Wyzack wrote:this probably comes pretty close to the customization bit, and is certainly not feasible for every game, but Dwarf Fortress gives every character a massive degree of individuality that makes them feel much more personal than random meatsacks doing your bidding. Likes, dislikes, values, incredibly specific appearance details, stuff like that.
This is close to what I felt was missing.
In the other mentioned games like Darkest Dungeons, etc., let's call them squad games, the role of the player is to complete the mission and part of that is "making sure everybody makes it back home alive". So the units in a squad matter more than in an RTS.
In Dwarf Fortress, there is a layer of simulation on top of everything else, Dwarves are closer to real people than simple unsimulated units in other games, because of thoughts and other things.
In a broader sense, it is related to "framing". For example, in Doom, you encounter a demon and you shoot it with your gun, very simple, it doesn't matter how hideous it is. But in Amnesia, when you encounter a demon, you can only run.
If you dont, you lose, so the fear of the enemy is tied to the fear of losing the game. "The Player" and the "enemy" are the same, but because of the framing, one typically feels afraid when playing Amnesia.
In the case of Dwarf Fortress, it is not just about digging, the realness of the dwarves is tied to the "caretaker" role of the player. Even though I know that 2x1 rooms are sufficient for my dorfs, I like to give them 3x3 rooms so they can live a good life.
tldr: muh immersion