Examples of primitive graphics increasing immersion

[Jazoni89]

We all know how with good graphics a game can be more immersive, but what if the opposite is true, and we get more immersion from more less realistic graphics.

For example, I was playing the original Tomb Raider, and despite the awful blocky graphics, I still find that I'm more immersed in the game than I do with the more recent Tomb Raider games such as Underworld. It nails the atmosphere of being alone incredibly (the feeling even makes me scared at some points), and still stands up well to this day. I feel it's graphics are the main culprit of how it creates this forboding atmosphere.

Fellow Escapists, What examples can you give that are like Tomb Raider, and can be more immersive than newer titles due to less realistic graphics.

 

[DioWallachia]

Missile Command

Another alternative is fast paced arcade games like Alien Soldier and Tyrian.

An inverted example would be a more recent example: Soul Reaver 2. That may sound like cheating since its a Playstation 2 game but even then you can see the 2D skyline and a bunch of other things that may take you out of the game but the voice acting and the body language made by the character animations make up for it by sucking you in.

 

[teqrevisited]

I find it's the draw distance more than anything.

Having played Tomb Raider and its remake, Anniversary, I was let down quite a bit by Sanctuary of the Scion in particular (The Cistern & St. Francis' Folly to a lesser extent for the same reasons). In TR1 the main cavern with the sphinx and the other cave with the partially submerged statues felt huge. There wasn't a roof, it was just black, and the winged atlanteans would emerge from the darkness to claw your eyes out. Fast forward to Anniversary and you can see everything from one side to the other and it's lit up like a christmas tree. Anniversary has a skewed sense of scale. Everything is far too small now.

I get a similar feeling (draw distance) in Silent Hill. You tend not to see the things that want to chew your limbs off until they're right in front of you. The radio becomes your only pre-warning and in my opinion the game benefits from it.

 

[BENZOOKA]

Rise of Nations

The best real-time strategy game there is. For a rough description: it combines Age of Empires and Civilization in the best way so far seen.

It's from 2002, so the graphics aren't exactly up to today's standards, but the style is very appealing and the animations are done extremely well, a lot better than in many games that have come after it. It also gets quite vast, so the simpler graphics help to find quicker everything you need and you don't have to second-guess any fancy transparent icons. In combat, all the projectiles for example (from arrows to bullets to missiles) are visible and make watching the combat more enjoyable and informative, even though it's not that realistic.

 

[Lilani]

We all know how with good graphics a game can be more immersive, but what if the opposite is true, and we get more immersion from more less realistic graphics.

For example, I was playing the original Tomb Raider, and despite the awful blocky graphics, I still find that I'm more immersed in the game than I do with the more recent Tomb Raider games such as Underworld. It nails the atmosphere of being alone incredibly (the feeling even makes me scared at some points), and still stands up well to this day. I feel it's graphics are the main culprit of how it creates this forboding atmosphere.

Fellow Escapists, What examples can you give that are like Tomb Raider, and can be more immersive than newer titles due to less realistic graphics.

I think it should be pointed out that there is a world of difference between "unrealistic" graphics and "primitive" graphics. Realism has to do with style, the other simply has to do with the limitations of the engine. I think Psychonauts and Kingdom Hearts are both very well-designed for how "primitive" their graphics are now considered. They may not be realistic, but they nail the look they're wanting, which is more than what most recent games that are trying realism can say. Even the games with the most powerful and intuitive engines still can't get their characters out of the uncanny valley. Personally, that awkwardness pulls me out of the experience more than the cartoony and stylized look of Psychonauts ever could.

With stylization, as long as you achieve the graphical bar you set with your style achieving immersion is not difficult. With realism, the bar is reality, and the bar really doesn't get much higher than that. Because even if there is one tiny fracture in that illusion of reality--which we are VERY attuned to detect as we are in reality every single day--the immersion is shattered.

 

[mikey7339]

I got much more immersed in the older Final Fantasies (1-7) and actually enjoyed them, unlike the later ones. Part of this was because of the graphics. When everything started to look like it was anime, it completely killed most of the immersion for me. Same goes for alot of the JRPGs out nowadays.

 

[efrafa_6]

Demon's Souls/Dark Souls

Perfect example imo, it fits in with the depressing, hopeless vibe of both games.

 

[The Madman]

I absolutely love ansi heavy games like Nethack, Angband and Dwarf Fortress. When you reduce the visuals to almost nothing and instead replace all that effort which would have gone into graphics towards gameplay elements, it just makes the game incredibly vast while also leaving the details up to the imagination. From one session of any of the above games I mentioned I'll usually come away with a half dozen awesome experience and story. With their more graphically intensive counterparts... well... it's a strange difference.

Plus I get to be part of the little niche of gamers who understand why D is a terrifying letter. You see that comin and you run, run like the wind!

 

[Scarim Coral]

To me that would be LoZ:Ocarina of Time. Mind you didn't own an N64 so I played it when I got it alongside Wind Waker (Wind Waker is still a good game). The part where I feel into the immersion was when you fist lay your eyes on Hyrule field with the open space and scenery. Also the fishing cabin had a wonderful and pleasant atomsphere that was an awesome break from your quest.

 

[Lilani]

Books.

Have you ever been immersed in books? I have. Lots of people have. Books are immersive, and have no graphics.

Point is: graphics =/= immersion. They can help, but are completely, utterly unnecessary. Immersion is all about the atmosphere, credibility and flow.

I highlighted the most important word you said there, flow. Graphics may not directly equal immersion, however they do set a certain standard for how the experience is going to go, and if that experience doesn't remain consistent it will show. For example, Mass Effect. Things with the graphics aren't too bad when you're fighting, everything is far off and you aren't seeing too many faces up close. From that distance and in that situation, the animations and graphics look pretty realistic. But then when you get set up into a conversation, the uncanny valley comes in full force. Awkward facial and body animations and lipsyncing, eyes that don't shut all the way when they blink, clipping errors, and a general "offness" with the model itself (my first femshep had a horrible case of duck lips and nothing I did with the sliders changed any of that). All those little things add up to that pristine immersion being shattered.

So no, graphics alone are not the key to immersion, however when a standard for the experience is set it had better be able to hold up all the way through.

 

[Smooth Operator]

That really only happens with nostalgia, yes the old graphics bring back fond memories but they do not help a game out.
However it is extremely important to note that graphics and aesthetics have to go hand in hand, a game that was not designed with high level graphics in mind might be completely off by bumping up graphic fidelity.

Imagine Minecraft being put into the Cryengine, with complex lighting, volumetric effects, razor sharp textures, lifelike avatars,... the whole package would be horrifically bad, immersion wise they might as well have someone prodding you with a sharp stick.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

What? no love for Pokémon Red/Blue?

The white ground ,the grey grass and black seas of Kanto...
Ringing any bells?

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Silent Hill. Due to how vague the details are on the character models it easily allows me to apply my own coat of paint, which in doing so allows you?re imagination to do more damage than having something spelled out for you with sharp crisp graphics. And you know I find the obscure aesthetics more fitting for a game like Silent hill as opposed to the realistic visuals of today?s games.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I absolutely love ansi heavy games like Nethack, Angband and Dwarf Fortress. When you reduce the visuals to almost nothing and instead replace all that effort which would have gone into graphics towards gameplay elements, it just makes the game incredibly vast while also leaving the details up to the imagination. From one session of any of the above games I mentioned I'll usually come away with a half dozen awesome experience and story. With their more graphically intensive counterparts... well... it's a strange difference.

Plus I get to be part of the little niche of gamers who understand why D is a terrifying letter. You see that comin and you run, run like the wind!

Above: trufax.

I like Brogue a lot for this reason, combined with the fact that it actually makes ascii look really good.

 

[Jazoni89]

I highlighted the most important word you said there, flow. Graphics may not directly equal immersion, however they do set a certain standard for how the experience is going to go, and if that experience doesn't remain consistent it will show. For example, Mass Effect. Things with the graphics aren't too bad when you're fighting, everything is far off and you aren't seeing too many faces up close. From that distance and in that situation, the animations and graphics look pretty realistic. But then when you get set up into a conversation, the uncanny valley comes in full force. Awkward facial and body animations and lipsyncing, eyes that don't shut all the way when they blink, clipping errors, and a general "offness" with the model itself (my first femshep had a horrible case of duck lips and nothing I did with the sliders changed any of that). All those little things add up to that pristine immersion being shattered.

So no, graphics alone are not the key to immersion, however when a standard for the experience is set it had better be able to hold up all the way through.

Oh I completely agree. Graphics can also cause the game to be woefully unimmersive if not done right. I've been having the roboto-face issue in Mass Effect for the entire length of the franchise.

But then again immersion isn't the one most important feature of games anyway. There's also fun and interest.

I do agree, but It does help certain games a whole lot though.

I mean, Bioshock for example wouldn't of been the same game if you didn't feel like you was hundreds of feet under the sea, what with the bursting of water pipes, and ocean floors and all that.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Alien Vs Predator 1999. The blocky, pitch black zones swarming with aliens was much more terrifying than the jungles of the 2010 version.

 

[Agente L]

What is ps1 silent hill?


People used to put their own scares into silent hill, because it was all low definition and blurred. Now with all "monsters" in high definition and their appearance easy to see, it took off some of the psychological thriller

 

[ResonanceGames]

Thief. The blocky graphics of the first two games allowed them to have a very distinct art style that would be almost impossible to pull off with better graphics (as evidenced by Deadly Shadows).