Juicy Things in Games

Trying to describe what it means for stuff in games to be "juicy" or whatever. tend to think of items in majora's mask. it's not just that they're magic. they are also memorable and cool or whatever.

Some Examples of "Themed" Stuff
thinking, lots of kinda juicy stuff is "themed"


 * majoras mask items are...masks!
 * majora's mask magic uses musical instruments to cast spells, by playing different notes using different buttons, not just pressing one button like DK64 instruments!
 * cars in S.C.A.R.S. are animal themed!
 * "worlds" in donkey kong games!
 * different themed sets in LEGO!  and other toys.  [maybe that's what this is, it's the "ooo, toys!"  effect, where things are like toys:  immediately alluring and intrinsically enjoyable]
 * maybe even the fruit theme in DK64, not just bananas now, melons for health!  with neat sound effect!  and oranges for grenades!  bounce bounce!  and guns that shoot unique fruit!  so fun!
 * and DK2 for SNES has pirates theme, with gold coin treasure!
 * Donkey Kong, even just the idea of using animals as your characters [and as friends to ride on, ramby and the frog and enguarde] and the enemies is all nice and themed!  and unique and memorable with colorful somewhat cartoonish designs! also, barrels.  barrel themed.  wood barrels and metal barrels and barrels that shoot you and barrels that imprison your kongs and other barrels too.  a save barrel.  a checkpoint barrel.

StarCraft
StarCraft has three distinctive species: Terran, Zerg, and Protoss.

These are:


 * not just copied and pasted versions of each other
 * [nor boring realistic medieval stuff of age of empires or the majority of realistic past epochs of empire earth].  all distinctive and cool!  and like..."personality"?  what?  kinda ...fantastic?  like ....each species is really unique.  and cool.  memorable.  dunno how to put that in words.[....is it "themed" tho???]
 * also unique in some some mechanics (Zerg need to build on slow-spreading "creep" and must wait for larva to create units, for example. they also have mutalists that can mutate)

Terran are humans which always made them pretty boring to me.

Zerg:


 * weird scary space alien creatures!
 * claws and slithery tails!
 * kind of like insects and reptiles, very cool

Protoss:


 * psionic powers!
 * pyramids and stuff!
 * crystals!
 * energy weapons!

Nearly all of the units are iconic and memorable and fit the theme of their species.

Some inspiration from other sci-fi stuff, like Aliens (1986), Stargate, and perhaps also Predator.

The differences are also reflected in their music.

Terran:


 * not sure exactly what it is all the time, but pretty good and unique

Zerg:


 * creepy
 * biological noises
 * "metal" music
 * gives the impression of their hive-mind

Protoss:


 * sounds "ancient" and mythical
 * wonder, epicness, mystery
 * gives impression of their serious honorable stoic personalities

Starcraft had great music (which unfortunately they mostly failed at in StarCraft 2).

Many of the environments are also pretty fantastic.

S.C.A.R.S.
A racing game with an origin story:"3000 AD. The world is no longer controlled by humans, but by nine supercomputers whose superior intelligence long ago surpassed their creators. They have acquired many of the characteristics of humankind, including the emotions of fear, hatred, happiness, and even boredom. To combat their apathy, the supercomputers now entertain themselves with the most honorable and dangerous of human customs: Racing. [...]"Some neat 90s sci-fi visuals in the environments too. Levels are themed, of course. And weapons are flashy.

Since there's a theme of different animals, and it's sci-fi, and the city level is called "Blade" which features light-rays coming through a ventilation fan or something, I'm pretty sure there was some Blade Runner inspiration here.

I think the menu music is pretty nice, but it's even better when combined with the visuals of the menu.

My attempt (over on tv tropes)to concisely convey the utter galaxy-brained drug trip of this game:"S.C.A.R.S is not just a racing game. It's not just a racing game set in the future. It's not just a racing game set in the future with animal themed cars. It is Super Computer Animal Racing Simulator. With weapons."

Some more stuff
Turok:


 * has DINOSAURS!  some of them have guns!
 * the weapons are also cool and unique!  not sure there's a "theme", other than "heavy duty scary imaginative/fantastic weapons" lol.

Morrowind had three different "houses", each fairly unique and distinct, with their own armor, personality, and architecture.

could maybe say super smash, the combinations of unique characters, unique moves, unique arena's, unique items. all memorable and neat. it's ....nintendo themed lol

similar for Overwatch [though still feels a bit boring? maybe just cause i haven't played it, no feel? or just not enough interesting stuff can happen?][hmm, no theme unites all the characters, they just have their own theme]

Some newer games
I haven't played games much for over a decade, so these days I mostly see games from people streaming them.

Hollow Knight is set in a world of little bugs. That's kind of neat.

See also:

 * Aesthetic Implication