Video games are one of the most captivating sources of entertainment these days. They are doorways to different words and different realities that allow us to escape our reality for hours on end. But in order for someone to truly enjoy a video game, that game must be great, indeed. But what is a great video game? Is it detail and breathtaking graphics, immersive gameplay, or a well-designed story?
Maybe it’s all of the above. One thing is for certain: a great game means different things to different people. However, we can all agree that a video game must be enjoyable for it to be considered great. As long as you like it and enjoy it, everything else comes short. Still, some higher expectations are in order. After all, you may not desire much to have fun, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to enjoy extra features further. With that in mind, let’s examine the fundamental aspects of a great video game.
The Gameplay
Let’s begin with what lots of people would agree to be the most important aspect of them all: the gameplay. Gameplay is how the video game unfolds as you play it. Depending on the genre, this can mean anything that grips your attention from the moment you start playing to the moment you finish the game. That said, gameplay encompasses factors like character creation, character progression, world-building, story, game mechanics, and so on and so forth. This is what makes you say, “I enjoyed this game very much,” or “I hated this crap,” in the end.
Without proper gameplay, video games can quickly turn dull and make players give up on it altogether.
Everything depends on the type of game, of course. For some games, it doesn’t take much for it to be truly enjoyable. For example, people don’t browse the list of the leading Bitcoin casinos, just because they prefer digital currencies. Yes, the fast transactions without added fees are a great bonus, but people are looking for simple yet great games they can spend quality time playing. So a well-designed slot game can keep you captivated for a very long time even though it has quite a rudimentary gameplay.
A Bug-Free Experience
This is one of the newest aspects of a great video that people pay very close attention to. You see, back in the day, games were made as they were. There were no do-overs, patches, fixes, or other things that may “fix” a game that was broken on release. The games were either great or not, but at least they were finished. Today, however, AAA studios promote “great” games that end up being a disaster filled with bugs and broken mechanics. Shareholders and executives push for profits, while developers try hard to deliver on unreasonable deadlines. In the end, you get an unfinished game, a PR nightmare, and lots of angry gamers looking for answers and refunds.
The point, in fact, is that gamers want a complete and bug-free game as that’s what they’re paying for, so a game must be finished if it’s ever going to be considered great, to begin with. But then you have twits like the director of subscriptions at Ubisoft, Philippe Tremblay, who said gamers need to get comfortable with not owning their games.
So you see, brainless executives want you to buy broken games you won’t even own so they can make money without having to produce quality products at all. Go figure.
The Visuals
Graphics are crucial to any video game, although that’s not the most essential factor that will make the game great. Still, a video game is an alternative reality that offers a different kind of experience than what you can find in the real world. Therefore, it’s only natural that it would be visually appealing in one way or another. Considering how far modern technology has come, most video games now utilize 4K resolution, which elevates visuals to a whole new level.
It comes as no surprise that gamers expect games to have stunning visuals that will leave them in awe, especially in that high of a resolution. But games that only offer stunning visual experience and nothing else aren’t considered great from gamers’ perspective. That said, there needs to be a balance between gameplay and visuals for a video game to truly stand out from the rest.
Final Thoughts
There are numerous factors that can make or break a video game. However, the fundamental aspects of a great video game are gameplay, visuals, and the fact that the game is a complete product, not some bug-infested, half-done hogwash. Of course, you can’t please everyone, as every gamer will have something to complain about. Nevertheless, ensuring that the video game has the basic necessities to be great ensures that there’s something to build and improve upon. Only then can a video game truly go down as a masterpiece in everyone’s eyes.