What makes a good game?

[Fifoo]

There are tons of criteria that could make a game seeming good to the tastes of gamers, a special atmosphere , immersion, great music, a specific challenge, his originality, etc... And it differs from people to others, demands are so various about our tastes.

 

But what's the thing that makes a game being a really great one, this very special little thing making the difference, otherwise it makes you jumping to an another dimension : it's like a window, and when you open it you see beyond a world full of promise, a land filled with your dreams and making them to be alive... plain happiness.

 

This would be my definition of a great game. :happy:

[CommanderCrazy]

@Above,

True that.

[hoshi23]

A storyline that one can identify with. Unusual gameplay, creative , fresh ideas sourrounding it and cute graphics.

 

Oh wait its Super Mario and Yoshi on Snes. :biggrin:

[Kazakovich]

I've noticed that there's two main things that makes me interested in a game and that keeps me going.

 

Number one: The game captures my imagination.

In Oblivion, for instance, what I like the most is the superb dungeon-crawling. I think I'm an explorer at heart, and treading ancient or unknown ground is a very stimulating feeling. Like, for instance, you're going topside after spending a few years in, say, a subway station after an atomic war. That feeling of having a new world before your feet and thousands of locations to explore... That makes me tick. In Oblivion, exploring the ruins of old and trying to imagine how it must have been and who lived there and why it fell was the main thing that kept me interested when the novelty wore off.

 

Number two: Immersion.

Games that make you feel that you are really there gives me a great sence of excitement. In ArmA 2, for instance, I feel genuine fear when bullets start flying at me (along with that terrifying snapping sound) and have cought myself petrified in a ditch or behind a wall, despite it's just a videogame and the only thing I risk from dying is a game over-screen. Fallout 3 does the sam thing, most of the time. The menues are very well incoorperated in the gameplay, and using the pipboy just feels like a natural part of it.

 

Number three: Stimulating gameplay.

Despite being insipid and rather... Hostile, (I'm still not sure if it's a clever parody when the game goes 'Killing russian civilians in droves as long as you're working for America is okay, but any form of retribution is an abhorrent act of brutallity!' or if it's intended serious, I must confess) I found the Modern Warfare 2 campaign quite fun to play, since there was stimulating gunplay and several interesting toys to be had. Just the same way I like a little flashgame called 'Obama Alien Defence', which is exactly what it says on the tin. Jump around and pew pew pew! Of course, stimulating gameplay can be anything that feels... Well, stimulating. I'll never get tired of VATS-ing an enemy and watching his legs get blasted into orbit.

 

That's my three main preferences on what makes a game work for me.