What holds your interest in a video game more? Gameplay, graphics, soundtrack, story?

[Soledai]

Story, then gameplay, then soundtrack, and lastly graphics don't matter to me.

[Folt]

It's got to play well. From there, we go to aesthetics, graphics, and music, with story being the lowest priority.

[Slumber]

Gameplay>Soundtrack=Story>>>>>>Graphics 

Gameplay is usually what hooks me and keeps me playing, though I've played plenty of bad games because of compelling/interesting stories and good soundtracks. 

Graphics are something that can elevate a game if it uses a unique and fun artstyle(Say Persona 5 as a recent example, or Wind Wacker as a more classic example), but I've never, ever, EVER purely played a game, or kept playing a bad game purely because it had nice graphics. 

If anything, I've grown averse to good looking games, because so many games nowadays that look good really like to take control of gameplay away from you just to show you how pretty the game is, and I HATE that(First party Sony games in particular are guilty of this).

Plus, most good looking games stop looking particularly good after a few years when the next visual spectacle blows it out of the water. There's really no shelf life on good gameplay, story or music. I'll replay 25 year old games the still hold up in those regards, while I can't exactly say I'm tempted to go back and play whatever was the best looking game from 25 years ago. 

Edited March 5, 2018 by Slumber

[henrymidfields]

Backstory > characters = story > music > gameplay (including external service) > graphics

All are more or less important, but the above is probably my general thought.

Backstory/worldbuilding was why I got into FE through Binding Blade, and why I still play and write headcanons for Pokemon. It is almost always my biggest interest in seeing the game's story, and I am ever grateful that we had a period where such came out in a strong and detailed manner for the FE series - it was at a point where I was able to forgive the less-than-balanced gameplay. While I enjoy the general coherence and thought in the Pokemon series, GSC and XY, with their higher level of realism in culture and a higher level of adoption from RL!Japan and RL!France respectively is why I hold the two games in such high regard. I can say the same thing in Zelda's Breath of the Wild: the extent of desolation and destruction, and the world's expanse makes me think of just how bad was the catastrophe in Hyrule a hundred years before. On the other hand, the lack of a strong background narrative and worldbuilding (along with a generally poorly-written story) is why I decided to abort my second run of Awakening, and why I decided not to play Birthright and Revelations after playing through Conquest. It's also one of the reasons why I've been so slack as of late with playing and LP'ing Conquest too, actually.

Being in concert band, and music being my hobby, it is quite inevitable that I am a sucker for anything that was recorded live.

A general lack of good stories with good characters (or the lack of) was why I'm either drfting away from, was never interested in, (or in one case, outright boycotting) a few of Nintendo's game series. On the other hand the (back)stories are also the reason why I started gaining interest in Persona and Final Fantasy. With FF 10, wich was my first FF experience, I did not give a darn about the linearity, because I enjoyed the story all the way through. Though there were times when the sheer difficulty jump and the amount of level grinding I had to do (at least compared to what I've played before) nearly killed me - it made vanquishing the last boss (and jumping into the happier story of X-2 after) all the more satisfying. It doesn't even have to be Shakespeare material; I can be happy with some things that are different from the status quo: for example, after playing and experiencing my friend's copy of Tokyo Mirage Sessions, that is the only dealmaker for me getting a Switch (and get the Zelda remasters in the process, as opposed to the originals on GC and Wii). Or, another Pokemon game that is set outside Pokeverse-Japan like XY. Or maybe anything that Shit-geru, Nintendo's old washed up geezer doesn't have a say in, really.

That's not to say though, that gameplay or the "engineering/science" is unimportant either. While I find gameplay easier to forgive (see Fire Emblem 6 and Final Fantasy 10 above), Pokemon Black and White - which, yes, I think had a storyline more engaging and thought-provoking than what came before - was an exception. I've got a love/hate relationship with Pokemon Black and White. What I hated was two things. Firstly, how Nintendo decided to shut down the DS Wi-Fi with very little notice, and without any special arrangements for the Pokemon games - and this is a feature I consider an essential part of Pokemon's gameplay, and one that I was going to rely on to complete my Pokedex for the first time ever. While that wasn't strictly the fault of BW1, I would be lying if such debacle did not sour my experience playing. Secondly, what didn't help my frustration was the stingy EXP payout, a lack of variety of Pokemon to work with (and the ones I used just didn't make the cut compared to other Pokemon games), and the difficult gyms. I was so glad that BW2 had previous generation Pokemon - ones that I had an easier time to work with, eg Mareep, Lucario, Growlithe etc. Geneaology of the Holy War might end up in this category too, unless if a remake actually does come up and do away with the clearly stupid restrictions (eg having all the money transactions done by the army instead of individuals, item trading actually being possible etc). More ideally, have pair-ups or rescues and modernise the other parts. Actually, just let me focus on the story like Persona 4 did, and specifically don't make me have to fuck around with level-grinding in battles.

Graphics are probably not that important, unless if it serves to show the story and worldbuilding through environment details. If it is something like Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Persona or FF, then graphics capable would be recommended.

Edited July 24, 2018 by henrymidfields

[Jave]

For Visual Novels: Story > Everything else

For all other genres: Gameplay > Everything else

[Sentacotus]

For me its usually gameplay -> story -> soundtrack -> graphics

 

Though i will say i do find myself going back to masterful soundtracks from older games. 

[Tsunami922]

Gameplay = Soundtrack > Graphics > Story for me.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Gameplay is first and foremost- I can always skip a bad story and ignore bad characters. Like I did with Fates and TMS yet I still very much enjoyed them.

Story vs. characters. Well stories are never perfect in video games, so I'll expect a little more from the characters, even though they can very often fall into cliches. But both matter and I'm fine with a game that emphasizes grand themes over individuals if it is done well enough to compensate.

Different genres weight story differently, but even for JRPGs, it never exceeds the importance of gameplay. Sans gameplay, I'll take what Hideo Kojima said, despite me never having played a single Metal Gear (I think he made Boktai though) and knowing he is quite fallible/questionable, about a video game without gameplay being "a chair that refuses sitting". Is it really a video game without any gameplay?

Visuals, well it is painful to look at early 3D stuff like Super Mario 64 (but I did love the SMO 64 costume and retro area) and the battle graphics in Wild Arms, but 2D stuff holds up very good and I still don't mind playing stuff that came out on the PS1. I like HD stuff like anyone else, but art direction/style matters just as much for me.

Music, I want better here than I want in visuals, more than plot even at times. Breath of the Wild is rather lacking on this front, a little hollow and the world isn't intentionally so lifeless as Shadow of the Colossus's I think.

 

So gameplay >x10 Music > Visuals

Story and characters fit into different places here, again, based on the genre. And even then on intentions moreso than genre, Etrian Odyssey is a JRPG, but its lack of story or characters doesn't bother me much at all, and I love picking out classes and appearances and names!

[Refa]

Gameplay > Graphics = Soundtrack > Story as a general rule of thumb, with variation depending on the genre of game that I'm playing.

Gameplay is the most important for reasons that other people have gone into greater detail about.  The medium's greatest advantage is its interactivity and how it can weave the other elements seamlessly into such a medium (well, ideally anyways).  To get rid of that is to miss the point of video games entirely.

Graphics and soundtrack are next and I'd consider them roughly equal.  I'm assuming that graphics means the games' visual aesthetics and not purely technical mastery, as most people are not particularly interested in the latter (at least, not in this thread).  Both graphics and soundtrack form a game's aesthetic appeal and help to give the game a greater sense of identity than the other elements might have on their own.  I think their importance is often understated, as both can enhance the gameplay and especially story.  I don't think one is more important than the other because they're both used to enhance the other elements, just in different ways.

Story I'd consider the least important, with the caveat that there are a decent amount of games where it's right behind gameplay or even the most important thing in rare cases.  It's just very easy to ignore non compelling stories as long as they're not shoved in your face, and a lot of games with an emphasis on their story are...not good.

Edited March 11, 2018 by Refa

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Pretty much only care about gameplay. Im not exactly the most varied gamer as a whole and for a stupid long time all i ever played are Pokemon and Megaman or something like that.... but there exists game SO BAD that id struggle to play it despite arguably doing well on most other stuff

 

 

And im totally not talking about FE Echoes

Edited March 12, 2018 by JSND Alter Dragon Boner