Honestly a lot of shooters have this effect on me. Half-Life 2 was a big one, and so was Gears of War by placing the character off-center buy just a little bit.
Yea I would have to say it was Half Life and Myst. Half Life because it made my heart pump outta the rib cage and I was really into it, and Myst because of the way it was programmed, the whole first person view, never saw you're character and such. Myst I would say was a great game that made me forget I was still sitting in a chair.
darkangel on
The Jedi Code:
There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no death there is the Force.
That would be Halo. So fucking sweet when you and a buddy are playing in the same game, and he drives up and honks the horn as mentioned above, and then you both zoom off to wreak havoc. One of very few moments of pure gaming bliss I can think of.
I would also concur with Baldur's Gate 2. I've had a hard time sticking with that game, but when I had just started I would get really immersed sometimes. (Now when I play it I just stress over who I want to bring in the party.)
Oblivion also, at least the first 20 hours, but the next 80 were good for me as well.
KOTOR's grand finale.
Where you're making your way through the Star Forge and endless waves of dark Jedi are coming at you.
Well, I found it a tad frustrating and next to impossible on a couple occasions, since I hadn't exactly power-gamed my party, but for quite a while it created an amazing feeling that I could just lose myself in and forget about the game and just experience the adventure and cinema. Dantooine did something similar as well, though in a different way.
Thief and Thief 2. The original was the first FPS that I really got behind story-wise, plus the design was so different from all the others I'd played up until that point.
The atmosphere was pure awesome, especially the guards' taunts as they searched for Garrett. It got so that I would hold my breath and stay extra quiet when a guard passed by, just in case.
Another vote for Clive Barker's Undying - those howler dog things had me scrabbling around like crazy, trying to get a decent shot in, and the visiony spell thing was intense.
Similarly, the creepier missions in Thief 2 - especially when you've followed the bleeding guy into that strange world and the ghosts start talking to you. I think playing these games in a dark study may have had something to do with it.
Edit: Also, when I first started playing 3D games, my dad would tease me about how I always craned my neck trying to see round corners.
The Battlefield series. I mean christ. When I was playing a sniper it felt so epic (when I was playing well, anyway)
When you realize that people are actually hunting you in particular and not running out in the fray randomly it just puts you into character, even if there isn't one.
I'll second KotOR; the first time through RPGs I play like I'd really play if I was presented with the ingame choices, and it's essentially the only game that has ever made me evil. Not that I need to destroy the universe kind of evil, but the Jedi council can go to hell :P .
I'll also second Mount and Blade, it's like you're playing part of Gladiator or Braveheart or something when you're charging on horse back, swinging a sword in wide arcs, cutting your enemies down.
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Some of the better songs in Guitar Hero make it feel as if you're no longer playing on a controller. When your fingers just flow easily from one not to the next, it's very surreal.
The best example I've seen of feeling like not playing a game though, was when my mom was playing WiiSports Tennis, and when she went to serve, used her off-hand to throw up the ball.
This is going to sound ridiculous but when I played street fighter 2 as a kid on my snes I was so into it that it felt like a real fight. I would play the neighborhood kids and we were all pretty good from playing it like 24/7. I remember one day I was so angry about losing a match that I bit through my controller and yelled "YOU HAVE NO HONOR!" I was like 8
waywardryan on
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KorKnown to detonate from time to timeRegistered Userregular
edited March 2007
Kingdom Hearts 2.
I was way to absorbs, partially from cutscenes, partially because it was so easy, very limited amounts of effort were required. I think I only died on that Org XIII member that has the spears. The wind guy? I don't remember.
SSX Blur. When the music dies out as your cutting the perfect UBER, oh man.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited March 2007
The original Silent Hill. There were times when I was too terrified to go on.
Resident Evil 1 had that effect on me too, but Silent Hill 1 was way worse.
Half Life 2. Just playing it I feel like I'm in the game, running from the Combine or whatever. Driving down that one highway I felt like the last person on Earth. Good stuff.
First one I thought of was Alone in the Dark. The first one. I was but a child when I first played it, and every time I was killed in the game, I felt a little bit of myself die as well.
And if dying is scary enough, you get to see some guy toss your lifeless body off of a cliff and onto the jagged rocks below.
Sometimes, back when I was really into DDR, I'd forget that my legs were moving. I would start daydreaming about something else, but made sure to keep watching the arrows.
Sometimes, back when I was really into DDR, I'd forget that my legs were moving. I would start daydreaming about something else, but made sure to keep watching the arrows.
Oh man, this exact same thing happened to me too.
Also, I know it doesn't have much competition, but Silent Hunter 3 really makes you feel like you are the captain of a German U-Boat during WW2, and that's something.
First of all, before anyone else says it, Xenosaga, lol.
With that out of the way, Shadow of the Colossus is the only game I can think of that did this to me. When I was about to get attacked by a colossus, I was actually scared of being hit. And when one was trying to shake me off, I always clutched onto the R1 button for dear life.
My R1 button is broken now.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one that broke my R1 playing that game. It's a good thing I had an extra controller!
And yes, SotC is one of the few games that REALLY had me feeling like the character. Throughout most of the game it felt that way for me.
Another I can mention is Crackdown, though only one particular region. Now, most of the time, it's not like that, but when I climbed to the top of the agency tower... I was scared. Like, I could feel I, myself, was getting scared by the climb, and the height. And when I finally jumped off, and managed to live, I freakin' jumped off the couch and yelled "yes!" One of the most "into the game" experiences I've had.
schmads on
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I loved that game SO MUCH, but I could never get past the part with the Mine-Worm riding thing. Pissed me off to no end. I still love that game though.
On topic; Probably ICO. The first time I played, I was in a noisy as hell, packed youth-weekend hangout thingy that had two PS2s, five PCs (That everyone played Tibia on, which pissed me off immensely, because the minute you would sit down, the 'regulars' would make some dumb excuse like they had to email their girlfriend or something, and would just log back on to fucking Tibia.) and a few N64s.
Anyway my friend and I are looking on the game list and I see something that says "icq" on the title. I freak out because I know what it is, and I'm obviously the only real gamer there, so I exclaim; "Holy shit, ICO!!" I then proceed to play for about three hours until closing. Even with all those lights, odd foody smells, fucking Tibia douches, and people all around me, I continue to sit on the big leather couch in the middle of the room, using the biggest, prettiest TV in the whole place, without even noticing that people were asking me questions and stuff.
I found the game in MINT condition for 10 dollars at WalMart a few months later.
Sometimes, back when I was really into DDR, I'd forget that my legs were moving. I would start daydreaming about something else, but made sure to keep watching the arrows.
I get that in guitar hero. Awesomesauce
Raybies666 on
Beat me on Wii U: Raybies
Beat me on 360: Raybies666
Trauma Center. I get so intensely into the game (for the Wii or DS, I'm equal opportunity) that I forget everything around me just trying to save the patient. It's one of the most intense games I've ever played.
Ico is another one as you honestly care about what happens to the characters, it feels so real, so organic somehow you never have that moment where it pulls you out and reminds you that you're playing a game. With that said...
I can't agree with SOTC. The framerate and camera issues prevented me from loving the game like I hoped to. I LOVED Ico, it's easily in my top 5 games of all time, I tried so hard to feel the same about SOTC but the technical issues kept pulling me out of the game and left me frustrated and angry.
I've never actually been THAT immersed in a game before. Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I just can't get to the point where I feel for the characters, or forget everything around me.
Baldurs Gate 2: Shadows of Amn. The final scenes were just epic. Epic beyond measure. Irenicus was a fan-fucking-tastic villain.
"I...I don't love you anymore. For years I clung to the memory of you, then to the memory of the memory, then NOTHING! The Seldarine took that away from me too! All that is left now is my revenge and I...WILL...HAVE IT!"
I'll second KotOR; the first time through RPGs I play like I'd really play if I was presented with the ingame choices, and it's essentially the only game that has ever made me evil. Not that I need to destroy the universe kind of evil, but the Jedi council can go to hell :P
I love it when I feel like I can do that in an RPG, but in KOTOR it was so black and white that I just played the good guy the whole time because that's what I generally prefer (though to its credit, it made me feel really good about being the good guy).
The only game that I felt really let me be a "gray" character and just have fun role-playing was Fallout, and KOTOR only somewhat, just because all the good guy stuff made me feel like such a good good guy that I really enjoyed and made those choices without thinking too much about game consequences (though there were some, and I reverted to metagaming light side points if something I did gave me dark points).
Actually, Fallout should have made my original post hardcore. Only game I really felt I could do whatever I felt like in any given situation, and not worrying about being locked out of the game track I wanted to be on (aided in part by excellent dialogue options). Most games with good and evil use some kind of karma system to railroad you into consistency, but Fallout's lack of such was glorious. Maybe I should play Fallout 2 some time...
Half Life 2. Staying up till 3 in the morning on release day so I could activate my copy as soon as it was available. I got to Ravenholm before going to bed. I swear sometimes I thought I was really in the game running away from antlions.
IAmSoKawaii on
"If I ever woke up with a dead hooker in my hotel room, Matt would be the first person I'd call."
Baldurs Gate 2: Shadows of Amn. The final scenes were just epic. Epic beyond measure. Irenicus was a fan-fucking-tastic villain.
"I...I don't love you anymore. For years I clung to the memory of you, then to the memory of the memory, then NOTHING! The Seldarine took that away from me too! All that is left now is my revenge and I...WILL...HAVE IT!"
Ahem.
I... I do not remember your love, Ellesime. I have tried to. I have tried to recreate it, to spark it anew in my memory. But it is gone... a hollow, dead thing. For years, I clung to the memory of it. Then the memory of the memory. And then nothing. The Seldarine took that from me, too. I look upon you and I feel nothing. I remember nothing but you turning your back on me, along with all the others. Once my thirst for power was everything. And now I hunger only for revenge. And... I... Will... HAVE IT!!
Anyway, the Thief series is excellent for this. They have some of the most palpable atmosphere I've seen in a game. The first two are hard for me to play these days, though, and not just because of the graphics. The controls feel antiquated with two move forward keys for moving at different speeds and such.
Luckily, Thief 3 is still as great as the others(though plenty in the Thief community would probably want to hang me for suggesting such a thing), and nothing to do with the atmosphere suffered from the changes they brought to the game. The Shalebridge Cradle is brilliant and had me scared out of my mind and there aren't even any enemies in the first half.
I will also cast my vote for baldurs Gate 2. No other game even approaches the quality it reached in terms of storytelling, except perhaps planescape torment which is also a fantastically immersive game.
However the best game ever for this was Conflict Freespace 2. Its still probably the best game ever made, in the last level, where the refugees are fleeing like mad and you are after burning towards the portal with the entire enemy battlefleet chasing you and suddenly you realize that if you don't turn around to slow it down then the refugee ships wont make it.
Anyway, the Thief series is excellent for this. They have some of the most palpable atmosphere I've seen in a game. The first two are hard for me to play these days, though, and not just because of the graphics. The controls feel antiquated with two move forward keys for moving at different speeds and such.
Luckily, Thief 3 is still as great as the others(though plenty in the Thief community would probably want to hang me for suggesting such a thing), and nothing to do with the atmosphere suffered from the changes they brought to the game. The Shalebridge Cradle is brilliant and had me scared out of my mind and there aren't even any enemies in the first half.
Thief 3 is a disgrace and you should show SHAME for your comment.
(Thief community member #923043, I'm obligated to say this, sorry)
Metalfoot on
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deowolfis allowed to do that.Traffic.Registered Userregular
edited March 2007
The first game? Daggerfall. The latest game? Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires. I don't know, I can really sink myself into the DW games like no others. Man, I hate Cao Cao with so much fury...
ohhhh I remember during wing commander 3 (I think it was that one) when my kilrathi buddy betrayed me I was SO angry that I replayed the mission a thousand times over trying to get to him and kill him without my home ship jumping away first and ending the mission. I finally was able to kill him and land, but the game wouldn't recognize that I had done it because it was supposed to be too hard =(
Posts
Oblivion also stole my soul.
There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no death there is the Force.
I would also concur with Baldur's Gate 2. I've had a hard time sticking with that game, but when I had just started I would get really immersed sometimes. (Now when I play it I just stress over who I want to bring in the party.)
Oblivion also, at least the first 20 hours, but the next 80 were good for me as well.
KOTOR's grand finale.
The atmosphere was pure awesome, especially the guards' taunts as they searched for Garrett. It got so that I would hold my breath and stay extra quiet when a guard passed by, just in case.
Similarly, the creepier missions in Thief 2 - especially when you've followed the bleeding guy into that strange world and the ghosts start talking to you. I think playing these games in a dark study may have had something to do with it.
Edit: Also, when I first started playing 3D games, my dad would tease me about how I always craned my neck trying to see round corners.
PSN: Lqmpley | Steam: TheOne(AndOnly)
When you realize that people are actually hunting you in particular and not running out in the fray randomly it just puts you into character, even if there isn't one.
I'll also second Mount and Blade, it's like you're playing part of Gladiator or Braveheart or something when you're charging on horse back, swinging a sword in wide arcs, cutting your enemies down.
The controller in my hands disappeared, my surroundings disappeared, and for the entire playthrough, I WAS the game.
The best example I've seen of feeling like not playing a game though, was when my mom was playing WiiSports Tennis, and when she went to serve, used her off-hand to throw up the ball.
Then again, that could have been my lack of sleep at the time.
Bijaz - Ironbreaker
I was way to absorbs, partially from cutscenes, partially because it was so easy, very limited amounts of effort were required. I think I only died on that Org XIII member that has the spears. The wind guy? I don't remember.
Pokemon Safari - Sneasel, Pawniard, ????
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Resident Evil 1 had that effect on me too, but Silent Hill 1 was way worse.
And if dying is scary enough, you get to see some guy toss your lifeless body off of a cliff and onto the jagged rocks below.
Shew.
Oh man, this exact same thing happened to me too.
Also, I know it doesn't have much competition, but Silent Hunter 3 really makes you feel like you are the captain of a German U-Boat during WW2, and that's something.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one that broke my R1 playing that game. It's a good thing I had an extra controller!
And yes, SotC is one of the few games that REALLY had me feeling like the character. Throughout most of the game it felt that way for me.
Another I can mention is Crackdown, though only one particular region. Now, most of the time, it's not like that, but when I climbed to the top of the agency tower... I was scared. Like, I could feel I, myself, was getting scared by the climb, and the height. And when I finally jumped off, and managed to live, I freakin' jumped off the couch and yelled "yes!" One of the most "into the game" experiences I've had.
Please make ZoE3 longer than 4 hours.
I loved that game SO MUCH, but I could never get past the part with the Mine-Worm riding thing. Pissed me off to no end. I still love that game though.
On topic; Probably ICO. The first time I played, I was in a noisy as hell, packed youth-weekend hangout thingy that had two PS2s, five PCs (That everyone played Tibia on, which pissed me off immensely, because the minute you would sit down, the 'regulars' would make some dumb excuse like they had to email their girlfriend or something, and would just log back on to fucking Tibia.) and a few N64s.
Anyway my friend and I are looking on the game list and I see something that says "icq" on the title. I freak out because I know what it is, and I'm obviously the only real gamer there, so I exclaim; "Holy shit, ICO!!" I then proceed to play for about three hours until closing. Even with all those lights, odd foody smells, fucking Tibia douches, and people all around me, I continue to sit on the big leather couch in the middle of the room, using the biggest, prettiest TV in the whole place, without even noticing that people were asking me questions and stuff.
I found the game in MINT condition for 10 dollars at WalMart a few months later.
But then again, that's kinda the point.
I get that in guitar hero. Awesomesauce
Beat me on 360: Raybies666
I remember when I had time to be good at games.
Some others have been listed in this thread as well, but those are the ones that really stick out in my ind.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Ico is another one as you honestly care about what happens to the characters, it feels so real, so organic somehow you never have that moment where it pulls you out and reminds you that you're playing a game. With that said...
I can't agree with SOTC. The framerate and camera issues prevented me from loving the game like I hoped to. I LOVED Ico, it's easily in my top 5 games of all time, I tried so hard to feel the same about SOTC but the technical issues kept pulling me out of the game and left me frustrated and angry.
And Metroid Fusion. Mostly when SA-X is around. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck YES, IT'S GONE!"
Guitar Hero 1&2, there are a lot of moments where the song feels overwhelming and I still hit ever note due to muscle memory, it is a good feeling.
White FC: 0819 3350 1787
I love it when I feel like I can do that in an RPG, but in KOTOR it was so black and white that I just played the good guy the whole time because that's what I generally prefer (though to its credit, it made me feel really good about being the good guy).
The only game that I felt really let me be a "gray" character and just have fun role-playing was Fallout, and KOTOR only somewhat, just because all the good guy stuff made me feel like such a good good guy that I really enjoyed and made those choices without thinking too much about game consequences (though there were some, and I reverted to metagaming light side points if something I did gave me dark points).
Actually, Fallout should have made my original post hardcore. Only game I really felt I could do whatever I felt like in any given situation, and not worrying about being locked out of the game track I wanted to be on (aided in part by excellent dialogue options). Most games with good and evil use some kind of karma system to railroad you into consistency, but Fallout's lack of such was glorious. Maybe I should play Fallout 2 some time...
"If I ever woke up with a dead hooker in my hotel room, Matt would be the first person I'd call."
www.PatriceOneal.com
I have lost the game.
Asshole.
PSN: Lqmpley | Steam: TheOne(AndOnly)
Ahem.
Anyway, the Thief series is excellent for this. They have some of the most palpable atmosphere I've seen in a game. The first two are hard for me to play these days, though, and not just because of the graphics. The controls feel antiquated with two move forward keys for moving at different speeds and such.
Luckily, Thief 3 is still as great as the others(though plenty in the Thief community would probably want to hang me for suggesting such a thing), and nothing to do with the atmosphere suffered from the changes they brought to the game. The Shalebridge Cradle is brilliant and had me scared out of my mind and there aren't even any enemies in the first half.
However the best game ever for this was Conflict Freespace 2. Its still probably the best game ever made, in the last level, where the refugees are fleeing like mad and you are after burning towards the portal with the entire enemy battlefleet chasing you and suddenly you realize that if you don't turn around to slow it down then the refugee ships wont make it.
Fantastic
Thief 3 is a disgrace and you should show SHAME for your comment.
(Thief community member #923043, I'm obligated to say this, sorry)
Bijaz - Ironbreaker