Elements of a truly great game

[Moksha8088]

Here is what I look for a truly great game:

 

1. Open world - like to explore

 

2. First person perspective - essential for high degree of iimmersiveness

 

3. Non-linear - required to keep game replays feeling fresh

 

4. Console codes available - for when I want to cheat or get stuck

 

5. User made quest mods available - extends the life of the game

 

 

What makes a game truly great for you?

[TheMastersSon]

Most of those are on my list too. Video games imo are all about storyline, writing, character development and voice acting quality. If those things are done well, immersion is usually automatic. But if they're done poorly, no amounts of graphic eye candy, huge level sizes etc can make up for the absence of emotional involvement in a game. Bad voice acting kills immersion far more effectively than no voice acting etc.

 

Also I agree with your first-person perspective requirement. It's essential in my book, a prerequisite for complete immersion in video games. I'd add standalone PC operation (no online connection required to install or play except for multiplayer etc) to your list. If publishers wish to charge north of $50 or $60 for a video game the least they can do is ship the game on its own media, and without separate game server requirements.

[PoorlyAged]

First, story. A game needs a good story line to give it meaning. With meaning, a game is just walking around killing 'stuff'.

 

Second, story. A game needs a good story to give the game a definite progression. With out a definite progression, a game just meanders and goes nowhere; like a drunken sailor.

 

Third, story. A game is supposed to be entertainment, and without a good story, there is no entertainment.

 

I think that covers everything. There's other stuff, the these are the important ones for me.

 

:D

[Kathryyn]

Story Obviously.

 

Exploration but not those cheap "exploration" types of things like having a HUGE map then having like what, 7 locations throughout the entire thing, if your gonna aim to make a open world game at least not have it Void with life and ACTUAL content, and im not talking about "Randomly procedural" bull like a random group of enemies spawning in the middle of nowhere.

I'd say this one of the things Bethesda is very consistent with, world is not empty.

 

Combat Combat I'd say is probably one of the most important aspects of a game that has a lot of combat. ME:Andromeda did this well and Combat is Always Fun. Perhaps its just the animations.

 

FIrst Person Perspective - This one is optional but VERY cool to have and it's something that isn't brought up enough, imagine all those 3rd Person games played in First person, Dark Souls, Shadow of Mordor, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Witcher 3.

Very cool experience

 

REAL Boss Battles - If we're going to have Boss Battles in RPG games at least have Variation, grabbing a normal enemy making it bigger more health and damage then add a spike on his forehead call him Headspike The Great and place him at the end of the Dungeon, that is pretty much the pinnacle of Boss Battles in most RPGs.

Even FFXV Had this issue, the Ronin's were just beefed up versions of previous versions, Bethesda Games infamously known for it, even Witcher had this, They were variations on how the monster got there, how to get to it/find it but the battle itself was just slash here, hack that cut off its head and claim the bounty.

 

Amaze me!

 

Weapons/Armour Variants - Enough with the Expert Armour just looks like beefed up Novice Armour. VARIATION (I'm looking at you, Witcher)

 

Real Companions - Mass Effect the holy grail of "best companions in gaming", Its one thing they always do right, despite Andromeda being a flop, cant deny, that Vetra isn't a 10/10

 

 

The list really goes on

I Dont expect too much, I Expect just right from Certain companies that can quiet easily manage the list above but dont do because it would be...cough..less profitable.

[montky]

thats a great list moksha!

 

 

 

I also like games that have a lively dynamic to them,

and which are non-linear/ n^X!

open world, persistent world, physics etc.

 

of the coming next-gen,

AGI for NPCs, so that they seem 'realistic',

and a dynamic scaling difficulty.

 

 

though,

to be successful doesn't require anything fancy,

just the right dynamic well utilized.

8bitguy etc made successful cases for retrotech

 

having tried making stuff like pelmanism,

a lot of games are a lot more awesome than many initially give them credit for hehe.

to say nothing of the impressive mod-fu of many modders out there,

it's all awesome.

 

 

[TheMastersSon]

"Mass Effect the holy grail of "best companions in gaming"

 

I agree it was as close to perfect in this regard as any other game series. Nothing beats consistent writing for characters, and several in ME were exceptionally well written and voice acted imo.

Edited September 1, 2017 by TheMastersSon

[wonkehcheetah]

For me its the environment, the easiest way to hit that for me is with music, my favorite games have REALLY good OSTs, probably because I'm a bit of an audiophile, so when I come across a game like Nier automata, despite some meh gameplay, the absolutely amazing music made the already awesome story so compelling and intriguing I can only place it at one of my favorite games of all time. The same goes for shadow of the colossus, its a great story with great music, and whatever flaws I have with the game literally disappear because the music is so engaging. Heck, the new doom, which has no story, just murder demons, monsters, and more demons, sucked me in with that main menu music.

 

Outside of the environment, I like compelling stories, yet again, if I can get involved in the story, I can forgive alot. That's one of the reasons I had such a hard time getting into ME:A, I didn't find the kett interesting or compelling in the slightest, if it had some really dank music though...

[kthompsen]

I think multi-faceted has always been a requirement for me. Ever since I was a kid and played Defender of the Crown. I've kind of wanted every game to do multiple things since.

 

But there are exceptions. Nintendo could make games that do one thing well and it'll still kick ass (i.e. Metroid, Mario series, etc). In this case, a game simply needs stimulating puzzles and problem solving to be great. This seems to be harder than it sounds, because there's far more crap and unstimulating puzzles in games than there are not.

Edited September 2, 2017 by kthompsen