What makes a game amazing?

[Skelington]

Great gameplay. Games can be good by that alone, but adding a compelling story helps in many cases. Secondary things like music and graphics only work if they complement the gameplay/story well, but they aren't necessary.

[Baloneyz]

Simply and to put it straight..

COMMUNITY of the game makes a game great.

WoW ( and Blizzard in general ) has a lame, kid infested community that will HATE every crack and cranny or a change in the game.
And, they will follow, brainlessly, all popular hating trends.
Also, they think posting something on a forum with an "I HATE ( insert any game and reason here )" makes them more mature and cool.

[ As long that community ( WoW community in general -= I found many great friends in WoW when i played it but the amount of artards is to high to put aside =- ) stays away from a game I play, i am good and happy. ]

TL;DR - Community is the greatest factor of a game, and now it seems that every kid will hate the game to be more "cool" and more mature and will hate that not everything is handed to them in a golden plate.

[PenguinChan]

A combination of many factors. Gameplay, appeal, and feel of a game usually make up the best parts.

Gameplay keeps you from getting bored when shooting down an enemy, or picking flowers.

Appeal is what makes a gamer stay for the game. It's great that it's fun to blow that enemies head off, but it's also appealing to see the after-math and effort put into that. It's just more satisfying killing a zombie and see them slump to the floor instead of just blow back comically or just disintegrate like some games do.

Just the over-all feel to a game can make you stay. Final Fantasy games do a great job at this, because if it wasn't for the feel of Final Fantasy, I wouldn't even buy the game.

[Ynna]

So then retroactively these older films or games ceased to be great? Or exemplary?

No. Just like older movies can be immensely enjoyed despite the advances made in the field, older games can be equally enjoyable. Good gameplay plays a big role in this, but so does sound, atmosphere, story and aesthetic. One of my favorite comedies is Some Like It Hot, and I enjoyed the 1920's Nosferatu and the 1960's Ocean's Eleven (despite the slow pacing).
Older work isn't invalidated because new things arrive, and I never said as much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Brakhage

^ one of the most important men of the 20th century.

Didn't know him, thanks for enlightening me. (This is serious by the way.)

[Fencers]

No. Just like older movies can be immensely enjoyed despite the advances made in the field, older games can be equally enjoyable. Good gameplay plays a big role in this, but so does sound, atmosphere, story and aesthetic. One of my favorite comedies is Some Like It Hot, and I enjoyed the 1920's Nosferatu and the 1960's Ocean's Eleven (despite the slow pacing).
Older work isn't invalidated because new things arrive, and I never said as much.

Not so much you said it was so, but I was drawing the ultimate conclusion.

I do agree the desperate elements of narrative, sound, et cetera can richly contribute to a "great" game. E.g. Grim Fandango or Ico.

But if we allow for those elements to define the quality of a game, in part or in whole, by course it'd make games which couldn't include those elements the lesser. I mean, vector graphics, bro. There wasn't a whole lot of narrative to Robotron or immersion to Dr.Mario.

More accurately, I think what you are really trying to say is great games need drama. Which is a finer and deeper point of thought lost amid "immersion", "story" and other phrasing inappropriate to video games.

In fact, this game might have the strongest and deepest sense of drama in all of video games; linky.

Read up on the guy too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Theurer / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Wi...s_About_To_Die!

To play, is the highest form of gaming.

[Fuzzzie]

Subject tells all. And for me, I like games that take risk.

For me it's all about replayability. If a game is too short or isn't involved enough I get bored and bummed out. I like in-depth games where they continue on and on and you can keep improving either your character or your skill at the game.

[Deleted]

a good story
atleast some neat graphics
the music being good is a must.
if there's voice actors, they have to be good(Every time I know I'll hear Tyrande's / Aggra's voice, I instantly shut the sound down)
smooth controlls
a friendly UI

[Poppincaps]

Simply and to put it straight..

COMMUNITY of the game makes a game great.

WoW ( and Blizzard in general ) has a lame, kid infested community that will HATE every crack and cranny or a change in the game.
And, they will follow, brainlessly, all popular hating trends.
Also, they think posting something on a forum with an "I HATE ( insert any game and reason here )" makes them more mature and cool.

[ As long that community ( WoW community in general -= I found many great friends in WoW when i played it but the amount of artards is to high to put aside =- ) stays away from a game I play, i am good and happy. ]

TL;DR - Community is the greatest factor of a game, and now it seems that every kid will hate the game to be more "cool" and more mature and will hate that not everything is handed to them in a golden plate.

I just don't understand this.... I mean yeah, I don't really like when people complain about WoW, but I don't let it ruin the game for me. Are you not confident enough in your own opinion, that you let others change your opinion for you?

[Ynna]

Not so much you said it was so, but I was drawing the ultimate conclusion.

I do agree the desperate elements of narrative, sound, et cetera can richly contribute to a "great" game. E.g. Grim Fandango or Ico.

But if we allow for those elements to define the quality of a game, in part or in whole, by course it'd make games which couldn't include those elements the lesser. I mean, vector graphics, bro. There wasn't a whole lot of narrative to Robotron or immersion to Dr.Mario.

I didn't mean to imply that a good games needs good gameplay and good aesthetics and good music and a good story, but if a game is trying to deliver a story and fails, no matter how well it plays, it's not a good game. If the music of an awesome game is so horrible that you're muting the game and playing your own music, part of the game failed.
A game is a total experience and should be valued as such.

And I totally remember Dr. Mario. Quite fun.

And I assume that you've seen the Extra Credits episode on Missile Command.

[Fencers]

I didn't mean to imply that a good games needs good gameplay and good aesthetics and good music and a good story, but if a game is trying to deliver a story and fails, no matter how well it plays, it's not a good game. If the music of an awesome game is so horrible that you're muting the game and playing your own music, part of the game failed.
A game is a total experience and should be valued as such.

Not sure about that. I think you can value the total experience, but for example I never listen to in-game music. I mute almost all of them from install to uninstall. I have never heard the soundtrack to many of my favorite games, for example.

And I assume that you've seen the Extra Credits episode on Missile Command.

No. I dislike that show. I think they add in a lot garbage about game design and the art of games that is from a middle brow POV.

But if they spoke on the significance of Theurer or Jarvis/Demar, I appreciate them bringing a little less stupid in the world.

[Shiny212]

Maybe this is a silly question, but what do you mean with "not too user friendly" and why would that be a good thing?

It's my subliminal way of saying...Don't spoonfeed people. Things are supposed to be difficult sometimes, if they're not it becomes boring; cataclysm comes to mind.

[Duruka]

For a game to be truly amazing IMO, it has to have great...well, everything. Great gameplay, great story, great atmosphere, great art, great music, and whatever else. The best games combine all these things.

The most important thing has to be gameplay though. Every other part of the game could be great, but if the gameplay is no good then neither is the game itself.

[Thrage]

For me it's music.

A game can be the most awful game in existence, with a piss-poor concept, a ridiculous story and the worst graphics you've ever seen, but if the soundtrack is good, I will play it non-stop for hours.

Controls/gameplay are important too, but they're important for a game to be playable. For it to be amazing, it's music.

[Shiny212]

I wouldn't say that a game needs a story or soundtrack in order to be great, but those things can greatly add to the experience. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 wouldn't be half as good without the soundtrack, if God of War didn't have a story, I would have probably never finished it and if Team Fortress 2 didn't have the wacky aesthetic, it wouldn't have been as good.

Gameplay isn't the end all of a great game. It's very important, sure, but the story gives you clear objectives and the flavor of a game makes it more understandable. The music makes everything more exiting or relaxing and the aesthetics do a great deal of helping the atmosphere of a game.

I think what the guy is trying to say is that in order to be a good game it absolutely HAS to have good gameplay. That's the baseline, other mediums such as music, storytelling can add to it, and should add to it to make it amazing, but without good gameplay it'll fall short regardless of music or story.

[Shroud]

Skyrim is a good example of synergy the quest flow organicly in this and when your on one you find another one by finding something on a skeleton or picking up a book
but there not like hey you got to do this now or never they dont force you.You yourself choose to go when you feel like it.the story is also fun the music is amazing and in general the only thing wrong with skyrim was that it had a ton of bugs at the begining and still has some now but atleast bethseda is trying to fix them.

what im saying is a good/great game is also in how motivated a company is about said game

Bethseda makes you wait years for elder scrolls since they want to make sure its well i dont want to say polished since they have an ungodly number of bugs in them but a great experience where you can do whatever the fuck you want go on quest that feel organic

EA and Activison...... do i really need to bother in ansering this one but i will they worship the almighty dollar nuff said

[silentk59]

^^ First off, Bethesda is a shit company, ive you think Skyrim is a good game, youve never played their first ones and have no clue of a good company because that game is a piece of shit compared to its predecessors. And Bethesda doesnt give a good goddamn about its fans. Thats all.

OT; Well back in the day I would have said story>all. I mean, even today Iam not hung up to much on graphics and sound and stuff like that but they still do make a big difference. But the more and more I grow and mature as a gamer I realize that UI is very important to me.

Ive started to realize that people are a lot more subconscious then we think we are and a clean UI really implies alot to that factor. If something is choppy or hard to navigate people dont want to take the time to find out how to. They want to play the game and have fun, not spend half their time trying to learn how to correctly navigate the game and its features and what not.

Lots of these games fail in this aspect, theres to many pages filled with to much information. The health bar is hard to read and small, the mana bar is the same. The camera angles prevent me from getting a good view without being obstructed by a piece of UI on the screen or page I cant close out. Ive watched WoW work on these problems after the 4 years ive been playing and honestly thats how I started noticing it. Things that were sometimes hard to remember doing as a new player got easier after a new patch came along. They started to match things together like the glyphs being on the same page as the talents. Which I ALWAYS hated how it was before during the launch of WotLK.

It might not mean alot to some people but to me it makes me whole gaming experience much smoother. And there really isnt a better word for me to use to describe it because it seems like I run more efficiently when everything is displayed well and easy to navigate versus all over the place. I feel I get quests or missions one faster and I move overall faster and with much more ease so I can enjoy the game more.

[KCguy]

Game play and a great story. Graphics are just a bonus. Unless it's a game like war, where graphics are a must for realism and all that junk. But overall, I don't care if it's pixelated nightmares as long as it's enjoyable.

[Adam Jensen]

Customization. I want to make the player character mine as much as possible.
Intense storytelling. I want to be a part of a story, not just shooting aliens for no particular reason.
Intense characterization. I want to know who these people are, what motivates them and everything

Beautiful graphics. I want to see stunning visuals, unique locales, and well developed characters and interesting costumes. And I do not refer necessarily to high polygon graphics, but to stylized graphics that are done in an artistic manner consistent with the game, though hi-poly, particle effects and shaders certainly help.

An exciting combat system. I want a system that makes me think and gives me options more than pressing "X" all the time, but at the same time isn't overly complex

Exploration. I want to see more than just the linear main storyline. I want to explore and have a reason to explore (but make it non-mandatory)

No tedium. Don't make me collect tedious resources or watch some stupid number in the corner of the screen (the reason i don't like RTSs and cheat in WCIII)

Cutscenes. Make them like movies, with strong voice acting and characters that actually act and move naturally.

[Deleted]

Amazing Combat/Animations/Story/Customization/Addictive Gameplay