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What do you value in a video game?
For me, I value gameplay and originality. For example, let's take Splatoon. It gets a lot of hate because it has "kiddy" graphics. But I like it. It's gameplay is great. It's a really fun shooter, and I don't care if it has cartoonish graphics. As far as originality, it has amazing new ideas, such as the ability to swim through ink laid down by your weapon. What do you all value in a game?
As a busy person with a family, more than anything I value the ability to pick up a game, play it for an hour, and then put it down. The easier that is to do, then the more likely I am to play it. Also, single player is really great as I don't have time to form raiding parties or even maintain relationships on a console.
COD is good for this. Single-player RPG's like Skyrim are also good. I'm currently playing Red Dead Redemption for which the single-player is pretty good for that (haven't tried online yet).
I'm in the same boat and massive open-world single-player RPGs are typically my go-to these days as well. But the time commitment for them seems to be climbing every year. I'm the sort of guy who loves to put the main quest on the back burner and just explore, tackle side quests, screw around, and see how much gold/collectables I can score. Which means I'll probably end up spending a couple months in one game, and even then I'm lucky if I ever "complete" it.
I'm actually frustrated at the backlog of games I've put on hold to finish later, or haven't even started yet. Eventually I'll return to Witcher 3, or Mirror's Edge Catalyst, or No Man's Sky, or Breath of the Wild, or even Mass Effect 3. I hope. Meantime RDR2 just came out and Cyberpunk is around the corner and I know I'll honestly never have time to play everything I want. I've got Civilization and Crusader Kings II installed and I really want to tackle both I just don't realistically have the ability to learn either of them. I love gaming and the volume of quality games there are to choose from, I just never expected it to be such a chore.
Huh this is one unusual aspect that I would never consider in a game, but it makes so much sense. I wonder if anyone takes this factor into account while designing the game.
I believe we're referred to somewhat derisively as "casuals" ;-P
Game devs absolutely take this into account. It's why almost every modern game has an autosave feature and the ability to save anywhere, instead of save points. So you can put down the game quickly when the baby starts puking.
Of course gamers are a funny bunch and sometimes enjoy modern games where the dev intentionally leaves out autosave to appeal to the hardcore and oldschool crowds.
Yeah, I love that kind of game. Undertale is good for that, most games on the Switch are too.
I take that one step further and prefer 15 or so minute increments. Mainly because my SO likes to interrupt or will need my help doing something.
I agree that gameplay is definitely my first consideration. What I really like is a game that can give me satisfying "eureka" moments. A good puzzle game is an obvious example. But things like RPGs have those moments too: when you figure out a super-powerful build, implement it, then watch yourself tear through combat. Feels great.
Basically, I look for a game with systems that I can dig into, borderline break, and feel like I've accomplished or "outsmarted" something (even if that "outsmarting" feeling is by design).
Yeah. Mario Odyssey, other games are good for that. I like those kind of games too.
I like games with story, or at least lore. The more lore the game has, the better (of course as long as it's quality lore). And soundtracks. If the game has shitty music I can't play it no matter how good it might be otherwise.
I like games that are immersive or cinematic. I look for an experience that I can get lost in and have it provide a bit of escapism. Roleplaying games, sandbox MMO's, space/flight sims, or milsim or realistic FPS games are probably my favorites. I also like some strategy games as well. More casual games usually don't hold my interest for very long.
It depends on what type of game. I’ve noticed the games I like the most tend to be story based. Firewatch was great, had an interesting story and nice visuals, which is always a killer combo. There’s no replay value since there’s no gameplay, but I’m happy with my time and money spent.
Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time with Fallout 4, having a good time with the action shooter elements. I like how there’s different stories to choose from, and more stories hidden all over the game world. The world building, such as the government research facility under the slochum joe’s donut shop is the kind of thing I love, since it’s a story I can discover by exploring the area, reading terminal entries and letters scattered around.
Fallout 4 dropped the ball when it came to the overall plot but those mini zones were tons of fun to explore.
Yeah the overall plot isn’t great. I didn’t even know the minutemen had a full storyline, let alone a reason to get involved fighting the institute. I love what they did though, by using small stories to lead you to loot and further immerse you. It rewards the player for exploration and makes the world feel more interesting.
There's games I play with my girlfriend, the way you binge a season of Stranger Things. Pure entertainment and that's great! But I also like games that dig deep into the "art" side of game design, it's a different kind of enjoyment.
I can appreciate good art direction or clever storytelling but what's unique to the medium is the gameplay. The mechanics, the rules and systems described by the code as you interact with it. I believe you can do art in that abstract space and describe something you couldn't possibly do in any other medium. I don't think a lot of game designers, even famous and talented ones, are consciously doing that. For most games, it's mostly wrestling with the technical difficulties of trying to simulate some vague real-world concept and adding polish and balancing through trial-and-error.
That's why I've come to appreciate more abstract games that can't hide behind the "feel like spiderman"-esque goal of power fantasy fulfillment. And what's left, there, is mostly puzzle games. I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Blow (Braid is maybe my favorite game and The Witness was amazing), beating that and Stephen's Sausage Roll in 2016 were probably my favorite gaming moments of the decade so far. There's just something about games that are pure, "naked" gameplay at their core. That doesn't mean the art direction can't be amazing on top of that (The Witness is breathtakingly beautiful) but it's rare that you find a game that has such a crystal clear understanding of what it wants to achieve with its mechanics. I also think the same ideals can be used in entirely different genres (a "puzzle" is nothing but a problem with an interesting, non-obvious solution and that applies to any gameplay moment that feels memorable and original). But it's incredibly hard and still very rare that you get glimpses of that in games.
The expected parts:
Story-driven games are still some of my favorite aspects. Delivery on the story is not as important; I don't mind the idea of piecing the story together on my own, having a grand overarching story that unfolds as the game goes on, or pretty much knowing everything out of the gate. If it sounds intriguing, I will let myself get sucked in.
Soundtracks - the grind in some older games (Earthbound for example) can be much more manageable if I have good music to listen to.
Co-op is a bigger concern for me now. I hated playing MMOs because I've always played solo but my baby cousins want to play together. I now find myself deliberately choosing options we can all participate in.
Relaxing/no story: a game like Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing, for example. I can unwind and relax, even with friends, but there's no real incentive to stay on for lengthy periods. It's great on a day I want to play but don't have the time.
The other big thing:
Uniqueness. I like niche games and I know I'm in the minority for a lot of my favorites but the idea and concept always wins me over. I love games that try something different and don't keep hashing out the same, tired ideas.