If there is one aim that most video game developers have, it is creating a game that would suck the player in and would not let go for as long as possible! Inevitably, some games achieve that with higher success than others, with some of the most immersive games leaving the player with a complete loss reality and having forgotten the concept of time completely!
Instead of feeling like the player of a game, such games make you feel like the actual character within, forming a bond with it like it was a family member or even a part of yourself. The gameplay, sound, graphics, story, every little thing has to be just right in order to create a perfect atmosphere for immersion. Some gaming franchises seem to have the recipe for success and keep on giving birth to immersive games one after another! However, they are not that common, as even some truly great games often lack the ability to have the player completely immersed.
The games below are ones that have excelled in taking a firm grip on the player and not letting go until the game is finished!
Warning: playing these games may lead to the amount of your free time absolutely melting!
Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game developed by Creative Assembly, a company known for developing the Total War series amongst many other games. However, this one has managed to stand out as one of the most immersive games ever, regardless of genre. While not a calm, soothing experience one would normally associate with immersion, this game has the player completely lost in the emotion it creates, just like the 1979 movie it is loosely based on!
The premise of the game is simple – you are stuck on a spaceship, all by yourself, with the alien xenomorph on the hunt. Trying to kill it is no use, you will only get it more annoyed and it is no fluffy teddy bear as is! The atmosphere created in the game with its music, the ever-present danger, and environment, makes it easily one of the most immersive games out there today!
Resident Evil 7
Talking about horror games, Resident Evil is arguably the most popular franchise in the genre, and fittingly so, as Capcom has been treating us to some of the best games for decades! You might be thinking, why is Resident Evil 7 on here, when they have just recently released the Resident Evil 2 Remake? The new game is absolutely fantastic, no doubts about that, however, the new game provides a third person look to the environment, while RE7 still has the first-person camera there. While it is definitely arguable, the first-person look brings the player emotionally closer to the action, leading to more immersive games!
The game is much more than just the typical jump-scares and the sound of guns, as you would expect from a horror FPS! It involves masterful story-telling in a non-invasive manner that allows the player to explore the world to uncover everything within by themselves! The world itself is easily one of the eeriest in the gaming world, making the hair on the back of your neck stand up through every single second of gameplay!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
It is completely understandable if you are bored of seeing this Bethesda games masterpiece in every ‘best games’ list. However, it is one of the most immersive games ever, and it would be a criminal offense to leave it off! In all honesty, the whole Elder Scrolls franchise deserves a mention here but in order not to stuff the list full of Elder Scrolls titles, the crown jewel of the franchise takes the cake!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim presents an open world that is arguably yet to meet equaled and when coupled up with the absolute freedom that you have in the game, it is easy to lose any sense of time or direction in real life! This legend among immersive games has seen millions of people get completely lost within it ever since its release in 2011 and will continue on doing so until another game with such perfectly crafted aura of exploration comes up!
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series
Unlike The Elder Scrolls games, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games follow a single story, with the three games developing the same narrative in the eerie abandoned area of Chernobyl! All of the three titles, Clear Sky, Shadow of Chernobyl, and Call of Pripyat are among the most immersive games ever and are a must-have for every fan of single-player FPS games!
Even though Chernobyl has been evacuated a long time ago, it is far from being clear from dangers in the modern age! You will find numerous eerie reminders of the most destructive tragedy in the history of human kind everywhere. However, you will also be faced by fast-paced military activity that has the player completely lost in the Russian urban wilderness. Exploring the open world when dangers may be lurking around every corner is an experience made even more intense by its creepy and unforgiving setting!
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is proof that indie developers know how to make immersive games if you ever needed it! Team Cherry came out with this marvelous adventure in 2017 and it has been one of the most talked about indie games ever since and for good reason! The game features a perfect balance between a soothing, calm exploration adventure and hack and slash action in a stunningly beautiful 2D environment!
Hollow knight simply has everything a game may need to keep the players playing! A non-linear timeline that allows you to go through it as you please, resulting in different endings and gameplay mechanics that are pretty hard to master, yet not hard enough to make the player quit! It is easily one of the most immersive games in the world, indie or not!
The games above are all incredibly different, so much so, in fact, that it would be quite the challenge to somehow tie them together. However, the one common feature among them is obvious by now – they are the games that will have you travel through time, or at least feel like you are because the hours go by like minutes! If you are looking for immersive games to get lost in, look no further than the ones above!
