For me, it's engaging, rich gameplay. I don't care about visuals at all.

Also, I don't need story, because, while it is a plus, that's not what I'm playing a video game for -- I can seek that experience elsewhere through other mediums of entertainment.

If it has a story in any way (not COD multiplayer or whatever), then it has to be non-linear

offers something unique in terms of gameplay beyond some gimmick

ripping

tearing

cute animals

Quote from: Verbatim on September 22, 2016, 05:17:36 PM

offers something unique in terms of gameplay beyond some gimmick

But what about the new wall running mechanic of the last CoD? REVOLUTIONARY I tell ya!

not really a gimmick, it completely changes the flow and level design of the game

but keep hating on stuff for the sake of hating on it

Good gameplay with great feedback(I love damage numbers...) or some other way to show I am doing good.

A story is good too

Immersion.

I can enjoy a good 20 minute match or even those 1 hour 2000 ticket servers of one BF4 map because of the sound, visuals, gameplay and the smoothness of things, but can't bear a 10 minute game of 2010's CoD nowadays because it hasn't changed since 2004 and you can see through the illusions clearly, not to mention the god-awful stories.

Backstory stuff that's completely irrelevant to gameplay, but adds character to the story and constructs the universe beyond just what little you see of it (Examples include Deus Ex's E-books and personal computer logs, Elder scrolls' books and letters, and Fallout's terminal entries, notes, pre-war books, and exhausting every dialogue option possible past the "Yes, I'll do that thing for you").

Favourable art direction and design is also a factor, but that's totally down to opinion. I liked Borderland's cell-shading,  Deus Ex's recent weird obsession with abstract polygonal installations... though not so much on the yellow tint, and GTA IV's "realistic (for the time) but grimy" approach, but it can be forgone in other games (Fallout 3/NV were far behind the graphical capabilities at the time and almost by release had aged badly, yet I consider them within my top 10 favourites).

Gameplay and all that jazz is obviously the main aspect, but I think a fair bit of intuitiveness needs to go into a game as well as how well it flows. A part of why I struggled to get into competitive Melee for a little while is because of how the game plays.

Coming from Smash 4, simple input windows were a lot more strict, the movement felt less fluid and it was hard to enjoy during the 'getting gud' phase. Kind of like comparing an old school Arcade Racer to Forza Motorsport 6. Everything is slower in the later title but the handling is meatier (for lack of a better word), and is a lot easier to control compared to its classic counterpart.

On top of this, games need to feel like a complete package. It's no use having a fantastic art style and top tier soundtrack if the game feels empty to play after the first few hours or some aspect is completely unfinished (*cough* Roy).

I actually have a few benchmark games across some genres which I feel new releases should aim to be as good as or surpass.

Fast-paced skill intensive multiplayer.


For Single players, a good story, clean gameplay and good characters