Mr_Brit said:
Thought this would be a good place to post this.
I was just wondering what reasons you GAFfers play the RPGs you play. Is it the combat,story,music,charachters,dialogue etc.. ?
Personally, for me to enjoy an RPG it needs to have an amazing soundtrack, interesting charachters, a unique and interesting universe and a great combat system and a great story. This is why I love the Final Fantasy series as most of the games in the series tick all those boxes and more, except for FFXII which I felt was sorely lacking.
If I had to rank the attributes of an rpg in order of importance in regards to me enjoying a game or hating it, I would say that:
gameplay/combat > characters = setting/universe > dialogue > game plot > music
Gameplay makes or breaks most games with a few exceptions. I will play and enjoy a game with bland characters and story if the gameplay is good. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 is a good example of that.
Aside from gameplay, an rpg should ideally have memorable characters and locals. I can forgive the Mass Effect games for their technical flaws, because I find the game universe to be one of the best original universes in the medium. As someone who has been studying/working as a biologist for the last decade, I really appreciate the games' attention to scientific detail, even if they don't always get it right. The characters are great as well. Mordin is one of the best rpg characters I have come across in recent years.
Dialogue isn't as important, but bad writing/voice acting can really put a hamper on the experience. Part of what makes Star Ocean: The Last Hope so painful to play is the dialogue. The gameplay itself is actually pretty good.
The older I get, the less I care about game plot. It's a welcome surprise when a game has a truly innovative plot, but 95% of the time rpgs follow one of three or four basic story lines. Play enough rpgs and those story lines, along with their typical plot twists, stop impressing you.
I really don't care about music that much. Memorable music is an added bonus, but if I find it obnoxious, I can usually turn it down/off.