The Factors that make a game great

[SvennoJ]

Sound and music are very important to me for the enjoyment of games.
Long loading times are a turn off.
Difficulty settings that can be changed at any time are a big plus.
Only being able to 'save' at checkpoints is a turn off. Don't hold me hostage while playing.
Instant restart, reset, retry is a huge positive.
Not being able to pause at any time, bad.
Responsive controls are very important.
A good story is a plus but not necessary, but if it's there it better be acted well.

Game play has to be good of course but is harder to nail down what makes a game great. Freedom in game play is very important. Linear games are perfectly fine as long as you have the freedom to tackle the game play sections the way you want. RDR2 was very bad in that regard with its tightly restrictive, instant fail when going the 'wrong' way, scripted story missions. Tlou while a linear game has great game play. The best games give you great game mechanics to experiment with while leaving it up to you to decide how to go through the game. Botw is brilliant in that regard (but falls a bit flat in the linear dungeons)

And of course the number one factor to make a great game, numbers that always go up. XP, Levels, Money, Materials, Mana, Damage, Stars, Bolts, Seeds, whatever. I doubt there will ever be a successful "balance the budget" game in a shrinking economy :)