What truly makes a good game

Ziziio

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What do you think makes a "good" game and why? Is it story? Graphics? Art Design? Characters? Voice Acting?

Share your thoughts and opinions below as to what you think makes your favorite games great!
 
I might be old school, but I can forgo all of the above if the gameplay is decent and fun. I consider those other things bonuses because a game can be good without them.
 
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I might be old school, but I can forego all of the above if the gameplay is decent and fun. I consider those other things bonuses because a game can be good without them.

Couldn't agree more. Art direction and style is a big thing for me. Sound design also. But if a game doesn't have good gameplay, why bother? A good story I would also say is a good bonus at the end of the day.
 
helps if the game is actually fun to play, or at the very least has entertainment value of some kind
and personally for me games with sandbox and modding are a huge factor to how much time i spend with them (evident from having like 6k+ hours in gmod in total)
 
helps if the game is actually fun to play, or at the very least has entertainment value of some kind
and personally for me games with sandbox and modding are a huge factor to how much time i spend with them (evident from having like 6k+ hours in gmod in total)
I agree. GMod has a certain charm to it that no other game I feel can really capture. For me it was finding my place in the Cinema game mode watching videos with friends.
 
I'd argue it depends on the game. What makes a good social multiplayer game is wildly different than what makes a good story-driven RPG.
 
I'd argue it depends on the game. What makes a good social multiplayer game is wildly different than what makes a good story-driven RPG.
Yes. Take single player Fallout and Fallout 76 for example, two completely different games and two completely different types of quality. One is more story focused and the other is more RPG online MMO based.
 
For me lately a game just needs to hold my attention, it's USUALLY a mixture of the games controls/mechanics and physics, eg momentum. The first game to really grip me with its story was Sleeping Dogs, and it wasn't until Alyx that I genuinely felt immersed in a games story again.

So it's hard to pinpoint really, I mean by my logic an otherwise mediocre game could have me playing for hours if it has a fun movement system, however I could never play a mediocre game for its story alone. I guess it's really genre specific for me, and easy points are rewarded for things like Worms Armageddon's rope, bhopping, surfing, Sonic's momentum, Mario 64's entire everything, etc.
 
My favorite genre of games is single player RPG types so like Witcher series, Skyrim, Oblivion, Outer Worlds, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, KOTOR 1 & 2. A good story means everything for me, it also has to be an interesting world to explore. Lately there hasn't been many good games like that it's always battle royale bullshit these days and I hate that.

I'm looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077 and Avowed (Whenever that's going to be released).
 
My favorite genre of games is single player RPG types so like Witcher series, Skyrim, Oblivion, Outer Worlds, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, KOTOR 1 & 2. A good story means everything for me, it also has to be an interesting world to explore. Lately there hasn't been many good games like that it's always battle royale bullshit these days and I hate that.

I'm looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077 and Avowed (Whenever that's going to be released).

Yea, I really like Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, 4, and even 76. Story is important, world has to be good, but graphics, are just a cherry on top. Yakuza is another series that I really enjoy playing and I think it's kinda lightning in a jar. Hopefully Cyberpunk will be good with all the delays they have had for it.
 
Hentai games are pretty good, I live for some good jiggle physics... like the right blend of bounce but not too much where its unnatural and excessive. Yeah.
 
I love character customization more than anything, but some games don't require it to be enjoyable. There's no single thing that makes a game good, your reason for liking one game may not be the same for liking another. At least, that's how I see it. And to be honest, no matter how much customization draws me in, it doesn't keep me interested if that's the only nice thing about the game.

I like visually appealing games with an emotional story. Journey, is one that doesn't need dialogue to be a memorable experience. It's unique in it's way of storytelling through pictures, and does it well. It's also fun to faceplant, surf, fly around, and meditate in beautiful environments.
Then there's Bayonetta, which has a nice soundtrack, art design, voice acting. I love everything about it, not just the pole spinning and lollipops lmao
I enjoyed Nier: Automata for similar reasons, along with the open world.

Relatable or well written characters are a good thing to have as well when looking at story driven games, otherwise it falls hella flat. I mean, even with romance games that focus more on sex appeal... there's gotta be some cute girl with a personality I can wife or it's not gonna work out...
 
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