Mechanics
A near miss is still a losing result
The distance between symbols on a screen is not a measure of how close the next play is to winning.
Separate the picture from the result
A reel display can place a desired symbol close to a winning position. That visual proximity does not turn the result into partial success. Reading an interface carefully means distinguishing what it depicts from what its rules actually award. A nearly aligned image is still evaluated by the game’s stated conditions.
What the standard addresses
The Gambling Commission in Great Britain’s remote technical standard on random outcomes explicitly prohibits misleading features, including replacing one losing outcome with a different losing outcome to manufacture a near miss. It also requires acceptable randomness and rules against adaptive behaviour within its scope. These are requirements for that regulatory context, not evidence about every game worldwide.
Look for an explanation
A thoughtful game analysis asks how random inputs map to outcomes and how those outcomes are displayed. It does not interpret a dramatic animation as a prediction. The practical reading habit is to return to the rules and result, rather than infer that visual closeness makes a later win more likely.