Favourite Gameplay Elements?

[HotfireLegend]

From crafting to picking up/hiring party members to mini-casinos to grinding, what are your favourite gameplay elements?

They can literally be anything, this is for brainstorming.

Also, specify whether the elements you prefer are ones you like, only if done in a certain way (such as how crafting is only good if it does not always utilize rare items, in my opinion - like a lot of freemium games do).

Personally, I like dungeon crawls, as long as they have a deep and intricate story interwoven into them. I'm not a huge advocate for "must affect the entire world" kind of things but heck, even helping a mother save her kid or something from the troll in the dungeon next door is a win in my book.

Also, I like rare items and weapons, when they can be used to boost the player. I also don't mind random loot as long as it is very plentiful.

 

[Micro]

Character interactions/skits and player choice that affects your relationship with them (romance is a plus), player choice in general really draws me to a game. NOT illusion of choice either, that is just annoying haha

i love secret recruitable characters, and secrets in general.. too tired to think of anything else right now, might add more later

EDIT: I also like a lot of boss fights

 

[Zebestian]

Character interactions/skits and player choice that affects your relationship with them (romance is a plus)

And that's exactly why I love the Fire Emblem games and the Tales series. I love it when characters have "actual character" and you get attached to every single one of them. :)

I also like when there's some side-stuff to do, like mini games, (plot-relevant) sidequests, collectibles, etc.
And then I also like it when games give a little insight on the world it takes place in in the form of lore or something like that. Think the codec entries from Mass Effect. Wanna know how Asari live? No prob, man. Wanna know what Turians believe in? Sure, here you go. That's especially awesome when your game world is as diverse as it is in Mass Effect. :)

 

[Cunechan]

Hah this choice thing in Mario games has always been like "Will you help us?" "Yes/of course" and i was like "why is there even a choice then?". I love choices and when you can see what they do *coughtelltalegames*. And i love puzzles and secrets and dungeons~

 

[Macro]

My favorite part of the game is always when new characters join the party. I dislike "mercenary" blank slate characters (Dragon Quest 7 is my favorite example), but I like recruitable monsters because it feels more personal meeting them on the field. It's also (in my opinion) easier to get away with a monster not having a lot of gab, as opposed to a hired merc that never says a word. >_<

 

[Kurei Sama]

I like Boss fights that are interesting and cleverly made and arent just spam your random skill x times to win. I used to play an Online Turn based Combat game (War of Ninja), Where you attempt to defeat a Boss almost 20+ Times and then succeed by using the right party and right Items !!!

It wasnt just use some random moves, Rather it was a tense moment of paying attention to many complicated conditions such as - Not get stunned, Use Heal at the right time. Not to let your Important Character die.. so on. I like such challenging boss fights where you actually learn every single element of that fight from many times you failed and then you finally succeed, Which felt like a great accomplishment !