What are you an absolute sucker for? (in video games)

I really love exploring small towns and I just can't get enough of it, especially Small Town, USA. I'm a total sucker for them. I'm talking about games like Silent Hill 2, Shatter Memories, or Alan Wake. I didn't like Bully overall but thinking about the charming town of Bullworth brings a smile to my face. Even a game like Gone Home, though you don't go out of the house, it felt like a home of a family in a small town and that was enough for me. I think it's one of the reasons I really like Life is Strange. It's also the reason I like a game like Shenmue, even though it's such a clunker.

Games like Max Payne, The Darkness, or Deus Ex: Human Revolution take place in cities but focusing on a tiny portion of it gives them that small town feel and I adored them for it.

Anyways, what's your "Austin and Mechs" or "Dan and Politics" when it comes to video games?

I'm a sucker for good characters, the ones that get my attention within their first couple dialogue lines. None of that "they get really interesting 15 hours in" stuff.

Of course, I usually won't get to see that without seeing gameplay, but early glimpses of characters like Prey's January and Yes Man from New Vegas instantly put those games on the map for me.

...I guess maybe I just really like robots.

Good movement. I can forgive a hell of a lot of flaws (perhaps too many) if the simple act of getting from A to B is enjoyable.

I’ve realized that I really enjoy feeling small and almost insignificant in games. The opposite of a power fantasy, if that makes any sense. Games like the original Operation Flashpoint or Shadow of The Colossus are good examples. Games that feel like a struggle throughout, you never climb any ranks and become all powerful.

There is a realism to that which I enjoy.

Superfluous animation.

@liquiddragon: I think I'm a sucker for pretty much what you are, so high-five!

At times, and depending on what else is going on in my life, I also enjoy a bit of era tourism on a larger scale (Mafia 1 & 2 were great examples, as was RDR; you'd expect the Assassin's Creed games to scratch that itch, too, but none of them had worlds which felt alive for me), but that's mostly been in the past when I had more free time. My appreciation for Small Town USA, as you put it, has not waned at all, on the other hand. If anything, in the midst of all these vast open-world games, it has grown even stronger. To add to your examples, for me a great example is VtM: Bloodlines. The Darkness also had a very similar vibe to VtM:B for me, I remember almost feeling nostalgic for VtM:B while playing The Darkness.

If anyone stumbling upon this thread also has an interest in psychology, nostalgia and place attachment are interesting concepts which come to mind thinking about this type of games, especially with how the OP describes thinking about Bullworth.

I would love to see more games take advantage of the medium. The example I’ve gone back to for...well over a decade now...is that of a multiplayer horror game.

Imagine a co-op horror game that takes advantage of the fact that every player has their own screen, speakers, controller, and headset. Imagine a multiplayer game that fucks with you like Eternal Darkness.

Apply voice masks unexpectedly, record and pipe back players’ speech to the group, to only one or two players...cut out chat from time to time (it was unnerving as hell in Ghost Recon 1).

Have people see different things. Maybe have a player appear as an enemy to one or more other players. Have a room be largely similar, but somewhat different for players.

Bioshock’s “would you kindly” was an example of using the medium in storytelling. But I think horror can be scary, fun, and not taken super seriously, giving ample opportunity to play with tools unique to video games to do something very interesting.

@volemaulder: haha high-five!

If I had to guess, I think you're spot on. Small town settings are the closest thing to games being set in my world, my reality, my experiences. And I'm also a very nostalgic person and have attachment to places almost to an unhealthy degree. lol But I do think small towns ground games, a medium that's so often so much about powerful fantasies in fantastical locales.

@cikame said:

Superfluous animation.

Nier Automata does both of this well which is rare? I feel like you either have a lot of cool animation or you have good movement, rarely both. Like 2B's take off when she runs is kinda animation heavy but it still feels good and reads as slick movement. Probably not exactly what you're talking about @cikame but Nier A does have extra bits of animation besides idling that gives the characters addition flair.

Base/town building mechanics in RPGs. I'm not looking for a full on sim, but having a casual town building mechanic that you can see progress over the course of a game is deeply satisfying to me. I think it plays a large part in why Suikoden 2 is one of my favorite RPGs ever. It does it so well.

I love the Alien style of sci-fi aesthetic. A huge part of what got me into Deadspace and why I love it so much, despite not really liking survival horror at all, is the amazing sci-fi look of the game. Kind of functional while still creatively futuristic. That sort of presentation can get me to play games I normally wouldn't touch.

@nutter: That sounds pretty interesting! I was about to say that a multiplayer horror game could not be scary, because you'd be making dumb chitchat throughout. But maybe the voice modulation stuff would work. It also just might make it hilariously weird. Either way, would love to a strong developer try this.

I'm a sucker for games I call "tactile" - ones where you can interact freely with almost every element you see. The Tony Hawk games are a great example of this - almost every piece of level geometry can be used for tricks. Or the 3D Mario games - e.g., New Donk City, where everything you touch has some odd effect, like the cars which you can bounce on for some reason, or the traffic cones which launch you into the air.

I also love powers that stack on each other in ridiculous ways - Slay the Spire and Binding of Isaac come to mind.

I really like... Inventory management. I love sorting things out and moving things around to my liking it almost like a puzzle, like tetris. Thats what i loved from the originals Resident evil games, and then 4 was amazing also. It just tickles my OSD hard. Ultima was pretty revolutionary letting you move items around at will and putting pouches inside pouches.

I have nice fond memories of new Divinity games also and any CRPG in that case. I love adventuring and then coming to towns and spend about 15 mins sorting and selling. Its weird and i liked it at if done well it can do a lot for immersion.

I also feel this is also a feature where are losing since most inventories are catered to be handled with a controller instead of mouse and keyboard. Skirym was one of the few victims of these and there was a special mod on pc to fix the inventory system.

In the same matter any system, menu, or item that is handled realistically and in an immersive way always get my attention, like for the example Metrus Exodus.

(Please excuse my bad English its not my first language and also this is my first post)

Character customization.

[Edit: 7/24/19]
And 21:9 support.

This probably falls under movement but I really like games that let you dodge out of any animation or better yet reward you for doing it at the last moment to evade an attack. (which is probably why I like Platinum's games so much) Even Bound by Flame, which was a pretty mediocre RPG did this quite well and it made me enjoy it much more. It's also one of the reasons I thought the combat in The Witcher 2 felt better than 3 since the animations were faster and the dodge was better. (by default)

Other than that I like grid based inventory systems for some reason, I cant say why.

LOOT

(Cool looking loot with meaningful gameplay impact, that is)

Skill trees with meaningful choices and loot. Also, any adventure game with a narrative-first approach. I still occasionally like the odd puzzle-focused game but I'm old and cranky and I don't want to think too much.

I love an epic mystery premise which is introduced early, like Mass Effect's Reapers.

Yep, good atmosphere in games. A games atmosphere/setting can make or break a game for me and is perhaps most important above all else (setting and sound design). Love all the ones you mentioned above. As an example, I think Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is painfully slow, and the frame rate on base PS4 (haven't tried it on the Pro yet) doesn't help. The voice work is fantastic, but by the end, the story of the alien didn't impress me. What I loved was walking through Shropshire; the individual bits of character dialogue I enjoyed though because it was so well done. To be honest, a good story and the game's setting is the only reason why I play any kind of walking simulator.

If the story is good but the setting doesn't grab me I won't finish it though probably. That said, the game doesn't have to have a relatable setting. Dead Space or Bioshock, for instance, are some of my favorite game settings. I love sci-fi settings as it goes to a place that I can only imagine might be the future; I mean, I don't assume it will be, but to imagine it is nice. Historical ones are also great because it sends the player back to a time that you couldn't have experienced but know a bit about due to the learning of it. Maybe you played it and didn't like it, but a game I really liked due to the same reasons is Far Cry 5. Deadly Premonition was also surprisingly okay with this aspect. I also agree about Bully, I wish I liked it more; not just the game overall, but the setting specifically.

Yes though, for me it goes sci-fi setting is probably my favorite, then closely followed is modern times, small town or just a relatable setting. Maybe it doesn't fit the bill as it's not really memorable from a name perspective like 'Silent Hill' or 'Bright Falls' nor is it singular in place, but one of my all-time favorite settings in games is most of The Last of Us.

World building, even if it's thoroughly mediocre. I read every damn log in Mass Effect: Andromeda and found almost none of it engaging. It was still there, though, so I read and read and read and read and read and read.

It's to the point there are some games I'll avoid just because I know I'll waste too much time digging around in it. If Andromeda had none of its franchise baggage, it surely would've been one. Sigh.

An over powered pistol

I'm a total sucker for games that gives you weapon modifiers to play with (lifesteal, poison damage, splash damage etc). Especially combining multiple effects feels very satisfying to me.

The other thing i quite like is being able to juggle enemies in the sky. That's what turns a bad game (Final Fantasy 13) into a game that i just want to do every combat encounter in. I just want to flip up dudes and keep them in the sky maaaan :)

final mention: When 'realistic games' humanize their characters instead of going for shallow 'Team ..' vs 'Russian oil magnate / colombian drug baron / arabian arms dealer' ( etc.) storylines. I think the Clancy games tend to be pretty bad in this regard.

I am the one who plays for the story, if there is no story that can involve me and move my heart, I will pass by

Hard-core fantasy party building where you are building a party of different classes, monk, ranger, cleric, wizard etc and speccing their stats.

superfluous romance options. Ive never been big on dating simulators or anything like that but I love when RPGS yet you have those type of options if you want. a lot of time you are spending time in dungeons or grinding at levels its nice to do the opposite.

Comedy!! It's hard for a lot of games to pull it off, but goofy stories and characters are my favorite. I can forgive a whole lot if the game makes me laugh.

Probably high quality animations for me. Doesn't matter if it's the super flashy special effects animations from Final Fantasy games, or the character animations from Naughty Dog games. If it has some incredibly smooth animations going on I usually love it. Back in the day Metal Slug was my favorite shooter because it moved so damn nice compared to anything at the time.

I'm a sucker for style and atmosphere. Whenever something has a really distinct look or feel I tend to be interested. So for example, both Okami and Silent Hill would apply for me. One with beautiful music and visual flair, and one with its dense gloomy mood.

There's a lot of things that end up working together to create this sought after feeling, but I think a lot the time it comes down to having a coherent vision and dedicating yourself to the minute details of pulling it off.

While these alone might not cut it, a good combination will sucker me in:
Character customization (the deeper the better), huge immersive worlds, diversity (colors, genders, races, fantasy creatures+++), crafting systems, petting dogs, intrigue, drama, sex, horror, and all of this is made even better if in 3rd person.

How do I coin this simply? Erm ... sports nostalgia. Buying or going back to a sports title specifically for the era being portrayed. I played through a couple of early 2000 F1 titles earlier in the year and was nicely taken back by the driver and team lineups. The old track layouts, too. And the old rules.

@shindig: that’s a good one. Not much of a sports guy but you kinda get the same effect going back to older wrestling games.

I like collecting complete sets of things in RPGs. Armor, weapons, books, artifacts... whatever it is.

I'm a sucker for good environments that make me want to explore them, and better yet if it's rewarding to do so. I also thoroughly enjoy when games are non-linear and encourage the player to play the game the way they want to rather than hand-holdy, restrictive nonsense that constantly reminds you that you're playing a video game.

Easy to repeat, high loot and customization options, and an engaging narrative (that's a tall order these days) - if you gave me a sci-fi loot Diablo 3 I would probably be able to play it forever.

I'm a sucker for Reload animations. Especially cooler looking fancy reload animations.

I am a sucker for most games/levels that take place in snowy locations.

I'm a sucker for training regimens in games. Stuff where you decide what to do over the course of a week and what stats to focus on. They really need to bring Monster Rancher back.

A world that can either tell its story just by little things you find throughout or has dozens of less important stories sprinkled throughout for you to find on your own. Things like Dark Souls, The Elder Scrolls, and The Witcher.

Yeah, I like seeing the rosters, seeing who was pushed back then and who were on the slide. One of the things I like from old sports games is seeing just how good the scouting was. Which wonderkids made it, who failed, etc.

I'm a sucker for "character creation". I like detailed character choices and I am willing to have the RPG story be a bit weak to get it. Making a character is half the fun for me.

Anime aesthetic. Your characters may be paper thin and there may be 5000 of them, but they all interact so beautifully because they’re so many personalities and it places an identity with those personality quirks. Alfyn’s kind of a bloke-y kind of guy, but when presented with anything, he gets all excited because it’s something he doesn’t know about. That very specific character trait only works if the rest of the world around him is vibrant, and Octopath does that.

Also, silent protagonists. I love being in the shoes of Adol or Crono or Link and making my decisions their decisions. It adds a depth to your character that only you connect with because your version of Crono is wildly different than someone else’s version.

I'm a huge sucker for house/base-building mechanics in RPGs. Basically anything that lets you build up and customize your own little sanctuary. Huge plus if there's also quests and/or other activities to do there. Skyrim's Hearthfire DLC springs immediately to mind, as well as Witcher 3's Blood and Wine. Even Red Dead 2's camps, though the customization options were limited. Rebuilding Colony 6 in Xenoblade Chronicles was great, too.

^Spidermans, Infamous, Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

I guess I really love any sort of upgrade mechanic or leveling that I can get really strong early.

Well thought out progression systems is my jam. For instance, I love the loop in Subnautica where you go collect minerals near your starting point which lets you craft and enable you to explore further into the world and discover more of it.

Digimon World has this too where you would recruit Digimon from outside the main hub to rebuild it and make it easier for you to strengthen your Digimon so you could recruit more from more dangerous, far-flung places.

Roguelikes and roguelites where you're inching ever closer to your goal but never really handing you the keys to total victory. You can power level just enough to lessen, not eliminate, the challenge.

Skill trees with plenty of variation for different play styles like Dragon Age or Dishonored

I would play these kinds of games in a heartbeat.

TL;DR: I'm a sucker for meaningful progression systems and non-linear skill trees

Me, too. I would spend hours, sometimes an entire play session, building a settlement in Fallout 4.

Any biblical references

Anything in space! Games that can convey that claustrophobic feeling like Alien Isolation or Dead Space raises my heart rate and leaves me feeling like I can play over and over again.