Aside from Gameplay, what's the second most important part of a game?

[themistermanguy]

When making a video game, gameplay and mechanics should always be top priority. But that aside, which is the second most important component to game design? In my opinion, its the games' asthetic and presentation. How you present your game world and mechanics is actually a very important part. Now that you have a rough concept, you need an asthetic cool enough to fit those mechanics. You need an art style to match the tone and world along how the game looks, feels, and sounds. Gameplay is no. 1 of course, but if the asthetic is boring, then playing the game can feel boring as well.


Devil's Third is a good example of a cool concept bogged down by generic presentation. It's basically Teenage Power Fantasy: The Game. That's fine, but you need to actually do something with it. Take No More Heroes, a game not only filled with crass juvenile humor and over-the-top violence, but also slight otaku pandering. It has a style that makes its violent and crude content unique and interesting.

 

[Roxas1359]

Thing is, there is no "most important part" of a game, period. All parts of a game are necessary for the game to function in general, and just thinking that all it needs is gameplay isn't the best thinking. A game needs decent music, good enough graphics, a stable framerate, a good story (genre dependent, but even then small, well constructed backstory is still needed), and good controls with a decent control scheme. You could have the most innovative gameplay in the world, but if it controls like crap then your "innovation" becomes nothing but ridicule.

Really people need to stop looking at one aspect as being "most important" because thing is, all parts need to work together to make the experience memorable, or at least fun.

 

[Euryalus]

-snip-

You there. Stop it. Stop it with your holistic gesamkunstwerk approach to gaming. It's stopping the rest of us from having anything meaningful to say

OT: Seeing as how the parts working together to make the experience thing was brought up, I'm going to have to agree that aesthetic is important.

This covers in my meaning generally the art direction as a whole, so basically the music, the visuals, the symbolism and themes of the story if it has one, and how the gameplay directs your attention to looking at those other things.

Aesthetic is the "what are we saying/doing with game"

Some examples I think is great is the Halo series.

In Halo you had varied enemy design, a lore explaining that variety, beautiful and unique locales, and probably some of the great "feel giving" music in gaming history.

All those things combined to give an atmosphere of sublimness, epicness, what have you. It was probably one of the single player campaigns strongest part aside from gameplay.

Say what you will about it, but it had direction.

Kirby's epic yarn is also a really good example of a game I just played that has a great aesthetic.

 

[Roxas1359]

-snip-

You there. Stop it. Stop it with your holistic gesamkunstwerk approach to gaming. It's stopping the rest of us from having anything meaningful to say

Never! I like Ninjaing what other people are gonna say.
Really though I think music is really underrated by a lot of gamers when it comes to how a game is. Hell, the iconic and excellently composed music is one of the things that the Halo series became popular for. Another thing I'd say for people to do is remove all the music from Jolly Roger Bay in Mario 64, but keep all the sound effects in and have no music replacing it. How long will you last before you would get bored I wonder? I know I did that and by god did I just turn off the game a little bit after that.

 

[Euryalus]

-snip-

You there. Stop it. Stop it with your holistic gesamkunstwerk approach to gaming. It's stopping the rest of us from having anything meaningful to say

Never! I like Ninjaing what other people are gonna say.
Really though I think music is really underrated by a lot of gamers when it comes to how a game is. Hell, the iconic and excellently composed music is one of the things that the Halo series became popular for. Another thing I'd say for people to do is remove all the music from Jolly Roger Bay in Mario 64, but keep all the sound effects in and have no music replacing it. How long will you last before you would get bored I wonder? I know I did that and by god did I just turn off the game a little bit after that.

Turn off the music? The feel and visuals are the only thing I liked about Jolly Roger Bay! XD

But yeah music really pulls the art together. I remember thinking how cool it was in Banjo Kazooie how click clock wood could have the same song going, but change the feel of it to fit the season of the level.

Spring was energetic and lively, Summer was slow and lazy, Winter was "cold" and slow in a different way than summer, and fall... did things too >.>

I honestly don't remember fall's version too much XD

I have to go listen to it on youtube now.

 

[Someone Depressing]

Obviously, the h-scenes art direction. Granted, it's a personal preference, and not all games need a focus on it at all. In the end, it's about a group of people working together to bring you something magical.

Or it could be Ubisoft crapping out Assassins Creed: Another One, in which everything is important because they're all so bad.

Granted, a game with bad art can be made up for by good music, and vice versa, though neither can compensate for bad gameplay. It's a very delicate balance of the three, and only that balance of the three can bring you someone not shit.

 

[Elfgore]

Varies between genres for the most part. In like strategy games, I couldn't care less for the story of characters. I'd say next to gameplay would be graphics and soundtrack. But in nearly every other game, story and characters come next. Of course other variables apply.

 

[Racecarlock]

Here's how it is in my mind.

1. Gameplay.

2. Story. And I'm not talking about "How emotional you make your narrative", I'm talking about the actual story aspect. Banjo Kazooie, which I just played a bit more of today, is about trying to rescue your sister from an evil witch.


Thus the two things everything else revolves around begin there. What will the game look like? The story and gameplay both determine what the look of the game is going to be like. In banjo you collect things and learn moves and come across increasingly difficult enemies. The story is about a bear with a bird in his backpack trying to rescue his sister from an evil witch. Apply some stylized graphics and good controls and good sound design and you've got a game.

Writing is important to make your characters likable and relatable, making us want to finish the story more. Or just play the game. Like pong. Two people get together and play ping pong. Want to play ping pong but don't want to deal with a real table, paddles, or picking up the ball? Bam! It's pong.

Space Invaders. There are invaders from space and you alone must defend the world. See also halo. Both of these games depend on their gameplay more, but their gameplay is good so we're fine there.

Gameplay is where games like heavy rain and beyond two souls fall flat. And their narratives are messy and out of order and barely up to the level of network television writing. The games themselves are essentially picking from a list of alternate ending options on various fancier than normal DVD menus. Except for the parts where you walk around and barely do anything, which were apparently completely worth it to david cage. I mean, those parts really did nothing but waste our time, but whatever.

See, gameplay is important because if you're watching a game with no gameplay then it's just a movie. How interactive you want the game to be is up to you, however I have discovered that calling your game an "art game" generates a shield around it defending all criticism with lines like "Well not every game should be about challenge" and "LOL go back to call of duty stupid 12 year old". Arguments which frankly don't make the genre more attractive to me. I don't want to be that smug and douchey. Not that it automatically makes people that way, but it sure seems like that sometimes.

The games I have loved the most are the ones focused on gameplay. Like Donkey Kong 64 or Star Wars Starfighter or Freespace 2 or Battletanx Global Assault. And yes, I did kind of like COD 4 too, so get the "LOL 12 year old" comments out of the way now, I guess. Because those sure make you look mature.

But yeah, that's how the hierarchy works for me. Might be different for other people, but there you go.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I would say the soundtrack and sound design are the second most important part of a game.

Would Metal Gear Rising be even half as good without that epic soundtrack? Would Skyrim be the same without that wonderful ambient sound design? Would Halo be as beloved without that soaring orchestral soundtrack?

And so on...

 

[Vault101]

for me its a sense of progression

XCOM has a plot but its hardly a story focused game...but that doesn't matter...theres a clear progression of events and an endpoint

unlike any competitve game like Titanfall or a team game like Left 4 dead

thats why I like story games, not always because the story needs to be good but I need a point to say "I'm finished"

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

I agree with the aesthetic/presentation/art direction. Graphic fidelity is not what I'm talking about, but rather the style the game is modeled after. Personally, I know there are some Japanese RPGs that have very good gameplay, but I simply cannot stomach the art styles they incorporate. Similarly, it's also a massive tick off the list if the art style features big, bulky impractical weapons and armour (though, unlike JRPGs, that hasn't stopped me outright). So I'd say visual design and art is the second big focus of a game. Games like the early Fallouts, Baldur's Gate and the like still look very good today because the art design was good. Certain early 3D games, such as Shadow Man or Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation also hold up well in the visual department because of how it was designed to look. Then you have something like, say, Oblivion that looks like absolute shit not because of its graphics (which are fine) but the art styles employed.

So yeah, design and art style is a pretty big deal, and one that ultimately rules over simple graphical fidelity in my mind.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Music. You do not want to spend hours and hours playing a game with music soo bad, you wanna tear your ears off.

 

[verdant monkai]

The story in most cases. Unless its a game that doesn't focus on story too much then its probably music then visuals.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

Thing is, there is no "most important part" of a game, period. All parts of a game are necessary for the game to function in general, and just thinking that all it needs is gameplay isn't the best thinking. A game needs decent music, good enough graphics, a stable framerate, a good story (genre dependent, but even then small, well constructed backstory is still needed), and good controls with a decent control scheme. You could have the most innovative gameplay in the world, but if it controls like crap then your "innovation" becomes nothing but ridicule.

Really people need to stop looking at one aspect as being "most important" because thing is, all parts need to work together to make the experience memorable, or at least fun.

I agree.. no one single part is more important then any other part.. that's why beyond two souls was so bad.. that game had good graphics.. but everything else was terrible..

Not to say their aren't game's I've played that might have lacked in some areas and only played because the other parts of the game made up for it's sort comings, but it's best when a game performs good all around

 

[Scars Unseen]

The font used in the text. Sans-serif or GTFO.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

It's hard to say, it depends on what the game itself emphasises. There are games that work on story, art direction, soundtrack (a decently large factor for me) alone, and I tend to be happy with any done well. Basically as long as it does enough things right I don't mind what things they are. However, out of those, I think soundtrack is the one most likely to stop you playing a game that is otherwise good, so that's my choice.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Story or should I say plot trumps gameplay for me in every case. I will take a good story over good gameplay any day of the week.

That is why I don't like multiplayer games all that much aside from a few exceptions.

 

[joest01]

Nothing. It all hinges on the gameplay.
Responsive Controls, nice balanced challenge, good enemy AI, and a level that layout brings it all together.

Point in Case. N+.

If I needed to add something I would add overall atmosphere. Metroid or the Souls games are good examples.

Sense of humor is another factor that can go a long way. But I don't remember the last time a game really pulled that one off.

 

[stroopwafel]

I'd say 'atmosphere'. Not the most tangible part but crucial for me to enjoy a game. It's usually a combination of visuals, sound effects/music, characters, world-design, story etc. and how these parts interact to give the game some kind of authenticity. Now none of these things have to be perfect but it all needs to add up into something I enjoy.

I can forgive a game many flaws if it has a redeeming quality I really appreciate. One of the best examples I can give is Deadly Premonition. The gameplay isn't great by any stretch of the imagination but I still found it a highly enjoyable game.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Pacing.

The ups and downs need to be properly organized to keep you on your toes. Both Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising are hailed as the greatest action games, but after hours of non-stop mashing the action becomes dull and all those fancy moves lose all their flourish.