For YOU, what makes a game "Great"?

[graffix_13]

I was curious as to what my fellow gamers considered the most important factors into making a game great. We all like different things (after all, life would be boring if we all looked the same, acted the same, liked the same stuff, etc.) so I am genuinely curious as to what YOU like in video games. What I like, others may not care for nor find important in good games and vice versa.

So after 25 years of gaming, I would say these are the factors (in order of importance) that make a game "great" for me:

Gameplay/Controls- Above all, gameplay is the most important factor. Even if I like everything else a game offers, chances are if the controls are crap then the game is crap. Really great games have an 'addictive' element to the gameplay. I guess it's kind of hard to put into words, but when I look forward to just picking up the controller and pushing the buttons for said game...well then, I'm hooked. There are exceptions I guess, but they are rare.

Protagonist/Setting- Some may include this with story but they're different for me. For instance, I'm playing Super Metroid (SNES) at the moment. Great game, but I like it more for Samus being in an upgradeable suit and it's in space! I really don't care how/why she's fighting the Mother Brain or whatever. I like it for gameplay and the space setting. Same goes for Castlevania franchise. Most of the early games had a new Belmont every game, kill Drac, blah blah but the setting/atmosphere is what made it fun. A good, strong protagonist can get me to play a game even if I don't care about anything else. But this can only carry a game so far if its other elements are lacking. A lot of video game franchises live and die due to the protagonist.

Story- I almost included this with my #2, but I thought of a few examples where I preferred one over the other and could separate the two. Anyways, a good cohesive story is important. The story itelf doesn't have to be this big, complex story with twists and turns. It can simple and straightforward. And sometimes I prefer that. Back in the NES days, stories weren't epic on a grand scale and that was ok. Super Mario Brothers for instance had a simple story: rescue the princess. Ok, no problem. On the other hand, games like Metal Gear (and no offense to Metal Gear fans, this is just my opinion) got crazy with clones, cyborg ninjas, etc, etc, and that may work for some people but it really turned me off from the franchise. A lot of people may like that, and that's ok. Just not my cup of tea.

Graphics- While graphics are important they aren't the end-all-be-all. I remember back in the 90s this would probably be my #1 with the NES to SNES upgrade. As I've gotten older (wiser?) graphics really aren't that important. But with saying that, graphics can't be TERRIBLE. And it looks like I'm not the only gamer who puts graphics down on the list as Minecraft is super popluar and its graphics are polygon-era.

Replayability- This was a tricky one for me, but I ultimately decided it was probably one of my least important. Not saying it's NOT important, but there are games that I LOVE but I don't have any plans to pick them up and give them another playthrough anytime soon (Darksiders comes to mind). This probably has to do with a games length.

I'm sure I missed some other factors which make up a game. However, the ones I listed are the ones most important for me. Interested into reading what others find important.

[Menegrothx]

There isn't a simple answer. You can't compare Silent Hill 2, Shadow of the Colossus or Planescape: Torment to Mega Man 2/3/9/X, Sonic, Mario, Rocket Knight Adventures etc. Or Monkey Island to System Shock 2. Or Eternal Darkness to Ultima 7. Or Thief to Chrono Trigger. Or Killer 7 to Red Dead Redemption. Or Touhou to Rez. Or Castlevania to GTA Vice City. Or Longest Journey to Counter Strike. Or Journey to Quake. You get the point. It depends entirely on the genre and mood of the game.

But I can say that I value the following things in any game of any genre:
-Gameplay mechanics that have depth to them
- A game that respects the player's intelligence and doesn't hold the players hand.
-Good writing and narrative that's also efficient&uses the interactivity of the medium well (aka 20 minute RPG cut scenes with simplistic dialogue=bad cutscenes in Silent Hill games=good, environmental storytelling=good). Respecting the audience's intelligence is once again important.
-Beautiful aesthetics, music and well done voice acting. Who doesn't want a game to look and sound good? Even if the game tries to be minimalist ("retro"/wanna be 8 bit graphics), it can still be stylish and look artistic. I also value unique game worlds and being artistic with level/world/character design, but obviously there are genres to which this principle can't be applied to.
-Believable, immersive game world. In general every object in the game world should have a function and the game world should react to all the player's actions, not just those that are placed on the linear path that the game designer chose for the player. This doesn't only apply to items, also quests, conversations and things like that should be realistically approachable. So if you think outside the box and do something you're not supposed to do, the game reacts to that appropriately (example: going to a women's bathroom in Deus Ex and getting scolded by your boss later on about it)

I'd mention "tight controls and accordingly challenging level design", but that applies mostly to action games like platformers and shmups. I appreciate the "purity" of design in 8/16-bit (/32-bit 2D) era action games, but you can't apply that same design to some 3D games like Survival Horror, even though many modern era games should take notes from well designed older games.

[muhanad]

The Donkey Kong Rap. Nuff Said.

[Erik_Twice]

A game is great if it does something interesting and does it well.


On a personal level I like game with tight mechanics were the actions of the player have a great effect on the gamestate.

[graffix_13]

It depends entirely on the genre and mood of the game.

Yes, good points. I guess it really boils down to what genre you find the most enjoyable. Some genres have stronger elements (even require it) moreso than others. RPG's need to have a good story, Platformers need good/tight controls, etc.

[3DSStrider]

RPG's need to have a good story

Not if they're Pokémon.

[Violent By Design]

What about depth, strategy and learning curve? I mean that isn't really the same thing as controls necessarily.

[graffix_13]

RPG's need to have a good story

Not if they're Pokémon.

Ahh never played a Pokemon game. I was thinking of more in stereotypical terms.

[Sasha_Blue]

Pretty much any game with a abundance of good humor. Like Psychonauts or Okage Shadow King.

[Gamerforlife]

Two words:

Game Design

That's where the real craftsmanship of a game is. How well put together are the levels? Or the bosses? Or the game mechanics? That makes the biggest impression on me. When I finish a stage I want to feel like every part of it was perfectly put together. The enemy placement. The power ups. Everything carefully thought out. Every thing is where it is for a reason and everything plays out the way it does for a reason

Most of my complaints with a lot of games today just come down to how they are designed. In fact, I feel like I'm often complaining about the same mistakes so many designers make. I feel like the overall state of game design in most modern games today is very, very, VERY lazy. Half ass stages that feel like they were thrown together in five minutes