What makes a great video game?

[Ryos]

Hard to pinpoint specific elements but fun's clearly the most important quality. I can hate a game's plot, characters, and music, yet still like the game if it's fun to play. Now if the game manages to nail all of those, that's about where it gets to greatness.

[Chelli]

Fun gameplay is the only one that truly matters to me. Everything else is secondary.

[Solaire]

I had this conversation a few days ago so I'll just copy/paste that here.
"In order of importance (at least in my opinion)
1. Sound Design. I cannot stress how important this is and how it simply makes the game. (Ex. Amnesia DDS, Limbo, Dark Souls)
2. Gameplay. Why spend time on a game that's not fun? (Ex. Monster Hunter, rhythm games)
3. Atmosphere. Graphics are not related here because I know of some rather old, and some portable games that have excellent back stories or really 'set the mood' for the world. (Ex. Cry of Fear, Dark Souls)
4. Story. Not quite as important as the above, but it still gets some major points if done correctly. (Ex. Nier)
5. Graphics. The least important of all of the above. They are important to an extent, but can be overlooked if one or more of the above are done well. "

Of course really any of these could be ignored if other elements are done well. Those listed above are really more the things that I notice more often when they aren't done well.

[Slur]

Stop using the word "graphics". It's "aesthetics".

[Wyrdwad]

I don't think it's fair to rank the importance of individual elements of a game, honestly, because they'll vary quite a bit from game to game. A visual novel, for example, has virtually no gameplay whatsoever: the importance there lies solely in storytelling and atmosphere. Similarly, a BBS door game has no audio whatsoever, nor is there much it can accomplish in terms of visuals, so it's basically being held together solely by story, atmosphere and gameplay.

The "X-factor" that makes a game good, IMHO, is what I like to call "soul." When a game is created with the express intent to capitalize on popular trends, it can be the most technically amazing game in the world, but it'll still feel somehow "soulless" when you play it because virtually no one involved with it had any passion for their work. Similarly, a game can have no music, awful graphics, a terrible story and broken gameplay... and yet somehow, you can't put it down, solely because you can feel the passion and love that went into its creation.

So for me, the thing that makes a video game great is not story, nor gameplay, nor visuals, nor audio, nor atmosphere... it's soul. If a game has soul, I'm probably going to enjoy it.

-Tom

[Chaosblade]

To sort of branch off from what Tom said, I think it just comes down to how fun and engaging it is (with music being pretty high up there too )

That doesn't really have to derive from any specific elements of the game. What people consider "fun" is obviously subjective, and it's reflected in what games they enjoy.

[Solaire]

Stop using the word "graphics". It's "aesthetics".

I did that for the purpose of understanding. "aesthetics" is not quite as common as the term "graphics" when describing video games. While "aesthetics" could be more accurate, when someone says "graphics" people know that to be associated with the look of video games.