Are First-Person Games Inherently More Immersive?

[Sansha]

I think it is. I get immersed in first-person games like Fallout 3 and Elder Scrolls because it feels like I'm playing as my character, while forced-third-person like Mass Effect can't hold my attention because it feels like I'm just chauffeuring them through their story, rather than my own.

 

[Doom972]

Both perspectives have immersion breaking issues, but as long as a game is properly designed to work with either perspective, these issues are kept to a minimum. Baynoetta would work poorly in first person because its game mechanics are designed for a third-person perspective.

1st-person is more limiting from a gameplay mechanics standpoint. The main reason why Bayonetta wouldn't work in 1st-person would be due to the very limiting field of vision, which is much smaller than real life. Plus, you'd lose out on seeing the actual moves and such for the most part. I think the game's actual combat of performing combos would be alright in 1st-person.

I didn't say that first-person is better for gameplay - I said that it had better potential for immersion. Anything that doesn't require spotting targets/objects and accurate aiming is better off being in another perspective gameplay-wise. I already said that I agree that Bayonetta wouldn't work in first-person and why, so I don't understand why you are trying to prove to me the point that I already made.

 

[votemarvel]

My buddies were arguing that a game in a first-person perspective is inherently more immersive because the perspective mimics our actual human experience and how we receive information to process in our daily lives.

Except the first person view doesn't do that.

We have peripheral vision, depth perception, and spacial awareness. None of which are replicated by the first person view in games. Devices like the Oculus Rift have a potential to change that. It'll be interesting to see if it will be done.

Now the third person view can hardly be called 'realistic' but it does replicate peripheral vision, depth perception, and spacial awareness.

Third person actually replicates more at this present time of how we see the world.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I didn't say that first-person is better for gameplay - I said that it had better potential for immersion. Anything that doesn't require spotting targets/objects and accurate aiming is better off being in another perspective gameplay-wise. I already said that I agree that Bayonetta wouldn't work in first-person and why, so I don't understand why you are trying to prove to me the point that I already made.

My fault. I feel 1st-person for the most part is less immersive just due to the fact that you really don't feel like a person. All 1st-person really does in "pull you in more" just from a camera perspective to where 3rd-person camera is obviously pulled back. However, added immersion from being pulled in more is quickly broken for me when I need and want to do someone basic that I can do myself but can't actually do in the game.

 

[144_v1legacy]

Everyone is arguing here about whether or not 1st or 3rd person is inherently more immersive, but ALL of you have it backwards. Camera systems are means to an end! Immersion is the result, not the starting point, and any route can lead there if taken carefully.

Limbo was immersive, and it was a 2D sidescroller. It used an effective artistic style and palette combined with thematic reinforcement to immerse the player into the world it created. I could say something similar for Okami. I could say something similar for Portal.

Portal could have been 3rd person, but it was decided that making it 1st-person would make for a more immersive game. I'd agree. It made it that much more psychologically effecting to burn the companion cube. But what about a Zelda game? Imagine Wind Waker in the 1st-person. I bet that would result in a much less immersive experience.

If a game is immersive, it isn't because of its camera choice. That may be a factor, but only in tandem with the rest of the design aspects of the game. Replicating real-life is often irrelevant.