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[ProgenitorCastle]

Hey GAF, what are some qualities that make games enjoyable for you regardless of their quality? I'm trying to understand because I've enjoyed many "bad" games and dislike certain games that have high ratings from players and the press...though there are exceptions to that but anyways to start:

-If I have great memories surrounding the game, I'm much more likely to cherish it than playing a great game but having little to no memories with it.
-If a game has an amazing soundtrack, I'm much more likely to cherish it than a great game with little to no music

The above two come to mind as of this writing...so what say you GAF? What makes certain games enjoyable for you regardless of their quality?

 

[SeraphJan]

Meaningful or Impactful Content, I like to finishing a game feeling I experienced something meaningful or impactful instead of feeling time wasted playing toys.

When I was younger I prefer fun game mechanic over the content itself, but now its the reverse, for me video game is a tool to experience what in real life can't

With time becoming more precious, I prefer short but condensed experiences than long play time but loose experiences, many people ask the question "how much play time do I got out of X amount of money payed", but I ask the question "how many meaningful experience I got out of X amount of time spent". I like finishing a game by get the maximum amount of enjoyment in a limited time, and move onto next one, there are just so many great works out there while not enough time to experience them all.

You see some game require grind and meaningless side quests or exploration to inflate its play time, I'm not a fan of these types of game anymore. I'm not against exploration or side quest, its just with the amount of time spend on them I would rather play another game's main quest.

My preference on this media might be controversial for many, but for me no matter how fun the main play loop is, its just the same thing over and over.

People often hold "the ways of interaction" in video game to high regard, after all that's what separate this media from others, I don't disagree, but I would like to add "what content are you interacting with is also important".

I never understood when did the word "linear" automatically translate to "bad game design", for me linear games have a special charm where the designer could hand craft condensed and impactful content manually that provide the player the best experience to time ratio, so you don't have to waste time wondering around hunting, cooking, fetching randomly generated content while doing the same play loop over and over. If I want exploration, I'll rather take metroidvania level design, at least everything is intentionally crafted.

In terms of actual content, A 30 hour play time open world exploration ≠ 30 hour play time handcrafted linear experience

I still recall the 8 - 10 hour I spent on Silent Hill 2 is an experience worth life time remembering and certainly worth the full price I paid back then, that's the type of game I prefer, yes its a linear game.

 

[ungalo]

Anything really, as long as it is something powerful enough to keep me invested. The interest can come from any direction. Because the world is interesting, because it's subtly written, because one single mechanic is very fun, i don't know.

Sometimes it's better to have that than a serviceable experience in every aspect.

 

[L*][*N*K]

I love role playing and farming for materials, to craft a very rare item

 

[Chukhopops]

Being in space or having a space setting makes me forgive almost everything about a game.

 

[kanjobazooie]

-If a game has an amazing soundtrack, I'm much more likely to cherish it than a great game with little to no music

Pretty much this. I would also say sound design in general (menu SFX, combat sound design, etc).

 

[Fuz]

A good story.

Edit: correction, good writing.

 

[mrmustard]

Good gameplay. I can forgive a bad story if it's not too long (not much into nowadays mostly bloated plot twisted story shit anyways) or bad graphics or some bugs if the gameplay is good. State of Decay is a very good example.

 

[Varteras]

Tits and ass. Look, I'm just being honest.

 

[Guilty_AI]

-music
-butts

 

[NightmareFarm]

Good == Enjoyability and Bad == Not being enjoyable imo.

 

[Amael901]

Male character that possesses androgynous or "feminine" physical traits.This only applies to Japanese games, in western games it disgusts me.

 

[CashPrizes]

Music and Story.
All of my favorite games of all time (Mass Effect 2, Chrono Trigger, Castlevania SOTN, Witcher 3, Last of Us, Final Fantasy VI, Baldurs Gate 2) have top notch scores + stories and characters.

There are a ton of GamePlay Andys out there who claim how the game controls and plays is the only factor, and while it is very important, It is not the end all be all.

Last of Us, while I really enjoy the gameplay and mix of stealth and shooting and resource gathering, is certainly not in the top 10 playing 3rd person shooters of all time, and that is OK. It transcends it's gameplay shortcomings with possibly the best game narrative of all time + a top 20 soundtrack. Almost the exact same thing for Witcher 3 (altho with mods it plays like a dream).

 

[LostDonkey]

Dismemberment.

I'm not a gore whore or anything lol I just like blowing arms and legs off, or at least the ability to. Every FPS should have it as standard unless it's aimed at a lower age range. I mean we're killing people.....at least let me blow their left leg off and watch them hobble about and shit.

 

[German Hops]

An engaging story and characters. for example, Wild Arms 2.

 

[brian0057]

Player choice and emphasis on gameplay.
On a scale from Daggerfall (good) to Sony (bad), I sit decidedly on the former end of the spectrum

 

[drezz]

Gameplay loop
VR
Making me go "Oh SHIT!" from exploding stuff in fun ways.

 

[Fuz]

Dismemberment.

I'm not a gore whore or anything lol I just like blowing arms and legs off, or at least the ability to. Every FPS should have it as standard unless it's aimed at a lower age range. I mean we're killing people.....at least let me blow their left leg off and watch them hobble about and shit.

Man, if there's something I hate it's the stupid trend of substituting the blood splashes with sparks.

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

Music and a e s t h e t I c s

 

[fart town usa]

Hard to put it into words but a major aspect is that I love campy stuff.

AITD: Inferno was largely roasted and Devil's Third was definitely roasted but those are two incredibly fun games. AITD really is janky as hell but it's also really forgiving, it also tries a lot of unique things and outside of glitches, the mechanics work well for what they are. Devil's Third isn't janky, it's just an old school type game that doesn't take itself serious.

There's so many great games that people write off because we simply have it too good when it comes to overall selection. It's a shame but it is what it is. I'm happy to sing the praises of old games that people largely forgot about.

 

[Topher]

I enjoy attribute progression whether that be the character I'm playing or the spaceship I'm flying, etc. Playing Everspace 2 right now and building up my ship(s) is a lot of fun. I think of games like Octopath Traveler where I have a multiple characters to improve and I'm having a blast. Of course, gameplay has to be spot on or else I'm just building up these attributes for its own sake and that isn't any fun.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Gamers have it in their mind they have to get hours into a game, grueling mission lists could turn gamers away.

 

[Drizzlehell]

• Great soundtrack that goes well with the gameplay.

Loaded is a good example of this. Kind of a meh game even at the time of its release, but the soundtrack was amazing and it was flowing well with the simplistic shooter gameplay, which made the whole thing really enjoyable anyway.

• Simple, repetitive, but addictive gameplay loop.

I played a lot of games that was by all accounts mediocre as a whole, but if it has a gameplay loop that's enjoyable to play (eg. because the combat is fun and you regularly get some loot drops) then I will just play it for hundreds of hours while listening to podcasts or audiobooks in the background. It's a nice way to occupy your lizard brain while your higher brain functions process the stuff that you're listening to.

• Engaging story, characters, or overall presentation.

The game may be very light on gameplay. Or the gameplay may be total shite or just serviceable at best. But if the story is gripping, I want to know the fate of its characters, and together with an amazing atmosphere and cerebral presentation makes for an utterly captivating experience, then I don't care if the gameplay is bad. I will keep replaying those games over and over just to experience the wonderful story again and again.

It's the whole reason why I absolutely adore the first four Silent Hill games, and why I enjoyed games like Shadow of The Colossus or Spec Ops: The Line. They all have pretty "meh" gameplay but it's like the least engaging thing about them.

 

[Saber]

I would say replayability and fun factor.

Some games like Diablo excels on replayability because it gives a chance to start over with your same gear, harder enemies and better rewards.

Others offers fun factor like Mario Kart randomness or N64 Goldeneye cheats that alows people to came back after beating the game and time targets to just do shit and have a good time. GTA games are also about fun factor.

 

[geary]

Playstation brand slapped on it.
Xbox brand not slapped on it.

/s

 

[killatopak]

I’m a simple man. Beautiful/cute girls and I’ll enjoy your game.

 

[Esca]

It just needs to click with me in some way to draw me in. Could be anything but when that happens I get the best experiences from games. Sometimes just changing your mindset and mentally getting yourself in the game to do wonders as well

 

[SHA]

Genre, qte , a shotgun, couch play co op, talented streamers, funny bugs , sequels but not often, resemblance are usually underrated from people having different perspectives cause they came from different games and reasons than I am, dialogs , I could get lost with well written plot , Michael Bay scenes.

 

[gaming_again]

A style that resonates with me.
In story based games, character relationships. FFXV is one of my very favourites even though I know it’s bad. The bond between the characters was enchanting.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Challenge and fairness, I don't care if it's difficult, as long as I perceive my failures as being mine, not bad controls or weird camera problems that mean I can't tell what's going on.

I'm happy to keep trying something, over and over. I never ever reduce difficulty either, I'd rather not see the end of the game than play on easy. No judgement on those who would prefer to see the end of their games, but for me overcoming the challenge is really important and I rarely care about the story in games at all.

 

[R6Rider]

Good == Enjoyability and Bad == Not being enjoyable imo.

It's as simple as this.

 

[F31 Leopard]

• Simple, repetitive, but addictive gameplay loop.

This is me. I spend hours on games most people find repetitive and boring which get low reviews. I spent 14 hours on the Valkyrie Elysium demo alone before doing the save game transfer to retail. Right now I'm addicted to playing Alice Gear Aegis and I have already put 20 hours.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Story and Combat.

 

[NightmareFarm]

It's as simple as this.

Feels like people on the internet just overanalyze everything and forget the reason they play games or watch shows to begin with...

 

[BouncyFrag]

Persona 3 FES The Answer dungeon crawl soundtrack progresses through this as you keep getting deeper and deeper. This is my jam.

 

[GMCamaro]

If it’s fun to play, it will make me stay.

 

[MasterDerico]

Fun factor

 

[Pejo]

Sword sheathing animations. The cooler the better.

 

[Shadowstar39]

Dismemberment.

I'm not a gore whore or anything lol I just like blowing arms and legs off, or at least the ability to. Every FPS should have it as standard unless it's aimed at a lower age range. I mean we're killing people.....at least let me blow their left leg off and watch them hobble about and shit.

Yet none of them do this. It was a selling point back in the day for one of the soldier of fortune games. Also fear, dead space, Deus ex, fallout 3/4/nvegas and max payne all had this. They aren't fps games though.

Don't know why standard shooters don't have hitting arms and guns drop or crippling legs making someone hobble. It seems like a no brainer. Is it due to kids and multiplayer? I bet that's it. We don't get new single player fps games anymore so no idea if it will ever come back.

If you like dismemberment the new dead island 2 game is amazing for that.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

I am a mechanics based player now. Anything that has fun mechanics is good.

Enjoying stuff like Monster Hunter, Fortnite, Minecraft Legends right now.

 

[Platinumstorm]

Soundtracks are very important. I also think games need to set themselves apart. There's such a focus on open world over the last 5-8 years or so that games aren't necessarily memorable.

While I struggle to play a lot of modern titles, I bought Metroid Prime Remastered on day 1, and I'm playing through it right now. I am relatively close to finishing, I think. I remembered the zones of Metroid Prime well, the visor effects which were excessively impressive at the time, and many of the wonderful looping songs. Metroid Prime keeps you very engaged compared to games of today where they put a little dot on your radar that you run to mindlessly. Metroid Prime had/s hints, but there was a lot of work involved, and a lot of memorizing where you put things.

I also think not just dialing in on side quests is important. I can likely tell you all of the side quests from the old Final Fantasy games because they were important to the game, but there's so much drivel in games, even like Witcher 3, Final Fantasy 15, or 7R that I wouldn't be able to tell you them.

I did a rush run through Spiderman Miles Morales. While I enjoyed playing through the main story; the "app" was horrendous and largely filled with trash. I tend to be a completionist, however I had no intention on ever playing this game, it was being removed from PS+ next month, and there are so many incredible games coming out this year that I decided to rush play it in two play sessions [also very rare for me]. As soon as I started doing the app events I began to lose interest, so I avoided them as much as I could.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I enjoy narrative. I know, in terms of delivery and often quality, gaming is a lower tier medium for storytelling versus something mire traditional, like written prose, but it's presence, regardless of being good or bad, is usually a prerequisite to my trying the title. I picked up gaming as a hobby relatively young, but still far later than my peers, and a good portion of the reason why was because I was a stupid sheltered child and thought arcade machine 3 lives, the premise is two sentences, go do this mundane thing over and over again and the only change is how fast your expected to act, the prize is getting your three initials into a spot above other people's initials. Hurray. It seemed pointless and unfulfilling to me. I viewed videogames the same as I viewed Board games. Something to maybe fuck with on a rainy day with a buddy.

Zelda, OOT, specifically, really opened my eyes to the potential of gaming, and it was am entry point into a hobby that while not super serious, would still be life changing without. Nintendo in general really pulled me in with their living breathing colorful worlds and environmental storytelling in titles like Retro's Metroid Prime. All of these titles, along with some Biohazard and Final Fantasy made up my formative gaming years, and I still stand by the need for AT LEAST a simple three act narrative to justify my need or desire to continue giving a shit. All the "it's not Shakespeare," shit is fine. I don't read Shakespeare, anyway.

 

[AndrewRyan]

First is the feel of the controls and that usually translates to low latency via. high fps. I love some games within seconds just based on how they feel, like doom 2016/eternal. Related to feel is how the game manages the camera. Am not knowledgable enough to describe it but they're cinematic movements but in ways that aren't forced but make sense. It's something that's improved significant'y in the last 10 years and you notice when its missing from older titles.

I love graphics and displays of graphical prowess like in almost all housemarque games. Related to graphics is the art, art style and atmosphere. Some games are just so beautiful you love being in the world. Some worlds are so well designed they are wonders in themselves like dishonored and gta5. A sign of great art design for me is when a new enemy or character is introduced and I don't want to play but just look at the details and marvel at the creativity.

Really appreciate when games are thoughtful with how they design sounds so you can almost play with only your hearing, like returnal and vanquish. Music and sound tracks can almost carry a game when it's integrated with the gameplay like Audica and max payne 3.

Lastly is story and only because currently it often seems more like cut-up disjointed pieces of narration mashed between gameplay. That's fine and I enjoy it but usually it pales in comparison to books and movies. However when done well it's incredible like in mass effect 2 and fallout 3. Also enjoy movie blended games for their story like detroit: become human and heavy rain. Story integration in gaming has the most room for improvement but expect someday for them to be superior at story telling than movies.

 

[laynelane]

Some games build incredible atmosphere and I find that very enjoyable and memorable. Way back when, it's what really drew me to franchises like Silent Hill and Resident Evil. Later would come Souls and Bloodborne. Besides that, great music, characters, and stories can make me look past a lot of issues.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

.....at least let me blow their left leg off and watch them hobble about and shit.

Enemy bowel-voiding? Now THAT'S realistic.

 

[Fredrik]

* No gore and human kills and AAA quality.

Something like Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart, super family friendly and still AAA(A) budget, was even voice recorded to my language. It’s so so rare having a game I can fully enjoy myself and don’t have to go hide away in the PC room to actually play or wait until the middle of the night when everybody is asleep. I want more!

And gore was fun when I was 11-14, I’m so over all of that nonsense, it gives me nothing except less time to actually play games.

If that forever alone hermit scenarios is all devs can give me then at least give me some curvy ladies to look at, with super advanced physics.

 

[kiphalfton]

* No gore and human kills and AAA quality.

Something like Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart, super family friendly and still AAA(A) budget, was even voice recorded to my language. It’s so so rare having a game I can fully enjoy myself and don’t have to go hide away in the PC room to actually play or wait until the middle of the night when everybody is asleep. I want more!

And gore was fun when I was 11-14, I’m so over all of that nonsense, it gives me nothing except less time to actually play games.

If that forever alone hermit scenarios is all devs can give me then at least give me some curvy ladies to look at, with super advanced physics.

Don't play rated M games then?

 

[Fredrik]

Don't play rated M games then?

More like…

”Don’t play AAA games then”

Back in the days most games could be played by anyone, there were the rare Mortal Kombat and Barbarian and maybe some war game but most games were no problem at all. Today you have low budget kids and family games you really don’t want to play yourself - then you have big budget games for upper teens and adults not really suitable for a living room with kids around. AAA games suitable for anyone is rare.

 

[LostDonkey]

Yet none of them do this. It was a selling point back in the day for one of the soldier of fortune games. Also fear, dead space, Deus ex, fallout 3/4/nvegas and max payne all had this. They aren't fps games though.

Don't know why standard shooters don't have hitting arms and guns drop or crippling legs making someone hobble. It seems like a no brainer. Is it due to kids and multiplayer? I bet that's it. We don't get new single player fps games anymore so no idea if it will ever come back.

If you like dismemberment the new dead island 2 game is amazing for that.

Just watched a video on the whole flesh engine system, definitely getting this game now.

Sweetie poteeties!!!

 

[Sidney Prescott]

Good story and characters. Even if the gameplay isn't anything mind blowing, I can appreciate the effort that has gone in to it.

Yakuza is a good example of this, I never thought much of the combat really but adored everything else.