What gives a game depth?

[Exejpgwmv]

There are numerous variables that give a game depth, so I would just like to know what (in your opinion) is the most important factor in gameplay depth. The reason I posted this here was because there are still so many arguments here about depth of the new and old dmcs, but everyone appears to have there own little definition of what depth is.

Sorry, but no overly long description this time. Just not feeling well today.:meh:

 

[TWOxACROSS]

I think depth is really just how much the game allows a player to do with certain aspects, from character growth, or combat options, or deviating from the main quest.

Sort of like, to give an example of how I see it, DMC1 has somewhat shallow combat, while DMC3 has rather deep combat, because they emphasized player involvement and creativity, and how they changed the system to accommodate for that.

A game like Final Fantasy Mystic Quest has shallow story deviation, while Final Fantasy VI has a large amount of things to do off of the main quest, and therefore has a deeper questing system.

Likewise, a game like Final Fantasy VII or VIII offer much deeper character growth than Final Fantasy I because os Materia and Junctioning, or something like Final Fantasy III that brought about the Job system that allowed you to grow characters in several different ways.

I guess to put it simply, it's the options that are given to the player; the more options, the deeper it is.

 

[DragonMaster2010]

Why is this in the DmC thread?

 

[Demi-fiend]

'Cause people think DmC doesn't have "deep" (hurr hurr) combat... which is completely untrue. Just look at SamD's vids for proof.

 

[Railazel]

I guess to put it simply, it's the options that are given to the player; the more options, the deeper it is.

Don't forget complexity and purpose as a factor of depth. There are times where, for example in deep questing systems, some missions are rather useless and are just filler, so they tend to stunt systems of really being deep (this is a derivative of the argument used in favor of linear storylines where side missions are seen as just filler when the main storyline is the only thing necessary to beat the game). Using that same example, a system is really deep when missions branch off into more missions or somehow connect to other missions you've done (this is the argument in favor of side quests where said quests expand the story beyond the main storyline). In terms of combat, combo growth or combo expansion (where one combo turns or expands into another combo) is considered a quality of depth. In- battle customization and upgrading is also a quality because they add complexity to combat (this includes weapon- switching, strategy- dependent upgrades and transformations (such as those in Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep), and party- based strategies (in team- based games)).

So creativity, player involvement and freedom, complexity, and purpose, all add up to how "deep" a game's gameplay is.