion is just a buzz word that has as many definitions as people who post about it. In my opinion immersion exists when you are so into a game that you block out the world. I think it has more to do with your surroundings than it does the game.

Who can get immersed in anything when you have to change diapers, cook lunch, etc..? It's not the game that causes immersion, it's the environment you are playing in. Also, if a game immerses you today, doesn't mean it will tomorrow and it's not the game that changes from day to day.

Just a buzzword? Really...?

I'm sorry, but most people play games by themselves in a low-stress environment, so I think that's a given. Also, games have failed to immerse me in such environments. TF2 has no immersive qualities to it whatsoever. Skyrim on the other hand, regardless of whats around me at the time, always manages to immerse me.

 

[Don Savik]

Well made characters. If I can't give two shits about some character, preferably the one I'm playing, I can't play the game to its end. This is why I can't get into Western RPGs. They do not provide me a reason to keep playing.

Most western rpgs have you create your own character, so the choices you make in the story are YOUR choices. Do you oppose all games were you create your own character? Sometimes I like playing myself instead of remote controlling some poorly dressed 1 dimensional protagonist (like most jrpgs). It works both ways.

 

[Epona]

Sound design and aethetics are a big one for me. I think you should've had "sound" instead of "music" as a poll option to be honest as one encompasses the other. Gameplay helps, but I think gameplay is only an issue if the game itself is too "gamey", like Max Payne 3 collecting golden gun parts. It completely destroys all immersion for me when they have collect-a-thon's in a game I'm supposed to be taking seriously.

Immersion is just a buzz word that has as many definitions as people who post about it. In my opinion immersion exists when you are so into a game that you block out the world. I think it has more to do with your surroundings than it does the game.

Who can get immersed in anything when you have to change diapers, cook lunch, etc..? It's not the game that causes immersion, it's the environment you are playing in. Also, if a game immerses you today, doesn't mean it will tomorrow and it's not the game that changes from day to day.

Just a buzzword? Really...?

I'm sorry, but most people play games by themselves in a low-stress environment, so I think that's a given. Also, games have failed to immerse me in such environments. TF2 has no immersive qualities to it whatsoever. Skyrim on the other hand, regardless of whats around me at the time, always manages to immerse me.

I think the average gamer these days is also a parent. In that case most gamers can't afford to get lost in a game world. You can try to lose yourself in Skyrim until:

"Dad, I'm hungry"
"Dad, I hurt myself"
"Dad, she hit me"

...and so on.

Yeah, it's a buzz word, in my opinion.

 

[floppylobster]

Storytelling.

Knowing when and when not to hit me with exposition. Leaving gaps for my imagination to fill. Not telling me what to do or where to go. Leaving me free to roam and make mistakes.

 

[Don Savik]

I think the average gamer these days is also a parent. In that case most gamers can't afford to get lost in a game world. You can try to lose yourself in Skyrim until:

"Dad, I'm hungry"
"Dad, I hurt myself"
"Dad, she hit me"

...and so on.

Yeah, it's a buzz word, in my opinion.

Well then that's a real world issue and has nothing to do with the game itself. Also I highly doubt most gamers are parents of children that age.

 

[Epona]

I think the average gamer these days is also a parent. In that case most gamers can't afford to get lost in a game world. You can try to lose yourself in Skyrim until:

"Dad, I'm hungry"
"Dad, I hurt myself"
"Dad, she hit me"

...and so on.

Yeah, it's a buzz word, in my opinion.

Well then that's a real world issue and has nothing to do with the game itself. Also I highly doubt most gamers are parents of children that age.

According to the ESA:

The average game player is 30 years old and has been playing games for 12 years.

The average age of the most frequent game purchaser is 35 years old.

http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp

So, are you saying that people aged 30-35 don't usually have kids old enough to talk? Yes, it's a real world issue which was my original point, immersion depends on things that are happening in the real world more than things happening in the game. It's much like a great movie that is ruined by people talking in the theater.