You ever play a game and it’s all competently made and such but somehow it just feels 20% off for what it’s supposed to be? And then you play something else of similar genre and it just feels SO much better to play.
What’s the esoteric part about gamefeel? Why’s 2013 Tomb Raiders and it’s sequels feel like 20% off? Why is Black Ops - rated on Gameplay - so much better than Singularity which came out the same year despite both being made by Raven?
Someone said sound which is really important and worth saying again.
Also from experience: animation and also acceleration/acceleration curves. You want your input to connect logically to what you’re looking at so your brain can give you the illusion of resistance and feedback.
If everything just moves instantly or at a constant velocity it feels wrong. There needs to be weight, a sense of wind up and momentum that corresponds with the action and it’s surprisingly not to hard to implement. Just remembering that something has to accelerate against inirtia for animations and movement really helps establish that.