What makes a favorite game?

[BLACKRENEGADE]

I've been thinking long and hard about this topic. It relates not only to games, but to film, literature, and all other aspects of life. Currently in my early 20s, I'm coming into what it means to have something that's favorite or special, essentially a style if you will. For games, I've realized that the types/genres I like tend to be 3rd-Person Survival Horror / Action, Fighting Games, and Strategy, with a dash of platformer on the side. No longer do I thrill for games that are FPS's, sandboxes, or party simulators like I did in my early teens. Almost as if a maturing process has been happening as I advance in my gaming history. I've made a list of some things that I look for in a game, and here they are:

• replayability
• character design
• art style
• game mechanics
• lore
• pricing
• reception since creation
• company values
• good user interface
• coherent storyline
• mods and multiplayer as a bonus

According to these guidelines, are the games you like your favorite games, and if so what are they? If these guidelines do not dictate your attitudes towards gaming, what is your take on what makes a favorite game?

 

[Alien Substance]

I don't think I can pick a "favorite" without later doubting myself about what I've typed, so I'll go with "special".

– Mortal Kombat. An essence of my childhood. Since I was a youngling, I remember playing MK: Trilogy and MK4. I don't exactly know why I liked it, maybe it was amusing, perhaps it was very engaging to my mind. In my current state, I enjoy the recent MK games for the mental challenge of figuring out how it works and how I may outsmart my opponent through clean or dirty online means. The 3D-era MK games brought so much entertainment for me. (They were also peculiar and had great music.)

– Dead Space. A symbol of my fondness for abstract concepts. It was my first real horror game, and it was exciting. The lore is very, very good and quite engaging for my thought processes. Science fiction is a big bonus. The lighting is well-done, the HUD refrains from breaking the immersion; the atmosphere, ambience and sound design are lovely.

In games, I look for ideas that make me think, and Dead Space accomplished that so well.

(There are plenty of other games that could count as "special", but I went with the first two that popped into my mind.)