Most important aspect of a game?

[Sydian]

When playing a game, what aspects do you care about that most? What makes the game for you?

I used to care about plot more than anything, but I've gradually gotten to where I don't care much for that because there are great games with the most ridiculous plots, but I still love playing them. So I'm more about gameplay now, and music is very important to me as well. I like playing games that have nice music to listen to, otherwise I'd be muting everything.

 

[Luck]

I don't think any one aspect is important. If Nier had below average gameplay I could still be able to play it because the plot drove me to finish the game, not to mention the spectacular soundtrack. It depends on the quality of the game in general, I was never interested in playing a game that only excelled in one region at the cost of every other part of the game.

With that said, the gameplay usually makes the biggest impact. I can't be expected to play a game if the combat is just so broken and dull.

 

[Cello]

I used to be a plot Guy myself, until I started my classes. Being a student in game art and design, I'm more concerned with scene setup. I tend to look at things such as:

Textures:
Does everything look natural? Like does metal have a rustic look, or did they just half ass it? Do the rocks have moss on them?, etc.

Lighting:
Lighting creates a mood, which influences the player. I'm a big fan of film noir, personally.

Camera setup:
I LOVE artistic shots during cutscenes. I keep an eye on focal length and angles. Often times this helps to determine a characters role as good or evil through the use of tricky above & below shots.

Unique Scenery:
I enjoy exploring something I'm not well acquainted with.

With their powers combined, that's a damn fine lookin' game.
Interesting characters follow closely behind.

 

[Pwnyta Jockey]

Storyline of Appropriate Length:
~San Andreas, Mass Effect, most any Final Fantasy game
~important more due to being in relation to/with...

Character Development:
~game characters should be laid out better than they are at death; examples of how include personality, humor, manner of thinking, "political" stance (if/when appropriate), intelligence
~basically, no character should be Sylvester Stallone quality

In-game Collectibles & Items:
~whether the collectible disappears upon 'pickup' due to limited number for the sake of game completion... being a weapon... being a loot drop from a monster... or a vehicle/animal that is just 'there and around'... having these makes for a reason of sorts to play a game, whether I have finished the 'story/game' or not
~examples for me include: Kingdom of Loathing & GTA series & Pokemon

Price of the Game, in and of Itself:
~do I really need to elaborate?

 

[Captain Fabio]

Storyline and depth.

For me, if a game is linear and boring, then I will turn it off. I am not HUGELY bothered about graphics. Obviously, they do need to be decent and not ignored.

 

[A Pixy]

I have three criteria for games.

Everything else is a bonus:

1. The Camera isn't sucktastic

This merits it's own mention. I HATE WHEN I CAN'T SEE WHAT I'M DOING. It's the reason why I despise Sonic Adventure: DX Directors cut with every last fanboy related fibre in my body.

2. Unique

I want something I can't get somewhere else. Something special. It doesn't have to be that big of an innovation, I just want something that can spice up the genre the game is in.

3. FUN

Whether or not a game is good, as long as I'm having fun while playing it, I'll be happy.

Everything else I either don't care about or I want but don't think about when I buy something.

Though if I had to list those luxuries, graphics would be at the top.

 

[PlatinumDude]

To me, those aspects would be:
-environmental aesthetics (if it doesn't look good, then I won't go anywhere near the game)
-general gameplay (I don't want to get bored of the game easily)
-character development (the character must develop their personality throughout the entire game)

 

[doesn't matter]

Graphics. If it doesn't look good then I don't see any point in playing it. It can't be good if it's not appealing to my sight.

 

[Zero°]

I gotta say...all of the parts of a game are important. However, I think music and gameplay are what I look for. Don't really care for graphics that much, though it'd be nice to have a game with good graphics. I like a long game(about 30-50 hours of gameplay, unless it's Touhou) with some catchy music. It has to have variety too, if it repeats some parts over and there isn't much uniqueness, I won't like it much.

 

[Captain Fabio]

Graphics. If it doesn't look good then I don't see any point in playing it. It can't be good if it's not appealing to my sight.

That's pretty interesting.

If a game was horribly made and had a horrid storyline with players like planks of wood, would you still play it to the end? Just out of interest.

 

[Brendino]

I enjoy playing games that are easy to "pick up and play" (simple controls/ones that don't take memorizing), ones that look decent graphically, have good gameplay, and have replay value. Usually I look at these things before I play a game, and more often than not I get sucked in!

 

[Hewitt]

Two of my most important aspects are pretty much linked:

1. Gameplay - As far as I'm concerned, if the gameplay's poor, the game is poor.

2. Fun - If a game isn't able to hook you into progressing further (Or if it's boring and/or repetitive), be it single or multiplayer, chances you won't even bother to play on it that much

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Storyline and character design are most important to me (and I'll try not to go into a rant about character design and B/W). Other than that, the gameplay has to be good enough so I don't get frustrated and it has to keep my attention and my interest.

 

[KanadeTenshi]

Storyline - this depends but it's an important aspect.. I'll play a game if the storyline is good regardless of how bad the gameplay is etc.

Multiplayer - MP based games (like FPS ones) needs to have a strong multiplayer. Otherwise it's kinda garbage.

 

[Void1]

Maybe it's not the most important but i think character personality is really important.

 

[Trish]

Replayability and non-linearity, definitely. This is why I love games like Fallout 3 and Red Dead Redemption, and hate games like Uncharted. It would be a waste of money to me if it was too linear and shallow.

 

[Guren]

The general gameplay of the game is what draws me to it. It may have the best graphics in the world, but if it has terrible controls, menus and whatnot, then it's not worth playing, and it should at least be unique. The storyline/plot takes a large chunk of that attractiveness, too :) Also, I might sometimes take a look at how difficult the game is; if it's waaayy too complex, then I won't understand it and therefore won't enjoy it as much.. xD

 

[dragoniteuser]

Graphics are definitly an important aspect! But the plot, and gaming simplicty are mainly features that "keep me in"!

 

[TB Pro]

For me, one of the main things I love about games are a good atmosphere.
Take, for example, Irrational Games. They know their stuff when it comes to crafting a great atmosphere. I would honestly play their games even if the gameplay was terrible(which it isn't), I just love their atmospheric work so much.

I also like a good storyline, and strangely enough, good voicework. I hate a game that either has a complete lack of or terrible voicework, it just turns me off a lot. Storylines need to be engaging, and at least somewhat non-linear. That goes for the whole game itself.

All of these factors culminate into a single franchise that I can think of at this moment. Fallout. I love the latter two Fallout titles so much, they are some of, if not THE best games I have ever played.

 

[Massacre.]

Honestly, gameplay, and graphics for me.