There will probably always be an audience for realism in games. In terms of your question about it incepting new thoughts or causing mental scarring, it will depend on how good the game is. I don't think most adults would be traumatized by in-game violence for example, but I do think people of all ages might be susceptible to some level of mental plisoning from the inclusion of certain elements. The best propaganda pieces are good art, games, movies, etc. If you enjoy the propaganda and seek it out to consume it, that makes it more effective. Baldur's Gate 3 and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 are examples of good games with leftist propaganda that accomplish this.
If you know ahead of time that it isn't real and you can't really die, there is a part of your brain that disassociates because you know it's fake. If you dropped someone in without them knowing, like if they had no idea that it was even possible, then yeah they'd have real stress. But the knowledge that none of it is real, that the people dying around you are just really fancy pixels, would prevent that, for well adjusted adults anyway.
You do have a point. No matter how rational we are or how much we tell ourselves something is "just a movie" or "just a game," humans can't help but consume it as if it were an experience we actually lived through. This is why it's so insidious that they want to "diversify" media depicting actual historic events, and why they put such an emphasis on portraying leftist mindrot in every aspect of media imaginable.
There will probably always be an audience for realism in games. In terms of your question about it incepting new thoughts or causing mental scarring, it will depend on how good the game is. I don't think most adults would be traumatized by in-game violence for example, but I do think people of all ages might be susceptible to some level of mental plisoning from the inclusion of certain elements. The best propaganda pieces are good art, games, movies, etc. If you enjoy the propaganda and seek it out to consume it, that makes it more effective. Baldur's Gate 3 and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 are examples of good games with leftist propaganda that accomplish this.
If you know ahead of time that it isn't real and you can't really die, there is a part of your brain that disassociates because you know it's fake. If you dropped someone in without them knowing, like if they had no idea that it was even possible, then yeah they'd have real stress. But the knowledge that none of it is real, that the people dying around you are just really fancy pixels, would prevent that, for well adjusted adults anyway.
You do have a point. No matter how rational we are or how much we tell ourselves something is "just a movie" or "just a game," humans can't help but consume it as if it were an experience we actually lived through. This is why it's so insidious that they want to "diversify" media depicting actual historic events, and why they put such an emphasis on portraying leftist mindrot in every aspect of media imaginable.