One of the main reasons I play, and love playing video games is that they transport me into a (very believable) alternate world. Sometimes, these worlds are straight up beautiful - The forests in Cyrodil, the hamlet of Bowerstone, or just all of the Witcher 3. Other times, the world is a just an accurate reflection of where we live - GTA V's LA for instance. Somehow, that makes you first realize how beautiful the in game reflection of the real world is, and then that carries over when you walk around your own city and the experience begins to realign to reflect your experiences within the game.

I've been playing GTA V ever since the PC version came out last year, and it's become one of my favorite games of all time. I love the story, cinematography, characters, gameplay, missions etc, but what keeps me coming back to the game all the time is the insane depth and breadth of detail of the in game city. To me, it feels like a living, breathing world. (Of course, you could break that immersion by doing a number of things, which I usually avoid. It takes a bit of effort to keep that immersion running) The fact that there are events taking place all over the game world that you wouldn't even stumble upon if you weren't at the right place at the right time is insane. The phone conversations between characters, hundreds of different streets and neighborhoods, the infrastructural detail at every corner (gutters, electricity transformers etc) are limitless and if it is an illusion, it's a really great one.

There is a feeling of presence and of place created in every location is really strong. I guess I'm talking about the atmosphere here. The contrast in the atmosphere between a sunny day on the Vespucci beach, to a rainy day spent cycling on the same beach, to mountain biking in the morning in the countryside, to driving down in a shiny, expensive car on the streets of the brightly lit city of Los Santos, as sky scrapers line its people on both sides - the fact that such a huge range of atmospheric experiences can exist within the same game world, apart from being an admirable achievement, creates an experience that can very closely mirror real life.

What's my favorite experience in the game though? Driving down the highway at night, in a good car, with the radio playing some good music. (prefer Radio Mirror Park personally) Do this for a while and you really begin to feel a part of that world - the traffic passing by, everybody living their own lives, probably going home after work or heading for an outing in the evening. Taking it real slow in the game - walking around the streets or bicycling around is also a great experience. Sitting in a taxi is another experience - probably the strongest one - that blurs the line between simulation and reality.

So this game does a lot of things that fool your brain into believing (at times) that it's in the real world. Why does that feel so beautiful though? That's a point I've often wondered about and haven't found much of an answer to. What is it about things/ games that come really close to imitating real life that makes them beautiful? I remember having similar experiences in GTA IV, and especially miss riding a bike through that toll booth monitored flyover.

There is the argument, or theory, that life itself is a simulation. I mean, even if it's not, there isn't much to differentiate life from a simulation. In both games and life, we experience events with the help of our senses (though games use only about 2-3 senses, whereas in life we use all 5), and there is a beginning and an end, before and after which we can't experience any of the events. We do stuff in life and our brain/ hormones react to it. Ride a bike down an open road and we feel exhilarated. Watch the sun setting over the skyline and we find it beautiful. Listen to music while taking part in these activities and the experience is enhanced. So what happens when you ride a bike down an open road within a game and that game feels very realistic? Our brain reacts in similar ways. And so watching the sun setting over Los Santos can bring forth the same feelings as watching the real thing.

Experiences within a game shouldn't be looked down upon or taken less seriously, because we perceive it all through our brains - real life and video games are just mediums. The thoughts, hormonal reactions, and feelings are the inside response. Simulation or reality are the outside stimulus. And if a game can be as realistic and beautiful as GTA V, I really think that that can open up a lot of possibilities.

Great post! I did the exact same thing with GTA IV (not as detailed ofc, but still had that Rockstar magic worldbuilding).

I should reinstall GTA V.

Just wanted to say, this is a pretty decent post. I think about it quite a lot too. I thought GTA 5 on last-gen was superb, but it's on a whole other level for me on PS4, that makes roaming the streets more immersive (first person is better I think, both on foot and driving). I love just walking the streets, especially at night. I often pop it in, like I did yesterday, to do that kind of thing. Both from a visual and aural standpoint, it's very good, and pretty realistic. It's not likely I'd do the kind of thing in reality for more than one reason, so it's a nice thing to do in the game. The thing I would love in the next GTA is if you could explore more, so the ability to go into just about every building, and almost every floor of the building, and nearly all rooms. That's not likely to happen, but it'd be awesome.

@ntm: Thank you :) Yeah I start the game up just to wander around a bit too, especially since I've finished all but the last mission of the game. Now that you said it, I realized that I missed out on talking about the whole aural atmosphere in the game. That is so great, especially the far off sounds in the city, like the echo of a motorcycle riding off outside the players' line of sight, or dogs barking - everything you'd hear in real life is covered.

As you said, being able to explore interiors would complete the whole experience. As of now that is the biggest immersion breaker. Let's hope that with time and new technology, we'll be able to experience something of that sort in the near future.

@chronologist: Thanks for reading :) I should reinstall GTA IV actually, since I lost my saves before I could finish it.

I love GTA5 first played it last April when it finally came to PC I already beaten the game 3 times and 100 percented the game.This game just makes feel good especially when I got a custom track on the radio and flying over the city while the sun is starting to rise I really really want to play this game in VR more then anything right now I love getting immersed in this game.

I love the attention to detail developers like Rockstar invests into their games. I've been playing quite a bit of The Division lately and I'm noticing a lot of neat little touches that bring both the player character and the world to life. For example, when there's a snowstorm, the player character actually shifts their body away to shield themselves from the snow. It reminded me of the time when Nathan Drake used his arms to protect himself from nearby flames in Uncharted 2. It was pretty incredible to see.

This is why Rockstar is still king. I mean I tend to love what they do in all areas with their games, but I think they're still way better than other developers at doing open worlds in the kinds of ways you are appreciating here. I see others hold up some other open world games and I think they are pale imitations in this category.

I still really enjoy the structure of GTA, but more and more I think it would be cool to see Rockstar do something with a much more open structure in their open worlds that would really embrace how well they do that aspect (something more Bethesda like in structure). I suppose GTA Online is doing that in a way, but it would be cool to see a dedicated game.

Red Dead's environments were amazing and I think one really cool part was how that game seemed to be arranged to provide certain views and landscapes. Beyond the rest of that game's very specific atmosphere. I also think Max Payne 3's environments (particularly the football stadium) are crazy detailed. Less time to appreciate that aspect in that game.

It's good to hear about people taking things slower and absorbing the environments. One of my most favourite evening with GTA V was doing a clean, no red light running, speed limited night drive from the furthest south to furthest north point and back again.

@videogaiden: Ah yes. I'd watched videos of a guy doing that when I had trouble sleeping for a couple of days. It was just so calming and, for some reason, made me feel safe and cozy.

@artisanbreads: Yeah. I thought Witcher 3 would be able to give GTA V competition in the open world category before it had come out, but that turned out feeling gamey despite being really beautiful. GTA just feels alive in a way no other game does. I really need to play RDR btw, but I just don't own anything other than a PC. I haven't played MP3 either, but reading that about it has got me curious. It's available for very low prices now, might just get it for the world building/ atmosphere alone!

@probablytuna: And Lara in the new Tomb Raiders too!

@jec03:Yeah that sounds like the kind of thing I'd enjoy too :)

I'm actually kind of the opposite in this case. Because they modeled it with so much detail, I just stopped absorbing any of it and ignored it all like I do when I'm on the road in real life. Like, it was too convincing in mimicking reality in terms of signage and architecture etc.

Kind of a shame, really, because from screenshots and stuff I've seen after the fact, it's amazingly impressive.

This is the way I react to the Elder Scrolls worlds that Bethesda creates. I love just walking around slowly and admiring the architecture and atmosphere of the places they create.

Maybe it's because I played it on a last generation console but I didn't have the same experience. I wonder how much could be attributed to that, though. It could also be my lack of patience compared to, say, ten years ago when I played San Andreas. That world I really explored, spending hours just roaming around and running into all kinds of little things. With GTA V I just never had that urge. Which, honestly, I kind of regret because that's something I absolutely loved in San Andreas.

Perhaps stranger is that I did have that experience with the Witcher 3. I was constantly amazed by the world that I was exploring, even though it's attention to detail in terms of simulation probably isn't as good as that of GTA V.

I just realized that I really want to know the answer to this question. Why wasn't I immersed in GTA V as much as I was in San Andreas or the Witcher 3? Is it because the simulation is too realistic? Did I lack the patience or motivation?

Where did my life go wrong?

Damn it!

It goes on sale a lot and it's worth giving a shot. The environments are fantastic. Personally I think the game is very underrated and one of the best games from last gen.

It's still a shame about Red Dead with PC.

As much as I loved driving at night in the rain listening to some radio station in Sleeping Dogs, it has nowhere near the same sensation as driving at night in the rain listening to the radio in real life. Mostly because there's more things to take into account when you do it in real life and it's nowhere near as relaxing. I do think there's value in enjoying that drive in that game though, even if it maybe (for me) maps to other sensations compared to it's real life counterpart.

@kazona: Haha I dunno, maybe it was just a time in your life where your mind was too occupied to be able to sit back and patiently enjoy an experience of this sort? Let me know if you find the answer! :)

@bollard: Hell yes, I love walking from city to city when I start up a new Elder Scrolls game. I enter one city, explore it completely, finish all it's quests and then stock up, take a nap at the inn and leave early in the morning to hike over to the next city. (I even make stops along the way if I come across a waterfall or something to, you know, freshen up and stuff)

@pezen:Yeah completely agree with you. I too ride almost daily through beautiful landscapes in real life (on the way to work mostly), while listening to music and mostly singing along with it at the top of my voice. It's a great experience, with the sun setting over the river, birds flying and everything. But that's the thing - it's a different experience. Somehow doing it in a game is an experience that gives a separate feeling, that is beautiful in a completely different way. That's the crazy and interesting part, which has got me thinking about why something that imitates real life feels beautiful, but in a different way. As you said, it maps to other sensations compared to it's real life counterpart.