And you are going to tell me Indi meets this definition better than KCD2?
Ah yes, the wikipedia definition which would almost get you banned from /r/immersivesim
You're not understanding the definition like it was meant to be when representing immsims.
Look at the titles
An
immersive sim (simulation) is a
video game genre that emphasizes player choice.
They don't mean a fucking quest choices.
Choices in how to approach a problem. KCD is the definition of doing X or select scripted choices to continue quest, or fail it. Its why traditional RPGs rarely every enter this list if you look at it. Arx fatalis being the odd one here because it was fully emergent.
Think a Deus Ex locked door. You can search around the map to find a code to use the keypad. You can find another way in by other means, a duct maybe, the sewer system. A lockpick maybe? Did you build your character to handle an RPG? Maybe you can just blow the goddamn door. Its open ended. You use the tools the game give to you and if it makes sense, a good immsim should let you do it.
Game can give you a
goal like Dishonored does for example but you have a shitload of options and paths to achieve it.
KCD ain't that. While it has staples of RPGs like a lockpick, there's no really multiple paths to an area, it'll typically be doors. Can you bring the biggest mace and smash the door? Naw. The world is in fact very static and one example that comes often for immsim upper tiers is can you stack boxes to go somewhere level design did not make obvious.
KCD is too strict in its quest design and various systems. I remember reloading like 10 times a fucking section of a sneak quest because I was "sneaking" my way but no, the quest expressively wanted the player to sneak around the enemy camp and it kept bugging out early on. A cool quest where you can poison a man's food, steal all his armor and then fight against him in a tourney seems like a cool emergent gameplay but it is scripted quest and an event that only happens once, I cannot do it to every other NPC in all tourneys, etc. Running far away from a siege? Tsk tsk, not following the script buddy, game over. But it does not need to go get the "immsim" certification, its a sim RPG and a damn good one at it. Peoples are just mixing up definitions.
I know Indiana does not fall into that either but I'll come back to it.
Its core, defining trait is the use of
simulated systems that respond to a variety of player actions which, combined with a comparatively broad array of player abilities, allow the game to support varied and creative solutions to problems, as well as
emergent gameplay beyond what has been explicitly designed by the developer.
Using the tools the game give you. Often times supernatural of course as upgrades have to allow you to do anormal things. Deus ex augmentations. System shock cybernetics. Dishonored supernatural powers. Bioshock plasmids, etc. A massive arsenal of choices to approach problems. KCD weapons and bows don't cut it. Nothing about Henry is suddenly opening a massive new way of playing. You get statistical perks but you're not unlocking a drastic new way of approaching a problem.
Why peoples find Indiana jones with some slight immsim DNA is the water drops of Thief for stealth and stealing around the camps, searching around for money/artifacts. A dash of Hitman with the disguises. The hints and puzzles that allow you to unlock chests, but mainly the multiple paths to an area that favor player observation. It also has dense areas that loop around and back into each other, which is more a signature of immsim map designs than an open world KCD.
What makes Indiana jones not an immsim either is the limits of its systems. You get skills but they don't suddenly change the way you approach an objective. The whip is controlled for certain places, not anywhere. Invisible walls that clearly means the devs did not want you there but it looks climbable. The ways to get to places is more linear than say a Dishonored game but still multiple choices to approach an objective.
I still think it has more immsim DNA than KCD personally, but I mean who cares. They both not immsim and they'll never enter the curated lists of the genre.
www.xboxachievements.com
I know the two new books got added with the newest update, so what's the deal with the other seven? They really added that many more?
