What diciding factors make a good game in your eyes?

I see it all the time in forum boards - you know, when people debate what it is that makes a good game. So I raise the question to you CAGs: What element in a video game makes it good or is most important?

Deciding between Story or Gameplay.  Can't decide.

I don't know if this falls under story, but Characters definitely does it for me. Not just character development, but having genuinely interesting characters from the start. Uncharted and TLOU capture this really well, and makes you care about playing through the game just to hear the next line of dialogue.

Gameplay is #1 for me, but a close second is the overall creativity.  I put a lot of value on games that put on a new spin on things rather than adhering to formulas: unique battle systems, stories or settings that haven't been done before, etc.

For me it's gameplay for sure. Story is important for many genres, but if it plays terribly, say like Trillion Vita, it really ruins the story and makes you not want to play a game. Usually different parts come together to make a great game, like say for some they adore Dark Souls, which has great gameplay, a story (kind of weak IMHO), but the art style really helps it make it into something special. 

There is no valid argument for anything other than gameplay. I dont care how good any of the other stuff is, if the gameplay is garbage you dont have a good GAME. You may enjoy the good parts but you need to have gameplay before all else or it cannot be a good game.

Game mechanics and depth of combat system really appeal to me. Without that solid gameplay, I completely dismiss a game for the most part. Like others have said, story will get overlooked if the game isn't fun and I'd have to agree. However, sometimes it is how the story is presented or how good it is that can draw me in as well. Uncharted being fresh in my mind isn't exactly the most deep or engaging game to play; you could even argue that it is, with a few exceptions, a very average cover shooter. But the story is so good and interesting that it pulls you in and wants you to see what happens next.

At the core, you can have great gameplay and a non-existent story but it's extremely rare to have it the other way around. In essence, both are needed to make a game truly great.