Suggestions for very immersive games/mmo

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MMOs I think are the best in terms of how long you can have fun playing them.

Recently Ive been playing the metro games and I cant remember another game that has got me immersed like those apart from the half life games. The first one was alright but a bit lacking, a couple of minor gripes but the second one seems to have dealt with the issues I had- mostly about combat and maybe not quite enough tension/epic moments.

Anyhow, as good as these games are they arent really good bang for your buck. I can tell the second one Im nearly at the end due to it being a big build up and I only started it the day before yesterday I think. They are alright for a quick jaunt but they arent any real surrogate for living a real life, which is what a good game should be all about imo; it should allow you to forget about all your shortcomings in life for the time your playing as your transported away to this alternate universe. Games like metro are like a little pamphlet vs a lord of the ring style book, which is what an epic like baldurs gate or a good mmo would be.

My liking of the metro setting ties into another of my criteria for making a game immersive such that ill 'buy it' and get into it. It used to be the case that I loved dnd setting and fantasy stuff but I seem to have grown out of it now as playing quite a few free fantasy mmos and other single player titles i just find i cant suspend my disbelief for total high fantasy these days. Games like the metro games are ofc not real but the universe is a believeable scenario of something you could plausibly imagine happening hence why it adds to the 'buy it value' imo. Then agian dont limit recomendaitons if its really good but not in this setting. I also liked the path of exile feel cos it was fantasy but still had a nice dark gritty feel. Too bad it was such a brainless hack n slash, i got bored of it within a couple of days.

So post apocalyptic scenarios I think are my favourite or real life/present day type of deals.

So I suppose my two main criteria for a good game are- semi realistic/plausible setting, and hundreds upon hundreds of hours playability. Btw I dont count replaying games on different difficulty settings adding to their replay value, or really playing as different characters like in skyrim. I tried skyrim only recently since I upgraded my comp to cope with it but really havent been able to get inot it. Never really like bethesda games tbh theyve always felt soulless and lacking a certain something tbh, and this is coming from a big fan of the sandbox game mind you. Theyve just felt very vapid on some level. I always felt really lonely and like all the npcs are very one dimensional plonked there like robots. I have planned to try falout 3 again but not gotten round to it yet.

For semi long term I think Im looking for an mmo cos they can last for ages always something to do and then fun of playing with others. I loved my time playing anarchy online back in the day loved that steampunk style. I just couldnt get back into the dated graphics when i tred again recently tho.

Altho Im not a shallow type and rate substance over graphics, graphics are important to me I think cos if they are TOO old then it just wrecks immersion again for me. Planet calypso seems ok but not really got into it so far.

Interested to hear other's thoughts.

tldr:

-gritty steampunk/futuristic/post apocalytic settings

-good graphics

-mmo or otherwise very deep single player rpg

Fallout 3\New Vegas

As mentioned above fallout would be the closest fit (even though you said you've tried it), they're both very good imho.

Other considerations:

Stalker series (inc Lost Alpha) - defo worth the play through!

Rage (Contrary to reviews etc, I actually enjoyed this very much)

The Walking Dead adventure series is very good

Metro games aren't too bad, yet its very much standard FPS

Bioshock 1 & 2

Dayz

You could try Nether, yet I haven't personally played this to give you an opinion

Also as an outside choice you could use an emulator & play the Last of Us (PS3)

I dont really find MMOs all that immersive. They just seem inherently designed to be very deliberate, with some pretty gamey' mechanics. Not saying that's a bad thing.

I think the game for you here is Fallout: New Vegas. At its core, there are injuries, radiation, drinking, eating to deal with and plenty of options to play how you like.

There are also some amazing mods for it that can make the game even expand the immersion, like making nights harsher, requiring night vision and one cool mod I found that had blinding sunglare where I would need to equip sunglasses. There is also a plethora of graphical mods/ENBs to toy around with.

Behave boys.

^aye i didnt really mean that mmos are immersive, as i said and/or. i do get very engrossed in them tho, i think its due to the commitment and even the grindyness of it -yes i actually used to enjoy grinding once i got into the game- where you spend all that time and its always a case of just wanting to reach the next milestone/level etc, and wanting to get new gear etc that is what makes them immersive in my mind.