I think you hit the nail on the head, give me what I need to know when I need it, and make it more environmental when possible. Halo for example had the assault rifle show the ammo count on the gun itself and other games have as well, there are countless other ways to give information organically to the player.
This is a great answer and I learned a new word today! I'm okay with diegetic elements, as it feels organic and as long as it's not distracting I'm okay with that! I forgot about mirrors edge, the minimal(ish) design of that game is great.
I suppose saying "no HUD" was a bit narrow, the spirit of my question was more about games that don't have displays and elements pulling too much attention from the game itself. I appreciate the response!
Immersion is one aspect, but I also find that artists put so much work into creating great visuals, it almost feels like I'm ignoring the great things to look at by chasing dots on a map. I really just want experiences that help me focus more on the world in front of me.
Yessss I feel like developers really have room to get creative with visual elements like that for fighting games. For first person games even just the redness on the edges of the screen is good enough in most cases!
I think you hit the nail on the head, give me what I need to know when I need it, and make it more environmental when possible. Halo for example had the assault rifle show the ammo count on the gun itself and other games have as well, there are countless other ways to give information organically to the player.