What's most important to you in games? Story, Gameplay, Art Direction, Graphics?

Can I answer “ALL OF THE ABOVE”?

To specify one component would be like asking “What’s most important to you in movies? Sound, Story, Video, Screen Size…?” or “What’s most important to you to experience life? Hearing, smell, sight…?”

The experience requires ALL.

Story and a good place to explore- like catacombs and islands

The ability to make meaningful choices.

I picked up Final Fantasy X several years ago. The moment I realized that nothing at all that I could do would derail the story in the slightest, I lost interest.

@cwilbur I agree entirely- there is no fun when you are just along for the story ride.

Story. It’s why I still play Chrono Trigger and FFVII.

In a game? GAMEPLAY

Nice graphics and clever story aren’t worth nothing if the game is as dull as dishwater.

for me, co-op muliplayer is make or break for a game. solo play is so depressing.

@Mr_M I agree that having the whole package is something wonderful, but there are exceptions that you have to take into consideration. I’d say a game like Team Fortress 2 (a game that has almost 0 story to speak of) is still a great game because of it’s tight controls, fun gameplay modes, and superb art direction. Not to mention what time does to videogames, asmonet said it best when he brought up 2 fantastic SNES games, in their days they had fantastic “graphics”, but now look dated. I have had several people who I’ve suggested Chrono Trigger to that never play it because the game looks too “low tech”. (It’s like I can’t get my girlfriend to read Watchmen because the art style is too “80’s”.)

Other games of note are Katamari Damacy (low tech, high art direction). A good example of the “have your cake and eat it too” would be Shadow of The Colossus… I think it embodies the whole package.

cough she cough

Excellent point about time and videogames. I remember having an Atari and I remember how great we thought THOSE games were at that time!

Game play is paramount to anything else in my option. If the story is some drug-down, worn-out, over done, plot, as long as the game play is awesome, I could care less.

That is my main complaint with most digital RPG’s out there. They are overly repetitive, but the stories are amazing! That is why I wish Gameshark would just come out with their PS3 version, so I could play through some of these great RPGs, with out having to spend time doing the same mission 50 times over, just so I can advanced onto the next boss battle and cut-scene.

Anything realistic, I enjoy roll playing games more then shooters, not sure why, it’s like your living a second life or something

Gameplay. Yes, I usually like RPGs and strategy games more than shoot-em-ups, but I’d enjoy a good and addictive racing game more than yet another mediocre AoE clone.

I’ve recently been hooked to all these online casual games. You know the ones. Most don’t offer more than a couple of hours of gameplay, but they’re well-made, easy to learn, and simply good fun. I spent weeks trying to beat my own record in “Magic Farm” for example, rather than starting yet another buggy and slow epic saga that won’t even run on my current system.

@Jack79 Peggle is another casual game… and it’s EVIL
and by evil I mean… where did the last 4 days go?

@asmonet crap… knew that… sorry.

Mosty gameplay and story…. only thing i can stand gfxwise is the blocky late 90s early 2000 3D blocks… like a human made of like 10 plygons or whatnot..

Haha, it’s all good. :)

@Lightlyseared For me? If the story is good enough, I’ll tough out through the levels and just trade it in later. So it would be,

Story (the only one that can completely ruin it for me, unless its a multiplayer only game)
Gameplay (Whats the point of the game if its not fun?)
MULTIPLAYER (I CANNOT believe this wasn’t mentioned. I hate when game designers tack on multiplayer instead of working on single player, either do both well, or only do one)
Re-playability (I know it wasn’t here, but its damn important)
Graphics (I can’t feel satisfaction for killing an enemy with a block-head)
Sound (I want bullets to sound like bullets, not like someone going “Rat-tat-tat-ta!” and some good gaming music)
Art direction (Umm, I’m not playing games for artistic quality, and this should be included in graphics)

This is a good question. I agree with MrM – ideally a game will have all of those traits. But let’s be serious. How many games really have a great story, great gameplay, AND great graphics? Pitifully few. The good thing is, if a game is outstanding in one of those fields it can be enough to make up for the others, at least for a while.
To me the graphics are mostly a selling point – they’re what draw you in & make you want to try the game to begin with. (Just think of video game commercials – what do you notice first?) But it’s the story & the gameplay that keep most people playing. I personally go more for the story, but who wants to play a game with awkward controls, even if it is great otherwise?

Cheats…..I want to be able to unlock everything possible. I am so sick of the games today that expect us to sit for 500 hours, just to get to the cool parts of the game! If I have to pay $40—$60 for a game, it better come with some god damn cheat codes.

@cheebdragon: You’re joking right?

@fortris I agree with you for the most part… but I don’t think that graphics and art direction are the same thing. I would say graphics is, how “detailed” it looks, polygon counts, lighting, reflections, shadows, framerate… etc. Art direction is how the game looks. The color palette for the game, the cinematography, character designs, environmental design, texture work, menus… basically everything you see in the game. This way you can have a game that has dated graphics, but still has excellent art direction. (A good example of this is Warcraft 3)

You can spend copious amounts of time and money developing and implementing a crazy game engine, but without some good art direction… it just falls flat. (I think Gears of War is a good example of this… sure the game is “amazing” in the level of detail… but what else makes it visually appealing? Gray characters on gray backgrounds fighting gray enemies. Compare that to say Bioshock’s enviornments and I think it’s much clearer.)

I know I want games that I play to have few bugs and glitches. I want a game to just compel me to see the ending with a great story, and have a good look so I can enjoy the things I kill (or complete).

@MebiByte indeed. Could not agree more.

Asmonet- nope, I only spend maybe 30min a week (at the most) playing video games. I have no interest in beating each level of the game, I just want to be able to enter a cheat code that unlocks all the levels so I can actually enjoy the few moments I have to play the game without the annoying feeling that something could kill me at any moment, or that I have to score 150,000 points to pass a challenge.

Seems like you’re ruining core aspects of the game. I would never play that way.

Im already under enough pressure to succeed in life, i dont need it from my video games also.

lol4rl.
I will cease judging you, for the lols.

A wide-open world that I can explore freely. Or at least open up the world for free exploration after I beat the game.

I’d say that the single most important factor (in anything more elaborate than one of those timewaster games, anyway) is story. I played through Oblivion and I enjoyed it and its open-world design. But it wasn’t until I installed and played the Knights of the Nine DLC that I felt like I’d grabbed a hold of real, solid plot, with good pacing and believable quests.
That’s why I cannot abide sports games.

Haha, I’m actually quite shallow when it comes to games. I choose what I play by what the graphics look like. :P If I don’t like what I’m looking at, then I won’t play it.

Next comes gameplay. New strategies are made everyday, and then the new counters come the next day. It’s exciting and always changing.

Story doesn’t matter, but I play RTS so there usually isn’t a story. :]