stealth

open world

be able to pick up inanimate objects

lore/in game encyclopedia

silenced pistols.

I love it when references to things that happen on a game forum are included in that game!



:tes:

In any game, if there is some sort of back ground or story behind the setting, then its always alot more enjoyable. Games based on Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are obviously going to have an edge on things like this, but I really appreciate it when the developer adds in the content to flesh their game out, whatever setting it may be.

On another note, thats probably not just a little thing, is when developers can back up the claim that you can do things more than one way. Probably the most impressive thing in a game for me is to see all the mechanics and situations fleshed out so that you can indeed complete your mission, with fun, using stealth or something different like that, and it doesn't just feel like a tacked on game mechanic.

EDIT: On the second paragraph, Farcry 2 is a perfect example of this. You can fight your battles however you want.

I love options to make scrolling text or dialogue go faster, especially in older RPGs where there's no voice acting.

There's other stuff too but I don't care to think much about it and by the time I might remember it, wouldn't care to post it.

I'm talking about how Beth handles their control options.

I don't like how Bioware handles control options-giving us only few preset control schemes.

Let's see..I can think of a lot just in Deus Ex:

- Open level design that allows me the freedom of choice, and whichever I choose affects events and dialogue later on in the game.

- In-depth item descriptions. I like to know every last detail of what I have in my inventory. The stats of all of my weapons and background information on even the misc. items.

- Hidden secrets and caches of information. I like to explore the levels in games, and when that exploration yields rewards, my opinion of the game goes up spectacularly.

- A good blend of differing game elements. I like having my action games also let me take a sneaky approach and vice versa. Games that let me play however I want are worthy of greatness.

- Good length. Short games disappoint me. While I don't want my games to last forever, I don't want them to be over in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=864WK54tCLk either. Give me at least twenty, and for RPGs, at least forty.

- Being able to create my own notes, even writing notes on the maps in-game. This is very handy and also helps a lot with roleplaying.

Other things I like in my games:

- Detailed "glossaries" of the game world, explaining things in the plot I might not understand, or if I'm just curious about how a certain piece of the game world works. Mass Effect and Xenosaga are examples of where this is done well. Bethesda goes a step further by putting the lore of its games into readable books in-game, telling stories of certain world events, people, or explaining the various groups and such. Fantastic.

- Hidden and challenging bosses. Now, this is often done horribly wrong. Final Fantasy comes to mind. Giving the boss millions of HP and attacks that can one-shot your party is not challenging, it's not difficult, it's just tedious. It forces me to grind for [censored] tons of hours, I can't [censored] stand "super" bosses like this - Er..Anyway, onto what I do like. Basically, bosses like Ongyo-ki in Nocturne. Optional, tough as nails, but I don't have to spend forever preparing for it. Sure, there's the Full Kagutsuchi strategy, but even then, that's a very tense battle with a tough enemy. Sadly, I can't think of many more examples of well designed optional bosses in RPGs aside from maybe Margaret in Persona 4 and that desert demon in Final Fantasy X-2. Typically, they fall under the aforementioned type that gets on my last nerve, so whenever I encounter a good one, it's like Christmas came early.

- Lots of dialogue and character interaction. I love it when characters in games act like real people and converse with each other. Too often, I'll run across games where the entire focus is moving the plot forward and the only dialogue I get is always only relevant to what's happening in it. Luckily, this is a much more common thing in gaming, being done well by Bioware, Bethesda, and Atlus, to name the ones I know of. Likewise, I like having the ability to talk to NPCs other than my party, which is something Bethesda does very well.

- Enemies that fight back. Ninja Gaiden is the penultimate example of this concept done perfectly. This is especially awesome in games that put an emphasis on dodging and countering the enemy (Which is exactly how you play Ninja Gaiden). It's incredibly satisfying and more games need enemies and fighting systems like it.

- Equipment and skills changing the appearance of my character. It's much more powerful of a feature than some developers seem to think it is. When roleplaying, it's damn near essential. Games that do this are awesome.

- Light-based stealth mechanics. Why...WHY is this such a dead concept? When Thief originally did this, it was groundbreaking. In fact, Thief still holds the medal for greatest stealth system ever devised, which is actually extremely sad. There is no [censored] excuse for this to be so rare, especially in stealth games. It was awesome back then and it would be even more awesome now with our better technology.

The look of my character changing with my Karma.

Allies that fight with me, not get in my way.

Cool looking weapons

Cool looking armor

Being able to wear fully enclosing armors. Especially if it's what the bad guy's elite henchmen wear.
Some degree of non-linearity
Ability to attack and kill anything if you desire (not that I ever do but I like the option. Makes me feel like my choices are actually mine and not completely controlled by the game)
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EarnYourHappyEnding (like Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark).
Armor customization
Long singleplayer. Even in games with multiplayer mode.
Ability to change difficulty
Quicksave
Autosave
Widescreen support (not a big issue with today's games but many older games don't support it at all)
Easter Eggs

Gigantic, epic boss fights that end with big explosions or some other form of destruction. Like the bosses in Bayonetta or the Colossi from Shadow of the Colossus.

I love:

• little graphical details
  
• ambient noises
  
• customizable settings and options (sensitivity, control scheme, etc.)
  
• easter eggs

freedom. challenging fights and or tasks. options.

<3

You know how in Rockstar games, they have pretty much the same mini-map? Yeah, I don't know why but I love that for some reason.

No confirmation dialogs. And an extra bonus for letting me exit out of a game immediately by pressing alt-f4. I only know of a handful of games that let me do this.

Lovable characters.
Clever plot-twists.
Sub plots that are interesting and make sense in the world of the game.

I like being able to see my body and legs in first person. As I said on the subject of NOT being able to do so in this thread's counterpart, I really don't see why so few games do this, especially when they're games that make "immersion" a big selling point.

I also like it when in an RPG, if I see NPCs using a certain type of armor or weapon and I kill them, I can always loot it, for weapons, it's reletively common in most recent games, but for armor, it's still almost unheard-of outside of Bethesda games, and even those don't always do it (Take the Emperor's robe, for example.)

Guns having actual names, rather than just having generic names like "assault" or "laser pistol". It may seem small to some, but that's exactly why it belongs here. It just really increases the feeling that the game is taking place in an actual world and the weapons I'm using are real products made by an actual company. They don't necessarily have to use the names of real weapons, though if we're meant to accept that the weapons we're seeing are actual weapons that exist in real life rather than weapon designs made up by the developers, it's a nice bonus if they're refered to by their real life names. Mostly, though, as long as the name sounds plausible, it doesn't necessarily need to be a real name.

It's also nice to have NPCs show believable actions even when not involved in combat or doing anything that advances the story. This tends to be a bigger thing in open world games as you tend to have more chances to see what NPCs are going when they're not trying to kill you or being killed by you, but in other games too, this sort of thing can add very welcome details that help to add to the feeling that you're interacting with actual people rather than just robots that exist only to fight you, advance the plot or give you information and when not doing those things simply stand around or wander aimlessly waiting for you to interact with them.

And having good in-game music that matches the mood of thge game is also always welcome.

I like games where failing doesn't always mean game over and retry.

Like a game where you can make a jump, and continue with the game, but if you miss the jump, you might have to fight your way back up to the mountain/cliff/etc.

Call me a schmuck but I love seeing a character that I've created and customized doing awesome or heroic things in cutscenes. Ie. Mass effect and saints row 2.

Side areas or non quest related dungeons with a special secret or neat backstory.

Crafting.

Same screen co op

When bosses don't take hits in intervals of three to defeat.

1. Being able to see my legs when in first person.
2. Full control over the camera. Most games this generation are thankfully not plagued by horrible cameras. But I've recently started playing Castlevania Lords of Shadow and it drives me insane.
3. Saving at any time.
4. Choices/Cutomization. No matter if it's how to solve a puzzle, the option to circumvent some difficult task if I'm clever enough, character creation, setting up tactics, or moral decisions. I love games that let me decide what I want to do, and how to do it.

Good stories, characters , music and a lot of action to keep my intrest.