What do you think is the most important aspect of a game?

[Malon_Forever]

It's a simple question, but what do you think is most important, other then the gameplay. I know for me, it's the music. When I haven't played a game in a long time, and I hear that piece of music I remember, I get goose bumps. What about you?

[TonyTheTiger]

That it doesn't crash. Seriously. I think the one thing that we often take for granted is the one thing that is most necessary: that the game actually functions properly.

[tofu]

I like games that don't take themselves too seriously. Earthbound, No more heroes, My world my way to name a few.

Conversely, I hate any game that tries too hard with the cliches. Mysterious good guys with skeletons in the closet, dark skies 24/7, female protagonists feeding teenage hormones, etc.

[Kid Ice]

Control.

bad control = bad game

period

[jb143]

If it's fun to play. Perhaps that's tied up in gameplay but not necessarily. A game can have great controls, story, music, and so on but if it's not fun to play then what's the point.

[Joe West]

I agree, good music, good story, & good game play..................

[Arcade Antics]

It has to stay crunchy in milk.

[vgc]

Heres mine in order of importance to me:

Play Control
Fun Factor
Sounds and Music
Graphics
Replay Value

Mike : )

[Nirvana]

My favorite genre of video games is Fighting games, so balance is a huge factor in whether I truly enjoy the game or not. There will never be a perfectly balanced fighting game, but the ones that come close are the ones that I love.

When it comes to RPGs, story comes first to me. If I can't get interested in it, then why play it at all?

Sports games...I'd say realism is what I like the most. That's why I'll always love NFL 2k5 over Madden. :)

[MissingNo_1231]

Fun.

If a game is fun to play, that's all that matters for me.

I have a lot of friends who can't stand a game if it isn't state of the art graphics, and it's so sad that they miss out. Because the farther back you go, in my opinion, the better games get.

[Pezcore343]

I'd say it depends on the genre I guess.

In RPGs it is definitely the story. I find it so hard to get into a lot of RPGs because for most RPGs the gameplay consists of browsing menus, which I can do in Microsoft Excel. Games that have pulled me in with their story in Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantays X, Devil Summoner 2, and Persona 4.

I also looveee music games. A big factor in these games to me is actually usually not the music. Elite Beat Agents had pretty poor song choice but that is still my favorite DS game to date. I'd say it is the replayability and the feeling of accomplishment. If you get through a song on a harder difficulty or beat your high score, it has to feel worth it. Again Elite Beat Agents did this well in my opinion by combining your total high score across all songs into a rank.

And my all time favorite genre of games are platforms, both 2D and 3D. Here it is definitely fluidity, something you don't here discussed to much with games. I like my platformers to be played nonstop, jump to jump, without having to trudge through bad controls. Games like Sonic, Jak and Daxter, Kya: Dark Lineage, and of course the Mario titles all nail this aspect.

[stargate]

tits.

wait, what are we talking about again?

[p_b]

Fun. I don't care about anything else.

[p_b]

Woo, my first DP. Sorry.

[kupomogli]

When it comes to sports/racing games, realism comes first. I dislike games like Ridge Racer or Burnout that are purely arcade based. Simcade racers I really don't mind or arcade style racing in a game like GTA, but I can't get into playing actual racing titles you can turn a corner going 200mph almost flawless.

Balance/Fun is the main thing for me with fighting games. I love games like Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi but only because each characters aren't too far imbalanced atleast when comparing how they play. Statwise they're the same until you get the Super Saiyajins and other such characters transforming into their more powerful forms, then it's not as fun, but then again, as long as you play with friends in a no transformation game then it's really no problem. Games like Dissidia and Super Smash Bros(low items) are unbalanced but fun, yet when you get to SSBB with all the items it has, there is no fun to that game until the items are turned off. Dead or Alive, Ehrgeiz, Virtua Fighter, Street Fighter(even though it gives turtles the advantage,) and Bloody Roar(almost all characters) are pretty balanced video games.

With RPG titles, the storyline doesn't matter if it's got amazing gameplay(Final Fantasy 10-2.) Also the other way around the gameplay doesn't matter if it has an amazing story(Xenosaga.) It's nice when you have both a good storyline and good gameplay though. Music is usually good on most RPG titles, so not really need to throw that out there(usually, as there are some games with awful music.)

[Black_Tiger]

All that matters is "fun". Aesthetics and gimmicks can be entertaining, but they're not what makes a game different than something like a movie or a book. Any game that is fun to play is a success.

[VG_Maniac]

The game play is the most important thing to me. It needs to be fun and addicting. Music is also a big deal to me as well. A good soundtrack helps absorb me into the game.

[SamuraiSmurfette]

Originality.
At least, that's what I look for most.

[The 1 2 P]

Since I can't say gameplay than I'm definitely going with story. I have to be interested enough to continue playing. If not, I'll just go find something with a better narrative.

[Baloo]

Hmm, if Gameplay includes control, then slowdown. Slowdown can really kill the gameplay of a game if it's in there. There needs to be no slowdown or as little slowdown as possible, literally unnoticable.

[Iron Draggon]

control is #1 without a doubt... after that, options