What's most important in a good game？

[Penshiru]

Well for me if a game wants me to consider it a great game then it has to have immersion. If a game can still have an effect on me even after I play the game then to me it is a great game. Best example for me is Silent Hill 2. If I'm ever walking and my town starts to become foggy ( which happens sometimes because New England weather is unpredictable ) I start to get scared because I know some where there could be a monster or somewhere and that is why if a game could have any sense of immersion in the game then it is a great game.

[BoldMushroom]

A game should do something different from games that have come before it. A game doesn't have to reinvent the wheel, but it should at least try to do something that hasn't been seen or done in a game before. If your game is offering "more of the same", something I've seen in another game, what reason do I have to play your game when I could just go back and play that other game?

A game should be immersive. It should have an atmosphere that draws the player in. This is a good idea for most (if not all) games, not just horror games and RPGs. A game should really give the sense that you're a part of whatever world you're in.

A game shouldn't waste the player's time. Eliminate pointless backtracking, repetition, and grinding. Remove game mechanics that make the game more work than fun. If you have to have downtime, make it enjoyable somehow. Shadow of the Colossus was great about this; every colossus fight had you exploring a new part of the world, so even though you got teleported back to the starting temple after each fight, the novelty of exploration eliminated the tedium. By contrast, the game Aquaria provides a great example of what not to do: after unlocking a power that lets you move rocks, the very first rock you run into upon leaving that section of the world (which any gamer would think to explore) leads to a blocked path, which you need another power to open (which you can't possibly have yet). Aquaria has just wasted five minutes of your time, essentially punishing you for exploring (in a game about exploration).

A game should teach the player by showing, not telling. Don't have a lengthy tutorial that goes through every single button and function of the game, but also don't throw the player in without telling them how to do anything. Have them learn the mechanics and game strategies through play, and have future challenges build on already established concepts. LIMBO is especially good about this, as well as the Portal games. Your puzzles and challenges should make sense. They shouldn't come out of nowhere using logic and mechanics the player hasn't encountered before and will never see again.

Create a sense of growth, progression, and accomplishment. Giving the player a palpable feeling of increasing strength (while also ramping up the challenges accordingly) is a great way to both empower the player while encouraging them to keep learning and improving. Bastion is great about this; the game throws a new weapon or ability at you practically every mission, and every time you return to the Bastion with a new Core or Shard, you get to add to or improve the Bastion in some way, giving you even more stuff to play around with. On a similar note, I like the way Yahtzee Croshaw describes boss fights: as a "final exam" for everything you've learned up to that point. Don't just make it an extra-big enemy with lots of HP.

Just a few of my personal opinions about game design.

[xMaTTx]

As for me I'm Gina hafts say what style of game 1st.
I'm an all atriums gamer and for an fps I'd say speed, wepons, maps, complexity.
Mmo/and or RPGs gotta be storyline, video/audio, complexity. Just me but I love a complex game, and I'm very competitive.
I'll leave it at that

[smayragrace]

I think entertainment is the best thing that we all like to want in any game.......

[susonjoy]

The most important thing needed in the good game is the story. First the players see what is this game about and start playing. Later the graphics and the quality audio system plays the important role because most of the people see the quality sounds otherwise they get irritated with the sounds.

[Mugiwara-no-Basuke]

Plus being etertaining and cool, with good graphics, it HAS to be a long game that I can't finish in like 2 or 3 days, that's why the everlasting Pokemon GB games and others like Football Manager (it's a soccer managing game, dunno if any of you know it) were my favourites.
And that's it, I think

[Mystelinth]

In my opinion Story is important, but it isn't my #1 priority.
I rather have a good gameplay.

A game with a good story but crappy gameplay isn't as entertaining as a game with a lesser storyline but good gameplay.

Atleast thats what i think.

[threewolves]

Most important, and this changes with whatever genre it is, but whatever game it is, has to grab my attention and keep it.

For example, FPS, graphics are nice, but if the mechanics are clunky or the game is laggy, it soon goes to the discard pile. For an MMO, the story has to be there and not make me feel like its just go get this bucket. It can be that, but they need to make it where it doesnt feel like that. Which is why I am looking forward to Guild Wars 2. For RPG, if the graphics are bad, I have no desire for it, but the story also has to be excellent.

[ARKphoenix]

For me its the story. If the story's good I'll keep on playing till the end.

[yoyocat]

fluent screeshot is very important in my mind

[FatalEnd21]

To me, the overall gameplay in the game matters the most to me. If the gameplay is bad, then the game is bad. After that, story is important to me because the game has to intrest me.

[jessicalennita]

A good game should be included with all the good features in it. It should have the good story,graphic effects, background sound effects, levels with more fun. It should have the enough features to entertain the players and need to provide good gaming spirit.

[Kaleohano]

controls.
nothing aggravates me more than clunky controls.

controls are general for all games.
But then you gotta break it down to genres.

For racing, i think its important to make everything feel fast, but accurately. Some games have a speedometer that says you're doing 1000mph but it doesn't really look or feel like you're going fast at all.

For RPGs it important to have dynamic characters that fit the story and that you can really connect to.

For Shooters its important to have intelligent enemies. If they just run straight at you all the time, it quickly gets boring.

For puzzle games...eh puzzle games suck anyways.

Fighters need a great variety of styles and need a good balance between all of them. not one style can be superior to any other syle.

Platformers need stages that all feel unique. Many have the issue of making it feel like you're doing the same thing over and over again.

But before any of those things matter even remotely, you need good controls. Clunky controls will ruin any and all games.

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

For puzzle games...eh puzzle games suck anyways.

If by puzzle, you mean those retarded educational games, yeah.

Because you apparently never played Braid.

[Zainox]

The main overall importance would be story. Your game could fail in every other aspect, but as long as the story is great quite a few people would still play.
Secondly I think you need good voice acting (if your game has it). I hate games with terrible voice acting, makes it painful to play on. D: