I've been playing video games for a long, long time. The first game I ever played was Doom. The shareware edition no less. I vividly remember playing E1M1 and just being ECSTATIC. Being like, 6 years old at the time, I didn't actually get past the imp in the tower, at least not on my first try. But I digress.

I am now 21 (22 in July) and I still play dem vidja games. But something has changed with regards to how I approach my video games.

You see, for a while, maybe up until I was in the tenth grade, the most important thing for me in a video game were graphics. And yes, I was, at the time, exclusively a PC gamer. I remember seeing Halo on my friend's Xbox, then downloading the demo on my PC and just laughing at how much it crapped on the console version. To me, if a game didn't have stellar graphics, it wasn't worth playing. Hence my infatuation with Doom 3 when it first came out (I recently replayed it start to finish, and its still a good game, albeit a repetitive one).

Slowly but surely though, I just didn't care about graphics as much anymore. Gameplay began to be more and more important, until one day I discovered I just couldn't for the life of me stand Crysis anymore. It was ok sure, but it was just a glorified tech demo, at least to me.

Now that I have reached the ripe old age of 21, gameplay is still important. Being a university student means money is tight, and I can't afford $60 dollar games easily. Simultaneous to this new stage in my life though, came a new 'element of video games that, for me, is the sole reason I make a 60 dollar purchase or not.

Yes friends, that element is story.

More specifically, a good, long, enthralling story with characters that feel real. Emotional connection to characters is extremely important to me now, and I don`t know why that is the case, but I love it! In fact, I had to fight back tears at the end of Red Dead Redemption, something I never though possible (I cry at sad movies though. That scene when Simba is trying to wake up his father? TRAGIC).

BioShock Infinite solidified the importance of story telling in my mind. I felt so connected to Mr. DeWitt and Elizabeth, and the ending had my jaw on the floor for I think the first time in a video game EVER.

It is a good story, and not graphics or gameplay, that really stick with you long after you have bear a game (for a second or third time in my case).

And it is for this reason, that I cannot WAIT for the Last of Us to hurry up and release on Friday.