This has probably been asked a thousand times, but are how vivid your dreams are, lucid or not, directly related to your dream recall only?

In other words, is one's ability at dream recall the only thing responsible for making a lucid dream seem "real" or not?

I've had a few lucid moments, but only one lucid dream worth mentioning so far. As soon as I realized that I was dreaming (DILD), I stared at my hands and observed the detail as instructed in one of the tutorials found here, and when I looked up, I REMEMBER being impressed by the realism, but it doesn't seem as big of a deal now.

What i'm after is an extremely realistic experience that just dumbfounds me. I want to feel completely, absolutely shocked, as if I had entered another plane of existence altogether. I do not remember having this "shocked" feeling on any lucid dream so far. (Keep in mind that my last lucid moment was about a year ago.)

I've read of the insane realism of some lucid dreams, so I hope that I will eventually find myself in such a situation if I persist in my efforts, but I'm trying to figure out if my sub-par dream recall is to blame.

I just started keeping a dream journal again after returning from a year long break about 4 days ago.

Any thoughts? I guess I just want to be assured that such an experience is truly possible, and that the time and thought I am beginning to give lucid dreaming will not render over-estimated consequences.

LD