The "little things" that you are a sucker for.

[Blue_vision]

I like farming. I don't know whether its because I grew up with it surrounding me or what, but I LOVE farming stuff. It doesn't matter what the game, if it gives you the ability to build a farm from scratch and then reap the rewards from it, the game automatically wins in my book. In fact, the ability to farm has been the deciding factor in several games I've bought. BUT I will NOT buy a game solely for the farming. It has to be a side venture that you can come back to after a day of adventuring. Best example: minecraft. I have MASSIVE fields of EVERY available crop in the game. I plant them, go mining/hunting/building, harvest and repeat.

QFT. It must have been all the childhood Harvest Moon. Any game that has farming mechanics in its description automatically has my interest piqued.

That said, I find Minecraft's farming mechanics a little lacking, and I've yet to find a mod that really provides what I'm looking for

 

[AgentLampshade]

A rival character. Whether it's the Big Bad, or just a recurring boss, I love rivals.

New-game+'s are something I enjoy too if I enjoyed the story in the game more than the gameplay.

 

[krazykidd]

Hard mode in turn based jrpgs . Very few turn base RPGs have a hard mode , ever fewer have a hard mode on the first playthrough. I guess that's why i love most SMT games. Nocturne being my favorite . Going through that game on hard was the most fun i've had in a while .

Also Ultimate dungeons of doom. Super hard end game 100 floor dungeon with the super boss at the end that kills you in 1 hit? YES PLEASE.

 

[xShredd]

Quotes and voice acting of the characters in the game are really important for me, maybe even just as important as the graphics.

I also love being able to customize your character in any way, including both cosmetic or even 'skill tree' type of way. If there's a game that involves both of these customizing options, I am immediately sold without question.

 

[the doom cannon]

Hilariously appropriate music. Best example: the music in gw2 during early order of whispers quests. I never get tired of it.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Wind and Water powers/effects/shenanigans in games. Love 'em. Forget Fire/Earth tricks. The lunar elements are the business.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Any RPG-like system that allows for various non-standard traits, talents, skills etc. to be picked up. For instance, Alpha Protocol was really good for this, giving you small passive buffs for all kinds of reasons. Even having people hate you could give you a buff! Better yet is when these various miscellaneous abilities have specific uses that can alter events significantly.

Another example of this are the perks that can be gained in Fallout through anything other than just levelling up. Those ones always felt the most special, for obvious reasons.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

I love cyberpunk. It's probably my favorite setting for any game.

It's part of the reason I like the Deus Ex or Syndicate series so much. It's why Cyberpunk 2077, Remember Me and Watch Dogs are the games I'm looking forward to the most right now. My dream game would be a Ghost In The Shell game that fully utilizes the potential of that IP.

 

[omicron1]

Real exploration, a "wilderness" feeling, and "simulation elements" are my cues.
The first two are exemplified by Risen - you can wander off the beaten trails and find abandoned shacks, interesting hats, and amazing views (Top of the buried temple during a rainstorm? Beautiful).
The last is Nethack - where the results of almost any possible action make logical sense. Carry too much walking down stairs? You fall down the stairs instead. Carrying a cockatrice corpse when you do? You fall on it and are turned to stone. It's a delightfully tangible game.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Another example of this are the perks that can be gained in Fallout through anything other than just levelling up. Those ones always felt the most special, for obvious reasons.

The most...S.P.E.C.I.A.L?

Urgh. I'm ashamed of that one.

OT: A game I can just dick about it. Skyrim, the modern Fallout games, basically anything that hands me an open-world and no ticking clock to hurry me. I can wander about for weeks discovering things and not get bored.

 

[Clinky]

Three things...

A good item crafting system. Where in lieu of getting just gold and generic items you get materials for crafting. From there you can make it into anything you want. I especially love it when it gets creative, Star Ocean: Second Story/Second Evolution comes to mind. You could make weapons, armor, accessories, potions(healing and harming), food(and there was LOTS of it), battle items, and even customize weapons and armor. And that was just the basic stuff. There was more advanced skills that had greater effects, not all of them item related exactly, but the things you could do to increase your luck in battle. With enough patience and money you could easily have some very good weapons and armor super early in the game.

Pictures of the items/Visible change when wearing armor. This is very much a personal thing. And I know how silly it is. But still... I love it when I can see what the weapons and armor looks like and even more so when the character's appearance changes when wearing armor. This was pretty much the result of a game I played when I was younger which very visibly altered the appearance of the characters as you changed up your armor and as a kid I LOVED it. And pretty much still do.

Conversations with teammates/party members is always nice for me. I love character development and interaction so this just makes me smile. It's especially nice if they use it to really flesh out the characters. Several of my favorite games have included this and I feel like it really adds a lot to their stories. Even if it provides no real benefit to yourself(though there is a tendency for that to be the case).

 

[Skops]

Cell-Shaded graphics.

I always really appreciate when a game has a very colorful art style. Jet Set Radio, remains one my favorite looking games.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

After having played the new Metal Gear demo I'd have to say I'm not a major sucker for wanting to cut up everything into fine pieces.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

All the stuff that Bethesda puts in their games that's kinda pointless. I will spend hours arranging random nik naks on shelves and tables and swords in glass cases.

I also like games that you can break. I can squeeze a month or so of entertainment out of a game if I can do the bullshit cheating I can do in elder scrolls and fallout

 

[Berithil]

I'm a sucker for in depth world building and details along those lines. I have spent many an hour reading random books in the Elder Scrolls games and listening to audio tapes in the Fallout games.

Probably a big reason for those being two of my favorite game series, bugs and all.

 

[HobbyJim]

There are many things that I'm a sucker for, but I would have to say "exploration."

Even if it's a standard shooter with only one predetermined place to go, if you can explore the environment and find things (ammo, audio logs, etc.) it makes the game feel really welcoming and engaging. It's like the game is saying, "You know the door with the green light above it is the way to go, but not rush. Take your time."

 

[Pink Gregory]

All the stuff that Bethesda puts in their games that's kinda pointless. I will spend hours arranging random nik naks on shelves and tables and swords in glass cases.

That's what I like about the Bethesda Fallouts. Having all of that useless mess around gives me a real, tangible sense that there was something there before the bombs fell.

 

[BrotherRool]

Character customisation. If it's good then I get so much out of that, all the fun I've had from Saints Row 3 stems directly from the ability to dress up my person. I still wouldn't buy a game for that though (except the Sims =D)

Also I've got a soft spot for certain types of female protagonists/characters. It's hard to pin down completely but people like Korra from Legend of Korra or Faevv from the webcomic Juathuur. It hasn't happened very often in games because most gaming protagonists suck (closest are the ppl in Katawa Shoujo who aren't even protagonists) but if a game did have a protagonist like that I would fall in love

 

[MortisLegio]

In games: Character Customization, Smooth Combat, A Good Story, and Space.

In Real Life: Females in skirts with stockings, Tacos, and Chocolate.

 

[Dr Pussymagnet]

I probably would not have stuck around for the Metal Gear Solid games for as long as I did were it not for all the hidden things and other pointless stuff.