What You Look For In A Game

[tHePhAnToM!??!]

I want to know what real gamers such as yourself look for in games.
I call you real gamers because to be honest most of the people here are really clear on why they like or dont like the things they speak about. It is nice to read posts from such gamers.
Well anyhow when it comes to games I love the innovations. That does not mean I am dancing around to ddr but I respect it. The story to me comes either first or second as well. If it is not interesting then I will not really play it. It could look crappy, it could have clunky controls and a whacky camera but if the story and plot are well grounded then I am down. The sound and voice acting.......the sound has to be exact and clear. The voice acting....decent is just fine.

The graphics for me are really whatever. I mean as a retro gamer I really do not care because I can truly appreciate the real aspects of the game and not just its polish.
Let me think of some innovations...loved the addition system in Legend of Dragoon which was neat I think. Albeit not innovating, but to me refreshing. For fighting games it would have to be....i really have no idea. I am a huge tekken fan so i think tekken 3. I love the modes in that game and I think the gameplay and everything was just really well put together. For racing I have to go with GT. The first one because it really defined the standard for the future of racing simulators. The whole aspect of earning licenses was great.

Action adventure....thats hard. Well there maybe another but I have been playing the Thing for the ps2. I really like that game. Its very strategic. I really just can not go all out and shoot everything up. I love the fear factor in that game. I do not know if the GTA series is in this category but we can not forget what that series has done for gaming either. I also have to mention the Devil May Cry engine. I forget which engine it is but yeah.

I am a huge fan of the MGS series. That series is a dam good series and always puts in a few new things each game. One of my favorite boss fights of all time is against the End. That dam old fuck. I later found out that they had to make it easier because originally it was even too hard for the developers to beat.

I can not think of anymore. I am too excited. Its my fucking 21st birthday in 2 hours. And then I have to go take a polygraph test lol ah well. If you guys can think of more thats awesomeo. Tell me which games bite off which game and things like that. And hopefully this turns up into a nice little thread.

[Kagi]

Great idea for a thread. I think this will actually help people on this message board (new and old alike) to determine what games they should get based on our idividual preferences. Although I believe we can fine tune it a bit by asking "What aspects do you look for in a game?" I only suggest this because at first I wanted to answer with "games that are replayable" and I realised that too can be broken into aspects.

First when I pick up a game the controls have to be intuative for me, the simplier, the better. Am I opposed to reading a manual? Absolutely not but intuative controls bring you easier into the world the game is building. For instance, Gungrave is very straight forward. Walk, shoot and dodge.

Now if the controls are there the next thing I look for is a challenge. I'm not having any fun if I am just going through the motions with no sense of consequence and I don't want to feel like all I have to do is press the "win" button . If I am not playing the game right, I deserve to lose. An extreme example of this is Ninja Gaiden (and its many re-releases) for the newer systems. One of the main reasons I got into shumps like Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun was because of thier challenge.

Well, thats all I have for now. If I think of anything else I will be sure to post it.

[Mozgus]

Music is my main concern. I think music makes up 1/4 or 1/3 of the entire experience, and it severely pisses me off when reviews go on for pages without even mentioning music in a game. For example, the first 2 reviews of Metroid Prime 3. Not a fucking word about the music. MP1 has the best OST since Super Metroid, and MP2 had only 2 good new songs. So what does MP3 have? No one gives a shit...

[Gamerforlife]

I've always been a gameplay first, everything else second kind of gamer. If the gameplay isn't up to the snuff, then the whole game is garbage to me. When Odin Sphere came out, it got praised for its story, music, but above all else, it's graphics. When I played the game I found that it had the most simplistic combat engine every conceived. Shallow even by 16-bit era standards. The game also had you repeating many of the same stages and bosses over and over again,and the characters all played pretty much the same. To me, all the pretty graphics, wonderful music and interesting story in the world couldn't save this game. The gameplay is crap, and thus, the game as a whole is crap. That's how I evaluate games. I can get a good story from a book, which is much cheaper than a video game. I can get good music from a cd. I can great visuals from a movie. I play games for gameplay. It should not be ignored. As someone who ocassionally plays rpgs, one of my biggest complaints is how they will sometimes focus so much on the graphics, story, etc that the gameplay will be really uninteresting.

That's not to say I don't appreciate the non-gameplay stuff, I just think it's secondary to gameplay. Visually, I do like 2-d graphics. I like the cartoony and anime style look many 2-d games have. I love anything that has a hand drawn look to it. This fits in with my love for quality animated programs and comic books. I also love seeing something with a lot of visual imagination like Rez, Ico, Okami or Psychonauts. When it comes to graphics, you're not going to impressive me with how many polygons you're using, or the frame rate, or the amazing lighting and water effects. I want to see something artistic. In fact, I generally prefer artistic to realistic, which is why I seem to prefer retro games.

I think Mozgus is right that music is too often overlooked in video games. It is arguably more important than graphics since music can create a feeling or emotion in a player. Good music is timeless. Streets of Rage may look dated now, but it still sounds amazing.

As for what kinds of games I like, I'm somewhat open minded and play games from different genres. However, the ones that seem to appeal to me most are platformers(in all their varieties),beat'em ups, hack and slashers, 2-d fighters(I don't really bother much with the 3-d ones), adventure/puzzle games(like Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia Sands of Time, Ico, etc.)and I really love anything that has an arcade like feel to it(like many of the Dreamcast's best games). I loved that arcade games were loud, crazy and over the top. Most modern console games take themselves too seriously and really lack those elements that made arcade games fun.

I like to play japanese rpgs occasionally, but I'm not what you could call a HUGE rpg fan. Sometimes I get tired of playing them and need to get away from them for awhile. I'm pretty loyal to the Final Fantasy franchise though. I really look for j-rpgs that try to go above and beyond the many tired conventions of the genre, and I'm especially impressed when the game puts a lot of thought into making a fun combat system. Games like Valkyrie Profile and Grandia come to mind. I've also taken a liking to non-japanese rpgs like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic because these games really give you a lot of control over who your character is and how he interacts with the characters and story, a stark contrast to the "forced" nature of japanese rpgs. These games are truer to what role playing was originally all about

I don't like sports games unless they are exaggerated, arcade style ones like NBA Jam and Sega Soccer Slam, or just easy to pick and play like SSX Tricky, the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Punch Out or any of the old 8-bit sports games. Basically, I like sports games that you don't actually have to be a sports fan to enjoy. Also, I'm kind of a wrestling fan so occasionally I'll check out a new Raw vs Smackdown game or whatever. I still have Wrestlemania 2000 and No Mercy for N64, and maybe someday I'll get around to playing a Fire Pro Wrestling game or Natsume's Championship Pro wrestling.

PC games are a curiousity to me. I don't really follow the scene for a couple reasons. I don't like playing games on a mouse or keyboard and I also hate the constant upgrading you have to do to run the latest games. However, there are a few PC games that have grabbed my attention over the years, and the keyboard/mouse thing is not so bad on some games. Plus, I can sometimes substitute a controller. For these reasons, I will occasionally try out a really interesting looking PC game as long as my system can run it. So basically, I kind of respect the PC scene, but I'm really just a console gamer. It just seems easier to play games on "plug and play" consoles

When it comes to challenge, I really don't care if a game is hard or easy, as long as its fun. I'm not one of those hardcore types who doesn't think a game can be fun if it isn't really difficult. However, I do get kind of hardcore about "mastering" the games I play. Trying to unlock everything, getting the best rankings or just getting good enough to beat the game on one life. I'm not really into the speed run thing though. And oddly enough, while I can obsess over getting the best letter grade in every stage or getting 100% completion on a save file, I never really get all obsessive about high scores. If a game evaluates me with just random numbers rather than letter grades or percentages, I tend to not get interested for some reason.

I could list my favorite games, but that would probably be better served for a different topic. I'm pretty sure this post is probably too big already anyway

[racketboy]

Two major factors for me...
- Easy to pick up and play (sort attention span/hate games that need tutorial)
- At least some innovation or something that makes it set itself apart from the competition.

On a secondary level, art style sometimes does wonders for me. I'm a very visual person and I'm a sucker for games that look slick. Realism doesn't usually do it for me, but games with a unique flair such as cel-shaded or huge, colorful sprites, or super-smooth animation reel me in.

[GagaMan]

* FUN.
* Doesn't piss me off too much.
* No need to learn anything over 5 buttons.
* Has some imagination to it.
* Doesn't take hours to get into.
* Did I mention FUN?

[extrarice]

Something innovative, something unique. Something that doesn't cry "Me too!!" *ahem, Metroid Prime as a response to Halo*
I can't stand copycat games that push "zomg graphics" as their main selling point. To me, graphics don't make any difference. It must be *fun*.

Unique I suppose is the entire key for me:

Katamari Damacy
Kororinpa
Ikaruga

Some genres (shmups, for example) for me require over-the-top action, like:
Geometry Wars
Gradius 5
Metal Slug (I know, not a shmup)
Giga Wing

For RPGs, multi-dimensional, believable characters and dialog are important. Item synthesis is an instant turn-off, as is too steep of level grinding.

I suppose a pretty complicated question.

[kinn]

I can not think of anymore. I am too excited. Its my fucking 21st birthday in 2 hours. And then I have to go take a polygraph test lol ah well. If you guys can think of more thats awesomeo. Tell me which games bite off which game and things like that. And hopefully this turns up into a nice little thread.

Let me first say Happy Birthday! I guess in the USA your now able to drink right? And you need to take a polygraph test?!

But yeah great topic for a tread!

For me its like music: I like any music that sounds good to me whatever type of music it is. So I dont prefer a certain type of genre or anything. I dont really have a criteria either to be honest. As long as it doesnt have EA on the box then I happy! (kidding!)

A game has to have at least one thing in it that gets my attention. Whether it be a new graphical look (i.e. cel shaded), gameplay mechanic, different controls and so on.

I also look at who is creating the game as well. If a game looks dull and seems to offer nothing new but is headed by Miyamoto then I defo will be interested in seeing what its like.

It got some more points but my sleepy need brain....(I'm tired and need sleep )

[nightwalker]

You know what... Ive never know why do I like a game. Damn Im really in a though situation here trying to think. Well OK...

1. Story
2. Gameplay (New things it depends of the genre of the game)

For example if its a fighting game. I like the super special moves to be great. For instance street fighter Hugos gigamesh breaker thats freakin awesome.

RPG
The story and the battle system

Platformers
Story and gameplay and the arsenal that you got at your disposal I liked the jak and daxter series.

Hehe call me childish but Ive been hooked up for a while in Cooking mama for the DS
its just really innovating. Now Im just amazed at mario strikers charged Ok you do the same in every match but the way the computer keeps getting harder and harder to beat its just awesome.

[durkada]

Overwhelmingly I'm an arcade junky gamer -- and for some reason that makes the games which absolutely do not fit within that mold, a little more magical.

I tend to like games which are tests of skill. Again, I cut my teeth when the arcade was king, and any given game was designed to have you crushed within five minutes of inserting a quarter. These are the games that grow aggressively challenging with sparse rules (although, with sometimes amazing complexity). The first level is gentle on the player, while each one becomes progressively harder. With the addition modern graphics, greater memory and storage media, the games of this genre -- I think -- have become amazingly good. The Red Star, for instance, is an awesome arcadish game; its requires fast thinking and efficiency in play. This is probably why I do so horribly at it -- but love it, nonetheless. These are the games which reward repeated plays -- as a player gains greater skills, the further and better he gets with the game.

I don't want tutorials, I don't want story and characters padding the gameplay -- I want to go straight to the core of a challenging game experience. A game scores more love if its multiplayer. I would prefer it if the game doesn't have an ending.

Well, that all goes to the core of my being... and yet....

I loved Ultima II -- largely because it exercised my imagination and was non-linear. It had a profound effect on me as a child, but I question whether I would still enjoy it today.

M.U.L.E. is still the most astoundingly comlpex game, yet belied with the simplest play, ever created. Pure multiplayer joy. This one also rewards multiple plays -- skill wins this game.

Civilization -- Sucked the life out of me. Perhaps because my aborted college experience was going to see me as a history major.

Infocom Games -- text adventure joy. Again, here, the imagination is exercised. The stories were vastly better than any RPG of today, but, frankly they weren't great literature by any means. What made them easy to play was a general, and sometimes very dry and subtle, humor. You played these because of the puzzles.

SCUMM -- yeah, the SCUMM engine games. Again, great sense of humor infused in wacky stories. Here, the puzzles which tend to be very easy, are given an added dimension solely because the story and the characters are compelling.

ICO -- There's a beautiful story here, and this is one of the few games that has characters which grab me. Even so, its a puzzle game at its core.

Shadow of the Colossus -- it has a story, but what it has I hate more than most anything: running around looking for the "game". The game is killing colossi, running around on a horse looking for them represents that which I hate from modern platformers: running around looking for fun. And yet, I don't mind it here, and utterly adore this title.

I mention these games because I gravitate towards a certain type of game, and this list is not representative of that. I look for and take particular interest in, fast, simple exercises of skill. But, I'm open to other experiences, and as I craft a list like the one above -- it makes what I like about games is much less theoretical and more intuitive.

So, you now know a little about what I like and what I don't like. What I love, are those odd experiments that come from nowhere, yet seem so organically obvious that you're surprised it hasn't been considered before. Two examples:

The Red Star, again -- we combine beat-em-ups with shoot-em-ups. The result is pure magic. Beat-em-up's tend to bore me -- never liked them. But, when you combine that aspect with the bullets flying, the bombs dropping -- the experience is exhilirating. Easily one of the best games I've played in many years.

Senke no Ronde -- Wartech in the states, for XBOX 360. Give each player the bullet hell powers of a SHMUP boss and have them fight it out. Utterly brilliant.