What immersive mechanic or environment in a game made the world feel like it was alive, for the first time?

[starseeker300]

This might sound weird, but all the random camp cutscenes in ff15 of the party just goofing off, as well as the random dialogue while in the car, yes a lot of times it repeated as I played the game, but Ive had the exact same conversation about dumb crap with my friends irl multiple times before.

It just made the characters seem like really people and not to just characters in a play or movie, it really endeared me to all 4 of them, even though gladio is kind of boring and prompto is annoying as heck before his character development, I couldn't hate them because of those little things.

It showed their friendship in a way I don't think any other rpg i've played has been able to replicate

 

[SLEDGE_DOG]

First time I really felt like I was IN the game though was hearing distant/muffled monsters talking to themselves in System Shock 2. I know it’s an ImSim, but it was less about mechanics and more about presentation and verisimilitude. The audio, blaring techno notwithstanding, had the nuances of actually occupying a physical space, and made it feel like a place.

I recently played Thief 1 and 2 for the first time and feel the same way. Each level has such detailed and sometimes odd soundscapes it makes the environments feel like a character in themselves.
The level The Sword in Thief 1 will absolutely never leave my head. The design of the audio and layout feel like the game is mocking the player and perfectly expresses the danger and uneasiness Garret must feel delving into such a wackass place.
Looking Glass knew exactly what they were doing with audio in both System Shock and Thief.

It's little things like this where you have a lot of variety in the way you can interact with the environment. Splinter Cell games were great at this.

This tech was also in Time Splitters 2 with the alcohol barrels in the gangster levels, but much less visually impressive.

 

[Skeetos]

I was 10 years old when I got my first new shiny console, the Master Chief armor Halo 3 Xbox 360. I got Call of Duty 4 and World at War, Bioshock 2, Fallout 3, Gears of War, and a few others I forget. First game I played was World at War. That game is stellar, still my favorite Call of Duty. As a kid I loved history, still do. I loved learning about different wars and eras and what they meant, I gotta be one of the only kids that sat through and enjoyed the entirety of WWII in Color. The way that that game brings that war to life and really explores the human part really strikes me to this day. I sat with my mom that day and she tried to guide me a bit so that I wouldn't be afraid (I never played an adult game beforehand) and that beginning cutscene of the Japanese soldiers killing your squadmate just for the other squadron to come in and rescue you immediately gripped me in a way games hadn't before. I guess that isn't really a mechanic but that game sticks with me, I replay it even to this day from time to time.

 

[MasterEn]

This might sound weird, but all the random camp cutscenes in ff15 of the party just goofing off, as well as the random dialogue while in the car, yes a lot of times it repeated as I played the game, but Ive had the exact same conversation about dumb crap with my friends irl multiple times before.

It just made the characters seem like really people and not to just characters in a play or movie, it really endeared me to all 4 of them, even though gladio is kind of boring and prompto is annoying as heck before his character development, I couldn't hate them because of those little things.

It showed their friendship in a way I don't think any other rpg i've played has been able to replicate

ff15 is more or less the story of a guy and his friends having a weekend long bachelor party. the other story stuff is there mainly for the ending.

 

[Sir Auriel of Lionel]

I always joke that FFXV's a Jrock boy band simulator that also allows you to work as a mercenary in a fantasy world. No hating just honest teasing, I also clocked 14hrs on fishing alone.

 

[Skeetos]

ff15 is more or less the story of a guy and his friends having a weekend long bachelor party. the other story stuff is there mainly for the ending.

XV is one of the more fun entries for me. I've been getting into Final Fantasy lately after binging Kingdom Hearts (which I still haven't finished yet.) I played the original 7, 9, 13, 15, 7R, and 16. Those are the ones I like. X is kinda boring and 6 is the only one that I'd say is good out of the originals (might be heresy but.)
I still need to get around to 12.

Post automatically merged: Feb 2, 2025

XV is one of the more fun entries for me. I've been getting into Final Fantasy lately after binging Kingdom Hearts (which I still haven't finished yet.) I played the original 7, 9, 13, 15, 7R, and 16. Those are the ones I like. X is kinda boring and 6 is the only one that I'd say is good out of the originals (might be heresy but.)
I still need to get around to 12.

Oh, to mention before I got into it 7 was the only one I ever played back as a kid. It never clicked until recently for me.

 

[MasterEn]

XV is one of the more fun entries for me. I've been getting into Final Fantasy lately after binging Kingdom Hearts (which I still haven't finished yet.) I played the original 7, 9, 13, 15, 7R, and 16. Those are the ones I like. X is kinda boring and 6 is the only one that I'd say is good out of the originals (might be heresy but.)
I still need to get around to 12.

Post automatically merged: Feb 2, 2025

Oh, to mention before I got into it 7 was the only one I ever played back as a kid. It never clicked until recently for me.

based on the ones that you like, just skip the originals. you won't like them. 9 is more closer to the originals but you seem to like the ones with modern or futuristic settings. 1, 2, or 3 will make you apricate practically any other game in existence after about 20 minutes if you play the original nes versions. so, there's that, i guess if you want to briefly check them out.

 

[Skeetos]

based on the ones that you like, just skip the originals. you won't like them. 9 is more closer to the originals but you seem to like the ones with modern or futuristic settings. 1, 2, or 3 will make you apricate practically any other game in existence after about 20 minutes if you play the original nes versions. so, there's that, i guess if you want to briefly check them out.

I've basically gave them all a shot except for 12 so far. I played the Pixel Remasters of 1-6 since people said they were pretty good, 6 was the only one I liked. I also don't think any of them are necessarily bad, some of them just don't click with me like the others did. Final Fantasy is a series I feel, even with the criticisms of bigger fans that understand it more, never really lost it's identity or had insane changes that made me hate the game. Even XIII with all of it's changes never really bothered me, FF is just a solid franchise. I'd play XIV if I didn't have to pay a membership fee.

 

[MasterEn]

I've basically gave them all a shot except for 12 so far. I played the Pixel Remasters of 1-6 since people said they were pretty good, 6 was the only one I liked. I also don't think any of them are necessarily bad, some of them just don't click with me like the others did. Final Fantasy is a series I feel, even with the criticisms of bigger fans that understand it more, never really lost it's identity or had insane changes that made me hate the game. Even XIII with all of it's changes never really bothered me, FF is just a solid franchise. I'd play XIV if I didn't have to pay a membership fee.

projared summed up 12 as "game of thrones with a star wars skin". it's the good part of game of thrones, in case you are wondering. it seems to use the engine from 11, and characters can be set up to auto battle as the player sees fit. you can have characters tend to mundane tasks like status healing and reapplying buffs and using specific abilities in certain situations. you can also turn that off and control every character manually.
there's 2 versions: vanilla and the zodiac job system [the remakes are based on this one]
vanilla follows ff2's tradition of every character can be overpowered and learn everything. the zodiac system creates jobs for the characters to use that spreads out abilities so that every character can feel unique.
i did find it interesting that you liked all of the modern/future setting games more. i liked all of the medieval themed ones more.

 

[Skeetos]

projared summed up 12 as "game of thrones with a star wars skin". it's the good part of game of thrones, in case you are wondering. it seems to use the engine from 11, and characters can be set up to auto battle as the player sees fit. you can have characters tend to mundane tasks like status healing and reapplying buffs and using specific abilities in certain situations. you can also turn that off and control every character manually.
there's 2 versions: vanilla and the zodiac job system [the remakes are based on this one]
vanilla follows ff2's tradition of every character can be overpowered and learn everything. the zodiac system creates jobs for the characters to use that spreads out abilities so that every character can feel unique.
i did find it interesting that you liked all of the modern/future setting games more. i liked all of the medieval themed ones more.

Sounds awesome. I should get the steam version sometime. And honestly, I think they do a good job on both fronts. 16 is a really good game I think, I haven't beat it yet though because the ps5 version runs like booty. I gotta get the pc version one of these days. Clive was on Demon Time for most of what I played.

 

[MasterEn]

Sounds awesome. I should get the steam version sometime. And honestly, I think they do a good job on both fronts. 16 is a really good game I think, I haven't beat it yet though because the ps5 version runs like booty. I gotta get the pc version one of these days. Clive was on Demon Time for most of what I played.

12 is pretty good. the original version had a boss that took 4 hours to beat. it's one hour in the updated version due to the removal of the damage cap. and there's a few new features added to the game, but i won't spoil them.

 

[Skeetos]

12 is pretty good. the original version had a boss that took 4 hours to beat. it's one hour in the updated version due to the removal of the damage cap. and there's a few new features added to the game, but i won't spoil them.

4 hours? that's classic jrpg right there. Steam it is lol.

 

[MasterEn]

4 hours? that's classic jrpg right there. Steam it is lol.

the damage cap is the main reason. players had to resort to weaker weapons like katanas and ninja swords because of the high chance for multiple hits, which would technically allow a character to bypass the cap limit and polearms/spears, which have higher base stats and on par with the multi-hit chance. of course, everyone had every passive boost and upgrade in the original version. abilities, stat and other upgrades are locked to job boards, so no one is a demi-god in the zodiac version. and you can only pick 2 boards per character.

 

[Somnia]

The PHS system in Final Fantasy 7 melted my brain as a kid. The first time I realized that who I had in my party contributed to different dialogue for certain cutscenes and even tiny new story tidbits and events I was in awe.