Can immersion only truly happen from a first person perspective?

[RatRace123]

Not in my books, no. I actually find that first person perspective takes me out more often than it brings me in.
Outside of Bioshock and the parts of Fallout 3 and New Vegas that don't feature the AI doing something horrendously stupid, I'm not usually immersed by the first person perspective.

And I'm pretty sure the reason I mentioned those 3 games up there is because they all have a great sense of atmosphere, and that's what really draws me into a game's world.

 

[captaincabbage]

Nonsense. I've been immersed plenty of times from third-person.

Funnily enough I'm usually less immersed in first-person games that try to be immersive, namely because they try to emulate movement by flopping the camera around a ton, like in dead island when you get knocked off your feet, if your character suddenly drunk whilst trying to stand back up??
Basically as it goes, our eyes are not fused to the back of our eye-sockets in one direction at all times.

As for Third Person games, I was more involved in Uncharted, GTA 4, Shadow of the Colossus and most of all Red Dead Redemption than any first person game I can think of. Fucking Red Dead man, I was crying like a baby in the final scenes.

 

[Signa]

Planescape: Torment proves this wrong. I was immersed in that game well enough that I almost started speaking with the same jargon as the characters and NPCs. UI-wise, Torment is furthest from being FPS.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

Dead Space TPS I'm engrossed in those games. Also the Zelda games suck me in all the time, and also Metal gear solid, as well as Alan Wake.

 

[badgersprite]

No, not at all. In fact, I usually find the opposite. Probably the most immersive games I've ever played are the GTA games, especially San Andreas. Put Saints Row 2 up there as well.

I've always found that I relate better from a third person perspective, though. Even when it comes to books and video games. That's just a quirk I have, I guess. In first person games or books, I'm usually far more aware of myself consciously being there, playing or reading. It's more distracting. It's not necessarily a deal-breaker, but it's not something that works for me.

Mind you, I naturally dream in third person, so maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[Zero_ctrl]

Nope: Mount & Blade, Fable II (for me at least), Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect Series, Sly Cooper 2 & 3, GTA IV, and many more.

It's just a matter of how well the game portrays its universe.

 

[F4LL3N]

Well, for the fact that I always hate on 3rd person games for being crap and unimmersive, I better say yes. It's not necessarily exclusive, and there's more than just perspective. It's also got to be a well made game or atleast interesting. I found Oblivion and Call of Duty to be some of the more immersive games I've played. While a game like Mass Effect or Dragon Age I found to be terrible. Mainly because of the perspective.

I get what you're saying with immersive and engrossing though. A good story can be engrossing. Actually... I found FFXIII to be quite immersive, not to mention a lot of other turn based RPGs. I guess overall game mechnics and how invested you are in the game universe plays a big role too.

 

[Vault101]

no way....

I mean if its first person then generally the charachter is a non-charachter, not somthing I can really get into

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Um....... they're both the same thing as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Alade]

Actually, current 1st person offers less immersion than current 3rd person. 1st person provides our brain with very little information, only sight and hearing. Smell, touch and other senses play too little of a role. In 3rd person however, those senses are compensated (not completely), by providing more visual information.

 

[FreakSheet]

It can't only happen from a FP viewpoint, but it can be better if done right. (see Half Life Series)

 

[Dendio]

I haven't seen anyone mention MMO's yet so ill put one in the hat. Back when I played WoW it was easy to get utterly sucked into the game world. I had my headphones on blocking outside noise. The only sound was the wow ambiance/music and my buddies on vent.It got to the point where I would consciously turn my character towards my buddies when talking to them over vent. Competitive Arenas and Battlegrounds left me feeling one with the keyboard in a way that many games haven't.

The game is in third person and it feels more natural that way. You are able to ascertain the location and movement of your entire frame rather than just where your head is.