I was asked this today. At first I didn't know how to answer it but then I thought, why not just post it here since I haven't done a single thing with my account since I made it over 2 YEARS AGO! First question was the level of importance of Gameplay, Graphics and Story - the 3 Tier System.

So here's mine in order of priority:

• GAMEPLAY
• STORY
• GRAPHICS

The reason why the graphics is 3rd is because first of all, I'm a Nintendo Boy, and then it's because that graphics never impressed me anyway for anything but CGI movies. The way I see it, a game whose sole feature is its graphical content is a game that doesn't have much going for it after you get past the cutscene. Fighting games are my favorite though (judging from my avatar alone right?) so the first one that comes in mind is DOA.

Mmm, but that isn't to say that graphics DON'T matter.

When you're talking about story then you're talking about games like Tekken, Prince of Persia, Zelda, Portal, etc. I think stories should be LONG. Not as long as Final Fantasy X, but long enough to take at least over 3 months to finish it. A game whose story is not so complex as FF7 that there are people (myself included) who still don't understand it over 13 years after its release, and not as pretentious and flat as FF13's game, which if I recall was bad enough for all its characters (except Sazh) to win Worst Character of the Year @ Gamespot's award season. The ideal game would also not be aimed towards casual gamers, as I think the market is already oversaturated with them. RPGs are strictly taboo for me and I wont lie that I can't stand MMOs. Or at least that what I would have said 3 years ago, then I rediscovered some old gems I didn't get to play when they came out (thanks to emulation) and I also never imagined I would be excited about playing DC Online or Old Republic.... but I AM. And these are the exceptions. I think the main reason these genres repel me away so strongly is the sheer lack of creativity, spontaneity and err.... all those dungeons and dragons. Probably 90% of all RPGs are sword and sorcery stuff, and last MMO I played, Twelve Sky, turned out to be no different once you got past the massive Korean landscapes and martial artists. (Ninja clan pwns all the rest though)

Hell, I spent most of the game mugging goblins in my underwear and when I wasn't I was finishing laundry lists with broken English!

What I need is a game that surprises me but doesn't take forever to develop. EarthBound/Mother was such a game.

Whether it was being chased by New Age botanists or joining a cult of painters obsessed with the color blue, rescuing missing children and saving the world from time traveling alien menaces - there was never a dull moment and the story was so.... different, and characters so hilariously memorable that you couldn't help but enjoy the GRINDING! Pokemon is the very last game I thought I would ever enjoy let alone play but now I find myself easily spending 6 hours on it (to my shame) each time I play. Which leads me to my last point: The Gameplay!

The ideal game is one that doesn't need to reinvent the wheel but instead works for its purposes 90% of the time at the small stuff. A camera that doesn't suck. Intelligent artifical intelligence. Simplistic controls. These are the things that a lot of modern game just don't get right anymore in my opinion. Which isn't to say that a game shouldn't have at least 1 game in its series that CAN change the playing field. So what kind of gamer does this make me? Not sure. Nevertheless, gameplay is the backbone of the story and in the words of the late Capcom mascot:

Gameplay is key!