A reader asks Google what the most essential qualities are for making a good video game, and how it is that Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Elden Ring get everything right.
I have just been sat in the garden enjoying the sunshine and a question popped into my musings. What is the perfect video game? An interesting and very subjective question.
To start answering this question I went to Google, to see what its AI answer would be. I was a tiny bit surprised by the answer it gave me. The top three were:
Super MarioWorld - The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
- Elden Ring
I suppose the surprise omission would be Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. The highest rated game of all time, according to Metacritic. Although this has been open to debate recently. But surely it would have featured in the AI response.
Having not much to do today I asked the next question to Google. What makes the perfect video game? This is the answer it gave:
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- Great control: the game reacts fast and feels good to play.
- Clear rules: you always know what to do or how to learn.
- No wasted time: levels or worlds are fun to explore from start to end.
- Good style: the art, music, and sound fit the world.
It all seems so obvious. Why aren’t all games following this simple premise?
One of my biggest complaints about one of the most successful games, GTA 5 is the shocking controls. I don’t know how other people feel about them, they must be doing something right with them as it’s so successful, but to me the two main staples of the game are driving and combat and its awful. It does however get the last three right very well.
With the advent of the Soulslike genre, the whole games industry wants to hide the rules and leave it up to you to find out what to do. Some games get it very right, like the two games mentioned, but so many get it oh so wrong. This kind of bleeds into the next heading of no wasted time.
Before I cover that, a bit more on clear rules. Back in the day, we had game manuals. They covered all the controls and also laid out what you need to get on and learn new techniques. Very few companies make the effort to even put stuff on the game website, it’s all YouTube. Watch someone else show you how to proceed. Doesn’t that kind of take the fun away?
Over the winter I got into Path Of Exile 2. I had a lot of fun with that game. To me it really hit the no wasted time. I know it’s not a massive open world like Breath Of The Wild but it was filled to the brim with enemies and bosses, and it was fun to explore.
In comparison, something like Assassin’s Creed’s open worlds are behemoths that become overwhelming with all the map icons. The opening world is normally pretty small and tight, and is fun to explore, but by the end of the game your just worn out. Time is a very precious commodity. We don’t want to waste it riding a horse with dodgy controls for 10 minutes, talk to a character, then wander 10 minutes back.
Good style. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 anyone? That got it pretty right but I think lots of games get this aspect right. There are loads of games where even a small snippet of the music or a bit of artwork can bring back memories. As I read the Google answer, my answer to good style was WipEout. That really blew it out the water. But the games that get it wrong are long forgotten.
There you go gamers, give that some thought and see what conclusions you draw up. Do you agree with Google AI? Should Metacritic be the authority?
By reader Dirtystopout
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