Sacrificing Fun For Immersion

[brewbeard]

Well, from what I've heard there's no alert icons in hard mode.

 

[Skratt]

Like Fallout 3?

The realism in Fallout 3 actually worked, except that you had to repair you're weapon every bloody minute.

Yeah, the repair system is new wallpaper in an old bathroom that Bethesda carried over from TES 3 & 4.

OT: I can see where some people would prefer more control and less cinematic during combat.

I am an FPS (twitch) gamer at heart where you don't have to watch your stiff character swing a sword poorly or shoot a gun strait when it looks like (to other people) you are aiming at the moon and skill is judged by your ability to ambush, aim and avoid getting hit yourself.

I do like platformers and perspective games except when I have to learn a bazillian controls, combos or some crappy QTE just to get through a combat scene, it destroys the fun factor for me. I prefer fluid combat in 3rd person perspective. I want to watch the hero kick ass in spectacular ways, even if I am only pressing a few buttons. Call me simple but if I have to actually watch the scene from some bird's eye vantage point, I want it to be at least appealing to watch.

(side note, QTE is NOT a fun or fluid way to play a game. I still have scars from my childhood trying to beat Dragon's Lair and Space Ace)

 

[Shycte]

Immersion if good if it means that you being pulled in to something fun.

Being pulled in into something grey and boring is no good at all.

Looking at you Fallout 3.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I felt everything in Batman came together really well. I thought it was immersive and fun or rather that the immersion made it more fun.

But yea, super-immersion isn't fun for everyone.

Like with the xwing/tie games: some people didn't like the realistic mechanics of the craft (having to regulate power to the various systems) but others (myself included) liked the complicated nature of running a fighter-craft while dogfighting/assaulting.

 

[blood77]

If Batman Arkham Asylum didn't have immersion it would suck. Because the general theme of the game is "who want to be batman?"

Also the combat. The only reason it looks like a quick time event is because they made if flow better. Though it is pretty funny jumping all the way across the stage to punch a guy in the face, but the funnier thing is that batman probably would do that

Either way, I feel that the developers haven't sacrificed anything and that the game is one of the better ones I have played this year.

Plus you have to give them credit for going to the cast and crew of the animated series for their concepts and voice acting.

 

[happysock]

I expect to get some flaming because I am about to put down the flavor of the week. Mainly Batman A.A. and a problem I am having with it. Don't get me wrong I think the game is good. It just fails to achieve greatness. And the reason it it doesn't achieve greatness is because of the immersion.

The game really makes you feel like you are in control of Batman. When you fight a group of thugs and counter kicks and punches with such fluidity just like Batman would it feels...odd. It almost feels like you are playing a QTE without the big "press x not to die" flashing on the screen. Instead it is replaced with some kind of Spidey sense flashing above the baddies head seconds before they strike. And at the same time if they went with a regular combat system it would be impossible to make it look so fluid. Which would be more fun and less immersive. So what are your thoughts?

Play it on hard and the spidey sense thing doesn't appear, however I agree the game is short of greatness it is good but not ZOMGZ ITS THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD good like most people make it out to be

 

[oppp7]

I prefer fun to immersion. Adds more replay value.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

I think in some cases, immersion can actually contribute to the fun factor of a game. I felt that way about Batman; it really does put you in a position to feel like you're Batman, at the cost of traditional fight controls. It never felt to me like I was missing out on anything, though. The free flowing combat system seemed to fit the environment really well, and if you're playing on the hardest difficulty, the mode where the "spidey-sense" stops appearing over enemy heads, it can actually get pretty challenging.

On the other side of the coin, it's entirely possible for immersion to ruin the fun of a game. Hyper-realistic shooting games where you lose the ability to walk if you're shot in the leg, racing games that require you to monitor your car's heat levels... Stuff like that really kills it for me.

Basically this for me. Like carrying weight in fantasy games. I understand the point but making me waste trips in a dungeon can die in a fire as can the people who hate unlimited carrying capacity. Item dumping should be for organization sake, not having an arbitrary weight system.

Yes, I'm petty enough to hate that.

As for Batman, haven't gotten to play but there is enough video on the silly game to choke five internet horses that shit rainbows. So I understand where you're coming from. It did look like button mashing followed by QTE. However, I will forgive them that because it is part of an overall feel of a Batman game, something all the other games lacked. A good Batman game needs immersion so you can feel clever. Clever and badass are Batty's chief powers.

So I get where you're coming from but think it won't kill it for me.

 

[HT_Black]

Might I reccomend playing it on 'Hard' difficulty? Try to tell me it's not immersive then...

 

[JoshGod]

its strange i understand them as almost the same thing thing. i cant have one without the other. i mean i cant get immersed if its no fun and how can it be fun if not imersive?

 

[sniper9474]

STALKER Clear Sky was very fun for me, and fairly immersive, altough it could have done with some more movement tecniques then walk, sprint, crouch, get low, if it had more tactical movement, such as slide, duck, dive, blind fire, im sure the game would have been even more fun, and every few hours when i need to get up to do something, im sure id have the strangest feeling of realisation when im not in Chernobyl

 

[Ninjasander]

Like Fallout 3?

The realism in Fallout 3 actually worked, except that you had to repair you're weapon every bloody minute.

I'm a weapon?

But then again, Fallout 3 felt a bit too immersive. I mean, I was a bit freaked out to travel at night. Or in a suspicious school. Or in the store full of raiders unaware of my presence.

Oh dam, sorry for bad spelling i ment "Your". But that was kinda the deal about Fallout. YOU were the protagonist. Fallout had a very good Atmosphere, that really dragged you in. Ff you cared about it. But the subways and the underground "mazes" was something i really got tired of after a while.

 

[squid5580]

I found that Batman broke this realism in multiple settings, such as that one scene where the 3 guys are all facing one direction and you can silently take down all 3 of them without any of them even looking in their buddies' direction. It's like they were waiting for you to take them down.

Oh, and who puts that many Gargoyles indoors? For what? They are pretty much there for you to hang people off of.

Immersion doesn't have to mean realism. Bioshock did a pretty good job of immersing you in it's environment, but it's completely a realm of fantasy. Good games can do both.

It depends on the style of game as well, but a lot of games sacrifice fun for immersion. Yahtzee makes this point when comparing GTA IV to Saints Row 2. Sure it's more realistic to have a woman tumble over your car and painfully land on the sidewalk, but it's more fun to hit someone so high into the air with your car that you can try to catch them on the hood before they hit the ground .

Or take out the two guys that are standing a foot apart from each other. And the second guy doesn't notice cuz he was to busy painting lol.