What Makes A Video Game Great In 2024

What Makes A Video Game Great In 2024?

If you are a beginner and want to know what makes a video game great, you are in the right place.

There are game developers who try something new and unique, but every game should have these four factors to be successful. Clash of Clans was very popular in 2018 but won't attract players any longer.

In this article, I will talk about these 4 factors in detail, how they impact your game, and along with some examples so you can understand better.

If you are looking for examples of games you can play this time around, go have a look at our recommendations list here.

Factors That Makes A Video Game Great:

How To Write A Story For Games?

The story of a video game holds tremendous importance. Look at the Call Of Duty series, especially Modern Warfare. It was the story that attracted the players.

Write a unique story, or if you can hire a professional writer, then go for it. Now, there are some things in a good story, such as characters and plots. Let's discuss them also.

*Protagonist:

A protagonist is a person who is controlled by the user. To make a game great, build a strong relationship between the protagonist and the player. For me, there are two things: appearance and personality.

*Appearance:

Let's consider Kratos from God Of War. His visual design tells us about his character. The skirt and sandals tell us that the game has a historical background. The white skin also differentiates him from his enemies.

The iconic red tattoo on his upper body shows us that he can bear pain because ancient tattoo techniques were so painful. Overall, his appearance tells us a lot without trying to tell us.

*Personality:

The personality of a character is the combination of multiple qualities that make him stand out from others. In FarCry 3  the player was a useless, spoiled character but as the game progressed his character grew into something different and we as a player can't really imagine him going back to his old life.

*Villains:

The villain is as important as the player, so designed it carefully. He is the one who opposes the player's actions. One of the most iconic antagonists I have seen in video games is VAAS from Far Cry 3 among others like Le Garde and Griffith. 

He is evil, selfish, and has all the qualities of a villain. When you play farcry3 you will feel his presence and this is what makes him a great villain.

Other examples of great antagonists are Lady Dimitrescu from Resident Evil Village and Handsome Jack from Botherland 2.

*Endings:

This is the last factor of a good story because it can make your story memorable in the player's head. Many games now have more than two endings, good or bad.

In Metro Exodus, the good ending is Artyom becoming the leader and settling with them in a new radiation-free zone. In the end, Artyom dies due to nuclear radiation.

Similarly, in games like Granny or Evil Nun, there are multiple ways to escape from the house, which gives the player a new experience.

How To Design GamePlay Of Your Game:

Gameplay in video games refers to how players interact with the game. It is defined as the heart of a game. Gameplay consists of the following factors.

*Controls:

Controls allow users to play and interact with your game, from my experience in game design. I have learned the principles when designing controls for a game.

*Ease of use:

When designing controls, the very first thing you should consider is hand limitation. We only have fingers. The thumb and index finger of both hands are primary fingers. So, assign only primary and important actions to them.

For example, shooting while moving. Used index finger to shoot and thumb to move the player through the joystick.

The middle finger is considered a secondary finger. Assigned secondary actions such as opening scope during shooting. These are some basic examples to help you understand the hand limitations.

The left two fingers are weak so assigned supportive actions that are not important. For example, opening the main menu or inventory UI, etc.

*Follow the trend:

Always play other famous games similar to your game genre and inspect their design and controls. See how their control system works and what keys are used for general actions.

For example, to move a player in any game we used a combination of WASD keys on the keyboard. We are familiar with it but what if some game uses TFGH keys for moving. It will be weird at first and hard to memorize.

*Feedback:

When a player gives some input, it gets processed and receives a response. The response should be according to the player's input.

In GTA 5, when you are driving a car press the D keys to turn right. The car only moves till you stop pressing the key. Moving right depends on how long you press the key, which gives a smooth experience and feedback to the player.

Another example of good feedback is the vibration you feel when shooting in a game on a PS5 controller. It gives you the feeling of the recoil of a gun.

You can read the complete article on "GameDesignSchool", they have a lot of such amazing content there.