This is partially a rant, partially a question and partially a commitment device.

Earlier today I was thinking about how much I liked HL2 and didn’t like Doom 2016 when it dawned on me. Sure, the moment to moment gameplay of HL2 feels tighter and the level variety is much greater; but the thing I enjoyed about it the most was the complete lack of optional content.

In HL2 here’s no score, no collectibles, no upgrades and no side objectives. You play with the tools given to you in the way you find the most fun. Doom 2016 not only has those things, but they’re not even restricted to a end of the level screen like the original Doom. You actually have to do optional objectives if you want to upgrade your weapons! So I played most of it with the long list of things I needed to do before finishing the level constantly occupying my mind.

Recently I started playing 2 new games, both of which I just realized I’m doing similar things in: Meteo Exodus and Lego Skywalker Saga. With Metro, I had a guide detailing the places of collectibles open from the moment I stated playing. This was out of habit, I played the previous 2 games the same way because I hated to see “not found” in place of a journal entry. But this game seems to place the entries in much more obvious spots compared to those two, and it’s obviously supposed to be an exploration game.

With Lego, I was playing the story with minimal exploration because I knew some secrets would be unattainable without freeplay so if I want them I will need to replay the level anyways. But I also know from experience that exploring as you go is the most fun part…

So I guess the question is, what should I do? Go on as I’ve been or somehow overcome the urge? If so, how?

I kind of think the solution to this problem is modding. Like to make the progression system of Doom 2016 be only based on which level you’re in, unlock all diary entries you haven’t found when finishing a level in Metro, or have freeplay powers the first time you play a level in Lego.

What do you think?

When I read about immersive sims online I keep seeing them described as systemic games that give the player choices for solving the problems they come across. But in my experience the different choices you have are so imbalanced in terms of applicability, rewards and exclusivity that I find it hard seeing them as such.

In Bioshocks the aggressive combat playstyle is viable everywhere, is the most rewarding both in terms of gameplay and resources and doesn’t lock you out of anything. The alternative playstyles can still be used situationally to access any exclusive treasure. On the flipside going all in on an alternative playstyle takes more time and often amounts to skipping content.

Frankly I don’t like either, I don’t want to miss out on content and I don’t want my choices to be meaningless.

With Bioshocks and Prey the meta is playing aggressively. With Dishonored it’s stealth. To me the whole scheme seems antithetical to the game structure of a linear story based game. The developer can’t craft a particular experience because they have to accommodate for different options, and the options can’t be too different because the path is the same.

The games that best fit the description for me are BotW and Minecraft or even Hitman, none of which is considered an immersive sim. The popular immersive sims seem closer to Batman Arkham games, which have no pretense of player choices save for what tools you use in combat, than they are to the aforementioned titles.

So, which immersive sim did you play that fulfills the immersive sim premise?

There are plenty of spin offs and tie ins but not adaptations (save for Lego) for some reason. Obviously this isn’t the case for the reverse.