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[DryvBy]

I'm talking about a game that made you feel like you belonged in the world and it was sort of crazy how much you could do in it (even for it's time).

Shenmue and Yakuza games always feel like the amount of extra weird crap you can do, it stands out. I can just go eat and do crane games, I can go to work, etc. It's like the Sims but in an action-adventure game.

A small bonus: Redneck Rampage - in a deathmatch map, you could go bowling. I know that's not that insane today but back then it was crazy.

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

I'm talking about a game that made you feel like you belonged in the world and it was sort of crazy how much you could do in it (even for it's time).

Shenmue and Yakuza games always feel like the amount of extra weird crap you can do, it stands out. I can just go eat and do crane games, I can go to work, etc. It's like the Sims but in an action-adventure game.

A small bonus: Redneck Rampage - in a deathmatch map, you could go bowling. I know that's not that insane today but back then it was crazy.

EvE Online for multiplayer

Oblivion and the Sims 2 for single player

 

[DiscoDave]

EvE Online for multiplayer

Oblivion and the Sims 2 for single player

Just got back into eve again and fallout/skyrim for me aswell

 

[Cakeboxer]

The king is of course RDR2. But i also think Yakuza 7 was really good at it with all the shops and jobs.

 

[samoilaaa]

too bad that we will never get another game

 

[Robb]

If you think of it, you can do it: The game(s)

 

[Lucifers Beard]

If you think of it, you can do it: The game(s)

Tears of the Kingdom is great for that especially. I like the way they drop items in a room almost as if to say 'figure it out however you want, but these might help'.

 

[TwiztidElf]

Asheron's Call
World of Warcraft
Like a Dragon (both games).

^ Some really good answers already in this thread. ToTK, Skyrim and EVE.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Easily by far either Fallout or Elder Scroll games. Nothing else comes close.

 

[Rocinante618]

GTA 5 and unfortunately RuneScape.

 

[MayauMiao]

Fallout 4 & Fallout 76

 

[Team Andromeda]

Panzer Dragoon Saga - Sega Saturn

Starflight - Mega Drive

Morrowind - OG Xbox

 

[IAmRei]

I'm talking about a game that made you feel like you belonged in the world and it was sort of crazy how much you could do in it (even for it's time).

Shenmue and Yakuza games always feel like the amount of extra weird crap you can do, it stands out. I can just go eat and do crane games, I can go to work, etc. It's like the Sims but in an action-adventure game.

+ one for both Shenmue and Yakuza, like a dragon also my dream comes true since I imagined since kid, if someday there will be modern setting game with turn based rpg.

I like BoTW and TOTK, even i cannot customize link face, 1st Zelda and Minish Cap comes to my mind as well
I feels like FC 2, 3, and 5, Wildlands, and GTA SA (I never hit person with vehicle without a reason unless a necessary mission), immersive
Soulslike as well, ER, DS
MH series of course, my hair getting white, and I create one character which quite resemble me inside : ))
Any RPG with silent protagonist

There are lot of them IMO, but i wrote some of them above

 

[GymWolf]

It must be rdr2 in term of immersion, or gta3 when 3d open world were still a novelty, seeing the ambulance come to heal people or just the city interactions was mind blowing.

Some other games are immersive aswell but they usually fall short in the realistic animation department.

 

[PlayStaytion]

Duke Nukem 3D.

 

[Parazels]

Battlefield Bad Company 2.

You are hiding in bushes and watching a tank, moving down the road. Place anti-vehicle mines, escape and enjoy the result from a safe distance!

 

[ReBurn]

Panzer Dragoon Saga - Sega Saturn

Starflight - Mega Drive

Morrowind - OG Xbox

I was so caught up in Starflight. Amazing game. I also lost many hours in Populous for the system.

 

[Poppinfresh]

I'm talking about a game that made you feel like you belonged in the world and it was sort of crazy how much you could do in it (even for it's time).

Probably not a typical answer, but back in the late 80s, the first Police Quest by Sierra-Online.

I was a kid in the 5th grade who went from gaming on the Atari 7800 to owning a IBM PC, but coming from an Atari console, I was just used to playing console games. A classmate was talking about this cool game he was playing with his dad so I asked him for a copy. Evidently the game was already cracked/pirated and the next day the kid came to school with a copy of the game for me.

It came on three 5 1/4 floppy disks and it absolutely blew me away in all of it's CGA glory. I was hooked and played it non-stop until I beat the game.

From then on I was a Sierra-Online adventure game fiend. I even convinced my parents to buy me the original Leisure Suit Larry.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

Prey 2017.

Red Dead Redemption 2.

Fallout 4 on survival.

 

[Team Andromeda]

I was so caught up in Starflight. Amazing game. I also lost many hours in Populous for the system.

It gets so little credit, but it remains my fav Mega Drive game

I lost hours and hours into it and loved the game's vast world and how easy it was to play on the console. A true hidden gem

 

[Trilobit]

Nothing compares to RDR2. That game is just insanely interactive and immersive. But other than that I'd say Breath of the Wild. The world felt quite alive and like I could interact with a ton of stuff in it. In comparison Ghost of Tsushima felt like a fake movie set, gorgeous but with no way to affect anything but highly specific objects.

 

[Lambogenie]

MGS2 still.

To elaborate, it's not just "here's stuff, figure it out" sandbox, which I don't even enjoy much. But meaningful things like shooting the groin, the leg, environmental interactivity based on what's going on, pipes bursting, the birds, slipping on bird shit, boosting muscle gains, etc. It's way more meaningful as a whole than sandbox-do-anything types that get a bit annoying to me.

 

[bitbydeath]

Days Gone is still the most interactive open world to date.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

Cyberpunk 2077
BOTW/TOTK
Baldur's Gate 3

 

[Wonko_C]

Half-Life: Alyx without a doubt.

 

[AMC124c41]

For me it would have to be Jurassic Park Trespasser back in 1998. Yes it's an absolute janky mess but the level of interaction they were going for felt way ahead of its time and it made me extremely excited about what video games would look and play like in the future.
Half-Life is another easy example from back in 1998 with that intro, the fact it had no loading screens and "levels" and how it made Black Mesa feel like an actual place rather than a collection of disconnected 3D spaces.

 

[RAIDEN1]

The king is of course RDR2. But i also think Yakuza 7 was really good at it with all the shops and jobs.

To this day, no developer out there is bold enough to make a Red dead redemption game from a native American perspective..they just stick to the wild west setting..

 

[Hudo]

Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom
Baldur's Gate III
Half-Life: Alyx
Dwarf Fortress
Minecraft
Daggerfall Unity with some mods.
Final Fantasy XI
World of WarCraft

 

[Felessan]

Ultima online

 

[kremiso]

Probably Morrowind
i remember i was one month playing just in the first village, to complete every mission related to that specific zone

i was there

 

[Signalis]

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

The sheer amount of ways you can complete quests or just simply getting things done. Dialogue options affecting everything. Playing as a Nosferatu is basically like playing another game. And choosing a Malkavian has completely different dialogue from all other clans and wonky shit that happens. One of the greatest games ever made. I still replay it regularly. Just something about the game and world that's special.

 

[Treasure Hunter]

Flight Simulator X. With every lesson passed and every difficulty aid turned one tiny bit towards realism it all felt like real progress.

 

[Arsic]

Half life Alyx I think

 

[TintoConCasera]

Metal Gear Solid V, lots of different ways to do stuff and lots of freedom to approach your goalsm

 

[DryvBy]

Postal 2 and 4, I forgot about those. You can just kind of explore with the mechanics in those.