What do you like in your games?

[Racecarlock]

Quite a while ago, I posted this.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.299985-Why-do-you-play-games

Now I realize I asked the wrong question. Now, when answering this question, please be specific. If you like fun, don't just say "Fun". What do you find fun? What makes the game fun? What specific things do you consider fun? Don't just say "Story". What story elements do you enjoy? What specific things about narrative do you prefer? The point is, be specific and detailed. I want to know more about my fellows.

Me? I like crushing and killing and destroying buildings and people and cars because I can get away with it, and I know I'm pissing someone off which is funny to me. Also I can't get away with murder. I also like things like base jumping and crime because those have great risks in real life, but not in games. I also like things like magic and getting beamed into a computer system (TRON) and other things of that variety because they're impossible to do in real life. Or at least extremely improbable. For example, keeping a katamari stuck together would be hard, and even then military and police guys would probably shoot you for sticking half the town to your ball of doom. Also you can't fly without wings or machines. But in a game, it's entirely possible. That's one of the things I like about games, the other two being earlier in this paragraph.

So that's me. What about you?

Oh, and DON'T KEEP IT SHORT. I want detailed and well explained answers.

 

[Valagetti]

I'll keep it very short
ESCAPISM FROM REALITY!

 

[joiny]

Story. Above anything else, I play for the story.

 

[Racecarlock]

Okay clearly you guys didn't read that part where I said "Be specific". So I'll say it again. Be specific.

I'll keep it very short
ESCAPISM FROM REALITY!

What parts of that escapism do you enjoy? Do you like casting magic? Taming dragons? Being a knight? Shooting people? What? And I did specifically say not to keep it short.

Well, I enjoy either fun gameplay (score systems, stylish, non repetitive, really deep gameplay that forces me to think rather than mindlessly gunning down mooks) or a great narrative.

What small parts of deep gameplay do you enjoy? Immersion? Dialogue systems? Involvement? What makes a game fun for you? Killing stuff? Talking to things? What makes a narrative good for you? Detailed back stories? Solid, well explained main quest? What?

Story. Above anything else, I play for the story.

What kind of story? Do you like well explained characters? Solid side quests? Well made main quest? What?

I want more detailed answers than these three right here.

 

[Nouw]

KILL MAIM BURN! KILL MAIM BURN! I'm not sure how to narrow it down so I'll just say killing stuff although it's much deeper than that. Of course there should be some challenges, nice music for atmosphere and a good setting.

 

[Palademon]

I enjoy many kinds of 'fun'.
From engaging immersive stories to ridiculous scenarios of badassery, which is why I would probably try anything except sports games.

 

[Arina Love]

i play for story,characters and character interactions. i like different and beautiful universes to explore, meet characters and bond with them. I mainly like and play J-RPGs and BioWare RPGs.

 

[uhddh]

A story or plot that you could extract from the game and make into more or less a book (AC and PoP). Realism in a game is boring cause I get enough of that in real life. Bring on physic that are askew, super powers and demons for all I care as long as you can make it fun. Also nothing too complex in control layout. Might be why I prefer a controller to a keyboard and mouse.

 

[Racecarlock]

A story or plot that you could extract from the game and make into more or less a book (AC and PoP). Realism in a game is boring cause I get enough of that in real life. Bring on physic that are askew, super powers and demons for all I care as long as you can make it fun. Also nothing too complex in control layout. Might be why I prefer a controller to a keyboard and mouse.

You, sir, would probably LOVE SR3. It has a tron level in it. And it has a cannon that shoots humans and a jet with microwave lasers.

 

[Gennadios]

Emergent style gameplay over tightly scripted story. At least that way I don't have to watch my character make Mr. Pants-hat decisions because the writers suck (ahem, Dark Corners of the Earth, Mass Effect 2.) I'm also a compulsive hoarder, and when a scripted game ends and I realize I hadn't put half the shit in my armory to use I feel sad and empty.

As of now, the games that fill my gaming itch the best are Mount & Blade, and and a bit ashamed to admit it, but The Sims Medieval.

 

[Last Hugh Alive]

I tend to become automatically attracted to games with a decent level of customization. I've had hours upon hours pass me by in what seemed like minutes when playing Saints Row 2, just pointlessly yet obssessively customizing cars, clothes and appearance.

 

[Valagetti]

Okay clearly you guys didn't read that part where I said "Be specific". So I'll say it again. Be specific.

I'll keep it very short
ESCAPISM FROM REALITY!

What parts of that escapism do you enjoy? Do you like casting magic? Taming dragons? Being a knight? Shooting people? What? And I did specifically say not to keep it short.

Well, I enjoy either fun gameplay (score systems, stylish, non repetitive, really deep gameplay that forces me to think rather than mindlessly gunning down mooks) or a great narrative.

What small parts of deep gameplay do you enjoy? Immersion? Dialogue systems? Involvement? What makes a game fun for you? Killing stuff? Talking to things? What makes a narrative good for you? Detailed back stories? Solid, well explained main quest? What?

Story. Above anything else, I play for the story.

ESCAPISM FROM REALITY
Like in COD4, Im playing an elite SAS soldier and thats who I am for a couple of hours, I don't have to deal with exams, people and other etc!
What kind of story? Do you like well explained characters? Solid side quests? Well made main quest? What?

I want more detailed answers than these three right here.

 

[])rStrangelove]

Weapons: if a game features them, they need to feel kinda 'real' while running around and when firing / swinging. Animations should show weapons have a certain weight to them and the sound should give an impression how much damage you do with it.

Atmosphere: i hate it when i close my eyes and cant tell in what kind of environment i am soundwise. The sound environment of BF3 for example, really makes you feel like you're there.
Same goes for lighting btw.

Interaction: i'm a gameplay fanatic. I don't care how a game looks as long as i have a decent amount of possibilities to interact with the environment and AI /players.
BF3 is the perfect example here: some of the campaign ingame cutscenes are looking REALLY good, but in the same moment i realize i cannot do anything but TIMED KEYPRESSES - the whole experience is totally destroyed. Had to play the same scene 15 times which was very frustrating.
GTA4 would be a 99% example for interaction, LC is so alive.

Freedom / big world / Sandbox: some ppl hate it when they get thrown into an open world without any clear markers saying 'GO HERE - DO THAT', but i simply love it. Must be the explorer in me. I wandered around in AC: Brotherhood for hours just to see what i can do and how far i can go.
Also, i love when a game lets me do things at my own pace. I hate timed missions or countdowns.

COOP: its the MP of the future. Ppl either win or loose as a team, thats how positive feedback should be imo. Pure DM just doesnt cut it anymore.

 

[MordreadRN]

Good story driven games, fantasy or sci-fi (Love all of the Bioware games) with lots of customization in weapons and gear. I have also always loved the Civilization games. But mostly games that take more than 10 hours to complete.

 

[JesterRaiin]

I am playing only for sake of immersion. Genre, setting, scenario, fpp/tpp, SP/MP - nothing really is that important. There are modern, huge sandbox crpg games i don't like (like Fallout:NV), and there are old, crappy that to this day come to my mind while talking about immersion (for example : Hired Guns).

This precious moments of complete separation of real world... Ah !

 

[Jak LesStrange]

When I choose a game, it has to be unique in some way. Like for example, Brutal Legend. A RTS/3rd hacky slashy open world extravaganza!! or Stacking, a new take on the Point and Click Adventure games that sucked before it... Apart from anything designed by Tim Schafer. I also like a bit of obscurity in my video games, such as The Tone Rebellion. This is a game so obscure, I bet barely anyone here has heard of it. Another example would be Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. An RTS based on War of the Worlds! Both unique and obscure and better than that latest hunk of crap WotW game on PSN and XBLA.

 

[zerobudgetgamer]

Typically, I enjoy diversity with my games. Due in no small part to my ADHD, I feel an insatiable urge to keep myself entertained, and my short attention span ensures that if I have to repeat a task for longer than 15-30 minutes, I'll typically get bored of it and try to "entertain" myself while being entertained, i.e. watch a movie while playing a game. So, more than anything, I hate games that have you doing the same thing for long periods of time. The definition of "same thing" is rather vague, though, as even just killing different monsters can keep my attention...for a while, at least.

No, a game that can truly appease me is one that has a lot of stuff to do. Side-quests, secret dungeons, and most importantly, mini-games. I see fewer and fewer video games with mini-games nowadays. For whatever reason, though, sandbox games kind of go too far for me, as when you give me TOO MUCH stuff to do, I end up forgetting what the main story was and lose immersion on an epic scale (for no better example of this, look to FFXII and their god-awfully long monster hunting sidequest, not to mention all the other things you can do). I enjoy a fair balance between linearity and free-roaming, but I don't think I've ever nailed down a proper formula.

Besides that, I'm a big fantasy fan. I love Dragons, Swords and Sorcery, "Dated" settings and awe-inspiring worlds. I'm not a big fan of much else, though; Sci-fi is very hit-and-miss with me, though I've found Steampunk to be rather nice on occasion. Oh, and I HATE realism, and I ESPECIALLY hate bland colors. I absolutely LOVE bright, colorful regions and unbelievable scenery; doesn't matter what you put in them, as long as I can see every color of the rainbow, with nothing toned down to look "serious," I'm happy.

Everything else becomes less a factor of buy or pass and more a factor of how well I enjoyed myself. Music is always a factor in determining a good game from a great game, but I have no real preferences as to what I want to hear; as long as it sets the mood, I'm happy. Story is also a big factor, but I'm pretty good at reading between the lines and crafting my own ideas about the world I'm in; though, quite frankly, any game that has me going through 10-15 minutes of not just written, but SPOKEN dialogue just makes me want to take a bullet to my brain out of boredom every time.

 

[Dark1Elder]

Very in depth, environment, and story. one that seconds in and YOU feel like your actually a part of the whole thing, not just the guy controlling the main character. you know good role-playing.
AND
ZOMBIES!
zombies, brain eaters, flesh eaters, the undead, what ever you wanna call the little buggers. If it's a good zombie apocalypse game, that ACTUALLY has a well developed story, and not just take gun, leave safe room, run, gun, enter safe room, (L4D & L4D2) i will play it, buy it, buy DLC's for it, and play it over, and over and over.
and co-op wouldn't hurt either.
You know 2 gamers play through the story line, but don't force them to be together ALL THE TIME. try something like Resident Evil 2 did, if you played Leon, claire was the background character, doing things that affected you. So why not PLayer 1 is Leon, while player 2 is claire, and then you have 2 sotrylines in 1 game, player 1's Leon, interacting with Ada, and player 2's Claire dealing with sherry.

 

[The-Epicly-Named-Man]

The deep satisfaction I get when I just miss that ledge/ get blown up/ crash horribly/ get beaten to a pulp for the 97th time that evening. Sure, I'll repeatedly bang my head against the wall until I can't remember what I'm doing it for but... actually, I can't remember where I was going with that. Maybe I'm a masochist(?).

 

[luclin92]

well for me in games it can be something as silly as a few jokes here and there. Or it has a interesting theme or if it challenges me either intelligently or in skill.