Immersive Sims
06/18/23
I’ve had a bit of down time over the past month in between graduation and starting my new job, so in typical fashion I’ve been resting by relaxing with family, hanging with friends, finishing a book or two, and testing my new RTX 4080 on as many games as I can.
Aside from my typical assortment of competitive shooters and strategy games, I had the opportunity to play a few games from my favorite genre: Immersive Sims. Also known as 0451 games, Immersive Sims are some of the most niche games in existence, with only a dozen or so games truly able to claim the title. When trying to explain to my brother exactly why I adore these games so much and what truly makes a game an Immersive Sim, I saw his eyes glaze over in real-time as I ranted.
Therefore, I had the brilliant idea to shift my rant’s medium from auditory to written and share my ravings with the entirety of the world! Why bore one person to death when I could instead send thousands to purgatory.
So, what makes an Immersive Sim? I break the genre into two categories of characteristics: immersion and simulation. A true Immersive Sim needs both – many games people sometimes incorrectly label as Immersive Sims only exhibit one. But, now you’re saying, “wow Colby, an Immersive Sim is a game which has immersion and simulation characteristics? crazy observation man” and that’s fair, but let’s go into more detail first before you judge me too harshly.
#1 – Immersion Characteristics:
1a. Atmosphere. To truly feel immersed in a game, the player needs to be completely submerged in the game’s atmosphere. At no point can this cease, otherwise the immersion will break. All of the components of the game need to fit within this atmosphere. For example, in a game like Prey which is a set in a stylistic but otherwise realistic future, the dialog must be relatable and characters believable. On the other hand, more fantasy-oriented games such as Dishonored can have more angled dialog – the citizens of Dunwall or Karnaca almost never laugh and have depressing voice lines, underlying the dread of the setting of their game.
1b. Perspective. An Immersive Sim must be first person. This is a mildly controversial take, but one I hold firm. The player needs to feel a direct connection to the main character and need to feel as though the protagonist’s actions are their own. Third person perspective limits this connectivity and can often lead to the player feeling as though they are controlling a puppet. Death sequences are more impactful in first person, and horror elements are nearly impossible to replicate in third person.
1c. Story. In a sandbox world filled with endless options, a powerful central story is key to keep the player progressing through levels and on track to finish the game. Generally speaking, Immersive Sims have some of the absolute best stories in gaming, arguably second only to more cinematic games such as Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us and Uncharted franchises.
1d. Worldbuilding. Immersive Sims rarely rely on cutscenes to further plot (they break immersion) and instead rely in collectables and level design to construct their narratives. The original System Shock and Deus Ex coined the use of audiologs and notes scattered around their levels to allow curious players to uncover more about the world while also enabling players who weren’t interested to skip the content entirely and just focus on the main plotlines. Modern Immersive Sims make extensive use of side quests to encourage the players to explore more of the levels and build relationships with side characters. In general, Immersive Sims offer extensive lore and explanation of their worlds for those willing to search for answers.
1e. Detail. The attention to detail in Immersive Sims must be immaculate. From which items appear in which parts of the level to the ragdoll characteristics of different sized-enemies, the small details are what really bring these games to life. The environments which the player explores need to feel realistic and lived-in – apartments should be varied and reflect their owners, offices should contain secrets which encourage investigation, and dialog between NPCs should be interesting and/or entertaining.
#2 – Simulation Characteristics:
2a. Interaction. The running joke of Immersive Sim classification is a single question decision tree: can you stack boxes to solve problems in the game? If yes, the game is an Immersive Sim, otherwise it is not. This joke, however, really is an excellent litmus test for a game. To truly simulate an environment, everything in said environment needs to be interactable. Is there a wall which is short enough for the player to climb or vault over? They better be able to traverse it. The mug sitting on the table should be useful as a distraction or projectile. If the player transforms into a metal object and then detonates an explosion underneath themselves, they’d better be chucked across the room in near game-breaking ways (looking at you Prey). The enemies in the game need to be intelligent and capable of interacting with the environment in the same way as the player – shooting through windows, taking cover behind half blown in doors, and fighting hostile NPCs other than the protagonist if their paths cross. In short, the player should be delightfully surprised by the world and constantly uncover new interactions which they can use to their advantage. If they have a crazy idea for combining two mechanics in an unexpected way, the game should support their experiments. At no point in an Immersive Sim should the game present the player with a tool or environment which does not interact with those previously introduced.
2b. Non-linearity. Game levels must have more than one path to completion. On each successive playthrough, the player should be able to complete the game in an entirely new way. Note this is not the same as point 2e below: even if the player did not alter their playstyle in the slightest, they should still be able to navigate the game’s missions in alternative fashion to a successful outcome. A great example is the original System Shock: the game’s levels are an absolute labyrinth to navigate, and the player is hard pressed to remember which way they just turned, let alone be able to replay the level in the exact same fashion during another playthrough. A very interesting implementation of this is Prey Mooncrash. While Mooncrash is not an Immersive Sim (it’s a roguelike speedrunning game at its core), it is built on top of Prey and improves upon the original game’s mechanics in one very distinct way: every run of Mooncrash is unique, with passages randomly blocked or open from run-to-run, fabricators and other crafting resources toggling their power, and enemy variety changing in each location. This drastically increases the replay value of the game and is a mechanic I would love to see in more future Immersive Sims.
2c. Impactful Decisions. The various moral and strategic decisions the player makes throughout the course of the game must directly impact the ending – which of course implies the game has more than one ending. Sparing the life of a certain NPC should reward or punish the player later in the game, and the world should change as the player makes decisions to reflect their choices. Every action the player takes should have a direct consequence, which means skipping an important side quest or answering poorly in a conversation should harm the player (but should still be an option). In the same vein, curiosity and exploration should reward the player.
2d. Varied Gameplay. Every great Immersive Sim has some sort of gameplay which deviates from the typical “interact, fight, sneak, loot, explore, learn” loop. Examples include missions which require clue gathering and logical puzzle solving (Dishonored’s Lady Boyle’s Last Party and Dishonored 2’s Stilton’s Manor), borderline arcade-style space shooter sequences (System Shock’s hacking), or high-speed zero-gravity shootouts (Prey’s Talos I exterior). These gameplay breaks should make sense given the world and behave as expected, but nevertheless offer new mechanics which mix up gameplay and keep the player interested.
2e. Multiple Valid Playstyles. One of the quintessential hallmarks of an Immersive Sim is the player’s ability to play their own way in the game. If the player wants to approach combat from a purely stealth perspective, they should be given tools such as Thief’s Rope Arrows which aid them. If they want to armor up and become a slow, unstoppable titan, this should also be allowed. Or, if they prefer speed and dexterity, then the game should offer systems which enable the player to blitz through levels – vaulting over enemies and sliding under closing doors before foes have the chance to react. All of these playstyles and many more should be supported and interact fairly with the game’s various enemies and environments. Different tools should lend themselves to multiple playstyles – Prey’s Disrupter Stun Gun can be used for non-lethal takedowns, circuit frying, or in combination with a shotgun for massive point-blank damage. Explosive canisters should be able to be used as both loud distractions and combo-starting boss breakers.
Now, with all of these characteristics in mind, here is the list of games I consider core Immersive Sims: Arx Fatalis (Arkane), Deus Ex series (Ion Storm, Eidos), Dishonored series (Arkane), Prey (Arkane), System Shock series (Looking Glass, Irrational), Thief series (Looking Glass, Ion Storm), and Ultima Underworld (Looking Glass). Note the absence of Bioshock: while a fantastic atmospheric shooter, Bioshock is far too linear to be considered an Immersive Sim. In total, there are really only two companies which have produced these games: Looking Glass Studios (and their successors) and Arkane. They produce the games which are the standard for the genre, and if you haven’t played their titles, you’re frankly missing out.