What do YOU look/hope for in a game?

[Bulf]

I'm curious, so...
When you buy a game, what's the one thing you really hope to get out of it? Graphics, re-playability, new(er) concept, loads of blood/gore, etc. and what's usually the least important?

[Psyco_Panda]

Graphics, story line, replayability, loads of blood, and free roaming.......I look for graphics. They say don't judge a book by its cover, well too bad I judge games and books by it. If the cover don't look cool I won't even give it a second glance.

[Ultimate_Go_Nagai_Fan]

The first thing I look for is the one thing that EVERY game should have: GAMEPLAY. But other then that, I look for at least a decent story and replayability. Graphics are the least of my worries, kind of like artwork for anime. It would be a good thing for them to be nice, but as long as I can tolerate it, I'm fine.

[Capernicus]

I look for innovative ideas. I usually prefer RPGs, so the battle system has to be a balance of challenging and fun. I also want a good soundtrack. I would have to say graphics are least important for me. On a similar note, I recently started playing Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for the wii. Got to say, the battle system is really intricate like Final Fantasy Tactics. Love it.

[GrimStride™]

I want a decent story above all.Something with multiple outcomes that i can replay
Then graphics

[GameGeeks]

Competence, gameplay, story and character development. Everything else is just a bonus. Though this is just for RPGs which I mainly play. For everything else It's just competence and a gameplay. Though I'm much more lenient with Indie games then professionally made ones.

[Sr Machinehead]

I want to play something that has new gameplay ideas and is something i haven't seen before. of course i do appreciate good registration for my attacks and a hit-box that is at least close to the models size. I guess the least important thing is graphics since I will play anything as long as I can tell the goal and it has responsive controls.

[Finale]

The ability to replay it over again, variety of activities to complete, things that are impossible in real life, Challenging enemies however possibility and on some games, To be a god! Ultra powers!

[Ellxeeva]

Unique gameplay and awesome characters, plus graphics and storyline. And yeah, anything with guns.

[John Watson]

Graphics, interesting story and it has to be somewhat challenging.

Oh yeah..and I always hope that the main character has a love interest and they hook up somewhere in the game. Yeah..gotta have romance. (Lol..is that strange?)

[BoldMushroom]

I love games that are unique, or that put a new spin on an old genre, or that create a new genre for themselves. I feel like all of the genres I used to love are stagnant. I can't remember the last time I played a first-person shooter, or an RPG, that really brought a fresh perspective to the genre. I think the only games I really enjoy these days are adventure games and horror games - games with exploration and atmosphere, with stories that are widely open to interpretation, analysis, and further scrutiny of the game world. I enjoy games with a lot of freedom, creativity, flexibility, and malleability. I love games with open worlds.

I'm also sick of games whose sequels basically rehash the original gameplay. For example, I loved the first Metroid Prime - I thought it was a really fresh twist on first-person action games, and a great direction for the franchise - but I felt like the sequels didn't do enough to distinguish themselves from the first game. I had this problem with the game Eversion as well. Eversion has a cool mechanic called Evert, where you warp between different dimensions at designated Evert points, subsequently changing the entire level, in order to progress through the levels. I like the Evert mechanic; however, the game is otherwise designed as a Mario platformer, and I'm really not interested in playing another Mario platformer. I feel like they could've done more with Evert to make the game unique.

Similarly, I love games that offer the player freedom and choices, but I'm so sick of games like KOTOR and Infamous and Prototype, where there's always such a blatant good/bad struggle going on. I want the freedom to do what I want, and the feeling that what I'm actually DOING is having an effect, not a generic dichotomy. Admittedly, one of the worst offenders of this, Fable, did something that I thought was really cool: my "good" character in Fable "accidentally" went on a killing spree in a certain town, and whenever I return there, everyone is afraid of me - yet, my reputation in other towns is so positive, everyone everywhere else adores me.

Currently, I'm playing the original Fallout. I'm looking forward to Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, because of its multiplayer, which is like nothing I've played before. A game I enjoyed recently is Yume Nikki, a free downloadable adventure game made with RPG Maker 2003.

[Desulishor]

it depends on which game genres were talking about. In MMO's I look for skill-based gameplay and teamwork. Bloodline champions is a good example of this since the game is build around 3v3 arena play and other round-based gamemodes and there's no grinding. Skills are aimed manually and teamwork and player skill are the only things that decide the outcome of a match.

if it's console gaming or other solo games such as half-life series, I look solely for a good storyline and characters. Console rpgs like ff6 are a great example here.

[Bulf]

I just noticed I never said mine, weird eh?

It varies over the years for me, but when I usually buy a game the first thing I want is a fresh concept or something new to the genre. Take First-Person-Shooters for example. I've had my share of modern shooters like CoD, Battlefield, and Rainbow Six -ish type games. Each one brings the same thing as the one before it with different textures, names, and guns. If I play a shooter, I want something new that people can evolve on, or can use what they already have in a different way. I've yet to be satisfied in this area though. I don't mind repetition, but they have to change something besides the story mode....like Guitar Hero/Rock Band. In each you play songs and do the same thing, but each one brings newer songs (whether as dlc or on disc). They throw something else in sometimes like hammer-on-chords and such, but that only helps distinguish the last from the newer one.

Second thing I look for is the art style. Bright colorful games with a different style tend to grab my attention faster than the newer low-saturated-uber-detailed styles, like Gears, Twilight Princess, Left 4 Dead. A good example of that is Windwaker, Paper Mario, Limbo, etc. Something different, but still pleasing to the eye. Btw style =/= graphics, if it's looking that way to anyone. I don't care if that circle looks like a hexagon, as long as it looks nice.

After that it's just gameplay and replayability. Concept falls somewhere between all of this, but where I have no clue. Everything else is just a bonus.

[Kylesico912]

I like Gameplay, Music, and Story. The music tends to get me mezmerized if its good enough and gameplay, if its nice then I like it sorta thing. Story is really what gets me hooked into it in the first place.

[Cutie-Otaku/Gamer]

Well I take every aspect in consideration when playing a game,but the most important thing is that the game has a good,solid story if it doesn't have that I won't really enjoy it that's why I mainly play RPGs,secondly most important is the gameplay it has to be at least decent and finally the graphics I'm not very exigent when it comes to these but it helps if the graphics are nice.
(my,I have kind of hard standars when it comes to videogames)

[bakakame]

1) Replayability
2) Replayability
3) Replayability

If a game is fun to play over and over, it's well worth my investment.

Don't get me wrong, I love an original idea or a great story, but not enough to drop $60 on without regret (Bioshock, Alan Wake )

[Shy Ninja Neko]

1) Good Story background
2) Music
3) Can be played again over and over
4) Interesting and good graphics

[Red&Stiletto]

Cute violence. Like right now, I'm totally hung up on Fairytale Fights. I'm playing as Snow White. :3

[Skylar1]

I can not stress this enough:

Well developed and defined characters

Nothing, I reiterate, NOTHING is worse than canned characters that serve to be nothing more than fillers for the story. Underdeveloped characters are just as bad.

Video games =/= books. There is no reason (other than laziness) that a character that has a name should be flat in personality and depth. We idolize famous characters in games years after we've played them. They become a part of us; we relish in their fictional presence in our society. You don't have to write out a characters' entire life story, (last time I checked "mysterious" is in fact a personality trait) but for me, if you're character didn't leave a lasting impression on me, you didn't try hard enough. "dryness" is unacceptable; It chocks the story of it's rich vaule.

Humans are social creatures. Even if a character plays a very small role, the dramatic effect and the sense of "realness" that they can bring will inadvertently create an amount surreal effect that not even the developer can pinpoint. It's potency of dramatic elements that makes all the difference.


Another thing I would like to point out is story. Now preferably, I enjoy longevity, but I'll settle with a shorter story if I feel satisfied just the same when I'm done. Story's need characters and characters need stories. And the more complex and drawn out the social interactions between the charcters- the better*. I want a story that I can still think about long after I'm done playing it. So there needs to be some wiggle room to leave to the imagination. Please do not write out every single thing and answer every single question I have about the story so that I have absolutely nothing to wonder about later.

*this is not meant to suggest that ALL of the dispositions of characters towards be blatantly displayed; if it can be implied, (and still be generally understood), that's far better. Plus, the less it's shown upfront, the more "nuance" of drama it creates.


Lastly, I would like to finish up with Environment. I have not, a greater sense of excitement and adventure than when I'm allowed to explore extremely vast and visual places. Another preference of mine- BIG. the more deep and mind boggling the scenery can be the better. Never once have I stared of hundreds of thousands of miles in the upper atmosphere looking out into oblivion and mesmerized by the grand scale of the world below and not been filled with sheer awe. The more explorable these environments the better as well.

There are far more things of course, but these I would place at top tier.

[Light Buster]

I expect the game that was previewed to live up to its hype. What I look for in a game is practically everything, nothing particular.

@ Change: Really? That game was horrible.

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

I don't know about what I hope the most, but what I don't give a damn about is stunning graphics.

[Vintniv]

Personally, I love customizable games. Need for Speed, with allowing you to trick out not only a car's out appearance, but also tune how it functions (Drift, speed, etc).

Games that allow you set up what you like to suit a purpose are my favorites. Call of Duty's perk system as well as weapon setups. The Gambit system in FF12, just everything that allows me to play my way. I absolutely hate games like Halo, where if you want a Sniper Rifle, or just something as simple as a grenade, YOU HAVE TO FIND IT. Its stupid, because then when you die, and you certainly will, you lose those weapons an have to refind them all over again.

Finding weapons and stuff to customize yourself should be a fun experience, like opening a treasure chest and its always Christmas.

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

Serated, no LittleBigPlanet nor Modnations? O_o

[Furore]

My favorite games have either perfect gameplay OR a brilliant cast and story OR (and rarer) both.
Without these I get no enjoyment from the game and I tend to find these qualities often in my usual favourites - arcade titles and RPGs. I'm the kind of gamer who greatly prefers a game like Mafia II over similar games that many would feel the superior game solely because it has a great story (strengthened by a fairly realistic feeling world) and a well developed cast.

[Bulf]

I forgot one: Final Boss Music. It tends to be the most epic piece in the game and usually the only reason I continue playing it.