Favourite game features

What are some really unique, interesting or just fun features that games have included that you'd really like to see become standard?

For me, I think one of my favourites was Tales of the Abyss grade system. It makes absolutely no sense until the end of the game and suddenly all of those quick battles and flashy moves you used pay off, allowing you to purchase a slew of awesome new features for your next play through.

This isn't entirely different but Resident Evil 4 also had the point system which was very nice, certainly more fair than the prior 3 and below's "reward by punishment" hardcore runs. Not that they were bad, and unlocking things like Tofu were REALLY rewarding, and I love that, but as someone who likes to unlock everything, points systems really do it better for me.

Also games that have checklists of some sort for completion. The more thorough the better. Even if it's blank pages that fill out as you go, at least it's a way to measure your progress. Paper Mario 2 and SPM both were very good about this in regards to the bestiary / cooking stuff.

Anything you guys like?

I love item recipes and crafting simple ingredients to make better items - when it's done right. I don't want to collect random ass monster drops to do it.

I hate checklists and achievements. I like the cooking in Paper Mario but I don't want to feel like I have to make everything once to play through the game. In my opinion, all they add to the game is making you feel obligated to play it longer without actually introducing any additional content. If they come with some sort of flavor or easter eggs to increase the value of achievements, that makes it slightly more bearable.

I hate checklists and achievements. In my opinion, all they add to the game is making you feel obligated to play it longer without actually introducing any additional content. If they come with some sort of flavor or easter eggs to increase the value of achievements, that makes it slightly more bearable.

I already feel that obligation, so having a checklist just relieves some of the stress of not knowing what I'm missing. I honestly go insane if I feel like I might be missing something, to the point where I will go as far as revisiting every town immediately after each major event in a game. I also hate REALLY DESPISE missable stuff.

I love item recipes and crafting simple ingredients to make better items - when it's done right. I don't want to collect random ass monster drops to do it.

This, too. But I'm okay with collecting a reasonable amount of drops. White Knight Chronicles has a somewhat nice system as far as indicating what you've made and what you haven't go, but it's too heavy on the COLLECT THIS.

I also like to have at least one of every single item in any given game. I rarely use anything that I can't buy in a shop (elixirs, for example)

Character customization, interactive stories with multiple endings, and either a vareity of useful skills/spells/abilities to use, or a few that have multitudes of mixing/matching them for various situations.

I like instructions. *stares at Final Fantasy 4 Heroes of Light* Yeah. Instructions would be nice to have.

On a serious note, I'm a bit mixed with Dusk's thing. I love the concept, but then some things you want are just so hard to get that it can be frustrating, but it definitely makes for good playthrough value in a lot of games.

The thing I want to look for in a game is character viability. If the game was designed so you can play more than the main character, then they should be just as useful, but alas, this is difficult to find.

A good story with barely any characters, especially the main character, as the badass. Come on. I'm bored. I can't relate to the character. Hell, give me TF2's plot any day compared to most Call of Dutys. Wait, what's that? TF2 doesn't even really have a storyline? Doesn't matter.

The thing I want to look for in a game is character viability. If the game was designed so you can play more than the main character, then they should be just as useful, but alas, this is difficult to find.

Agreed. Reminds me of SO2 where Claude just overpowers all of the other characters with ease.

One feature I really like is the ability to gauge how I'm doing. Did I do better this time or worse? Racing games are really good about providing you with this. Starcraft is good about it too by having after game score sessions.

Sarah, I'm amazed that you can play Maplestory. Isn't Maplestory a neverending list for you? Wouldn't that be stressful?

For RPG: In Lufia, there was IP - aka rage. Whenever you receive damage, your IP/rage would increase. That rage was only usable by equipping certain weapons and armor that has spells which uses IP. It was sort of like a second MP bar and secondary set of spells that were interchangeable between characters that were stronger/better than regular spells.

For RTS: Despite the pathetic excuse for a game, the Lord of the Rings RTS game had the unique feature of upgrades for individual battalions. Most RTS games just have you research a new technology and all your current and future troops will have that technology upgrade. But if you had to spend currency/resource upgrading individual units/battalions, you'll need to think twice about blindly rushing into battle and wasting your strongest/well equipped troops. Thus reinforcing the genre, real time strategy. Then again, there's always zerg rush...

A fun combat system goes great with most games. Fast-paced, combo-requiring (not like pressing the same button over and over, but having to chain different key/button attacks together to form multiple combos), skill requiring combat, much like with Elsword. I don't really see much of this in too many video games lately -- especially MMOs.

Other than that, I like story flow, graphics (not super realistic graphics, but graphics that are colorful, innocent, etc. like The Legend of Zelda : Wind Waker), and at least moderately entertaining gameplay (I'm very easily entertained). A lot of new-age games have a huge lack these.


Edit : HOW COULD I FORGET : Music. The music has to be beautifully made, much like most of the great themes we've all come to know and love from the Zelda series. A lot of video games have way better music than anything else I've heard in my life. I love good video game music so much. Quite a lot of video games have shoddy, five-minute-to-make songs that are just terrible.

Sarah, I'm amazed that you can play Maplestory. Isn't Maplestory a neverending list for you? Wouldn't that be stressful?

I don't look at MapleStory as a regular game, though I do have some OCD tendencies even there. My equipment inventory is full of one-of-a-kind items, I've got all the medals I can get, my quest log is empty as far as what I'm capable of doing is concerned, Monster Book is... you know. I get frustrated that I can't collect every item, but I've come to accept the limitations of an MMO.

I like RPGs that makes me think a bit outside-the-box (metagaming). I also hate turn-based combat, because it seems overly repetitive. I think the only turn-based I enjoyed was LoD [Legend of Dragoon]. I've tried FF7, FF8, etc., hated them all. The turn-based ruined my gaming experience. May seem a tad biased, but maybe because I played Tales of Eternia as my 1st RPG on the PSX, that may have influenced my tastes in RPGs. I really like most of the Tales Series' combat system. Hopefully an RPG in which all classes and characters are useful, and that it's a game that I can re-play and still have fun with it. Replayability = must for me. :|

Checklists, crafting (recipes, preferably non-food things though; Minecraft does this well), unlockables (think LEGO games), leveling up with stats that I can see rising, ummm....

Diverse item libraries, crafting of most any sort, the lack of miss-able stuff (or at least giving the ability to obtain it somehow end/post-game).

And style: Graphics don't have to be great and neither does the sound (only to an extent), but the game has to come together and create a believable and memorable environment for me to truly enjoy it. This can range from intentional retro 8-bit stuff to games of epic landscape and no words like Shadow of the Colossus. I'm willing to accept almost any style, but it still has to have one.

The ability to choose where you are going.

ie: Not a completly linear story, I like having stuff to do before going to my actual objective.

Oh and the SMG2 thread reminded me of this.

World Maps. Not those where you select a town and are instantly there, but games where you could explore before arriving at the destination dungeon, town, or level. For adventure and platforming games, a larger hub world that you explore before unlocking the levels.

So many games these days skip this outright. Sure the random battles in many RPGs that had this feature were a turn off for some people, but that doesn't mean it makes a game better by entirely removing the map.

World Maps. Not those where you select a town and are instantly there, but games where you could explore before arriving at the destination dungeon, town, or level. For adventure and platforming games, a larger hub world that you explore before unlocking the levels.

So much this. With lots of secret dungeons tucked away. Final Fantasy VII and Dragon Quest IX were both very good about this.

I absolutely hate sandbox games like Oblivion. Too overwhelming. Closest I can play to that is Grand Theft Auto where it's free-roam but you still have constant obvious objectives. I also hate games where my choices change important things, unless it's just for two set endings and the game is good. Radiata Stories could have accomplished this if recruiting characters wasn't so god damn frustrating.