I'm a big fan of images
So going back to this:
I've tried to start answering the next bit of this several times and found it far harder than I expected so it's taken me a while.
Largely it's not the stories that keep me hooked. I've tried to come up with reasons to explain that and I can't.
I honestly don't care whether I'm fighting to save my brother who is trapped in an overly large pit of goo, trying to escape an afterlife dimension, or trying to settle the differences between roving packs of spirits. I mean, all those things are fun, and I'd certainly enjoy reading about them if it was done well, but none of them will be what keeps me playing.
The characters and the settings are far more likely to. I particularly enjoy games that take a normal setting and knock it slightly off kilter, or games with a fantasy or sci-fi bent. I also like historical settings, or ones where for no clear reason there are a load of demons. I like demons *shrugs*
(This is from Cute Demon Crashers. I haven't actually played it yet, but it's free and it advertises itself as a sex-positive game with demons so... yeah, let's just say I intend to. They look pretty hot too!)
When it comes to the characters I guess what I like most is a cast of characters who have their own motivations. It's... perhaps not the best match for a genre where characters' lives end up revolving around a player character, but meh.
I like it when the cast interacts with each other. I like characters who work well together, or who bounce off each other well. They don't have to be romancable for me to like that, either. Some of my favourite parts of Amnesia were the guys talking to each other, or the girly sleepover, or Ukyo saying he (spoilers, I guess)
would miss them all after the stay at the cabin
I'll also say that I like being able to call people out on their shit. Being able to do that gets me more invested in the characters.
I don't like being penalised for doing that.
At least not when it's deserved. Yes, it really did irk me that if the heroine told Ikki he was being a colossal jackass regarding the fanclub it was the heroine who was in the wrong. And getting annoyed about that took me out of the moment.
Yes, Orion, it is.
In terms of guys I like confidence and sarcasm. Admittedly, this largely means I end up gravitating towards assholes, but not always!
Just... you know... often.
It's not even just limited to otome games, or games with a female MC, or even games that have friendship or romance options. They're just the type of characters I tend to find myself enjoying.
It is worth saying that if the characters are convincing enough I can certainly end up outside my predilections. As much as I enjoyed Ikki's outrageous flirting and Ukyo's idea of casual conversation I found myself enjoying Kent's route in Amnesia because the heroine was a stronger character there and that won out, even though he wouldn't usually be "my type"
But, if the character's aren't strong enough then I'm more likely to put the game down. I still haven't finished Bad Apple Wars. I love the art. I love the side characters... the problem is that I like the side characters far more than I like the main characters and their story is largely "fixed" so I'm a little less invested in playing through it again (even though, actually, playing through my second route I was practically squeeing over seeing part of it from a different perspective). The leads, in comparison, just feel a little wishy-washy.
My favourite, design wise, was Higa.
To me, someone who dresses like that should have confidence. And, I mean, I liked him, he was sweet, but not quite what I expected. In fairness, the fact his route felt pretty underbaked probably didn't help, nor did the fact that the heroine kept ruminating on her blankness in his route because that was irritating, but it really sunk in after playing Alma's route. Basically Alma's route is so clearly the main one that it made Higa's feel retroactively even more like an afterthought. Unfortunately I just didn't really feel any attachment to Alma. He's not bad, just bland, and I needed something more. It's possible when I go back to it some of the other routes might be able to provide what I was missing, but the first two really didn't grab me and unfortunately that was enough for me to put it down and do something else.
