Working on a video project with my gaming scholar friend Jeff Howard, I got to thinking about what makes some games so great. And the greatest game I have played in a long time is Resident Evil 4.

I know, i posted about this back when it was still relevant, but RE4 still serves as a yardstick in terms of what I expect to get out of a game. Piggybacking off of Jeff's theses, I think that one of the games underlying strengths is in the way it forces you as a player to make choices that affect the gameplay. I don't mean branching narratives here- RE4 is as linear as it gets, and really the story is nothing noteworthy. But the actual style of play varies from player to player, based on some great underlying factors the designers built into the game.

First, there is the survival horror mainstay of limited resources. You can only save in certain locations, you cannot buy infinite ammunition, and you can only carry so much at a time. The inventory management mechanic itself is great, providing a minor spatial puzzle instead of a more realistic weight-based encumbrance system. But even when you upgrade your storage, you still cannot carry every weapon available in the game, and must choose which options are more valuable- do you want an automatic weapon to hose down groups of enemies while wasting tons of ammo, or will you rely on the accuracy of a hunting rifle to pick off foes from a distance?

This gets even more interesting as you are allowed to upgrade your weapons. Given the scarcity of money in the game, you won't be able to max out every characteristic of every weapon you can carry- but this is the real genius of the system - you can pick and choose which attributes of each weapon you find most valuable, and only pay to improve those traits. Choosing among firepower, reload speed, ammo capacity, and rate of fire (along with a few special modifications for certain weapons) creates a plethora of options for tailoring the combat in the game to the player's style. This all feels very intuitive as well, without approaching the confusion of something like the Junction System of Final Fantasy 8 or the item leveling missions in Disgaea (though for the hardcore, those were also very rich customization systems as well)

While RE4 is not really a quest or RPG, these customizations transform what was once a stodgy hex-crank simulator into a highly immersive and rewarding gaming experience. If one were to expand upon these options (by adding other character enhancements like learnable melee attacks and adjustments to strength, speed, etc) and place them in a more compelling storyline, i think they would strike gaming gold.