I think that there is really one deciding factor in whether or not I will like a game: the circumstances under which I begin playing it. Regardless of how much I've anticipated the title or how sure I am that it's going to be a great game, if the mood isn't right, it's usually not the awesome experience I had imagined.

Inversely, if the game is absolute crap, and you just happen to put it in your machine at the right moment, it may just hit you and never stop hitting you until it's hit you a whole lot.

So basically what I'm saying is destiny is the deciding factor. Each human being is fated to fall in love with certain games. It's written into their genetic code and has passed on from generation to generation. Whether or not the person will ever actually find these particular games is more of a crapshoot. Some might go through life without ever being acquainted with their true love. Those unfortunate souls usually have to deceive themselves into thinking that they love certain games they've already played.

That's not the case for me though, I've got Elemental Gimmick Gear!

-yours cruelly,
opultaM [sir] Forward

I the great Joey, have all the answers. And I can tell you that many games can be good based on your mood or state of mind. For instance, When I first played Persona 2, I hated it. But then, two months later after My girlfriend broke up with me, I loved Persona 2 and played it non-stop. Same goes with Rhapsody, It may not be a hit like Final Fantasy but it simply made me happy. It was bright, lighthearted, had wonderful music and comedic diolouge. Even though the dungeons were sort of crappy, It didn't bother me that much because I liked the overall game. Heck, I could even like "battle hunters" if I really tried.

As a last example lets go to Christmas of 2000. The ps2 came out. I picked one up, I bought Orphen, Summoner and Evergrace, and you know what? I loved them! That same christmas I recieved Grandia 2, Skies of Arcadia and Shenmue on the dreamcast, and ofcouse, I loved them. I think mainly it had to do with the time of the year, It was the holiday season, chilly outside but nice and warm in my room where I would reside to play my games.

The one other thing that really makes a game shine is not how many people worked on the game, but how much love was put into atleast one aspect of the game. That is always very nice. Other than that, I am not too sure what makes a good game good or a bad game bad, It depends on how you look at it personally.

-Joey Mikler

For me, a game can totally win me over depending on the type of story it tells. I'm a complete sucker for a well-written, witty story, becuase let's face it: I'm a plot whore. Plain and simple. Give me a good story along with nifty characterization, and I'll almost ALWAYS enjoy the RPG no matter how tedious the game system is, or how badly it's dubbed, or what have you. Oh sure, there are execptions, but I don't think a RPG has ever really won me over with nice graphics or sound...least not in a while. It's always the story.

Just off the top of my head, Earthbound is a huge offender to this logic. The graphics are horrible, the sound is just so-so, and the battles are standard fare ho hum we've done this before type of stuff. But here's the kicker -- it's written in such an orginal, funny way that I only have found memories of this game. I mean, this game gets huge marks just for Mr. Saturn ALONE. "WHO WILL CARRY THIS BURDEN?! DING!" Classic stuff. I'll give people cookies if they find me the Mr. Saturn font.

Ahem. Where was I? Oh yes. There are others, too. Vay is a Working Designs game for the SegaCD no one remembers because everything about it is sort of a rip off of Phantasy Star and Dragon Warrior. But to me, it's wormed it's way into my heart becuase the dialouge and storyline are written in a very witty, humorous style...yet I can't really defend it and say why I like it just becuase of that. It's just good in my eyes, and I have fun playing it. And original Lufia had NOTHING orginial in it that made me think "Wow!", but the plot was cute and engrossing, and a good amount of the characterization was right. I guess what I'm trying to say is the story is probably the most important part of the RPG. In many cases, it saves an otherwise mediorce RPG from the abyss of obscurity.

-Lucca

For example, if a game has a plot so dumb, horrible, and contrived that it's actually funny, should it be criticized even though you thoroughly enjoyed it? By reviewer "standards" should such a plot be considered a negative despite the fact that it made you enjoy the game to a certain degree?

I'm not saying "stupid = funny = good" or anything. I just think games shouldn't be fundamentally judged in terms of separate components or by certain standards. And I guess, ultimately, you don't need any reasons for why you think backtracking is okay in some games and not in others, or whatever. In fact, I think sometimes people are too busy picking apart a game to actually focus on what games are designed for: fun.

The bottom line is that games aren't necessarily about their separate elements. There's no such thing as an objective review or an objective viewpoint. Some games click with you, some don't. You can love a game for no definable reasons at all other than the fact that you had fun playing it. And there's nothing wrong with that.

-Palidor

There's a single, simple word for why people like games like Chrono Trigger for no apparent reason. The word is "charm". Or possibly "appeal". People like things because it appeals to them. It's fun. It's cute. It's interesting.

Let's take our case in point, Chrono Trigger. To start with, the graphics and music were quite easy on the eyes and ears - CT's soundtrack is the only one I've ever actually bought. The story offered extremely neat insights and original ideas into the much-aligned time travel (compare FF1's 2000-Year-Loop with CT's time travel, where certain events really do affect the future). The characters, though admittedly one-sided, were really good at what they did. The choice of having a strong female character (Ayla) appealed to many people, for a variety of reasons (whether they admit it or not).

And then of course there's Magus and the Zeal Kingdom, the highlight of the game. The way that part of the story unfolded was extremely cool, IMO, with two really shocking plot twists right after each other. The sequel did the same sort of thing, though with completely different consequences.

Let's take another example, shall we? How about Illusion of Gaia? With each component by itself, it doesn't seem like such a great game. Extremely linear play, rather shoddy translation, a single main character, unusually few music themes, and a bare bones of a short storyline. Why would anyone play the game?

The answer is again charm. Taking real-life places and myths and planting them into a fictional world is yet another twist that worked almost as well in the sequel, Terranigma (unfortunately unreleased in the US). The narrative style, though grating, was interesting and unusual. The battles were challenging and somehow managed to not get old (something its spiritual brothers such as Alundra didn't manage to do). And I keep coming back to play it again, even though I know how to do everything and where everything is, because it still appeals to me.

Other games fall under this umbrella as well - FF9 had a strong charm value to my eyes (the in-series references were nice as well), and the Tales/Star Ocean series consistently gives me games with almost no storyline, one-sided characters, slightly grating music, and the most fun this side of a barrel of monkeys.

However, certain people lack the, shall we say, charm gene. They fail to see a game past the sum of its parts. Or, they consider it too cutesy, not in the spirit of other games they've played, etc. I say: Power to ya. Go discuss the deeper relevances of Xenogears. Me, I'm gonna kick some Ozzie butt some more.

-Cidolfas