Playin' games

     The immersive game I chose to indulge in was Neverwinter Nights 2, an rpg based on the Dungeons and Dragons series of worlds. I define this game as immersive for several reasons. Aside from the standard "cut things up/shoot things/burn things" style of play expected with any game where combat happens, there's a solid core story that unfolds as the player works through. The story could have easily worked just as well as a novel rather than a gaming experience, with a good, high-fantasy-driven plot, memorable and distinct characters/personalities, dramatic (for a given value of fantasy drama) events and surprises, and similar aspects that make the genre enjoyable.
     Aside from but worked into the story there's a degree of immersion to be found in the character itself. As with many of this genre of game, the main character can be created by the player, offering up choices to suit one's preference such as gender, race, physical shape, job (by which I mean a range of options on what it is your adventurer actually does, from the old favorites of wizard, thief, fighter, and cleric to more specialized classes such as duelist, swashbuckler, divine champion, etc), and even down to the specifics of hair, skin, eye, and minor accent colors. You may devise your own history, and choose what skills a character has (though of course some jobs and races are more attuned to certain skillsets), and help the character grow into a unique and powerful force within the context of the game.
     A fun element of the gameplay is where your character falls on the good/neutral/evil spectrum. There are nine distinct alignments, and choices within the game can affect yours to a degree that there are consequences for frequently flouting the moral system you choose to live by. Some jobs can only be followed by certain alignments, for example, so to start with one of these jobs and then lose it through poor roleplaying of your character is possible (and frustrating, after spending hours building them up to a useful degree).
     The graphics, being of relatively recent vintage (2004 or so), are excellent for the time, as is the soundtrack, with the latter supporting the former strongly. traveling through a forest looks and sounds like it should, caves and dungeons offer distant dripping noises, combat gives powerful musical crescendos. The voice acting of the game is of a good quality, lending it at times the feel of an interactive movie. The game functions on multiple levels to create a distinct world and, while keeping you within the bounds of the story, to help you experience that world in a meaningful way, regardless of how you choose to play it.