Looking at a long argued point about gaming, what is the most important element?

Ever since Pong, games have only advanced in every area and these are game play, graphics, story, presentation, sound and music but it is often argued which is the most important element of a game. Is it that the graphics are so good that it looks like you are looking out a window? Or is it that it has the best soundtrack ever? Or maybe even amazing gameplay? In this short blog, I am going to briefly discuss what I feel are more important elements and what really defines whether I will buy a game. First I will describe each element.

Gameplay:

It would make sense that this is the most important element of a game, it is playable, is it fun? Can I play it with friends, will I get much replay value out of this or is it a one time deal? A game that has good gameplay is a much smoother and better experience that you are less likely to want to get to the end, but instead enjoy the game while you are playing it. If you aren't having fun while playing the game you may as well forget all the other categories as chances are, you aren't going to be playing it for every long. It is also important to note how different is the gameplay from the norm, is it just another COD knock-off or obvious attempt at Need For Speed? In an industry like this it is very easy to go with what sells but that isn't in the best interest of the players, which is why indie games like Journey mix things up a bit and give us a new way to play a game. It is hard to gauge how good a game is without another to draw comparison from, but if the game is engaging you in it and you are having fun, the gameplay is working.



Graphics:

Games like Crysis and Battlefield can be argued to be some of the most realistic games in terms of graphics. However, it is unfair to merely compare games by how much they look like real life when some games want a certain look or art style. So in this category I find that I am less picky than any other category, if a game has terrible graphics but is fun I will still buy it, but if the game has perfect graphics but dull gameplay I won't give it a second look. In my opinion, it is more important when looking at this category to consider, does the art style/graphics in the game suit the style it is going for and if it does how successfully does it do that? If you are playing Super Mario you aren't going to want photorealistic graphics but you still want it to be appealing to the eye and in that way it is what the developer does instead that matters. Any game can make a world look like real life, that requires no imagination at all. But instead it is when the create a game with an outer world look about it and while playing the game you are sucked into it. That is when graphics are successfully fulfilling their role in a game.



Story

This is probably one of the most overlooked category in gaming I know of. Why do I say that? Because often developers create their game and get writers to create the story after the fact which is a bad practice and is why a large majority of game storylines fail to impress. They also often try to make the story just a 6 hour version of a hollywood film which also doesn't work. Bioware and Telltale games have a great approach to this area of gaming, not only do they tell good stories but the story drives the gameplay and visa versa. Allowing the player to actively make decisions during cutscenes makes them feel more like an extension of the game itself rather than a tacked on element to give you a break from killing enemies for 10 minutes. Interactive storylines, if done well also add huge replayability to the game with the ability to go back, play the game again and get an entirely new experience out of it.



Sound and Music

A bad soundtrack in a game can kill the experience just as fast as broken gameplay, it can make the feel awkward, slow, clunky or cheap. It can sometimes be the difference between a great game and an amazing game, this is best described with Halo, Halo 1 through to 3 had an orchestral soundtrack created by Martin O'Donnell which added some great emotion and one of the most memorable theme songs of any game. But when it came to Halo 4 the changed the composer and went with a more electronic soundtrack which actually damaged the emotion and carefully crafted story and made it feel cheap. Another example of this is Far Cry 3, a game with amazing gameplay, story and well done graphics but the music has been said to be the Achillesheel of the game. Instead of being a memorable and impacting score it was full of dubstep and electronic music, now please understand that I have nothing against Dubstep or electronic music but there are games that work well with it and some that don't. A good soundtrack will add the perfect tone a game is looking for.



In Summary

So what is the best element? Short answer: There isn't one, but instead all elements of a game working together is what makes for a great games. If you have graphics without gameplay people won't be interested but at the same time if the soundtrack is horrible but the story is amazing it is very unlikely you are going to be able to successfully convey the needed emotion in the game. When all elements of a game work harmoniously you get masterpieces like Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2, Super Mario Galaxy, Far Cry and more. So even though gameplay is important it certainly isn't the only factor in making a game great.



What are your thoughts and opinions on this topic, do you think gameplay is the most important, or maybe graphics or an epic soundtrack? Sound off in the comments below.