What do you think is the most immersive game world? Of course, immersion is subjective, but anyway, I'd say Deus Ex (ancient as it is) is probably the most immersive game world I know of. Not only because it has people you can speak to (albeit with very limited, scripted lines), but because it has so many in-game items (such as computers, mirrors, desks and cupboards that you can search, etc) but because you can also swim, find alternate ways past obstructions/dangers (including being able to stack up objects to climb over something, which is something that few modern games allow any more). Duke Nukem 3D has several more features that add to the immersion, such as the you can view different parts of the levels via the closed circuit monitors, and the way you leave footprints when you walk through blood or water. And games like GTA V, Batman: Arkham Knight, and Skyrim do a good job of portraying a city or landscape with people living their lives. Deus Ex offers you the chance to experiment in so many ways, and so I think that's the most immersive game world I've seen. GTA V is probably the most atmospheric, in that it does feel like a living, breathing world, but you can't interact with the world too much, and 99.9% of the building are of course just solid blocks that you can't enter.
This might sound like a bit of a stretch, but I would say Super Mario 64 if we're looking at older games. It pretty much just throws you into a world and let's you make your own path and determine how you want to tackle everything. You start out in front of the castle with no time limit, just the objective of eventually making your way into the castle. When you enter your first stage, there's no time limit and you're given a loose objective in the way of a short description. It's up to you to make your way there. Even stages that are slightly linear (Whomp's Fortress, Cool, Cool Mountain, Tall, Tall Mountain) have branching paths that allow you control exactly how you handle your objectives. The different stages and even outside the castle (Courtyard, etc.) are brimming with life. Birds chirp, butterflies move around, water flows, etc. For the year it was released (1996), no other world gave you as many options in how you wanted to complete the game. Add on the fact it nailed a 3D open world before that was a standard.
I usually think of Shenmue for immersion. It was one of the few games where you could do pretty much anything. Wanna buy a soda? Sure! Try and get a gotcha ball? No problem! Wanna talk to any person and get audio recorded dialogue for them? You can do that! It's just such a nonlinear complete world that I can't help but get immersed. I mean, most of these were a big thing for a console game from 2000. Plus of course it had a really gripping story behind it as well. And it was my introduction to some of the arcade games inside, like Space Harrier.
There's a few really good games out there that do this. I'd have to agree with Shenmue though. It basically throws you into the life of Ryu, complete with daily allowance, concept of time (with bedtime!) and basically a full on living, breathing town to fully explore and interact with, (and I mean fully). Next would be Morrowind. At the time, it was just damn incredible to be able to steal/take anything, including killing some dude and stealing his house, so you could display all the other stuff you've collected/stolen. Like the clothes some guy was wearing? Just kill him, then you can rock his extravagant robe. Or you could just strip down to the undies and be the nudist killer who decimates a town, if that's more your fancy. It was a beautiful game at the time, and the amount of ground you could cover just seemed staggering for this type of game. So many hours went into that game, just exploring and finding cool new items.
Shenmue is right up there but for me, the game that sacked me in the most has got to be The Witcher lol. I love that game.
For me it was probably the first Mass Effect. It had that sense of wonder in it that makes good sci fi great and I was really in to the world. The series kind of lost it a bit in the sequels in favour of a more action oriented approach. Edit: I have to add that Shenmue gets an honorable mention. I'm just recently doing a let's play of it without having played it before and I'm enjoying the heck out of it. Funny thing is, that even without nostalgia lenses it doesn't feel too dated. A part from the obvious things like graphics and vo's of course. A very solid game and made a fan out of me.
Shenmue is probably the only game where you can miss your bus because you were feeding a stray cat and kill time until the next one by playing Space Harrier. That's pretty much genius game design right there. I found Skyrim and Fallout 3 very immersive too, especially the former.
Unquestionably Shenmue 1 and 2. No other game world has ever sucked me in like those two. No other game world has ever seemed as alive. Other games may expand outwards and cover hundreds of miles of in-game, but it's not real in the same way Shenmue is. It's the detail. No generic repeated NPCs, no repeated buildings. Every shop front is different and with a different person with their own unique schedule and identity. There's been nothing like it before or since. Every other game world is just a collection of polygons and textures. Shenmue's is real.
I thought it was awesome that in Shenmue you could buy a soda and drink it. I don't know why, but whenever I was a kid and saw that it blew my mind. I'll throw in a vote for Shenmue.
I love the soda commercial vibe he puts out when drinking, looks so delicious =P Almost like OOT milk drink animation (Yeaaaah! Milk!) I think it's almost safe to say Shenmue just wins this one.
