Since accepting the challenge to develop decent Indie game title some months ago, I have been pondering a series of questions no one has been able to answer. What is it that makes a video game great? One would think that there is a recipe or development flow chart that would lead to grade A video game development. Looking for a road map or model for my project, I have scoured the gaming website and forum for every top 100 games of all time list and fan boy flame war I found to be relevant. But this tactic only set me back further in my journey. For every element that we consider to make a game awesome, there is an exception to it.
In the end only two factors affect a game’s greatness potential: immersion and game play. When I was a child, I was a nerd (That’s not to say I am not a nerd now, just relaxed with age and discovery of women) and I greatly enjoyed the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. Originally created for 10 to 14 year olds, the books are written in the second person. The protagonist—that is, the reader—takes on a role relevant to the adventure; for example, private investigator, mountain climber, race car driver, doctor, spy, etc. The stories are formatted so that, after a couple of pages of reading, the protagonist faces two or three options, each of which leads to more options, and then to one of many endings. The success of this series of books comes from the immersion style of writing. The reader feels as if he/she is the character, and being able to decide the character’s fate increases that sensation. Video games are the Choose Your Adventure books of the future. True gamers use games as a way to escape the trouble of our everyday life by becoming a hero. In great games, a player feels that he or she is actually there. One such case is the death of Aerith, or Aeris, in Final Fantasy 7, this moment in the game is consider to be one of the saddest moments in history of the series and video games. I personally cried the first few times I played through the game. But afterwards you feel the urge to strike Sephiroth down.
Many say that graphics are the key to immersion. Look at any review, flame war, or forum dedicated to a game and someone is talking about how visually appealing the graphics are. As pc and console head to a new level of power and ability, it is up to developer to push the envelope of graphics and create realistic world in which the players can become lost in. But let us be honest for a mere moment, graphics only sell video games. Graphics are only important the first 3 hours. It is the theory of perceptual adaptation. After initial shock and awe of amazing scenery and characters, a player’s mind adapts and treats them like everyday occurrences. Furthermore, games like Minecraft and Braid and the survival and continuing re-emergence of classics such as Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy 7, Golden Eye and others show graphics are no substitute for a fundamentally solid and fun game. A game does not have to be hyper realistic in order to be good. That’s why they keep getting re-released on virtual consoles over and over again. That is not to say that graphics do not affect the immersion principle.
Perhaps the most crucial element of any game, game play can make or break any game. There are a lot of games with solid stories that suffer from bad game play, IE COD, Brink, Assassins Creed, and my favorite Star War Force Unleashed 2. Game play needs to be fresh, non-repeating, challenging, and done with appropriate learning curve. When consider games with outstanding game play, three games come to mind Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry I. My thumbs still ache from memories of summer nights of button mashing. DMC and Ninja Gaiden consists of levels called “missions”, where players must fight numerous enemies, perform platforming tasks, and occasionally solve puzzles to progress through the story. The player’s performance in each mission is given a letter grade of A, B, C, or D, with an additional top grade of S. Grades are based on the time taken to complete the mission, the amount of “red orbs” gathered (the in-game currency obtained from defeated enemies), how “stylish” their combat was, item usage, and damage taken. “Stylish” combat is defined as performing an unbroken series of attacks while avoiding damage, with player performance tracked by an on-screen gauge. The more hits the player makes, the higher the gauge rises. The gauge starts at “Dull”; progresses through “Cool”, “Bravo”, and “Awesome”; and peaks at “Stylish”. The gauge terms are similar to the grades given at the end of the missions. When the character receives damage, the style rating resets back to “Dull”. Both of these games were unrelentingly difficult, but when you pulled of an 80 hit combo or achieved an S on a mission you would smile for hours.
All this is not an attempt to instruct you on how to invent a good game. Rather, it’s a set of guidelines on the kind of characteristics a good game should have. I hope that you do pursue your own truth about what great games are.
These two sentences best express the qualities of a good game:
A good game will stay with us all our lives.
A good game makes us long to play it again.
– Wolfgang Kramer
Whats your take? Whats you favorite game and why? Comment below.
