What's important to you in a game?

[Oversoul]

IMO:

Controls - Important, but not vital.
Graphics - As long as I can tell one thing from another, I'm fine. 2d, 3d, side-scroller, isometric, I don't care.
Storyline - Depends on the game. I usually don't care unless it's an RPG.
Gameplay - Most important. Bad gameplay, bad game.
Music - fairly important, but not vital since I have a CD player near my gaming systems.
Sound - see above. On a side note, whatever happened to games having sound/music tests? The latest game I've seen with those that's not a remake is Monster Rancher, and that's from, what, 1996?
Difficulty - Important. If it's too difficult *coughJak2cough*, I'll give up and never play it again. Too easy, and I get bored.
Console it's on - Very important, if only because I'm not going to get a new counsole for just one game.

[resurie]

First off, a good storyline (probably because I'm an RPG fan) if a game doesn't have an interesting storyline, what's the point of playing it? you'll only get bored.

Gameplay is important as well, like Oversoul said; Bad gameplay, bad game.

Graphics dont really matter to me, as long as a game is fun, who cares how crappy it looks. The only thing that bothers me is when things appear and disappear out of thin air. T_T

Camera, very important in my opinion, I've seen games get lower reviews because of the bad camera system. It's annoying when they go behind walls and you can't see what your doing, and especially when things jump from off-screen and attack you.

Controls are important, if you can't figure out the control system, you'll just get frustrated.

Music, if a game has bad music, I won't enjoy it. A game has to have music that will match it's surrounding and gameplay.

Difficulty is very important. If it's too easy, you'll beat it too quick and you would have bought the game for no reason. If it's too hard, you'll get frustrated and curse at the game making people stare at you like your crazy....ignore that....

I suppose the console it's on is important. I prefer PS2 (there are more RPGs and anime games on it...in my opinion) GC didn't interest me....but then they had to come along with Tales of Symphonia...>_O, so now resurie is broke and can't get it.

Price is important in a game, I don't want to get ripped off. I don't want to waste my money on a bad game.

Just for the heck of it, I would have to say the most boring type of games are racing games...of course, this is only my opinion. They just get old too quickly.

RPGs are the best in my opinion. I'm sure Lovely will agree with me on that. X3

[Saturn]

Contols controls controls! (You caught me right after playing Kingdom Hearts here...so now you get a rant about controls) Having to spend 30 minutes trying to jump from one ledge to another because you can't get the camera lined up right and then it automatically realligns every time you move is a real annoyance. Seriously, I kept trying to jump to this one ledge which I managed to get onto the first jump but monsters attacked and I fell. So I tried for a good 30 minutes I'd have to say to get back on that ledge, I got frustrated and LC tried, and he couldn't do it so I kept trying again.

And difficulty...if I have to constantly get up and check the faqs just to figure out what to do it gets pretty annoying. For instance today, I was missing one group of dalmations which I needed to get a torn page in the book in order to continue on in the Pooh story. Stupid puppies!!!!

[Lord Cyber]

I can back up that control system argument:

We purchased the Midway arcade collection for Gamecube and had to get rid of it two weeks later because of the poor choice of controls...absolutely no thought was given to mapping the buttons to the controller...Spy Hunter became a chore...the castle siege game was jerky...I think Marble Madness was the only game on the entire collection that came out okay for obvious control reasons.

Any game that requires a strategy guide to get through it is a bad game. This includes FF8 and Kingdom Hearts damn those puppies getting themselves locked into chests!

Something else that annoys me is faulty AI to compensate for lack of controls. Since Kingdom Hearts seems to be the prime example today: I watched Saturn run around the Colliseum for like five minutes with Leon sauntering around like an idiot....ocassionally performing a leap attack at her...ignoring Goofy all the while.

A better attack pattern would have been seek and destroy nearest target...but then that'd be too difficult with the limited options for character movement in that game.

Compare this against Resident Evil: Nemesis where the enemy (albeit annoying because he's always around) acts more realistic by trying to catch up to you and beat you to a pulp...or shoot at you from a distance if he still has ammo...how do the controls compensate? You can use a dodge button at close range to slip out from under the hulk. The newer Resident Evils for Gamecube and PS2 are also a good example...enemies act realistic, they don't follow obvious and pointless patterns.

I understand what you're saying about the console wars, Oversoul, but I don't think it affects the game itself.

Repitition and Linear gameplay are another source of evil. My God, Parasite Eve is the worst of the worst...it's supposed to be an RPG...except the monsters always appear at the exact same spots, and they're the exact same monsters, with the exact same item drops, and you can't pick and choose where to go, you just follow the story like an obedient lackey...my friend and I hit the end of the game with no life restoring items and no way to purchase any or go out and fight monsters for cash to purchase some...the only way for us to continue in the game was to restart at the beginning, use healing more sparingly than we were and not to choose any of the dead end paths with monsters in those maze like levels...we chose to stop playing all together.

Something nice about World of Warcraft is that depending on my character class and race, I'll get different options for quests. Also as anyone, I can choose to skip a quest or chapter of quests. Crimson Guards attacking Deathknell? Well I only see four of them and it looks like other players have it well underhand, so I'll pass. In fact I'll meet some new friends over there and adventure in that area I've never been to...

Now, providing that controls, AI, no need for strategy guides, and non linear, and non repititious gameplay are always there, then my most excellent games come down to a compensated balance between story, music, innovation, and difficulty. If one of these is low, then the other three can step in and make up for it.

Silhouette Mirage, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Ys Book 1 and 2, Katamari Damacy, Friday the 13th, DDR, Gunstar Heros, Silpheed...here are some top games across multiple systems that had something incredibly innovative about them when they first came out as well as having the other 3 traits in good measure!

[animeninjaNIPPON]

controls: if I can't move properly, I can't play.
camera angles: a game could have everything else but said feature *coughBanjoKazooiecough* , but if I can't see where I'm going, I can't play.
graphics: kinda.
storyline: for RPGs.
gameplay: absolutely.
console: button config counts!
anime-related: generally what I go for, but not always.
length: not too long (usually not a problem), not too short.

[Jr.]

The ONE thing that decides whether a game is good or crap is never the same (well okay it is sometimes). A game can have a great plot but lousy controls can make me throw it out. The same goes the other way. If I can't get into the plot, then out it goes. I like eye candy, yes I'm shallow, I like to see dazzling graphics and beautiful cut-scenes. Must be why I like Xenosaga so much. The game is full of those.

Althought there are other games that have no plot because they are sports games. I enjoy football or baseball games every once in a while. They are a nice break from RPG's.

I put racing games aside because I have very specific tastes in those. I don't like really realistic racing games like NASCAR. I like the goofy racing games like Mario Kart. Battle modes are cool.

If a game looks terrible, or is very choppy, it better have a kickass story or great gameplay or else I'm junking it. Same with the sound, although I can very easily mute it (I have done this before).

As for difficulty, I have to agree with Oversoul. Too hard, get this away from me. Too easy, I'll play a while but I'll end up just getting bored.

So in the end, if I made any sense anyhow. One thing can ruin a game if it's bad enough. I never look for one thing to make a game. They all need to come together.

But yes, it does depend heavily on what type of game you're looking for.

I almost forgot. Another thing I look for is multiplayer capability. My wife and I like to play not watch. Some exceptions though are Kingdom Hearts. Yeah the controls could have been better, but I think everything else made up for it. I can't wait for the sequel.

[_darkness_]

graphics are a big thing for me. thats why im buying the DS. i cant stand the evil pixilazation of the GBA.

plot is big thing to, i almost always just play the game to find out what happens at the end, thats why i luuuv the legend of zelda series, they always have a good story behind it, adn through out the game you find out what it is.

controls- should be simple, because if i cant figure out how to make the little man do a whirly kick, then i cant play. ex. soul calibur II = @_@

saveablility- hate the games where you have to play for three hourse to get to the friggin checkpoint to save? yea, me too.

[Master Cheif]

Graphics are of little importance to me. It's nice to have good graphics though. Also, graphics are nothing without storyline and gameplay. Extras and side quests are fun. Controls are important, but mainly I'm happy just as long as I can manuver quickly. System to an extent. I don't like any games on X-box (no offense anybody) except for the Halo games. Game legnth is important too. I prefer a large world rather than stages. Genre is kinda important.(I favor RPG's)

[Hana]

Ya, I think graphics are way overhyped this videogaming generation. People completely miss over ingenius games like Animal Crossing because the graphics on their are horrible, but the design is awesome.

Ingenuity is what I mostly look for in a game. It has to have something other games don't. Metroid Prime 1 and 2, for example, have that awesome feature of "scanning" everything around you.

Also, a very important factor is how long a game lasts. Freakin MGS's are awesome, but they're so freakin short!! Payin $50 to play for about 10 hours?! That's it??!! That's why I like games like SSBM. Got that three years ago, still playin like crazy.

Ya, and all those other stuff like gameplay, music, etc. pretty much agree with everyone else...except for difficulty, i don't really care as long as it's fun. (but then, fun would be a function of difficulty wouldn't it?)

Oversoul said:

IMO:
On a side note, whatever happened to games having sound/music tests? The latest game I've seen with those that's not a remake is Monster Rancher, and that's from, what, 1996?

Super Smash Bros. Melee was the last time I've seen a sound test, although, I don't see what's so great about them.

[Dessa]

In order of most to least (well, less):

1. Story. If the story is stupid, I'm not gonna keep playing the game. If the story is good, I'll fight my way through it, no matter what (bear in mind I play RPGs almost exclusively).

2. Graphics. No, I don't mean "I want games with fancy graphics." I mean "Does the game look good?" If a game has really crappy graphics, or I can't stand the art style, the only thing that can make me play the game is the greatest story in the world.

3. Presentation. A game can really be hurt by bad presentation. I bring up the 2nd disc of Xenogears as an example. If it weren't for the story, I don't know if I would've been able to sit through the 2nd disc of Xenogears.

4. Music / Sound / Voices. This is multifold, but I group it together because it is ultimately controlled by one button: the mute button. Most of the RPGs I play have beautiful music, which I love. Unfortunately, most of the games I play, if they have voices, have very bad voices. When they don't have a "turn off voices" option, I end up playing the game on mute.

5. Gameplay. Gameplay comes last for me. If the story is awesome, the graphics are good, the presentation works, and hopefully the sound isn't muted, more than likely I'll play the game, even if the gameplay is hard/confusing/plain stupid.