I think the genre you are looking for is "immersive sims". Notable historical examples are Thief, Deus Ex, and System Shock.

I've set my computer so that holding caps lock lets me type in Greek

When I was in school, the bus route did not stop near my house, and it was too far to walk, and there was no good bike route (though one exists now). In middle and high school I would often walk or bike to a friend's house after school but that wasn't always an option.

This is a situation forced on us by car-centric city planning