Abstract: This chapter presents an in-depth study of correlations between the dimensions of immersion and the dimensions of authenticity in the representations of historical fencing in For Honor and Hellish Quart. The study is based on M. Mochocki's dual model of immersion/authenticity, which includes six types of immersion defined by S. L. Bowman, and five types of authenticity by N. Wang. It demonstrates how the immersive experience of authenticity (or vice versa: the authenticity of the experienced immersion) is shaped in audiovisual communication, in simulative game mechanics, in the embodied contact with the interface, and in the textual and paratextual communication between the developers and society.

Keywords: heritage, historical games, fencing, martial arts, realism, simulation, authenticity

Introduction

We view immersion as a six-dimensional experience. Each of these dimensions is described in Sarah Lynne Bowman's adaptation of Gordon Calleja's layers of involvement: spatial, narrative, affective, kinaesthetic, shared, and ludic. Bowman notably divides immersion into: environment, narrative, character, activity, community, and game. Michal Mochocki aligns five of these dimensions of the human experience, described by Bernd Schmitt as verbs: “Sense,” “Think,” “Feel,” “Act,” and “Relate” (with no “Play” verb to go with immersion-into-game).

In our exploration of For Honor (Ubisoft, 2017) and Hellish Quart (Kubold, 2021) (henceforth: FH and HQ), we rely on Mochocki's dual model of immersion/ authenticity. Mochocki correlates five of the six involvements described by Bowman and Calleja with the five dimensions of authenticity observed by Ning Wang and by Mariana Bueno de Andrade Matos and Maria de Lourdes de Azevedo Barbosa. This assumes that immersion in history/heritage-themed games is correlated with the experience of heritage authenticity—and that their five dimensions are too, translatable through Schmitt's language of “experiential” verbs.

Multiple layers of immersion/authenticity may be part of the same experience, overlapping and interconnected. They are not equal, though, in intensity. One or two may dominate, especially when they are prioritized by specific games, genres, and platforms. The configuration of these forms of immersion translates to particular types of experiential authenticity facilitated by in-game interactions with history/heritage content. For instance, Attentat 1942 (Charles Games, 2017) is designed primarily for narrative immersion aided by environment immersion, which Mochocki compared to museum visits.