Biggest immersion breaker in your opinion.

What pulls you out of a game more than anything else?  Besides cutscenes of course.

For me it would be AI.  I find this to be absolutely jarring especially in "realistic" games.  I think this is the one aspect of gaming that has more room to grow than anything else.

2nd would be animation.  Movement in most games is just so damn poorly done.  You might have this amazing character model with hyper detailed high res textures and even convincing skin shaders... but as soon as he/she starts moving the believability is lost.  Some companies are making strides towards greatness in this area, but overall this is a weak point in too many games.

Pop in, especially in open world games.

instant fast travel in open world games

Pop in, especially in open world games.

heeweesRus

Oh that is a bad one, I didn't even think about that.  Its like the evil cousin of invisible walls.

Pretty tough to narrow it down, so many to name...

Probably poorly written dialog, or even poorly written stories in general. Like if the world is believable, but the actions that take place in it aren't. Something like that, I don't know.

I honestly don't mind cut scenes, what grinds my gears though is "oh my gurd epic moment just happened, or you know it's about to happen" then *Loading screen*

[QUOTE="heeweesRus"]

Pop in, especially in open world games.

Wiimotefan

Oh that is a bad one, I didn't even think about that. Its like the evil cousin of invisible walls.

Nothing better than being prevented from exploring somewhere when you suddenly are stopped by...air?:P

Scripted sequences that remove my control (so many big titles do this)

Clunky gameplay that hampers play. I like when I can play a game without thinking about what my hands are doing.

Super linear paths. I don't hate linear games, but when a game is built to give you this impression of an awesome world to explore, and yet you can't explore any of it, it drives me nuts.

Loading screens.

Boobies

• AI path finding (or lack thereof in this case)
• Clipping
• Invisible walls

i think those are my big ones

This seems like a weird thread for System Wars. Maybe would go better in General Game talk. Though on topic if they game has a good story I'll be immersed. The story is really the only thing that can keep you immersed or not immersed because I can become very immersed into game like Final Fantasy 7 even though it does everything that you say is bad for being immersed in a game. WickedChainy

Yeah, I know its not SW worthy, but we tend to have some general topics here.  And sometimes its nice to just talk about games instead of strangling each other over platforms.

I agree though, a great story can really pull you into a game.  I still love playing FFVI and Chrono Trigger even though both games have archaic presentation.

Scripted sequences that remove my control (so many big titles do this)

Clunky gameplay that hampers play. I like when I can play a game without thinking about what my hands are doing.

Super linear paths. I don't hate linear games, but when a game is built to give you this impression of an awesome world to explore, and yet you can't explore any of it, it drives me nuts.

Ly_the_Fairy

Broken controls.

[QUOTE="Ly_the_Fairy"]

Scripted sequences that remove my control (so many big titles do this)

Clunky gameplay that hampers play. I like when I can play a game without thinking about what my hands are doing.

Super linear paths. I don't hate linear games, but when a game is built to give you this impression of an awesome world to explore, and yet you can't explore any of it, it drives me nuts.

WickedChainy

I dunno, I think it depends on the game really.  Like all the older FF games.  They're linear, but they never really feel that way.  They give this feeling of massive scope and scale even though you're very much on one path forward.  But then a game like FFXIII.  All the illusion is lost.  You know for a fact that you're walking a straight line from cutscene to cutscene.  You're always aware of it.

Out of everything...

Achievement/Trophy notifications

Bad voice acting, especially combined with poorly written dialog.

No surprise that most of the really immersive games I remember are minimally-voiced.

Probably blocked off areas in general. It's rare to find games that successfully convey that an area is blocked off for good reason. This doesn't just apply to open world games, but to alot of other genres, such as racing games - "Why can't I hit the lip of this ramp and jump the rail? Why does an invisible wall prevent me from doing this?"

Depends on the game.  

I would say horrible animations (not counting poor framerate and extremely blurry or jaggy graphics).  I really hate when an RPG has awful facial animations.  Xenoblade (in NA) has pretty terrible facial animations.  

Explaining everything in a game that doesn't even need it. Show me how to play the game by making me play it. Random pop ins and people saying "DURRR DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN CLIMB THE WALL BY TAPPING X AND HITTING UP ON THE CONTROLLER... LOOK OUT FOR THE SPIDERS, KILL THEM WITH B!"

I get it... Just... let me figure it out.. There aren't that many friggin buttons.

[QUOTE="WickedChainy"]This seems like a weird thread for System Wars. Maybe would go better in General Game talk. Though on topic if they game has a good story I'll be immersed. The story is really the only thing that can keep you immersed or not immersed because I can become very immersed into game like Final Fantasy 7 even though it does everything that you say is bad for being immersed in a game. Wiimotefan

Yeah, I know its not SW worthy, but we tend to have some general topics here.  And sometimes its nice to just talk about games instead of strangling each other over platforms.

I agree though, a great story can really pull you into a game.  I still love playing FFVI and Chrono Trigger even though both games have archaic presentation.

Pop in, especially in open world games.

heeweesRus

Frame rate drops

quick time events. I hate when Im watching an awesome cut scene and a QTE just comes out of nowhere mems_1224

Stop supporting X1 lem or I'll have to arrest my case.

Frame rate drops

BPoole96

This.

And crashes.

Incredibly silly things like glitches, physics f***ery, and whatever else a game can come up with that just looks ridiculous as hell.

Not that it's a bad thing but it's definitely an immersion breaker.

[QUOTE="Wiimotefan"]

[QUOTE="WickedChainy"]This seems like a weird thread for System Wars. Maybe would go better in General Game talk. Though on topic if they game has a good story I'll be immersed. The story is really the only thing that can keep you immersed or not immersed because I can become very immersed into game like Final Fantasy 7 even though it does everything that you say is bad for being immersed in a game. Lulekani

Yeah, I know its not SW worthy, but we tend to have some general topics here.  And sometimes its nice to just talk about games instead of strangling each other over platforms.

I agree though, a great story can really pull you into a game.  I still love playing FFVI and Chrono Trigger even though both games have archaic presentation.

[QUOTE="Lulekani"][QUOTE="Wiimotefan"]

Yeah, I know its not SW worthy, but we tend to have some general topics here.  And sometimes its nice to just talk about games instead of strangling each other over platforms.

I agree though, a great story can really pull you into a game.  I still love playing FFVI and Chrono Trigger even though both games have archaic presentation.

WickedChainy

I truly didn't understand his comment which is why I ignored it.  :P

Pop in. It breaks it but just for a second then im in again.

nothing breaks my immersion because im not immersed. its a video game for gods sake, not virtual realiy.

Wave after wave of enemies, seems theres always millions of people willing to die just to kill one person.

Invisible walls gets my vote.

Nothing better than being prevented from exploring somewhere when you suddenly are stopped by...air?:P

Vyse_Legends

[QUOTE="Vyse_Legends"]Invisible walls gets my vote.

Nothing better than being prevented from exploring somewhere when you suddenly are stopped by...air?:P

MrGeezer

Its sad that you're not even joking.  I remember being stopped by a picket fence in some shooter, think it was a CoD game.  All this crazy shits going down and I'm a one man army, but I cant hop over a fence that doesnt even reach my knees.  -_-

[QUOTE="mems_1224"]quick time events. I hate when Im watching an awesome cut scene and a QTE just comes out of nowhere Wiimotefan

Stop supporting X1 lem or I'll have to arrest my case.

[QUOTE="Lulekani"][QUOTE="Wiimotefan"]

Yeah, I know its not SW worthy, but we tend to have some general topics here.  And sometimes its nice to just talk about games instead of strangling each other over platforms.

I agree though, a great story can really pull you into a game.  I still love playing FFVI and Chrono Trigger even though both games have archaic presentation.

WickedChainy

[QUOTE="WickedChainy"][QUOTE="Lulekani"] I take issue with that. Immersion should never be used to "Compensate" for anything. Equal attention should be given to each aspect of the game. Bethesda and Rockstar Games, the ultimate Violators of this concept.Wiimotefan

I truly didn't understand his comment which is why I ignored it.  :P

poor ai, physics and graphics aka Wii.