Exactly!

I somewhat agree but I'd say that it greatly varies from person to person. Also,I'd say that faulty gameplay is much worst than limited gameplay.

For example, while games like To the Moon might not be my cup of tea, I don't blame them for not having deep gameplay. On the other hand, I hate LittleBigPlanet with a burning passion because the controls are awful, it absolutely kills my enjoyment of the game because it fails at something it should be good at.

customization is* a gameplay feature that could make the player more invested in a game.

It so important and progressive whole games were built around teh concept. :P

I think it will differ from person to person. Personally I don't like games that are too cinematic. I like great gameplay and this comes first for 80% of games I play. Most games would be cheap bad acting B-Movies that no one would want to watch so give me good controls or bust.

Agree in some ways, but gameplay is the most important thing to me. Far more than story/graphics.

The Order just is not worth $60 for the content. I am sure the gameplay is okay and the story is pretty good. People say the pacing is just entirely off and makes them not enjoy the gameplay. The complain is how restricted you are and how it switches to cutscenes then back to gameplay every couple minutes at times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMdmkhAwIKM
^ Stuff like that makes it even more sad that this game was priced at $60. Certainly not a trend I want to see begin. (very minimal content/replay-ability --> full price)

What can I say that was not said before? Gameplay is the most important thig in some games, while in others is art or story. Like can you really say an online shooter or driving or fighting game that gameplay is not important? Its the only thing the game is focused around.
Like truck said, bad gameplay is the quickest thing that can kill a game, because the rest of the things are subgective, some will love the story some will hate it, just like the artstyle and sound and whatever else, but if the gameplay sucks, everyone will hat it.

Gameplay is important but not as important as the emotion you feel and experience a game gives you. But to each his own.

The Order is judged by its story and setting. And they both fail miserably. Unfortunately it also happens to have literally no gameplay elements that are above average to fall back on. So if the narrative fails (which it does), there's nothing else to save the game.

And gameplay is by far the most important aspect of any game.

Mario would be shit without sound effects? Are you sure about that?

I have to disagree. Gameplay is the most important part even in story-heavy games because it greatly affects how stories are told and it doesn't matter how awsome your story is if you don't know how to tell it. Not to mention that pacing also relies on the gameplay and it affects your mood, your emotions and stress level, all of which impacts the overall experience.

Gameplay being important isn't the same as gameplay having to be complex though. The Super Mario Bros. series doesn't exactly have deep, complex gameplay but it's still the most important aspect of those games.