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[geary]

Alright GAF, I want to dig into something I think we often take for granted: what actually matters most to us in a video game?

Every big release is scrutinized for its graphics, story, animation, combat system, quest design, you name it. But when you really think about it — when you break down why a game sticks with you for years or ends up in your personal "best of all time" list — which parts of the experience matter the most?

I've set up a poll below with (hopefully) all the major components that make up a modern game. Select the 5 elements that matter most to you in defining a great game. Then, in your reply, tell us which games you think excel in those 5 elements, and why.

I'm genuinely curious if certain things (like world design or game systems) are universally important to most of us… or if it's wildly varied based on genre preference and taste.
Also — let's challenge each other here: if someone thinks story is overrated, say it. If you think animation is underappreciated, bring the receipts. No sacred cows.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

My top five most important elements

1. Funded By Sony

2. Exclusive to PlayStation

3. Third Person Camera

4. Cinematic

5. Lots of trees

 

[GymWolf]

Not in order:

Challenge for the whole game, not just the first 10 hours, i don't really care for power fantasies unless i'm on a rare mood for that.

Interesting lore or characters or plot, games where you wander aimlessly just killing stuff must have god tier combat\other aspects to keep my interest for long time.

-combat feeling, hit reactions, marks on enemies, gore, weighty ragdoll, precedural death animations, meaty feeling, sound design, animations, you can have the best mechanics but if your combat feel weightless and every kill look samey i'm not gonna enjoy it, i also hate weightless movements, i like heavy feeling games with characters that don't skate on the ground.

Great sense of progression and rewards for exploration, self explanatory.

Enemy quality (look, number of moves, lore, how fun they are to fight), many people seems to not give a fuck but high enemy quality make the whole game better.

I'm a sucker for good traversal mechanics (no driving), roaming around an open world with fun, fast, skill based traversal skills add a lot to my enjoyment (probably why i love the infamous games or even managed to enjoy stuff like forspoken)

 

[Humdinger]

I named narrative/story, combat, exploration, game design, and difficulty. Writing/dialog and characters are very important to me, too, but I consider them a subset of story/narrative and didn't want to take up 3/5 slots with the same idea.

 

[PeteBull]

Voted for 5:
Animations
Characters
World Design
Game Design
Combat system

Ofc there is many more things that help/make game top notch but very hard for game to be amazing in my eyes w/o those 5 i listed. altho there are exceptions that confirm the rule( 0 combat of any kind in Animal Crossing and it sold over 47m units after all - 2nd most sold switch game ffs ;p )

 

[Shubh_C63]

For me, Writing/Dialogue paired with a nice art direction is able to ignore stale game mechanics/combat.
Good writing/dialogues takes care of Quests, World building, characters and voice acting.

Unless the game is Valheim. Where Game design is supreme.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Narrative
Characters
Music / Soundtrack
Sound Design
Combat System

 

[hemo memo]

My top five most important elements

1. Funded By Sony

2. Exclusive to PlayStation (Also on PC)

3. Third Person Camera

4. Cinematic

5. Lots of trees

Ftfy

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Ftfy

 

[JohnSpartanLee]

Combat System
Longevity
Challenge
Level Design
Art Style

 

[Plies]

Atmosphere
Characters
Lore
Writing
Sound design
Soundtrack
Game mechanics
Innovation
Level design
Art direction
Plot scenario
Boss battles

Yeah, I can't choose only 5. Sorry.

 

[PlayStaytion]

Great story/ narrative are the symptom, not the cause. Happens as a result of great gameplay, level design, characters.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

Fun

 

[kunonabi]

I based my picks off my favorite game of all time, Revelations: Persona, and ended up with narrative, game mechanics, art direction, music, and challenge. It ticks a couple more boxes but these seemed the most important.

 

[StueyDuck]

gameplay
game design/ world design
meaningful exploration (whether linear or open world)
trying something new/different
showing your passion in your work (this one is missing from most AAA western games)

 

[AZRoboto]

1. Game Design (this is king - kind of self explanatory)
2. World Design (I need to like the sandbox/levels/environments we're playing in)
3. Narrative/Story (I need my motivation to play)
4. Challenge (I need a sense of pride and accomplishment)
5. Visual Fidelity & Graphics (Elden Ring is my GOAT so I can't possibly rate this higher for its overall performance, but games need to be visually consistent and pleasing)

 

[Pasta la Vista]

• plenty of monetization
• intrusive drm
• mandatory online
• body types a and b
• pronouns
• forced slow walking sections or crawling through narrow spaces at a snail's pace
• constant tutorials

 

[StreetsofBeige]

If I could, I would had voted 60 fps or more. It's very tough going back to 30 fps.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Story and Combat.

 

[RickMasters]

Combat….. because I love combat


Game design…. Must have the combat be a core part of the game design for cohesiveness.


World design…. Shame design should inform world design which makes the combat more visceral for maximum pleasure


Characters. I like stuff like gears and mass effect because they give me powerful crew mates with some sense of personality to them. And of course we all like a believable villian…. Or a nemesis that makes you want to fight them just for the combat. My faves include M. Bison ( even though I'm an advanced M. Bison players who's skill is far above any on neogaf). Physco mantis ( I wish we could have kept the mind games going a bit longer before I killed him). Killing General RAAM in gears is always satisfying. Oh and dark souls bosses. I like to walk up to them slow like a bad ass. Also used to do this when invading other players…..letting off only the odd grunt through my headset. Not a word. I bet they was scared and thought I was a glitch in the game….. good times. Good combat system. Gotta love a counter with a good riptose. It feels so good when they drop.

 

[Aion002]

The most important aspects for me are: Game Design, Combat System and Art Direction/Style.

Replayability and Level Design are also important, but I can still enjoy games that have low replayability and weak level design.

Some of the games that excel in those elements in my opinion are: Metal Gear Solid 2, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Sekiro and Vanquish.

On the story thing... Well, a game having a good story for me is more like a bonus. It's not my main focus while playing games, as long as I am not offended by the game story and I can skip it, I don't care about it.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

1. Socially inclusive, diverse casts
2. Big tits, fat asses

 

[semiconscious]

the first thing i thought of was 'atmosphere', which isn't even on the list...

 

[RickMasters]

the first thing i thought of was 'atmosphere', which isn't even on the list...

Could probably put that under world design.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Game design, level design, exploration, combat and music.

 

[RickMasters]

I'm trying to think of the best way to think of game design,level and world design combat and weapon systems all come together in the right way and oddly the first things that spring to mind are bionic commando on NES with the swing arm mechanics. Super Mario ( super Mario 3 onwards) and it's many power ups, and the way they are used in the levels. A good shmup like R type or radiant silver gun ( there are certain times when the right weapons and knowing the attack patterns creates a certain flow… get it wrong and you are punished severely… it's a dance of hands eye coordination and on the fly strategy…. That's the gameplay loop right there!) halo and it's two weapon system which many any particular combat scenario dynamic when you throw in the excellent aggressive combat focused AI. Even the way it's over sheild comes into play in a certain way in MP matches. You have to know when to back off and retreat…. Pick another part of the map that's more advantageous to you and hopefully a power weapon along the way to wipe the other team quickly. Zelda OOT remains another master class in what happens when level design, game design, combat systems all come together perfectly. The world design is that extra layer of the cake that makes it all the more immersive and lived in. Makes it feel like a living breathing world, that has its scars, it's lore and history. And the character have a purspose and identity in that world. These things make the game world more immersive.



Seems like so many devs have lost site of what makes games good. They would rather shove woke characters with realistic hair physics down our throats.



I want games that make me feel like one of swarzeneggers squad in predator 1. With weapons and gadgets in w world that forces me to use them cleverly. I think Lewy was the last game that really made me feel like that. Except the predator part. Though the predator DLC for GR: wildlands was pretty close. I like deep systems that are well designed to allow me approach things from multiple ways of doing them. Smart designed games. That don't hold your hand. Tutorials are a little long winded these days and devs don't seem to know how to introduce these combats systems in a smoother more gradual way.

 

[EN250]

My top five most important elements

1. Funded By Sony

2. Exclusive to PlayStation

3. Third Person Camera

4. Cinematic

5. Lots of trees

Got you:

 

[EverydayBeast]

I don't think you can have a AAA game without ALL those elements

 

[Deerock71]

I'm the only side question vote. HAH! Stop slapping new textures on the same old side quest, I say!

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Art style
Lore
Interesting character/design
Modding
Gameplay

 

[simpatico]

It can be anything done really well. Sometimes it's something completely new and innovative. Sometimes it's just next level refinement. But I think the word for me would be "clever".

Number 1 (and still not surpassed). No idea why this hasn't been copied or iterated.


Number 2. FEAR bullet time and particle combo wombo. Control recently tried its hand at it with great results. Selaco is another. Max Payne obviously originated it.


Number 3. Crysis physics interactivity. We've gone so far backwards from this.


I remember seeing the first RE5 gameplay and being sorely disappointed that it didn't have a damage system. Basically mix Sniper Elite damage model, Doom Dark Ages flesh chunk system and Crysis physics interactivity. ILL looks like it might finally bring that to the table. Shout out to OG Soldier of Fortune.

Tried to make myself like Avowed the past couple weekends and it's the perfect example of how backwards we've gone. You don't feel like you're in the world because the world is completely fake. You can't touch NPCs. You breeze right through foliage. It's so much less advanced than these games from the early 00s that it's sad. If I could have the industry focus on just one aspect, it would be phsyics and making the world feel alive. Nvidia used to be really invested in that with PhysX, but now all we focus on are puddles and contact shadows. So much less immersive. Those have always been available at the cost of baking it all in. The benefits of UE5 only help the publisher save money. There's nothing there forr the gamer. AC Unity and Half Life 2 covered those bases a couple generations ago.