There are some games that I play and I think to myself, "this game could be so much better if only..." and I come up with a myriad of changes I would have made to the final product of the game. Then again, there are some games where I say, "This game is almost perfect!" I have always graded games by my five point system, and their calibur is measured by my sometimes high standards. The five parts that a great game needs to be high quality are story, gameplay, writing, characters and depth.

The story of a game is everything. It is the most important thing in a game, at least to me, because in order to be drawn into a game you need to feel the story and feel something for the characters. Sure, I would play gears of war 2 even if the story was worse, but story will alwasy bring me back to a game. I always remeber the terrifying and thrilling story of a great fantasy rpg, but I can forget the cheap excitement from blockbuster games w/o a good story. A great story makes you fight harder, play longer, and return more often.

Gameplay is the second part, because without gameplay, a game isn't a game. If a game has a fantastic story, but terrible gameplay, please convert it to a book so I can read it instead. A great gameplay system, as I said earlier, will always pull a gamer back to thrills but a story combined with great gameplay will make a game even better. If there is a point in the story where you're up against a foe that has killed your entire family, and you are filled with vengeance, and you engage with the enemy tooth and nail to come on top as the victor. The gameplay will be fun regardless of story, but when the story is fantastic, the gameplay is fueled by emotion, which charges you to fight harder.

Writing is as important as the story. Writing, which includes dialogue, bridges the sections between gameplay, which can make a game more intresting and less of a bore. In some games the writing and dialogue can be so painful that I sometimes mute the tv, or skip all of the dialogue just to skip past it all. I'm not against rpg game cliches persay, but if its written well and supported well it can be great. The writing is the medium to which the story is told, and if the medium is used properly, it can make the story fluid to the gameplay.

Another part of games is the characters. A story and dialogue is driven by characters. If a character is annoying, stupid, or flat as paper, this can diminish the fun of a game. The examples I will use are from chrono trigger, and infinite undiscovery. In Chrono Trigger, my favorite character is Frog. The reason is, is simply because he is a smart, well thought out character (and of course, I am refering to the Frog with the dialogue in the new ds remake). A character torn by grief and strife, fights for justice in order to honor the memory of his friend, Cyrus, and to serve his country. Unlike the main protagonist (and pretty much every other character) in Infinite Undisocvery. With the exception of Capell, Aya, Sigmund and the twins, every other character is about as flat as a sheet of loose leaf paper. However, I'm not saying that Capell, Aya, Sigmund and the twins are good characters. Capell is annoying as hell, Aya is decent, Sigmund is "dark" which makes him look more like a dork than anything, and the twins are, well...thats the rpg cliche that needs to die. Characters are important, because they are the representation of the player in the game, and nobody wants to play a loser.

The last part of a good game is depth, which relates to all other categories. Depth in story is about multiple plot lines. A story can't be one path; multiple characters can have different motives, and the depth of story can lead into multiple scenarios that deal with different things. When it comes to dialogue and writing, depth refers to writing being thought out rather than just fluff. A character without a good voice isn't a good character at all. Depth in reference to gameplay is incredibly important, because a bland gameplay system isn't interesting. In most games character customization is incredibly important and fantastic, and combining different gameplay effects in other games help create depth, and a more eclectic experience. The depth in characters, obviously, is good, because nobody likes a bad character.

The reason I didn't include graphics in my "five points" was because I think that graphics, while a great thing, doesn't make a game. I would rather play my copy of Final Fantasy IX, rather than the new Sonic Unleashed game. Sure, final fantasy IX isn't as pretty, but its a helluva better game.