How can you tell which games are immersive simulators and which aren't? RPGs like The Elder Scrolls or The Legend of Zelda give players plenty of freedom, but no one usually calls them "immersive sims."
I understand that immersive sim isn't so much a genre as a genre characteristic, but where exactly is the line drawn? As a fan of Arkane games, I’ve always wondered about this.
So the game might say "get the laptop from the 2nd floor office". An immersive sim will try to allow as many things as you could imagine doing in real life to achieve this
talk your way in. Convince them you work there or something
maybe forge or steal some ID
or hack their network to give yourself creds!
find a back entrance
find a back entrance directly to the 2nd story
just shoot everyone
sneak in and take people out like a ghost
sneak in and don't get seen
set off a fire alarm and go in when people are outside
do any of the above after hours
Contrast this with a more traditional game like Mass Effect. There's typically going to be like one path, with maybe like one choice. You go in where they want, shoot the baddies, and get the thing.