What makes a great game great?
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This is a very opinionated question with many different possible answers. My thoughts on the matter? I think to be a truly great game it has to make you connect to the game on some level. I have never played a bad game and felt an emotional connection to the characters. I'm gonna give a cliche answer as Half-Life 2 *spoiler alert* when Alyx's dad dies (don't hate me for not remembering his name :P) I choked up and was truly torn as to where the series would go after that. I think great games must incorporate many things, a few being: a deep thought provoking plot, great voice acting (or none in the case of Half-life), an emotional connection to the characters, and finally an ending that will have you pleased with how the game was closed out. Now I'm sure there are plenty of games that incorporate a few of these things, but I'm talking about GREAT games and not good games. These are the games you'll tell everyone about and probably always remember as one of the games in your top 10 list forever. Some of my personal favorite games being: Half-Life series, Portal 1 and 2, Legend of Zelda OOT, Dead Space series (highly under-rated series, it is brilliant). So what makes these games great? Well I will use the most under rated game series in a while as my example. Dead Space is a game that takes the resident evil survival horror genre and put's it on steroids. You play as Issac Clark an Engineer commissioned to work on a ship that lost power. You find out that an infection has broken out and you are trapped with very scarce ammo and health (if you don't play on easy). I may have shortened that a lot but my point is that no matter how simple something can be it can be great. Dead Space may have a very rich and deep plot with incredible plot twist, but at heart it is a simple game, kill or be killed that's the choice. Okay enough fanboying over dead space (buy it if you don't have it, it's incredible). What do you think makes great games great?
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Good game = fun
Great game = fun mixed with innovation
Art = fun mixed with innovation while creating an experience where players can feel emotionaly connected to the title.
The other thing I look for in a game is character development. It is enjoyable to watch a character progress and change as you play, even more so now as more and more games incorporate the decisions you makes as a player into how the character develops. For me, a prime example of this (and of humor as a center piece, thank you for Krogans) would be the Mass Effect series. I want to finish this series more to see how all the relationships fully develop with the NPCs you have met through the series than whether or not the Reapers can be defeated. This development of your character and his/her/its relationships to people in the game world are vitally important, to me at least.
This, for example, is what makes the Legend of Zelda games so much fun. If you started out in the begining of the game with all the tools, learned them all first, then spent 50 hours grinding through temples and stuff with them, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun. The fun comes from the need to constantly learn how to use the next tool.
//EDIT Just in case someone doesn't get that this post is sarcasm, I am totally joking. Depth, unique game play, and a compelling story line are all part of a equation that makes a great game. That being said there is something to say about games with all of the above and a great graphics engine, art direction and sound design. The ability of a game designer to make the player feel immersed in the game world (visually, aurally, and mentally) is what I think is the over all goal for a great game.
Exactly, great post
e.g. Tiny Wings or Dragon, Fly! and this.
A great game has both or does one excellently.
A perfect game is a great game with amazing music.
A lot of my favorite games of all time have really memorable music. That's one thing I feel like a lot of modern games kind of miss out on. I mean sure some of the big budget games have like this epic orchestrated soundtrack, but for the most part I don't remember it. Even games that I find great, in my mind, are not perfect because of an unmemorable soundtrack.
It's just so much better when you hear a song before a trailer starts for the next installment and it brings a rush of nostalgic feelings.
For reference, perfect games: majora's mask, chrono trigger, mother 2 & 3, super meatboy, tf2
great games: red dead, assassin's creed: brotherhood or 2, batman arkham asylum
And see, I think the replay-ability of a game is huge for making a game great. That being said, I associate most re-playable games as such because of how complex they are.
- Interesting Narrative
- High Replay Value
- Simple Controls
- Complex Puzzles/Challenges
These are what make for great games. This is probably why so many older games are fondly remembered and why newer games are just replaced by some new iteration. Older games only had those points whereas newer games just have better graphics, I'm looking at you call of duty. ಠ_à²First up Total Annihilation. I LOVE THIS GAME! Released just before Starcraft, with better graphics, sound, and gameplay, I spent countless hours in massive LAN games. The game has a very weak story that just serves as an excuse to blow shit up, but man, you could blow a lot of shit up in one go, especially if using the 500 (or 2000/5000) unit hack. First game I remember playing with Full Screen AA and a true 3D graphics engine (locked to isometric view though) in a RTS.
Next, another game that many of you here have played: Sins of a Solar Empire. This game is not funny, there are no characters to get attached to, it can be tedious and boring, but goddamn I love it. I still play frequently, cause I love the absolutely huge space battles, the micro management of planetary systems, the satisfaction of defeating a pirate raid paid for by one of your enemies and, my specialty, sending it swarms of bombers covered by fighters to attack defensive positions while a planetary assault fleet hypers in from the other direction.
Both of these games have intangibles that seem to just draw me in like few games ever have done. Maybe its the attention to detail, maybe they are just superbly designed games, most likely its the challenge of building a base/empire and defending it against aggression. Or, as Spencer said, its because both of these games are almost infinitely re-playable and complex that keeps dragging me back to them.