Characteristics vital for a good game.

Recently I rented Baldurs Gate, DA on PS2. A reasonably fun coop game with average depth. I have rented it before when I was young but now playing it again opened my eyes to what sucked. So what do you think is needed in a game?

1. Badass/Cool Characters. You need to feel powerful and strong and look cool. Animations are extremely important and any armour or weapons should fit your character and look nice. The last thing you want is a mage wearing heavy armour and it not looking right.

2. Customisation. You should have choices about ways you play through the game. This adds replay value.

3. You shouldn't feel that you did something wrong. Fable is good with this. Rather then in Oblivion wear you think that you should have done..... rather then just playing. I think when you are given a player like in Fable it should start the same on every game (or very limited starting options) and then "grow" as the game progresses. You should be able to change your clothes and haircut without starting again.

4. Graphics. In my opinion lighting effects and animations are the most important ala. COD4. Character/Area models can be perfect like in MGS4 but don't have the same wow of COD4 and Killzone 2 because of boring lighting.

5. Story Awareness. A sure sign of a bad game is when you don't even know what the story is because it is so boring.

What do you think should be in a game?

Smooth controls and a fun, well done idea.

All i need, graphics don't mean a thing, online is overrated, a good story could be a plus but it's not make or break.

Nice topic.

It depends on many things. What type of game it is determines what importance I place on different aspects. I don't care about great graphics in puzzle games, but when it comes to FPSes, they are crucially important. Story is very close to my #1 concern if I'm playing an RPG as well. Game-play will always be first no matter what, but after that the genre prioritizes to me what I care for.