Extreme Immersion?

After seeing some games like star citizen and identity pop up I'm wondering if there is a genre for immersion on an extreme level. Basically a game where your goal is completely set by yourself in a way and you can be what you want i.e. a mercenary, assassin, doctor, merchants etc. Forgive my ignorance if there is such a genre but I just don't see anything like that.

There is other games that are old like Privateer 2 that you can become a pirate or a merchant. There is a recent game that can do that too.

Immersion is such a subjective term. What is immersive to you may not be to another. I do not find first person to be immersive while other scream it is and add so much to gaming.

Try the Mount and Blade Warband. A medieval game where you control a band of fighter a you act as a trader, merchant, bandit, lord, or even a king.

@H20Dynamo: Look at No Man's Sky, which seems to have a world in which you can be anything you want related to space exploration.

@H20Dynamo: Minecraft.

I haven't gotten into it yet, but maybe look into Evochron Mercenary. If you want a fun space sim, though it's dated, Freelancer (might be hard to find). Another one to look into is DarkStar One - but I haven't played it yet.

I own both DarkStar One and Evochron Mercenary, I just haven't put time into them yet. I have too many games and too little time to dump into my backlog. I've heard good things about both, so they may be worthwhile to look into.

To be completely sucked into the game, as if to feel like I'm the character and my immediate reality is non-existent, is a rarity for me now. I used to play a lot of The Elder Scrolls and other free-roam games, but know that the market is pretty over-saturated with indie games and shooters, I don't really find games that treat me that way anymore. The recent exception being The Witcher III, but it'll never be the same as how I felt when playing through The Elder Scrolls series. I really do value the immersion that you can get from certain games, but lately I feel as though it cannot be replicated for me.

Anyway, to answer your question, I'd say No Man's Sky is your best bet here. Maybe something like DayZ, since that's open-ended.