I had a moment to think about why I like certain games, and I have figured out some criteria for myself,
- Vibrant colours
- Simple/Cartoon-ish looks
- Mid/High level of complexity in mechanics
That’s why my current favourite game is Splatoon 3, followed by Minecraft, and the list consists mostly of Nintendo games.
What’s your criteria?
My mood.
Do I need to shoot some stuff or do I want to chill and grow crops or something? Technical specs aren’t really that important as long as it doesn’t make me sick. That being said, I do enjoy seeing realistic and beautiful detail in games.
I dislike difficulty that borders on punishment and games that think they’re scary (yawn).
This usually doesn’t factor in to my desisions that often, but I like games with that old-school, grainy, low-poly look, especially for horror games.
Lost in Vivo is one example that comes to mind.
The first thing I check for is if a game is Terraria. If it isn’t, I play Terraria instead.
All kidding aside, I tend to enjoy games that involve exploration, character development, and pleasent visuals. Good sound design is also a must, and I prefer games to be at least somewhat action oriented.
None of these things are hard and fast rules for me, of course. I like a lot of different games.
I just realized sound design is probably also an important thing for me. A lot of the games I like also have great soundtracks.
The Factory. Must. Grow.
I’m really into Factory games atm. Factorio, Dyson Sphere Program, Astro Colony…
Those games are also very cool. I have Mindustry.
The Crust https://youtu.be/6TH6JAz2nNA
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Good story, good graphics, good audio, has to run at 60fps with a decent resolution on PS5.
I only really play VR games anymore, so that narrows things down considerably. Is it a shooter? If so, does it play just like every other shooter? Does it have bullshit that breaks immersion? Does it have co-op? Does it offer standard VR mechanics/preferences?
Those are the key things I look at. Sadly, very few companies understand how to make a good VR game.
It’s not even that hard honestly. Like I would pay good money for new levels of games I already have. It’s got to be cheaper to simply use the same everything except for map, than to build a new game. I’d spend so much money, ongoing, for new battlefield maps for example.
I don’t care about new game mechanics at all. I just want new places. New buildings. New variations on the same theme.
If one video game were one instrument, I just want more piano music. I could spend a lifetime enjoying more and more piano music and it would never get old as long as the actual sequence of notes changes.
I wish we played with our VR headset more. We have had an occulus rift for years and have barely used it. I was really enjoying the new half-life game too. We just forget about it in our home
It’s hard to pin down because I like different types of games.
I like:
Puzzle games that are 100% logical, difficulty increases, there is no timer running and ideally there is a way to improve my solution (Zachtronics games hit this perfectly but also games like Human Resource Machine, Hexcells)
Automation Games like Factorio
Simple and fair arcade on iOS, with high scores I can compare with my brother or, if I’m really good at it, the global leaderboard. Examples are Ollies Arcade, Jetpack Joyride, Tiny Wings, …
Sneaking games like Alien Isolation, Metal Gear Solid, Sniper Elite,…
„Realistic“ jobs that I can tune out to like Shipbreaker, Mudrunner, transport missions in Elite Dangerous.
Rhythm games on PSVR2 (though I hate that I have to buy the music)
Good old point and click adventures
City builders
But I will try and may like many other games that don’t fall into those categories and, for some reason or another, get me excited.
How a game looks rarely matters to me but I won’t consider games that look unfinished or cheaply made (exceptions exist like Prison Architect)
In general I don’t like games that are too hard, too long or too artsy. I don’t enjoy online multiplayer anymore and I will certainly not play anything that wants me paying more and more money to progress.
I try every series at least once, usually by getting them from a local library. If it sticks, I stick with it.
Typically games that let me be the killin’-est magic man or woman I can be. Making tornadoes, ice spikes, and raining meteors in Dragons Dogma is amazing. Calling down space lazers or being gerbil Emporer Palpatine in Biomutant was fun. Painting the screen blue with lightning in Diablo 4 was a good time, and painting the screen red with lazers in Diablo 3 is fun. Skyrim, I have played to death being as magical as I could be. Dragon Age: Inquisition kind of bummed me out with how strong Knight Enchanter was compared to the others, woo a ghost sword I guess.
Might be an unpopular opinion, but I hate retro marketing. They feel very uninspired, and look like a bad way to fill up the market. Remakes, remasters everywhere. Like, yeah I know this game is cool but do you really need to make the exact same thing twice/thrice/more than 3 times? Charging nearly the full price (Looking at you Nintendo)?
Definitely an unpopular opinion… but yeah, retro market most likely will be more appealing to the older gamers.
There are very different kinds of remakes and remasters though, some are very low effort while some others are exceptional.
I usually go back to the actual retro games though, not remake or remasters, unless they are really really good.
Usually gameplay mechanics that I like. For example I suck at puzzles and feel like they awkwardly break up a game a lot of the time so I avoid Resident Evil style games that feature them. Same thing for any game that uses a card based gameplay system. I get them a lot in Humble Bundles.
I stray away from fantasy games because I feel like learning the background can sometimes be a challenge.
For me it’s mostly first person single player games with decent soundtracks. If it’s got a bit of grittiness and companions you grow close to I like that.
Speaking of which if any of these games sound like they were recently (past 6ish months) in Humble Bundles comment the game below and I’ll probably be willing to give you the code.
deleted by creator
A game with decent story and decent art, not too complex control
I like games about descending further and further into the earth. That’s why my favorite Elder Scrolls is Morrowind and my favorite Fallout is 3. That’s why World Adventures is the best expansion for any Sims base game, that is why I love roguelikes, that is why I’ve been playing Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft for a decade and a half and will probably never stop.
You might like the original Torchlight as a laid-back Diablo style game. The entire game takes place in a town with a mine and that mine is the dungeon you go down all game long
Hollow knight is a good one for that
