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[McMutton]

 Just out of curiosity, what are some of the things (Mechanics, gameplay, enemies, etc.) that you love and/or hate in games?

 I, myself, really enjoy it when there's a good amount of optional content aside from the main story, like secrets, or super-awesome sidequests, or other such things. I really, really hate it when games have things like super-powerful unblockable/instakill attacks and whatnot.

[Xion]

What a broad and vague topic but okay;

I like small details, like little ambient critters that run away from you, and the player characters' head/eyes glancing at things of note, and things you wouldn't normally see unless you look up, but there's no reason to look up, but then you do and it's like "woah, has that been there the whole time?"

I dislike interactive cutscenes that pretend they're gameplay - where your decisions don't matter or even exist, and failure comes from not succeeding right rather than not succeeding. The entirety of some games falls under this category.

[thatshelby]

I like easter eggs, little hidden things that are references to other things, etc. I love sidequests. I love character customization as far as stats go.

I hate a lot of things, but mostly generic stuff like cheesy storylines, bad controls, etc. But one thing I cannot stand is the lack of comic relief. It adds so much.

[Noah!]

I love focused plots
Codes for omnipotence
I love when actions
Have narrative significance
I love the hard games
Without grinding (it's a sin!)
Boom-de yada, boom-de yada
Boom-de yada, boom-de yada

(also: fast-pacing, intuitive controls, games that make you think or laugh or cry or all of the above, games that show important moral issues without being heavy-handed about them, good jump physics, etc...)

[SundownKid]

Hate:
Quick time events
Random encounters
Games that artificially extend themselves via grinding
Dialog choices that don't matter
Amnesia, sappy and anvilicious plot points
Backtracking through slow to navigate areas
Unfair enemies (e.g. rubberbanding, strength leveling)
Everything on here


Like:
Character development and picking skills
Weapon customization
Sidequests that reveal plot secrets
Satisfying and easy to navigate UI
Comedy and/or dark comedy
Crazy plot twists that make sense in retrospect

[AMAZON]

Hate:
cookie-cutter turn-based combat in rpgs: there's not really any excuse to still use the same battle system games from the 80s used it really hasn't aged very well. at least put a spin on it.

bullshit stories: a good example is sin & punishment 2. it had some decent characters and a great atmosphere but the actual plot is barely explained in-game and overexplained in the manual. the cutscenes are completely character interaction and no exposition, yet the story is somehow extremely convoluted and difficult.

poor difficulty curve: nothing worse than reaching an unbeatable boss in an rpg and having to grind for hours, or worse, in an action game where you just have to get lucky because your skill level isn't up to par with the challenge.

Love:
style: nothing punctuates an awesome game more than the feeling that it exists in its own world (viewtiful joe, no more heroes, okami)

impact: there's something wonderful about feeling like you really just punched a guy so hard he exploded.

customization: not saying every game should have 100% customizable characters or anything, but even small things like the robot combinations in shatterhand and the forms/ex skills in megaman zero make the game feel more personalized and more like you have control over the character.

[Player Ʒ]

I dislike interactive cutscenes that pretend they're gameplay - where your decisions don't matter or even exist, and failure comes from not succeeding right rather than not succeeding. The entirety of some games falls under this category.

Resident Evil 4 has been so guilty of this.

Why can't games start using what was intuitive, like health bars, instead of the get-hit-many-times-with-a-bullet-yet-heal-completely-in-a-few-seconds in FPS games now?

[Hangedman]

Like:
Games that freely accept their design (if you're going to be linear, just do it and don't half-heartedly shove us in an empty sandbox)
Games that make me think (It's not really that hard. Just be suggestive of something more without bashing people over the head with the premise/underlying concept)
Games that tackle difficult themes with honesty and maturity (And they don't have to be art games. Eg. the entire SMT series, Heavy Rain, etc)
Games that don't ape reality but instead invoke it by way of visceral feelings (eg. Mirror's Edge's jumping, Condemnded and Zeno Clash's melee combat)
Games that mash up genres and do it right, just by virtue of experimenting until it works (eg. Killer 7, Portal (arguably))

Hate:
Games with anything that glaringly ruins immersion and should have been removed but wasn't because they spent money on it (bad voice acting, elaborate hair generation that looks like misplaced palm frond textures)
Games that have incredibly unsatisfying melee combat that feels like pointing and clicking (get your act together on this one, Valve)
Mishandling of possibilities (A million open doors you can't go into, a million empty houses not worth going into)

[_Madk]

Love:
Multiple endings for optimum replay value
Good level design
Unique combat (I loved fighting blues in Mirror's Edge because it was different from every other FPS I've played)
Lack of balance in team-based multiplayer games (because otherwise it becomes nothing but yet another dull and overly competitive grind with an overabundance of prepubescent kids)
Stylized (but still pretty) graphics (Love is a good example of how not to go about this)

Hate:
Poor controls
Unfair difficulty (If I played games like IWBTG any more than a mere few minutes a day there would be horrendous consequences)
Similarly, lack of a learning curve. (I got Pixeljunk Shooter 2 recently and stopped playing after 5 minutes of frustration with level one and I'm not sure I'll ever play the $10 positive-reviews game again because there are a ton of barely-avoidable hazards and it's without the courtesy to include an explanation of the controls or even just what I'm supposed to doing.)
Bad level design
Earrape music/sounds

[Gabriel Verdon]

Love:
Good stuff

Hate:
Bad Stuff

[baconman]

Love:

A new trick being featured every level or two; and using a few things in interesting combinations later on.
Games that can be played in quick spurts or long sessions, without requiring hours to be devoted at any given time.
Procedural content generation that's an extension of level design, not a replacement for it.
Plenty of optional goodies to unravel and enjoy.
Nonlinear gameplay that's still goal-oriented.

Hate:

When games start "selling the brand" instead of selling the experience.
Excessive grinding (not practice).
Outdated RPG "random encounters." Seriously, why not just make *this* the loading screen between map scenes? That would be doubly-productive as loading-screen fodder and still not break immersion like it does now.
Total lack of level design.
Rushed games. They're nearly always broken and botched.
CGI scenes that play "Simon," and pretend they're actual gameplay.

GAMES based on MOVIES that are based on GAMES. X$ (Unless they're mutually derived from comics. That actually seems to work about half the time. Noteworthy exception: Metal Gear games derived from Escape From... movies)

$60 games with $40 worth of immediate add-ons. Save some money and just buy an arcade cabinet, already. >.<' (Noteworthy exception: Rock Band 2-3?)

Any game that requires a purchase AND a subscription cost. Not happening here.

The "Bad Special Ending." (Credits roll. Thank You For Playing. THE END.)

[Taiko]

Twitch platformer mechanics.  A good example is VVVVVV.  I absolutely loved the game, but a few of the rooms got so hard that I ragequit.  Who knows if I'll ever finish it (and I really want to because I love the music/art style).

[ANtY]

I like big amounts of compressed actions, because I don't like long games and I like fast-paced games.

[antymattar]

I like big amounts of compressed actions, because I don't like long games and I like fast-paced games.

I bet you hate cavestory then?

[ANtY]

I like big amounts of compressed actions, because I don't like long games and I like fast-paced games.

I bet you hate cavestory then?

True that

But when I didn't have internet I was playing only RPGs, strategy games, etc.