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StaceyPowers

What gets you emotionally invested in a game?

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When I start playing a video game, the experience is usually really impersonal for me for a long period of time (sometimes indefinitely). The game interests me and I enjoy it, but it doesn’t affect me in any particular way.

But then sometimes, there is a magical moment where the game suddenly feels real to me, and I care about it emotionally, and I feel invested in the characters and outcomes.

Usually, I’ve noticed that these factors play into getting emotionally invested in a game for me:

-Black and white issues which bother me personally (i.e. bigotry)

-Decision-making in morally gray areas

-Issues of free will

-Tense game play

-Followers with interesting stories and goals

-Being able to make an improvement in the game world or take responsibility for something (i.e. build a house, improve a city)

What gets you emotionally involved in a game?

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For me there has to be an underlying story that evolves as the game progresses. Or the protagonist being forced into a situation against their will, usually to save someone they love. When that kind of thing happens I end up missing my friends when I shut the game off.

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I think survival games get me  emotionally invested into a game. And for me that turns out to be lot better on the content side or something strong about the plot. I don't know how other people do it. But it can be fun to spend time on survival games. 

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5 hours ago, killamch89 said:

The characters have to be very complexed individuals and the story has to have a lot of depth to it as well. The gameplay has to be fun and the difficulty has to be challenging for me.

Who are your favorite complex characters?

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5 hours ago, StaceyPowers said:

@LadyDay Would love to hear you chime in on this topic!

Thank you for always wanting to include the noob! 🙂

I really get more invested the more I play the game. The more I get to know the character and the more I see the story unfold and the more I'm entertained by it basically. Take Skyrim. The storyline is good, but what's really gotten me invested is getting to know the amazing world more and more as time has passed. With Left4dead, as far as I remember, I got invested because the game is just hilarious (and I was playing it with a great friend - whi I unfortunately don't have him anymore). The Sims I get invested the more I develop the characters, which takes time. As far as I can remember I never really got invested in Borderlands or Portal 2, but I also only played them shortly, so long ago I don't actually remember what the games were like. So yeah, a combination of time, commitment, entertainment and story. 

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@LadyDay It's interesting you talk about time commitment. I too notice I rarely get invested in something from the moment I start it (one exception being TLOU, which has a particularly gripping first act). It's more like I play for a while, and then something grabs me, and it's like the game "comes to life" for me. But it doesn't seem to involve a particular amount of time--it's more the qualitative nature of the moment that matters. It can take a while to find it though!

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A gripping story is a must - Atmosphere is also just as important because those two factors will immerse you into the game. Then add unique characters with lots of personality to it and character interactions and you have a truly mesmerizing experience. Take Devil May Cry for example - Dante, Virgil and later on the series, Nero (Virgil's son) - Unique characters with lots of personality.  Dante and Virgil's rivalry and the constant back and forth between them when speaking to each other - character interaction. The gloomy visuals as with demonic miasma dripping everywhere plus the music make up the atmosphere and of course, Dante and Virgil being the sons of Sparda - a demon who turned against his own kind (Mundus) for attacking the human world unjustly and seals away Mundus. This leads to their mother being murdered by Mundus' assassins and a long tale of tragedy and drama begins.

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